mijugo

This is my first trip to share with you – so be gentle Any comments are highly welcomed, if you have any questions, don´t hesitate to ask. And excuse my (maybe) poor english – I´m good in talking, but writing in anything than my native German might be a little bumpy sometimes.



Normally I am completely off work in the days between Christmas and the mid of January. However – 2007 the first appointments are on january 4th and I was also invited to a nice newyear party in my hometown Hamburg / Germany. To make a long story short – christmas holiday travel had to be cut down drastically, but at least it contained a visit by friends & colleagues in Barcelona / Spain and San Francisco / USA. As I´m a big fan of natural monuments and got the hint that the niagara falls are pretty nice (although cold) in winter times, I decided to include a visit at the falls in my trip.

I´m one of the very busy shorthaul flyers, so I accumulate many miles over the year without many possibilities to use them (eg for longhaul upgrades). That means in fact, there was only one possible way to go for... a first class award.

After a bit of research and some calls to the nice Kassel-Ladies (regular LH-FF know, that this callcenter is the best) I managed to get a nice award ticket:

BCN-FRA on LH4459 in C
FRA-PHL on LH0426 in F
PHL-BUF on US3609 in Y (regional flight)

BUF-ORD on UA7270 in F (no award: bought in Y but got an op up)

ORD-SFO on UA0831 in C (no F-award seats availlable)

SFO-FRA on LH0455 in F
FRA-HAM on LH0014 in C

How to get to BCN? Luckily there are many LCC on offer on the popular routes all over Germany and Europe. And one of the best of them is Air Berlin. In fact, it´s only low cost – but with a lot of frills. They provide free newspapers and magazines, seat assingment, free softdrinks and a free snack on board (mostly a sandwich). Oneway price from HAM to BCN was below 100,00€ all in. Very nice. On top of that, they also have a good FFP, called TOP-Bonus. You´ll get fixed miles (Germany & UK-domestic (500), shorthaul international (1000) and mediumhaul international (1500), silver-status is from 15K a year, gold-status from 30K. Award-flights are really free flights – you don´t have to pay any taxes or additional fees. Although I´m a big fan of Lufthansa and *alliance, I highly recommend Air Berlin and it´s subsidery DBA for domestic flights in Germany and Europe.

But back to the facts. Christmas was there and so I was on my way to the airport. Streets were empty as was the airport-express-bus, which got me in 15 minutes to the shiny new HAM Terminal 2, where all non *alliance flights leave. Checkin was a breeze – as I already assinged a window seat online at the time of booking (yes, you can do this with Air Berlin, although they charge you 8,00€ for that (status customers are not charged))

Due to my job I´m a regular weekend-flyer but nevertheless I´m always surprised how many people are on there way to somewhere on these days – today was no exeption. On the first day of christmas, where people are supposed to spend great times with there families – hundreds of them are on travel out of Hamburg. Impressive.
After security (used the fasttrack for *Gold and C-class) I grabbed a breakfast in the LH Senator Lounge (which you are allowed to enter also without using a LH-flight. Very appreciated.

Hamburg – Barcelona
AB8166 Airbus A319
2006 / 12 / 25
Departure: 09:20 (09:31)
Arrival: 11:50 (11:38)
Economy Class (one-class only)
Seat: 18F

Accordingly the flight to BCN was almost fully booked, but fortunately I was the lucky guy with a free middleseat in the 3-3 economy-only configuration of this Airbus 319. Grabbed a magazine and one of the welcome-sweets on board and settled into my seat. The flight was on time and the FA did a great job. They wished everybody a merry christmas and started with a first round of drinks. As mentioned all softdrinks plus coffee an tea are free – the prices for wines & spirits are more than reasonable. Got my coffee and OJ and shortly afterwards a nice cheese and ham sandwich, wich was fresh and tasty and made a good 2nd breakfast with first views of the alp mountains.

The FA then did a 2nd round with drinks, everytime very friendly and caring, while checked the newspapers and my magazine. Time flyed away and soon we were over the open sea and reached the spanish coastline.


Landing was on time also and unusually for a spanish airport, my suitcase dropped out after only 10 minutes waitingtime. I am very frequent in Barcelona Airport and ordinarily it lasts from at least 20 to 30 minutes before the luggage finally appears. So this was going to be a good day.

I stored my luggage in one of the (very expensive) lockers and went outside to take the Aerobus to the citycenter.

Barcelona is really one of my favorite cities in Europe. Nice people, nice architecture (not only Gaudi) and simply a great place to be. I met with my friends but still managed to take some photos on this very nice and comfortably warm winter day.

- around the cathedral

- the end of Las Ramblas

- the harbour area where we had lunch

- nice views in the harbour area

- one of the famous Gaudi houses


After a nice christmas dinner with my friends and collegues which I hardly manage to see regularly as we are all very busy and frequently on our ways to somewhere, I got a ride back to the airport. After my promise to be the host for our next meeting I recollected my luggage an went straight to the LH Ceckin, to get on my first award flight. Checkin was completely empty as well as the security check (also a place in BCN where you can easily lose up to an hour of time) – so enough time left for a visit in the lounge. LH C-Class as well as *Gold are allowed to enter the Spanair-Lounge near the usually used departure gates for intra-Schengen-flights. A very bored lounge warden let me in and I was supposed to use the complete lounge for myself.

The Spanair lounges are really no places to write a letter about. No real snacks are offeres, just the usual bunch of drinks and spirits. The only window area only shows on a construction side (it does so, as long as I´m using this lounge frequently – when will they finally finish their work?) and so I grabbed a coke and some peanuts and waited for my flight to Frankfurt.

Barcelona - Frankfurt
LH4459 Airbus A320
2006 / 12 / 25
Departure: 18:35 (19:07) (late arrival of the aircraft)
Arrival: 20:50 (20:55)
Business Class
Seat: 1F

Finally a flight like I expected the most services on this day – almost empty. 18 pax in Y and (surprisingly) 8 in C. The crew seems not very happy to work on this special day, so service was not really on the normal high of a LH intra Europe flight. I was also very surprised to see the meal service downgraded to a cold snack as shown on this picture.

Last time on this route they served a complete warm meal as they do on my normal BCN-HAM flights – don´t know when they downgraded this service, but I find that not very satisfying for a flighttime of nearly 2 hours. I know I´m spoilt - no comparison to the shorthaul service on US airlines.

But I was filled up from lunch anyway – so no big deal. To ruin the savings of LH, I caused additional costs by allowing 3 glasses of a good red wine and 3 servings of Bailys and coffee to disappear.

We landed more or less on time in FRA. My luggage was already waiting for me in the baggaged claim area and 25 minutes after landing I stepped through the doors of the Frankfurt Hilton.

And that is where the story is to be continued...

More Champagne Sir?

Great trip report so far, look forward to the next stages!....

couscous

Keep it coming ! Count me on the list of Barcelona's lovers !

mijugo

As in the most hotels to this special time of the year, only a handfull of rooms in the Hilton Frankfurt were booked and the Executive Lounge were closed. As a HH Gold I got instead two vouchers for free drinks in the bar and an additional voucher for free breakfast. Additionally I was upgraded to one of the superior corner rooms – very nicely decorated and totally quite. A view out of my hotel room ist hidden behind this link.

One of my main reasons to stay overnight in Frankfurt was, to adjust my body clock a little bit to the forthcoming time change. So I enjoyed two glasses of nice red wine in the bar, crawled into my bed and slept until 10am the next morning. Rare enough, that such plans really work out – so I got up, grabbed a small breakfast (as I wanted to save room for the (hopefully) nice FC dinner on board) and entered a taxi to the airport.

A good year after the opening of the dedicated LH FirstClass Terminal (FCT) most taxi drivers in Frankfurt seems to be aware of the facilities – my driver found his way to the curbside easily. It took only twenty seconds (I had not even paid my taxi) for the middleage Lufthansa-Lady to come outside and ask for my ticket and / or HON-Circle Card to check if I might enter the holy halls or not. Okay – please wait a minute.

I find this a little bit annoying in fact – can´t they just wait until one has entered the lobby area? Are there really that many people who try to use the terminal, although they are not entitled? I can´t believe that. And if so – hey, they can send these folks away anyway.

Okay – I see, I just have to calm down. I was looking forward to a great flight, I had the right tickets, so anything went smooth. My personal assistant took my suitcase, ticket and passport and disappeared somewhere (some day I have to find out, where the real checkin is hidden). In the meantime I went through security and...

Wait – security: even if the whole terminal existed exclusively of security and boarding-area, it would already be a real sensation.

Let me just do a small review of the normal procedure for flights to the US out of FRA. After checkin there is the standard security check for terminal B (remember: most of the times only one extra line for premium passengers). Then there comes the passport check with the possibility of infinitely long queues. After this the real fun starts with the special security check for the USA. It includes all the exercises the modern frequent flyer really waits for to perform: “put your shoes off”, “take your belt off”, “put your jacket in this case and your sweater in the extra one” and so on. To make you really happy, the TSA guys perform all this with the friendliness of Irish dock-workers on Monday morning.

Back to heaven: in the FCT you are warm welcomed and adressed by name. The are asking politely to take your jacket off (and only the jacket), doing the check in 20 seconds. Finally they thank you very much for your cooperation and whish you a nice flight. AMAZING! Travelling can be so relaxing.

Okay – my PA arrived back with my boarding pass and guided me into the lounge. As I´m aware of the facilities I found my favorite window seat in no time. There are so much pictures of the FCT in various trip reports on FT, so I decided not to post more. If you want one – feel free to ask.

The lounge area has really anything on offer you can imagine. There are realaxing seats, working spaces, quite rooms with beds, amazing bath rooms (notice this nice little christmas quietscheentchen (don´t know the english word) they provide during this season), free laptops to enter the internet or watch movies, a restaurant area and finally an amazing bar with more than 70 (!) different whisk(e)y´s and nearly anything you expect in a top-cocktailbar anywhere around the globe. Don´t forget the big choice of international and german newspapers / magazines and the attentive waiters who check regualary whether one had maybe one more wish.

I ordered a glass of sherry, a cappuchino, some water and my special in the FCT – a large plate of freshly sliced fruits and waited for my flight. 30 minutes befor takeoff, my PA came back and asked me to follow her to the already waiting Mercedes CLK for boarding. The boarding area is downstairs where my passport finally appeared (you don´t get it back after ceckin) in the hand of a lonely (but also very polite) guy from the german border police. He had a final look in my passport and one moment later I relaxed in the nice car on my way to the aircraft. Today was a lucky day because the flight to PHL boarded on an outside position, so the chauffeur-service was especially welcomed. After watching the last passengers of the first two busses entering the aircraft, my driver took my handluggage and handed me over to the purser who guided me to my seat.

Frankfurt - Philadelphia
LH426 Airbus A340-300
Departure: 13:20 (13:42)
Arrival: 16:20 (16:20) (german perfectionism)
First Class
Seat: 1K (2D was booked but I changed seats)

The LH timetable mentioned for this flight an 34P which means an A340 with new business-class and AVOD but... old business class and no AVOD. I felt sorry for the guys in C (but only for a minute) and made myself comfortable. FA asked me for my welcome drink (sherry and water -- I´m not into bubbles. Ups – hopefully this is not a “throw out criterea” on FT), distributed the sweater, the bowl of warm nuts and the video-guide. Todays flight was nearly fully booked in Y, 38 pax in C and only 2 (including me) in F. I hoped, this light load in front promised a great service and to begin with the end: I can´t complain

Shortly after takeoff the purser once again came by, introduced himself, chatted a little bit and explained todays menu:

************************************************** **************************

MENU

Hors d´oeuvre from the Appetizer Cart

Caviar with the traditional Garnishes

Vitello Pulpato – thinly sliced Veal and Octopus with Olive Tapenade

Cecina de León – Air-dried beef from León, Chanterelle Mushromms and Spinach Salad

Mango Gazpacho with Gambas and Pistachio Oil

Salad with Salsify and Black Walnuts

Shallot Walnut Vinaigrette


Salad

Fresh Greens and Beef Julienne with Champagne Vinaigrette or Spanish-style Dressing

Bread, Rolls, Toast and Butter


Entrees

Roasted Oat-fed Goose with Red Cabbage, Potato Dumplings and Bread Crumb Butter

Scallops complemented by marinated Peaches, Port Wine Reduction and Wild Mushrooms

Braised Ox Cheek with Cinnamon, Garlic and Parsley

Tortilla with Salsify and Olives with Ducca


Cheese & Dessert

Internation Cheese: Brie, Danablu, Gruyére, La Coutances and Manchego Cheese offered with Grapes, Red Radishes and Cocktail Tomatos

Cream of Café con Leche and Passion Fruit

Choco-Coco-Curry with Pineapple

Specialty Dessert Wines


TEA TIME BEFORE LANDING

Our Classics

Canapé with smoked Salmon

Rye Roll with graved Halibut

Whole Grain Sandwich with Bell Pepper Cream Cheese and fresh Gouda

Variety of fresh fruits – Pineapple, Kiwi, Mango and Strawbeeries

Chocolate Eclairs

Exquisite Fruit Tart


Our Savory Recommendation

Beef Goulash Soup served in a Bread Bowl


VINOTHEK DISCOVERIES

Champagne

1997 Comtes de Champagne, Champagne Taittinger, France

“Rare”, Champagne Piper-Heidsieck, France


White Wines

2005 Iphöfer Kronsberg Silvaner Spätlese dry, Germany

2004 Grand Reserve Chardonnay, Bien Nacido Vineyard, USA

2005 Obere Steigen, Grüner Veltiner, Austria


Red Wines

2001 Chateau Marquis de Terme, Cru Class, France

2000 Sena, Aconcagua Valley, Robert Mondavi, Chile (monthly proposal)

2001 Redbrook Vineyards, Evans & Tate, Australia


SPIRITS

Lufthansa Cocktail

Campari

Sherry La Guita

Jack Daniel´s Tennessee Whiskey Old No. 7

Johnnie Walker Blue Label

Glenfiddich Single Malt, Special Reserve, 12 years

Smirnoff Red Vodka

Bombay Sapphire Distilled London Dry Gin

Cognac Lhéraud Cuvée 30

Calvados Pays d´Auge AC

Fernet Branca

Ziegler Wild Cherry Cuvée No 1

Wlacher Williams Exclusive

Baileys Irish Cream

Niepoort Port LBV 2000


MORE DRINKS

Gerolsteiner sparkling
Vitell
Apple Juice
Tomato Juice
Orange Juice
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola Light
Sprite
Kinley Tonic Water
Kinley Bitter Lemon
Kinley Ginger Ale
Warsteiner Pils
Clausthaler non-alcoholic Pils

Jacobs Coffee Mild Arabica
Espresso
Decaf Espresso
Cappuccino

Assam Special Broken
Earl Grey Premium Blend
Green Tea Superior Blend
Rooios Wintertaste
Yogi Tea – Classical Cinnamon (organically)
Yogi Tea – Ayurvedic Medley (organically)

************************************************** **************************

After 20 minutes of climbing the service started with more drinks and a nice and tasty Amouse Gouche (something with cheese, shrimps and tomatos) before the FA set the table with the usuall linen, real cutlery and the red rose (since the 1950´s the trademark of the LH First-Class-Service).

For a first appetizer I couldn´t decline the generous serving of caviar, accompanied by a glass of ice-cold vodka. After this I went for the Vitello Pulpato and the Mango Gazpacho – and I started my white-wine-tasting. All were, of course, excellent but the Austrian Veltiner really rocked and is strongly recommended.

After the salad I opted for the traditional goose entree, which LH has on offer regularely during the christmas days. Simply done to perfection.

The chocolate-curry was followed by a cup of cappuchino, some blue Johnny and a choice of pralines. Hell – I was stuffed. I have been surprised every time not only at the high quality, but also at the pure amount of food served in First Class. They feed you really well and I´m happy to be well in sports – so no reason to be shy on the return

I just started to get in my comfortable movie-watch-position when I had a real astonishing appearance on the right side of the aircraft. Our pilot had decided to start a litte race with an Airbus A330 of Swiss, flying very near by and only a little above us. Look at this picture. Later I learned from our captain, that this was flight LX8 from ZRH to ORD. The manoeuvre took at least twenty minutes of time (go LH, go) with breathtaking views in the clear air 11000 metres above the Atlantic Ocean. A more than fair compensation for the fact that Greenland was covered by thick clouds. But the game didn´t stop. No thirty minutes later it was our part to be overridden – this time by an BA aircraft. Not as clearly visible as the Swiss loser but still a nice picture.

So here are the results of raceday 06/12/26 somewhere by the eastern coast of Greenland:

1.) BA with an unknown flight
2.) LH426 (at least the silver medal)
3.) LX8

I was really impressed. Of course one sometimes sees other airplanes during cruise flight, but in the middle on the Atlantic? And so near? Great! I had never experienced such a thing.

Back to my interrupted movie I decided to try one of the Yogi Teas, which I´ve never found bevor on an inflight menu. The classic version with cinnamon was brewed in hot milk. With added sugar it´s really great and very relaxing too. It´s very important, that this tea is brewed in milk – don´t forget to mention that to the FA (her colleague on the return didn´t know that and without the hot milk I this tea is not very inspiring).

On this maximised relax-level I drifted of a little bit and awoke with the great views of the obviously ice-cold area of northern canada.

After finishing my movie it was time for a real teatime. I went for some Earl Grey and of course some white wine, the fruit plate, some very tasty sandwiches and the beef goulash soup – to serve this in a bread bowl is a nice touch and very tasty too.

8,5 hours in the air finally comes to an all too quickly end. The captain announced our approach into PHL. The purser once again showed up to thank me an my fellow in first for flying Lufthansa and to make sure, that erverythink was okay – of course it was. The landing was a little bit bumpy due to thick clouds and heavy winds but we managed to be at the gate exactly at 4:20pm local time – that was, what I call an on-time-flight.

That´s was the end of a wonderful flight with great food, flight attendants doing their job just perfect and an included oceanrace.

Time to get back to reality. Immigration!

But again I was on the path of luck. Only 8 people were in front of my line so immigration was a breeze (compared to some other flights to the US). I collected my suitcase, rechecked it for my connecting flight to Buffalo and went on to the security check. At this point all my luck for the day seemed to be already spent. Security line was a complete zoo. Hundreds of people were waiting – and of course no fast lane.

That´s one of the points I really don´t understand. I mean, PHL is considered a Star Alliance HUB airport – the least they (or the guys from US Airways) can do is to open a special security ceck or a simple fast lane for guests with premium tickets or Star Gold. Maybe I was just blind and PHL does provide this. Can anybody answer this question?

1,5h of waiting in this f****** line can be a little bit like watching a movie. A bad movie of course but at least a dramatic one. Little childs crying, woman crying, men shouting, one guy passing out in line and dozens of people debating, that they have a connecting flight to catch. Indeed? Unfortunately nobody in this line was waiting to just go out of the airport my dear. Okay – I finally made it to the domestic concourse just to find out, that my flight was going to be delayed by 90 minutes. Okay – time to check out the US-Airway Club, which is also a *Gold Lounge.

As everybody knows, airport lounges in the USA are nothing to write letters about – this was no exception. Crowded, small, with dirty tables, a men´s room completely wet (covered with water on the floor) and a bar, where you have to pay for most drinks. Okay – I agree – it´s better than waiting at the gate but what I really don´t understand is, why frequent flyer of US Airways (even with gold-status) seem to pay a yearly entry fee for this.

Maybe the contrast was too big between the FCT and this lounge. And to remain fair: the other lounges which I have visited on this trip were better. So forget about the so called Club and up, up and away again.

Philadelphia - Buffalo
Canadair Jet 200
Departure: 18:29 (20:10)
Arrival: 19:40 (21:15)
Economy Class (one class only)
Seat: 2C

This short regional flight was really uneventful. The FA seemed to be really bored (which could be heard by her announcements) but managed to do a drink service. A diet coke for – after this amazing food I really had to watch out for my weight.

Finally arrived in Buffalo. Again it started to be a little bit chaotic, because the signs in the baggageclaim area were out of order and two more flights arrived at the same time. No service-guy was availlable, so all passangers ended up playing the litte 1 out of 3 game. HON luggagetags really did their job, so I finally identified my luggage (waited at the right belt) and went straight to AVIS to get my rental car. One hour later I had left the United States again and reached the Hilton in Niagara Falls ON – on the Canadian Side of the river. Got a nice room with a view to falls (partially) – to be seen on this picture.

Jetlag did a great job – I was deeply in the land of dreams and looking forward for my falls-experiance the next day – but this is another part of my little travel-story.

More Champagne Sir?

Brilliant again!!! Makes me more and more excited about my holiday this summer and my ex-FRA LH flight in F!!

Thanks mijugo! ^^

aw

Welcome to Flyertalk and congratulations on a good report with nice pictures. Glad to hear you had a great experience with LH (who wouldn't flying in F?) - the menu transcript is appreciated and one thing that I love about LH is that they always try to serve some "exotic" dishes upfront that sets them apart from other carriers, particularly US ones. The goose and ox cheek are making me salivate. Air Berlin is a gem and I agree with your observations. Thanks for sharing and don't be too modest about your writing skill, it's perfectly fine.

couscous

I also have never seen planes so close above the Atlantic.. pretty cool.

tomashi

A very interesting and entertaining report so far! Looking forward to the next part! Why do LH F menus always sound so delicious?

Interesting: I was in BCN the same day you were there! Also at the waterfront. Unfortunately my Dad´s bag was stolen on that day so the trip was not as nice in the end... Amazing how quick those thieves are - like magicians. Whatever! Still like the city!

Got exactly the same meal you got on the BCN-FRA route on a flight from CPH to FRA months ago (October 1). Perfect for such a short trip but I completely agree that they should serve something else on a 2-hour "dinner"-flight from BCN!

Thanx for sharing your thoughts with us and have a good time!

-Thomas

Darren

Great report. PHL does have some special lines, but I believe it's up to the individual airlines. AA has a special line for their elites.

Those LX and BA planes were probably further than they seemed. There was one time I was going into LAX. If you haven't gone into LAX, there are several parallel runways. The pilot came on and warned us that a plane would be approaching us from the side, and although it may look like it would hit us, it would turn to go into one of the other runways and was well over 1000 feet away. I admit that it was disconcerting looking at this beast getting closer and closer. It looked to be about 100 feet from us when it turned and landed at about the same time as our plane. From your photos, I wouldn't be surprised if those planes were a mile or a mile and a half away.

mijugo

First of all: thank you very much for your comments. I really enjoy writing this stuff and it makes me glad that reading it seems to be fun either.

I try to stay on that level and finished already half of the final chapter but unfortunately some unexpected work had to be done in the last days.....

So - thanks again - this time for being patient.

mijugo

Thanks, Thomas! I think, that´s mainly because they ARE delicious!

Cool - so maybe we have seen each other. I feel sorry for your dad, but let me point one thing clearly: I´M NOT GUILTY You are right. Waterfront and Ramblas are the most risky places for valuables.

I noticed that too. LH seems to serve the same meal for some time on any (or at least the most) shorter european routes. I got the same meal to/from OTP, CDG, ZRH, PRG and on some other flights to/from FRA. To make things worse (at least for vegetarians) on most domestic routes they serve a "lighter" version of this meal too. Come on LH - you can do better!

Kiwi Flyer

Great report so far mijugo ^^

das

This report is fantastic, please keep it coming! Lufthansa F is one of my favorite products out there, especially the catering ex-Germany!

mijugo

Once again sorry for the delay - but now let´s go on with the show:


After two days of travelling it was now the time to slow it down a little bit. Only one flight per day allowed me some more spare time for sightseeing. As mentioned in the beginning of this report I´m a great fan of natural monuments. Canyons, waterfalls, mountain-landscape, desert-views – that is what I try to include in every leisure trip (and to be honest; on some business trips too). This time I was going to enjoy the Niagara Falls.

The Watermark Resturant on the 33rd floor of the Hilton offers not only extraordinary views of the falls but a very nice buffet breakfast as well. After this I praised myself for packing a large suitcase including warm winter clothes. Temperature was a little below thirty degrees Fahrenheit and the humid air from the falls as well as the strong wind created a very arctic feeling. To make a long story short: it was soooo cold. But as a north german resident I´m not allowed to complain. There is no bad wether, only inappropriate clothes.

So I was on the short way down to the falls, only to become positively surprised again. No fees are to be paid for watching the falls. I really expected an entrancefee as the Niagara Falls are a National Park. Great again. I really enjoyed the great views of both falls, went two times up and down for photo-hunting and had three fantastic (cold) hours. Surprisingly there were many tourists on their way too and I secretely developed a business plan for my photoservice. If I´d received 5$ for every photo I was asked to shoot of mostely japanese but also canadian, american, french and spanish tourists, most of my travel-expenses would have been amortised in no time. No bashing please. Of course I was polite enough to do it for free

Some of the nicer pics are here:

Niagara Falls – Pic 1

Niagara Falls – Pic 2

Niagara Falls – Pic 3

Niagara Falls – Pic 4

After three hours of enjoying the falls I really needed some hot drinks. One Chai Latte (grande of course) was for “there” and the second one for the way back to Buffalo Airport. While watching the falls I recognized a serious traffic jam on the Rainbow Bridge back to the USA so I decided to be on the safe side and left Niagara Falls one hour earlier than originally planned to make sure I catch my 711pm flight to Chicago. Later I found out, that I worried to much. In the daylight and without jetlag the way to the airport is simple and clearly signed.

Everytime I enter the United States it becomes clear to me how incredibly easy and pleasant cross border trips in Europe are. I waited more than a hour on the bridge. Every car was checked individually for drugs and explosives. After finally reaching the customs officer he browsed five minutes in my passport and asked questions like “why did I stay five times in the United Arab Emirates”, “why do I travel so much”, “why did I stay in Canada and not in the United States” and so on. 90 Minutes after leaving my hotel I finally reentered the US and found my way to the airport without any more problems which means that I arrived around 4pm.

The flight to ORD was booked separately because of the award restrictions on LH (or on Star Alliance in general) – they only allow 2 transfers in each direction of the journey. That means, I had another coach experiance to look forward to... so no danger to lose the ground – I´m still the “down to earth” guy although I´m flying very much ;-)

On FT I´ve learned that bashing United is just another way of being polite to other european StarAlliance Gold Members. But to be honest: I really like United. Yes, you´ve heared right. Why is this?

1.) Economy Plus is one of the best innovations I´ve ever experienced on an aircraft. Okay – today it´s not that easy anymore to get into these seats, as United has stopped the policy, to book *Gold Members automatically in this area, but I managed to get a confirmed + seat by the time of my booking. Don´t know why – but who am I to complain.

2.) I really love the flexibility when it comes to standby-flights. At checkin the agent immidiately offered me to change my ticket to an earlier flight wich I appreciated very much and of course accepted. Try this on Lufthansa or most of the other European carriers. NO CHANCE! You may only change your itiniery with a fully flexible and accordingly expensive ticket. I often wondered why this is handled so restrictive. If I am willing to take an earlier flight (with seats available of course) I´m just helping the airline to save money. And I´m very good in costing a lot of money if they let me sit for two or three hours in their lounges ;-)

Again: thumbs up for United! Not only did the change my cheapo oneway flight without any problems. Instead of a small CR700 now a 737 was waiting for me.

I made a surprisingly quick way through security. It was a busy time at the airport but most people in front of me seemed to be experienced flyers too, so they did not waste any time, took off their shoes right away, put everything in cases and so on. The whole procedure took about ten minutes and I was on my way for a quick visit of the US Airways Club which hosts *Gold in Buffalo.

Inside the lounge it became clear to me that US Airway really wanted to apologize for the bad facilities in PHL. A very nice lounge, decorated with comfy chairs, lots of space for this litte airport (in fact the lounge seemed to be larger than it´s counterpart in PHL), a very nice and polite attendant at the front desk, freshly brewed coffee, classic views of the apron and a nice barkeeper too. So I grabed a newspaper, a coffee, a diet coke and watched the incoming aircrafts for about an hour. After this I found my quick way to the United Gates and was looking forward to the next leg of my trip.


Buffalo – Chicago (ORD)
Boing 737
Departure: 17:44 (18:02)
Arrival: 18:38 (18:45)
First Class
Seat: 1D

You see it and I couldn´t believe it. As the flight was fully booked, they op-uped me to first. I know such things happen, but what really put up tears of joy in my eyes was the fact that it happened to me... I have done hundreds and hundreds of flights in the last 12 years but that only happened to me three times. And all times on such remarkable trips like FRA-DRS, HAM-DUS and LEJ-HAM – all these legs had flighttimes in the low thirties. I NEVER got an upgrade on a flight longer than one hour. So I had to be in the US to finally be on the lucky side. Thank you very much UNITED!

Okay – on the other side, domestic first is nothing special but of course the better seat and the free wine was really appreciated. The complete first hour of the flight was a little bit bumpy, but not really uncomfortable. The FA came around three times with drinks and these undefinable savory snacks which they probably serve only to get the hands of the passengers employed.

Shortly before reaching the Chicago area the air became much calmer and the clouds open. My window cinema had wonderfull views of different small cities on offer, all nicely illuminated, before the approach to O´Hare International started. After finally reaching our gate I was in perfect mood for a nice evening. My suitcase was (although without any priority signs) waiting on the belt and the way to the airport hilton was short. On my way out I noticed that my originally booked flight from BUF was now running 2 hours late. Once again I thanked United silently and went on the hotel checkin.

I decided to stay overnight in ORD because of my early departure to SFO on the next day. As far as I found out, Hilton has more or less a monopoly as it´s the only hotel inside the airport area. They know it! No executive lounge, only a very small and smelly room and the only gold-benefit were two bottles of water. Every family has a bad part and I just discovered the bad part of the Hilton family. On the other hand – I did not plan to spend any quality-time in my room, so I went for dinner into the sportsbar, enjoyed a football match (although I have to be honest: I don´t know the rules – I´m a soccer-guy), a German beer (Becks) and a really good burger before entering the land of dreams another time.

Due to my early departure time to SFO the wakeup-call was set incredibly early – I reached the United ceckin area at 6am for my 8:11am flight and wondered once again about the very confusing ceckin procedures with United.
First sight after entering the hall from the hotel was a veeerry long but definetely not crowded checkin zone. The area was divided into seven different zones: domestic economy, domestic first, international economy, international business (used for star gold also), international first, star gold and a special desk for UGS and 1K. Very confusing for a firsttimer but doable. But what I really don´t understand is the fact, that behind every (or at least the most) counter some kind of an agent was waiting but every passenger is forced to do the ceckin process by himself. Why the hell do I have to perform on this bloody machine (which everytime has a hard time to deal with my card) while an agent is just watching? Can´t they do the checkin like almost every other airline too? Maybe I´m too old or too young to understand this – cost cutting at least can´t be the real reason. So – if there is somebody with insider-views – please let me know.

Once again the ceckin agent asced me, if I wanted to change to an earlier flight which I declined this time because of the 777 in international configuration was waiting for my first visit. But thank´s for offering anyway.

I was invited to use the fast lane for security which was almost empty. A very nice change after all these traumatising experiences in PHL. Two minutes – and done, which allowed me to spend some time in the RCC. The RCC in the domestic concourse B is for shure one of the better. Very roomy, comfortable chairs, lots of sources for coffee, tea and juice and even some little things for breakfast – much more than I´ve expected.

Soon enough it was time to board and just in the moment I´ve reached the gate they started the priority boarding for F, C und *Gold through the left exit. I was really looking forward to test the international business class from United. The aircraft routing for today was ORD-SFO-NRT-TPE and lots of chinese and japanese looking passangers waited in the line.



Chicago (ORD) – San Francisco
Boing 777
Departure: 08:11 (09:15)
Arrival: 10:49 (11:22)
Business Class
Seat: 12J

Everything went fine. Found my seat, coats were taken, drinks (oj, water) were offered and boarding (for a full aircraft) was done in 25 minutes. After closing the doors, we were pushed back more or less on time and stood on the apron. One engine was started and then the second. Hold a minute. No second engine. After the first ten minutes of waiting I thought that we didn´t get the clearence for the runway and the captain decided to save some fuel. After twenty minutes the first engine was turned off too. I could see the questionmarks on the faces of the other passengers too. After thirty minutes the captain made the announcement, that he was unable to start the second engine, but no reason to worry – a maintenance car was on its way. One or two minuted later I watched some mechanics crawling under the engine and doing their work.

Perhaps such things happens regularly, however I did not experience it on hundreds of flights, at least not under normal wether conditions.

Okay – after waiting 50 minutes on our pushback position everything was in work – the second engine was running smoothly and we were on our way for take off on a direct routing to sunny California.

Soon after takeoff, the FA distributed more drinks and the purser came to every seat to explain this mornings meal offering. I decided for an omlette which was surpisingly good and served with rolls, croissants, some fruit salad and an extra giveaway from Starbucks – their 2006 christmas selection. The meal could have been somewhat richer, but the quality was in the best way.

The rest of the flight was quite and easy, a little bit bumpy after reaching the Rockies but this way we made up sime time. One of the good things of the international configuration is the really comfortable seat. Lots of space and a good recline, although the inseat screen is simply pathetic. I couldn´t believe that there is an airline in the world with smaller screens than Lufthansa in their old business class. Now I know better.

Don´t take me wrong – I don´t want to spend ten or more hours in this seat (okay, better than Y anyway, but I prefer a lie flat seat) but for an four hour flight it was simply perfect. The FA did a good job – adressed me by name a few times and offered drink-refills constantly. Well done. The only downside by going on a domestic flight with an international aircraft is, that our arrival gate was in the international terminal, while our luggage had to be reclaimed in the domestic area. These once across the airport challange did cost another thirty minutes. So I arrived finally a 12:40pm at the San Francisco Hilton (got an upgrade to the executive floor – here is the view from my room) to meet my local friends.

We strolled a little bit through the city, not without my camera of course and I can only say: I love this city. As a European I find most American cities simply boring – they are missing (apart from Las Vegas and NY) the atmosphere, which prevails in the most European cities, which are grown over centuries. But San Francisco is for sure one of the good-end exeptions. It feels like a European city (walking paths, public transport, the good old cable car, not enough parking spaces, Fishermans Warf and so on) mixed with all good things of America – a perfect symbiosis. Particularly the architectural contrasts did it to me, so I have to share some of my photos, although most of you might know this city much better than I do. But these impressions of Little Italy, Union Square with christmas touch, some impressions of the walk to Fishermans Warf and the cable car, which we didn´t use, because of the waiting time of more than a hour. Hell, it´s christmas. What will happen in high season during the summer months? Do I have to catch the line in morning to be at Fishermans in the evening? I saw one more nice contrast on our way, of course the famous bridge and Alcatraz. Back to our car I also noticed that I was pursued since my departure from Hamburg. I´m positive, that this subject on our car was seen last time in nothern Germany

We had a great time, too much Guiness and a long night. Good to have some time the next morning, as my flight back home is sceduled for 2:10pm. So I slept in, grabbed a small late breakfast in the hotel lounge and waited for my preordered airport-shuttle a 11:30am.

The ceckin area for the Lufhansa flight to FRA was extremly busy for Y and C passengers, but with only one guy waiting in the line for first class. I learned the reason for the long lines very fast. Unfortunately the computer system had crashed, so the checkin agents had to collect the tickets and passports of every passenger, then they walked upstairs, did the checkin in their offices and came back with the luggage codes and the boarding passes. Very time consuming but of course not the fault of Lufthansa. A snobby guy behind me was one of the very annoying sort of passengers, loudly complaining about the lousy service of Lufthansa, the bad performance of the ladies behind the desk and that Lufthansa was simply the worse way to travel. I politely asked him to be quiet, as this was not the fault of the airline and asked why he will not take the United flight (which strangely leaves SFO only three minutes after the LH flight), if flying with Lufthansa were so terrible. His rude answer was only that he is a HON Circle Member and flying in first class – so he may do what he want and I should take care of my own things. Okay – enjoy your flight. I prayed silently that this moron will get the most opposite seat from me on our flight. I hate these satus-obessed idiots when they forget, that every kind of business is always done between people. Your meat at least twice in live.

The ceckin lady arrived back with my boarding passes. I got my favorite 84K seat (yes, I don´t like the exitrow-seats of row 83 in first class) and my luggage was checkt through to Hamburg. Security was once again a breeze (must be the low season) and I reached the United First Lounge ten minutes after leaving the checkin area.

The lounge is very nice and roomy. The main difference to the RCC is, that here is a wide range of spirits and wines available for free, as well as some food. Nevertheless the food was not very inspiring – so I left room for the dinner on board.

San Francisco - Frankfurt
Boing 747
Departure: 14:10 (14:27)
Arrival: 09:55 (10:01)
First Class
Seat: 84K

Boarding started at 13:40 for again a full flight in economy, half full business class (old seats again) and four people in first. The nice young FA took my jacket immediately and offered me a welcome drink. Sherry and sill water, of course. Together with the warmed nuts and a hot towel I felt at home from one minute to another.

I was reading my German newspaper as an unkown guy disturbed me. I just didn´t recognice his uniform and was a little bit surprised to be greeted be the captain. He introduced himself, thanked me for flying Lufhansa that much and shared some facts about the routing and that he expected a very calm flight wich will cause in an undisturbed nightsleep. We chatted a few minutes more, until the other three passengers arrived (including my new charming friend) and the captain went on to welcome them on board too. A very nice and classic touch.

After takeoff the purser intruduced himself too and explained tonights menu as well as the breakfast menu, which was this:


************************************************** **************************

MENU

Hors d´oeuvre from the Appetizer Cart

Caviar with the traditional Garnishes

Grilled Vegetable Antipasti with Hot and Sour Sauce

Pistachio crusted Shrimp with Sweet Pea Tarragon Flan

Penne Pasta Salad with Tomato, Capers and Olives

Five spice dusted smoked Duck Breast with Wild Mushrooms and Leek Salad with Port Lime Dressing


Salad

Seasonal Greens with dried Yellow Tomatos presented with French Mustard or Cucumber Mint Dressing

Bread, Rolls, Toast and Butter


Entrees

Pan seared Turkey Escalopes with Sweet Potato Gratin and Cranberry / Orange Compote

Vanilla Thyme roasted Cod, Baby Bok Choy and Fondant Potato

Horseradish-pepper crusted Beef Tenderloin, Spätzle, Asparagus and Rosemary Jus

Saffron Futtuccine with roasted Vegetables and chunky Tomato Sauce


Cheese & Dessert

International selection of Cheese: Sage Derby, Parmesan, Gruyére, Cambozola and Humboldt Fog offered with Grapes and Cocktail Tomatos

Wild Berry Charlotte in its Consommé with Sweet Cream

Apple Raisin Bread Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream

Specialty Dessert Wines


BREAKFAST

From the Buffet

Freshly squeezed Orange Juice

Variety of Fresh Fruits & Berries

Non-fat Yogurt with Fruit

Müsli, Cereal and Milk

Bread, Rolls, Toast, Bagels, Croissants, Muffins and Pastry

Cream Cheese, Butter, Preserves and Honey


Cold Specialties

Smoked Salmon, Roast Beef, Turkey Pastrami and Chicken Breast

Emmental, Brie and Cheddar Cheese


Entree

Scrambled Eggs, freshly prepared upon your request with your choice of Bacon or Chives


VINOTHEK DISCOVERIES, HOT & COLD DRINKS

Same slection as on the FRA-PHL flight (see above)

************************************************** **************************

After this the table was set as usual (linen, the red rose, cutlery) and the first course as always: the caviar. This time they iced the glasses for the wodka too. Great.

I declined the second serving of caviar and took instead the shrimps and the penne / pasta sald – a very good combination and wonderfully accompanied by the Austrian Veltiner, I felt in love with on the last flight.

The salad itself was very good, but my dressing (cucumber mint) was the wrong move. The FA offered to give me a new one, but I want to save some room for the things coming – the pepper crusted beef tenderloin. The steak was grilled perfectly medium but the pepper crust was really (and I mean really) hot. Good – I like hot dishes and it tasted great, but someone with a sensitive taste might not have enjoyed it.

The bread pudding for dessert was the perfect highlight of the meal, followed by the usual digestiv (Johnny Blue was out) old Glenfiddich, together with pralines and a decaf cappuchino.

This meal was again absolutely fabolous. The FA celebrated everything like in a very good restaurant, made wine suggestions, did everything with the right speed and together with the great views of the Rockies in the evening sun I really enjoyed the time.

After dinner I watched a movie (Ice Age 2), had one or two Yogi Teas, followed by 5 hours of undisturbed (as promised) sleep. I awoke just in time for breakfast. The FA noticed I was awake, offered to take my seat back in the day-condition, if I want to fresh up a little in the bathroom and offered hot towels and fresh orange juice as well. Very charming indeed.

Breakfast on LH flight is usually offered from the buffet cart. They come to your seat, so every guest may see what is on offer. The table was set a last time and I took the fruit plate, some muesli, some croissants and the scrambled eggs. A great way to start the the day somewhere near Amsterdam. Again the purser showed up and asked, if I have had a nice flight and a good night and offered to check for my connection.

We landed a few minutes too late, but nothing to worry about, as my connecting flight was sceduled at 13:05. Thankfully we arrived at an A-gate. If you are travelling through FRA frequently you may have noticed, that there are two immigration-facilities on the upper level of the A-Pier. One is the main office, which most of the passengers use and one is located on the left-hand side of gate A65 (our arrival gate). Here is mostly no line and you reach the Schengen Area directly at the entrance of the LH First Class Lounge above gate A26 – and I was looking forward to use this lounge as my flight to Hamburg was supposed to leave at Gate A20. So no reason to walk outside to the FCT. BUT – unfortunately these immigration area was completely closed this morning. So I had to use the main area including the loooong line in front of the next security check. Okay – so I decided to use the longer but easier way and walked outside the airport. You may reach the FCT from the departure level, if you turn left and walk around 400 meters on the street. So did I and a few minutes later I arrived at the front door. You are allowed to use this facility if you depart OR arrive (with a connecting flight) in first on LH-metal, so no problem to get in.

First thing was to use the showers and catch up with some news of the last days. I too ordered my “special” fruit plate and some wake-up-coffees. Time flew by and suddenly it was time to board the last flight of the trip:

Frankfurt - Hamburg
Boing 737-300
Departure: 13:05 (13:17)
Arrival: 14:05 (14:01)
Business Class
Seat: 2F

The flight was uneventfull – the offered a small and mostly tasty snack which I declined this time – simply no more room for food ;-) We arrived on time in a rainy but realtively warm city of Hamburg. Luggage was already circeling when I arrived in the baggage claim, I went out, took my preorderd taxi and was at home 22 minutes after touchdown.


This was a great trip. I enjoyed almost every minute of it, had a great time with my friends and collegues and look forward to the next bigger trip in the summer break.

Hope you enjoyed this first time report too. If you have any questions, comments or ideas to make it better next time, please let me know.

Enjoy your flights – we might be together on one ;-)

tomashi

Second part was as good as the first one! Thanx again for a great report!

San Francisco is one of my all-time favorite cities in the world too!

-Thomas