mijugo

And another year has just flown away – and you can believe this word by word. 2007 was another heavy travelling-year (the 10th in a row) with more than 200 flights, mostly crossing Germany and the European continent, but also with some very much appreciated trips to Canada and through China. Especially the last one has impressed me very much – I was there in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games and used the time there also to discover a very charming and more than interesting country and culture. Most time there was not related to flying, so I decided not to write a trip report about that. But before you may stop reading with thoughts like “what the hell is he telling me” – this is going to be a real trip report, as it is christmas-time again. And christmas-time means a long needed period of at least 10 to 14 days completely without any business-related appointment. As usual I have to apologize in advance for my not so well trained writing skills in English – but as this is not only a great but also an international community, I hope for your understanding

To follow a long tradition I use the time between christmas and newyear´s for a trip to visit friends and colleagues which I´m hardly able to see during the year, as most of them have comparable tight schedules and are frequently travelling across Europe and their home-countries too. These trips are also a quit good opportunity to burn some miles. Due to the reason that I´m mostly flying shorthaul there are not much opportunities to use them for upgrades or free flights so I end up most time in buying domestic awards for flights which will be simply too expensive if payed with real money. Also a good deal, as I have to pay for domestic trips out of my own budget but not as exciting as flying intercontinental in premium cabins.

As a result I will find myself in a nice trip on a Lufthansa 1st Class Award to visit Istanbul, Frankfurt and San Francisco. And as there is enough time to add a long desired destination to my book – I´ll finally visit New York City. You may believe it or not – even with more than 2800 flights in the records to some famous and some really exotic destinations all around the globe I´ve never managed to visit the Big Apple. I´m excited!

This is the ininerary of this trip:

(12/24) Hamburg – Istanbul (on board of the future Star Alliance Member Turkish Airlines - unfortunately in Economy – not part of the award-ticket).

(12/25) Istanbul – Frankfurt with Lufthansa in Business

(12/25-12/26) Hilton Frankfurt

The above mentioned flights and the hotelstay in Frankfurt is covered by another tripreport, in which I am going to share a little part of my experiences by crisscrossing Europe. This is the link to this report.

(12/26) Frankfurt – JFK with Lufthansa in First Class

(12/26-12/28) Hilton New York

(12/28) JFK – San Francisco with UNITED p.s. in First Class

(12/28-12/29) Hilton San Francisco Union Square

(12/29) San Francisco – Munich with Lufthansa in First Class

(12/30) Munich – Hamburg with Lufthansa in Business

And then onward to a nice newyear´s party in my lovely hometown – but that is part of another story, not related to Flyertalk

To make this report a little more spicy, I´ll add some pictures too.

The planning

This is really a little bit complicated. Last year I´ve made an award trip with the following ininerary: BCN-FRA-PHL-BUF/ORD-SFO-FRA-HAM. As you might know there are 2 connecting flights allowed on a star-alliance intercontinental award ticket. I used BCN-BUF as the outbound and ORD-HAM as the inbound flight with ORD-SFO as a connecting flight. Not a problem at all.

This year, they changed the rules – and they did it very silent. The new rule is, that the point of return MUST be the farthest distant city of the itinerary.

My first plan was to fly: IST-FRA-ORD-LGA / JFK-SFO-MUC-HAM – same routing procedure as last year with JFK-SFO as a connecting flight. But now the point of return must be SFO – and as you can see I´d have had 3 connecting flights to get there. Not allowed. I insisted with the premium hotline at least 3 times (there were no award seats on FRA-JFK available), spoke with 2 supervisors without any success. Everytime I ran against the thick wall of this lousy new rule, which had to be followed. In the 4th call and with the 3rd supervisor in line the nice lady put me on hold to call their revenue management and asked them to open up an award seat on a nonstop FRA-JFK flight. I was not very positive as I´d checked availability for awards with the famous and very appreciated ANA-tool and through the KVS-tool. No award seats and to make things worse, all FRA-JFK/EWR flights on Dec 26th very almost fully booked in all classes (don´t know why so many people wanted to fly to New York on christmas, maybe to spend a litte extra money for after-christmas shopping due to the weak dollar, who cares – they are stealing my seat ;-) After 15 minutes of music and Lufthansa advertisments the lady finally get back and she became my litte goddess this day. She really managed to open up an award seat in first class on the LH404 flight at 5pm for me. It took me about half a second to think about this and to finalize the ticket – a no-brainer. This would also allow me to spend more time in Frankfurt with my friends and to enjoy another first class flight in the upper-deck of a Boing 747 wich I rate a little bit above the first cabin on an Airbus due to the more private atmosphere.

But that´s enough of the introduction. May the trip begin. You are kindly invited to follow me the next 15090 miles.

lucky9876coins

Great introduction, very much looking forward to reading about the trip itself!^

mijugo

Wednesday, December 26
LH404
FRA-JFK
Aircraft: Boing 747-400
Seat: 84K First Class
Scheduled Departure Time: 5:00 PM
Actual Departure Time: 6:34 PM
Scheduled Arrival Time: 7:25 PM
Actual Arrival Time: 9:21 PM

I finally left the Frankfurt Hilton (thank you for letting me check out later) at 2pm by taxi for my way to the airport. The driver was familiar with the way to the First Class Terminal wich is a little hidden – you have to make the one and only possible rightturn or otherwise you´d have to circle around the complete Terminal 1 facilities and try it again.

Only a small detail, but nobody came out of the terminal to the taxi – they usually do so to check if you are allowed to enter the holy grail of airport lounges (HON Card or First Class Ticket on LH only) and if you have any luggage to check. If so, it is usually immediately taken by a porter and you are going to see it not earlier again than in the baggage reclaim area at your destination. This time I had to take my bag inside by myself, where I was greeted by the staff of the security checkpoint but again noone of the personal assistants was to be found. This changed half a minute later, as my PA appeared from somewhere on the right side (where they have little offices and do the real checkin process) and apologised for their late appearance. The reason was, that she had some issues with the boarding passes of another passenger.

She handed my bag over to a likewise suddenly appearing porter, took my passport, the statuscard, asked if I needed to be guided through security as well as through the lounge wich I declined. I´m fairly used to the facilities. Now it was time for a merry christmas to the security crew and I once again enjoyed the most important, comfortable and especially timesaving part of the whole terminal, the security check. Of course, you have to unpack your laptop and liquids for a seperate screening in the FCT too, but everything is done simply polite, smooth and efficient without any waisted time. You are politely guided through the whole process, the crew assist by unpacking or packing things and whish you a pleasant flight. An overwhelming experience if you´re used to get over the chaotic and time consuming screening process in airports regulary.

In general I think that the FCT is quite a bit overrated. It is (IMHO) the best airport lounge worldwide but it is still an airport lounge, wich means that is the place where you simply wait for your flight – of course on a five-star-level and with plenty of possibilities to spend your time (working, taking a shower or bath, enjoying the well stocked bar, eat something and so on) but the real advantage of this terminal is the potential to save time. A few weeks ago I was booked on a flight to GYD and stucked in traffic on the autobahn to Frankfurt. I arrived 25 minutes before departure with my rental car (which you can just leave in front of the entrance – the staff will return it) at the FCT and comfortably got into my seat for an ontime departure.

Anyway – these day I had some time to spend and I found one of the comfortable lounge chairs in front of the window section. One of the waiters appeared shortly afterwards and asked for my order. When I have time I always order a fruit plate. This is not on the menu but they prepare it on request and this time they did it in a wonderfull manner. 10 minutes later I was served a large plate with almost all conceivable kinds of fruits. The plate contains slices of pineapple, melon, mango and papaya, accompanied by strawbeeries, raspberries, blueberries and physalis, all beautyfully arranged and of course served together with my ordered cappuccino and a glass of sherry.

After eating I tried to catch up on some business related papers wich I needed to read and around 30 minutes before the (estimated) pickup time I went to the bar, ordered my favorite whisky (Glenfiddich 21 years) and walked over to the empty smoking section. Of course I don´t smoke but this is still one of my prefered spots in the FCT, because this is the place where they have a CD player with a well stocked selection of jazz, ambient and lounge-music. If nobody is in here to contaminate the air this a great place to relax with a nice drink. Too bad, they only have the CD player in the smoking section (also in the Munich First Class Lounge and in the Lounge at Gate A26 inside the airport) but I never stop to politely complain about that and suggest they seperate another room, just like the smoking room to give nonsmokers the opportunity to enjoy this calm atomsphere too. Time will tell.

At 4:40 my PA came over to inform me that it was time to board so I packed my belongings and followed her, curious about being the only one guided downstairs. First Class (as every other part of the aircraft) showed availlability of ZERO the day before. I was indeed not the only one. First was full and five other passengers were already driven to the gate by a van. Due to my status and for the reason that she tried not to disturb me in my listening session as long as possible she decided to arrange an extra transfer in a S-Class Mercedes only for me. Thank you very much. I then got my passport back, whished a happy new year to the team and boarded the car.

It was only a short drive to gate A65, where the driver (who insisted as always to carry my hand luggage) guide me through the finger and handed me over to the purser of these days flight. I boarded as the very last passenger the more than full 747, settled in my seat and received my glass of sherry together with a bowl of mixed nuts in exchange for my coat.

It is a common opinion on Flyertalk that the seats in row 83 are the best on the upperdeck. I don´t second that. 84K is the king seat in the house. Why?

- Most passenger select (or got selected) their seats as much in the front as possible. That means that seats in row 81 and 82 are usually gone first. That means, that the chance of a free neighbour seat is almost zero, especially when the load is high.

- In front of row 83 H/K is the area where the drinks are build up during the flight. So this place is really frequently used by the FA.

- In front of row 83 A/C is the jumpseat.

- The complete row 83 is the exitrow. That means, that the number of windows is quite limited. A big nono for me. The additional space is also not a compensation as there is more than enough space at every seat.

I prefer 84K as this is a seat with 4 full windows. Usually 84H is the very last seat an unfamiliar passenger will take so I have almost always a free seat to spread out. But not today – 16 of 16 seats were taken and the FA were pretty busy to top up the welcome drinks of everybody. A few minutes after 5pm boarding was completed, doors closed and everybody got ready for departure.

Everybody?

Of course not. Due to temperatures below zero and snowfall in the morning the aircraft had to be deiced. The captain informed us about that and a few minutes later the process started with the left side of the plane. After finishing the left side, the driver of the deicing car suddenly decided to stop the show, disappeard and was never seen again. It took them about 30 more minutes to send a replacement car, which now started to deice the right side of the plane. And as you might know, there is a maximum time after deicing where the plane has to be in the air – after that a safe takeoff is not guaranteed. So after finishing the right side, the left side has to be deiced once again. Finally at 6:10pm, one hour after the start, everything was done and we were ready for pushback.

Pushback?

Was this these kind of movement an aircraft can not exercise itself and therefor needs the help of a pushback car? Exactely! But no pushback car was availlable for the next 10 minutes. Then they finally found someone willing and able to do the job and we were pushed back. But only a few meters, exactely the distance you need to block the whole taxiway with an Boing 747, not a meter more. The pushback car had a technical problem and they needed to replace to car. Finally they got this done also and at 6:25 we were able to taxi by ourself. Thumbs down to Frankfurt airport but thumbs up to the captain who keeped us informed the whole time, not without using the possibility to prove some good skills in black humor. We were airborne at 6:34.

After reaching the cruising altitude the chief purser made her round through first class, introduced herself and her colleagues, working in the upper deck today and handed out the menu as well as the winelist:

MENU – Lufthansa First Class / Frankfurt – New York
Star Chef: Jonnie Boer / Restaurant De Librije / Zwolle (NL)

Choice of Hors d´oeuvres

Caviar with the traditional Garnishes

Mackerel Rilette with Tomato Compote and Mustard Coulis

Tenderloin of Beef in a Brioche Crust served with Pepper Apple Sauce and Mixed Pickles

Vegetable Tureen with Cucumber Carpaccio and Horseraddish Ice Cream

Variations of Salad & Soup
Curly Endive, Radicchio, Chicory and Lamb´s Lettuce with Cucumber, Peppers and Mushrooms with your choice of Yogurt Dill Dressing ore Tomato Tarragon Vinaigrette

Cream of Potato Soup with Crisps

Choice of Main Courses
Traditional Roast Goose with Red Cabbage, Potato Dumplings and Herb Sauce

Grilled Scallops on Vanilla Pods, Chicory, Carrot and Ginger Sauce with Wild Rice

Venison Medaillons served with Wild Lingonberry Sauce, two types of Beetroot and Celery purée

Portobello Lasagne with different vegetables

Selection of Cheese & Dessert

Coulommiers, Reblochon, Zelu Koloria, Leerdammer and Gouda served with fresh Celery sticks and Grapes

Hot Madeleine and Boerenjongens with Rum in a Jar served with Vanilla Ice Cream

Duo of Mango and Yogurt as a Jelly

Snack Time shortly before landing
Cold and hot specialties served from the trolley

Sandwiches with Roast Beef and Cheddar

Cream Puff stuffed with Rucola and Cottage Cheese

Ciabatta bread with Air dried Beef Grisons-style and grated Parmesan, served with Mixed Pickles

Beef Bouillon with fried Slices of Swabian Ravioli

Desserts

Carrot Cake and Almond Biscuits

Baked Apple Cream in a Chocolate Coating

Selection of Seasonal Fruit Slices


Wines & Drinks

Champagne

“Rare”, Champagne Piper-Heidsieck, France

Apéritif

Campari
Sherry “La Guita”
Lufthansa Cocktail

Red Wines

2003 “Senda del Oro”, Ribera del Duero DO, Vizcarra, Spain (monthly proposal)
2001 Chateau Marquis de Terme, Cru Classé, Margaux, France
2004 Clos de los Siete, Mendoza, Michel Rolland, Argentina

White Wines

2005 Kiedrich Gräfenberg Riesling, Erstes Gewächs, Rober Weil, Germany
2005 Carneros Chardonnay, Artesa, United States
2006 Aura Verdejo, Rueda, Spain

Dessert Wine

2006 Schloßböckelheimer Kupfergrube, Riesling Auslese, Germany

Spirits

Etter Christmas”pflümli” Switzerland (monthly proposal)
Jack Daniel´s Tennessee Whiskey Old No. 7
Johnnie Walker Blue Label
Talisker 10 Year Old Singe Malt Scotch Whisky
Smirnoff Red Vodka
Bombay Sapphire Distilled London Dry Gin
Cognac Lhéraud Cuvée 30
Calvados Pays dÁuge AC, Daron
Fernet Branca
Walcher Williams Exclusiv
Etter Zuger Kirsch/Cherry 2005

Baileys Irish Cream
Niepoort Port LBV 2003

Hot & Cold Drinks
Jacobs Coffee
Espresso
Decaf Espresso
Cappuccino
Assam Tea Special Broken
Green Tea Asia Superior Leaf
Earl Grey Premium Leaf
Vita Orange Fruit Selection
Yogi Tea – Classic Cinnamon Organic
Rooibos Winter Selection

Warsteiner Pils
Clausthaler Non Alcoholic

Apollinaris Sparkling Water
Elisabethenquelle Natural Mineral Water
Apple Juice
Tomato Juice
Orance Juice
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola Light
Sprite
Kinley Tonic Water
Kinley Bitter Lemon
Kinley Ginger Ale

While studying the menu, the table was set up. White linen, two pairs of cutlery, salt, pepper, bread & butter and a amouse gouche. They also distributed the red rose wich is the symbol for Lufthansa First Class since the 1950s. And then the show started:

The new way to serve the hors d´oeuvres is to prepare a plate of caviar (if requested) and then hand out an etagere with the other three appetizers to make you able to choose by yourself. Up to a few months ago they served the appetizers from a cart, created an individual plate with everything you´d like and did a second round shortly after the first to give you the chance to try out some more or simply get a second serving of your favorites.
The new appetizer server is of course faster, but I still prefer the older way – at least on day flights. It was more classic and of course more individual.

As the appetizers where all a little bit small in size, I tried all of them. My favorite is still the caviar, which was delicious. Second is the beef, followed by the mackerel. The vegetable tureen was a little bit uninspiring. The salad was very fresh and nicely arranged and as a entree I really had to make a difficult choice, as I´m a big fan of the traditional christmas entrée of roasted goose. But I finally decided for the venison, which was an excellent choice. The medaillons were cooked to perfection and the sidedished were as near to perfect as possible. As a dessert I prefered the ice cream and skipped the cheese. The dinner ended as always – with a choice of fine chocolates, of course in christmas style too.

I really have to praise to crew. They managed to serve dinner for all 16 passengers in exact the right timing, meanwhile adressing me by name everytime and also remembering my choices of wines. Very well done!

After dinner I continued my reading and enjoyed the excellent Yogi tea. The crew served that tea in half hot water and half hot milk – exactely like it has to be done to get the best results. The final taste has to be near Chai Tea and it was.

After the homework was done, I watched a movie (Fantastic 4 – Silversurfer) and all to soon it was time for a second meal – snack time.

Again everthing was served from the cart and only once – of course you could have ordered a second serving if desired. Honestly this time the snack service was no up to the standards I´m used to. Small portions of rather uninspiring things which sounded good, but that was it. Best was the dessert choice. The carrot cake was fresh and tasty and fresh fruits are as mijugos favorites always welcome.

All too early we started our descent into a rainy JFK. The chief purser came around another time and thanked every passenger personally for flying with Lufthansa and wished a happy new year too. Touchdown was at 8:35pm followed by an long and annoying roundtrip through the taxiways of JFK airport. After almost an hour we finally arrived at our gate and the crew hold back the other passengers to give us in the upperdeck the opportunity to exit the aircraft first.

The fact that we were almost 2 hours late made us the last international arrival in terminal 4 and much to my delight I stepped into a completely deserted immigration hall. Finishing immigration took only 30 seconds, so this was the first time ever I had to wait for my luggage in the United States. It arrived 10 minutes later. HON priority worked fine and I was out of the airport 20 minutes after reaching the gate. New record time!

Next on this channel: the United p.s. service to SFO!

onedog

Great trip report so far.!^ Am anxiously waiting for the rest...

mijugo

NEW YORK / HILTON New York

Traffic was light this evening and as a result the taxi drive to the New York Hilton (6th Av.) was done in only 40 minutes. After hearing many horror stories about the heavy traffic to and from JFK I was pleasantly surprised about the smooth ride.

I arrived in front of the Hilton at 10:30pm only to see a terrifically long line at the ceckin desk. There were at least 50 people in front of me. On the right side was a second line for HHonors member with only 15 people waiting for their checkin. The dedicated counter for Gold and Diamond member was closed since 10pm – not a very wise decision. So I found myself in the HHoners line and waited there for more than 20 minutes before finally making it up to the desk.

The checkin agent couldn´t care less about her job. No similing, no “good evening”, no “welcome”, just a “passport.... please” and she silently prepared the keycards and handed it over the counter. Of course no “have a nice stay” or “do you need help with your luggage” or something else. I then politely asked if the room was on the executive floor wich she answered with a rude “of course not”. We than had a short discussion about the promised benefits for Diamond Members and I was insisting that I deserve at least the breakfast voucher, if the upgrade to the executive floor shouldn´t really be possible. After a few minutes she agreed to upgrade me and handed over new keycards.

The room itself was a joke to say the best. I had been warned before the trip not to expect too much from a hotel room in Manhattan, but had unfortunately a little bit more than a closet with a bed (wich was really good) in mind.



But hey – even if not really satisfied, I was to tired to fight out another argument with a staff member who was really not in the mood to do her job. I settled in and went to bed immidiately.

Okay – the room was bad, but the bed was really comfortable and the room was at least quite. I got a very good rest and awoke at 7am the next morning. Not bad after coping with 6 hours of jetlag. The executive lounge was serving a continental breakfast wich I was looking forward to next. I made my way up to the lounge, only to be shocked again. This was not the calm and relaxing atomosphere of a typical lounge I´m used to. This was feeding the beasts and of course the beasts took over control of the situation. If I wouldn´t be that shocked I would have laughed about the picture in front of me and I suddenly regreted to not have taken my camera with me. Nobody will believe me. But I´m telling you anyway. First of all there were way too less seats to accomodate at least half of the people trying to enter to small lounge. People inside behaved as if they were expecting a natural disaster the next day and were full of fear to find this the last opportunity to eat something for the next week. I saw people with at least 20 muffins in their arms, the floor was full of dirt, people were fighting for seats and the poor members of the understuffed crew were not able to do anything to stop the crowd. I turned away in disgust and made my way down to the lobby to enjoy my breakfast in the restaurant instead. Much better, calmer and of good quality.

The situation was more or less the same in the evening. The lounge was totally crowded, 30 and more people waited in line for the small buffet and many were trying to secure a more or less complete dinner on their small plates. I swear – if anybody is telling me, we Germans have a bad behaviour at buffets I will bring up my experiances in the New York Hilton so called executive lounge. I was so glad that I have not booked (and payed) a room on the executive floor. What a waste of money.

At least New York itself was nice. The light rain in the morning was gone by noon and on my second day I was surprised by a clear blue sky. So I spent the two days with shopping and sightseeing, which is prooven by the following pictures.









The Hilton experience didn´t become better the second day. The lounge was simply unusable the whole day, at checkout again no “thank you”, no smiling, just bored faces of people who simply don´t deserve to work in a service-job. I will definitely never stay again in this hotel. The only plus was the view on my HHonors account as this stay has given me more than 30.000 points (thanks to the “double points & miles promo” and the “double points in New York area promo”), which will result in a nice free stay in a real hotel somewhere in Europe.

I left the hotel again in a taxi and was on my way to JFK again. This time heading for Terminal 7.

mijugo

Friday, December 28
UA17
JFK-SFO
Aircraft: Boing 757
Seat: 2D – First Class
Scheduled Departure Time: 5:40 PM
Actual Departure Time: 6:04 PM
Scheduled Arrival Time: 9:29 PM
Actual Arrival Time: 9:21 PM

I arrived at 3pm at the entrance of Terminal 7, wich is used by British Airways / Oneworld as well as United and USAir. The United premium checkin is done at a dedicated counter on the right side of the terminal. There was acutally no line and I received my boarding pass in less than a minute again - together with the directions to the lounge.

After checkin I decided to try out the first class lounge and headed to the security check. At first I even didn´t notice the incredible long line at security, completely busy with the thought that there has to be a special line for first and business class passengers. Hmmm. Where might that be? I made my way upfront and there I found the premium channel – closed !

Now it was time for a second look and indeen the regular queue in front of the three open channels was veeery long – I watched the move of the line for a few minutes and my guess was that waiting time will be at least one hour. Okay – time to negotiate. My first try was with one of the TSA guys sitting around and watching the line. No success. But then I discovery a lady in a United dress, working as a supervisor in front of the economy checkin. I politely asked her if there was any chance to skip the line as a first class passenger. She had a quick look at my boarding pass, smiled and made my day with a “Sure, Mr. Mijugo. I will guide you through the line for crew members” and so she did.

This was an absolutely great service wich I really appriciated. She guided me through the crowds to the far left side of the security check and handed me over to a nice agent. Thank you very much, United.

After the usuall “please get naked” (at least almost) screening I made my way upstairs to the United Red Carpet Club and was invited to use the International First Lounge on the left side of the entrance. The lounge itself was okay with fluffy seats, a good selection of drinks and a small cold buffet with fresh fruits (yes) and some other appetizers, comparable with the offerings of a typical *G lounge in Europe but not the level of service I´d expect from a first class lounge. Only major downside was, that the lounge had no windows. So I decided to made myself a nice plate of fruit and carried it over to the Red Carpet Club, together with a Bacardi + Coke. Here I found my desired window seat with great views over the apron. The RCC itself has the usuall offering of more or less nothing. Coffee was available as well as softdrinks from the bar. For everything else drinkwise, you have to pay the barkeeper. No food at all.

I spend the time watching the air- and ground traffic at JFK and surfed the internet (bought a daypass from T-Mobile). At 5pm I saw my bird docking at gate 12 wich was shown as the departure gate for UA17. Fine – an on time flight to look forward to.

Boarding started at 5:30pm with priority boarding for passengers in first and business class as well as for guests with Star Alliance Gold Status. I boarded, found more than enough space for my carryon and settled into 2D.

The evening before this flight was very empty in First. Only 2 seats were booked and availability was a 9. But I still thought about the differences between most European and most American FFPs. The European programs like Miles & More, which is my primary one, are usually not very generous with upgrades. Airlines like Lufthansa, British Airways or Air France defends their premium classes for the paying customer and let you pay with hard earned miles or very rarely distributed upgrade-voucher. On the other side, they give their high status pax an excellent ground experience with usually very good lounges (for free) and other perks (like free top status in some hotel programs) and have a consistently high level of service and comfort on board of their business and / or first class. The American programs are much more generous with upgrades for statuspax with the cost of a clearly downgraded on board and ground product, strictly limited services (eg. no meals, no booze in economy) and poor lounges – AFAIK even topstatus passengers of United have to pay to enter the Red Carpet Clubs, where they have to pay again for a beer or longdrink in the evening.

I don´t want to start a discussion about what way is the better one. Both are available and everybody has to choose by itself. The thought about this topic came up, as I saw the first cabin slowly but constantly filling up. As boarding was completed there was no single free seat in first or business class.

The lead FA today was an older lady and to tell the best thing first: she did a very good job in serving the full first cabin, although again it was clearly not the level of service wich I expected in first – but this was of course not the fault of the one and lonely FA, serving 12 passengers – she did her job best possible under the given cirumstances. During the boarding process water and orange juice was distributed and the menu for this flight was handed out:

MENU – UNITED p.s. First Class / New York – San Francisco

To Begin

Seared Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes and organic Yuzu-Miso Vinaigrette

Salad

Fresh Seasonal Green with a choice of Buttermilk Ranch Dressing or Balsamic Dijon Vinaigrette

Main Course

Thai Barbecue Braised Short Rib with spicy Roasted Eggplant Puree, Roasted Cashew and herb-strewn Jasmin-Rice

Braised Vegetable Cannelloni with organic Tomato-Herb Finishing Sauce

Mustard and Herb Roasted Lamb Rack with Balsamic Rosemary Sauce, Saffron Risotto and Steamed Asparagus

Dessert

Ice Cream with Sundae Toppings

Fresh Strawberries with Brown Sugar Sour Cream Dip

Cheese Selection: Kerrygold Vintage Cheddar, Port-Salut and Wensleydale with Cranberry

Prior to Arrival

A Selection of extraordinary Chocolate Truffles from Gayety´s Chocolates


Wines & Drinks

Apéritif

Cocktail BELLINI
Cocktail KIR ROYAL

Sparkling Wine

Domaine Chandon Blanc de Noir NV California

White Wines

Marie Antoinette Vincent Pouily Fuissé 2003 (Chardonnay)
Markham Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2006 Napa Valley

Red Wines

Jean-Luc Colombo Crozes Hermitage 2004 La Tuilerie (Syrah)
Jaboulet Gigondas 2005 Pierre Aiguille (Granache Blend)
St. Halletts “Faith” Shiraz 2005 Barossa Valley
Louis Martini Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 Sonoma

Port

Sandeman Founder Reserve Porto

Beverages

Starbucks Coffee

Tea

Assorted Soft Drinks
Assorted Juices

After the security video was shown we started our taxi through the hidden pathways of JFK. As this was expected to take some minutes the FA used the time to perform the famous status dance and walked the cabin up and down to ask the passengers about their meal choice. This was done strictly in the order of status, starting with United GS passengers, followed by 1K and full fare passengers, 2K and somewhere last other passangers incl. *Gold. I was the second one asked, wich means that tickets completely paid with miles are considered full fare tickets. The Lamb Rack for me please. The whole process took some more minutes as my neighbour had originally booked a special meal (low fat) but suddenly decided to skip her diet and ordered the Thai Ribs. This shouldn´t be a problem in first but United had catered precisely 12 meals plus the special meal and as she had alreay preordered she wasn´t given a choice, but had to take either the special meal or the 12th (not chosen) meal as a surprise. I´m far away from being an expert in reading people but even for me it was clearly visible that the tension between these passenger and the FA was becoming more and more difficult during the discussion wich was slowly turning into a serious argument. But a few minutes after takeoff everything was solved as coincidentely the desire Lamb Rack was indeed the last remaining meal.

I listened a little bit to Channel 9 during takeoff and the rather bumpy climbing. Shortly after the seatbelt signs were turned off, the FA distributed the individual DVD players to every passenger followed by the dinner, again handled strictly in the same order as she had asked everybody for their selection.

The meal was surprisingly good. The starter was spicy, tasty and of generous amount, although nothing for people who don´t like fish. The salad was fresh and the Buttermilk Dressing was served individually from the trolly (I´d expected it to be prepacked) followed by a delicious main course. To make the good things perfect they even had strawberries for dessert (I´m known to do many things when fresh strawberries are rewarded) with a nice sourcream topping. The meal ended with a cup of coffee and a glas of Port – actually very well done ^ – BUT: on the other hand – I don´t understand, why they create a somewhat impressive winecard, when they regularly cater only one white and one red wine. That is a very easy (and completely unnecassary) way to disappoint a passenger who had just read the promising descriptions only to learn that three of four redwines were not available. A hard landing in the reality of United Airlines.

Okay – dinner was done. Time to explore the seat and the DVD library. There is more than enough legspace and I was sitting comfortably for the whole flight but was missing some extra storage space (you need to put all your stuff in the seatpockets in front of you, wich makes it impossible to reach eg. your book when the seat is reclined). Power cords and the port for the headphones are behind you (not easy to find for a firsttimer). The seat turned into an angled flat bed mode in wich I was able to sleep for one or two hours after finishing my movie (Live Free or Die Hard). Overall the seat strongly reminded me of the Lufthansa business class seat, only without the extra frills like the massage button or the entertainment system.

The DVD library is a collection of 12 movies from action to comedy – not very generous but enough to entertain yourself. I only hope they change the movies regularely to avoid some bored and unentertained frequent flyers on this route. During the “movie time” the FA distributed small bottles of water but did no further drink service. To be fair – my call was answered in a minute and it was no problem to request anything else to drink.

Shortly before landing the FA came round with a box of chocolates. Although it is of course a nice touch I would have been more satisfied with something more essential like a sandwich, some fruits or something like this.

We landed on time in SFO but had to wait another 20 minutes before the luggagebelt decided to do his job. Priority luggage including my bag was out as first and I finally was on my way to the meeting point for a door to door shuttle on the departure level. .... it was raining again – wasn´t California called a sunshine state?

Looking back to this flight I have rather mixed feelings. Let me summarize the good and not so good points:

Checkin ^
Absolutely seemless. Luggage was tagged with priority label and staff was friendly. Not to forget the very nice United lady who managed to bring me in front of the security queue.

Lounge ^
Not good. If you like to sit in a windowless room you might be satisfied with the International First Lounge in JFK, as that´s the place where at the least the standard offerings in European lounges are available. A nice touch was that they did allow me to bring food from the IFL into the RCC.

Boarding ^
A great thumbs up. Very organized with a clearly signed and guarded priority line for premium passengers. That is definetely the point where European airlines can learn a lot from their American competitors.

Meals & Drinks ^
The meal was really good. Size of the portions, taste and overall quality – everything was excellent. The story about the regularely not catered but anyway offered wine selection did of course ruin the overall impression a little bit.

Seat & Frills ^
The seat was comfortable although I would expect a first class seat on a premium service flight to go fully flat. Nevertheless I was able to sleep and that is most important. Downside was the lack of storage space and the fact, that no amenity kit was given to the passengers. The movie library is okay, the DVD player easy to use and the noice cancelling headphones are especially good.

Service ^
The FA did a very good job in serving all 12 passengers only by herself. She was one of the more experienced FA in the United fleet which was good as she alway stayed calm and friendly and fullfilled all requests on short notice. Very well done.

All in all it was good but not worth the 5.099$ someone has to pay for a roundtrip in first class. So it´s always the story of the chicken and the egg. Is nobody paying for first class because it is not up to date or is it not up to date because nobody pays for it? I´m still waiting for an American carrier trying to do it the other way: with a very decent product but only for those paying with money or for those paying with a larger amout of miles, comparable with European airlines. Maybe Virgin America is the answer? I´ll try them out next time.

Stay tuned for the latest of my SFO stay and the return flight to Munich in a brandnew A340-600.

1P

Excellent report so far! Keep it up. ^ ^

TrayflowInUK

I stayed at the Hilton New York last year in a priceline room that looked far nicer than the one you got... and it definitely wasn't on the executive floor. Strange.

Also, assuming a tiny typo, believe the JFK-SFO flight number was UA17, not US17, right?

JohnnyJet

Could there have been another flight attendant in the galley? (Normal staffing for FC is 2...one who would be solely responsible for the aisle and one who would stay in the galley)The staffing guidelines for the PS service dictate that the Y cabin be short-staffed before the F cabin is...especially when F is full.

mijugo

I assume there are nicer rooms but as the bed was very good and I didn´t spend any additional time in the room I had lost all energy for another fight with the grumbling checkin lady. This room was definetely a bad joke - first as an ececutive room and second as an accomodation for a Diamond Member who was paying a lot of money for the two nights. I´ll vote with my wallet next time.

Uuups - changed!

Maybe there was but if there was, she (or he) was well hidden. Our FA did spent a lot of time in the galley (dinner service was for ~2 hours, which was fine with me) so I guessed she was preparing the meals as well. Maybe there was a second FA and she/he showed up while I was sleeping. But I´ve for sure never seen her/him.

Rejuvenated

Great report thus far! ^

JohnnyJet

2 hours would be about right for 2 FAs working the service....only one would have been a lot longer. (The FC galley is pretty complicated to run by one's self) My guess is that you had a pretty Sr. F/A working the galley and she was really, really good at staying out of the aisle.

xxdboixx

great trip report..

I'm especially excited about hearing about the SFO-MUC portion on LH...
Did you happen to see if the Y cabin had PTV's installed??

mijugo

I do like the concept of the door-to-door van shuttles available at most larger American airports – in SFO they are especially conveniant as the pickup point is on the departure level directly across of the entrance to the terminal. So I grabbed my luggage (priority label did his work) made my way to the upper level and outside only to see how quick the legends of a “Sunny California” can be destroyed. It was raining cats and dogs.

To avoid becoming soaking wet in a minute I waited under the roof of the terminal building and looked out for a shuttle with already 2 or 3 passengers inside. There it was. Quickly investigating the shortest way to it, and then I was running. Fortunately the driver recognized me and came out immediately to open the doors, then he stored my bag.

The price for all shuttles is 16$ oneway to any point in the central part of the city. To be more correct it is 15$ plus a fuel surcharge. A kind of way to rise the prise without being politically “uncorrect”. Why can´t they just adjust their price? Do I make the decision after looking at the calculation or after looking at the final price? Yes – the final price is indeed the important part. But I have to get used to it anyway – after all the airlines, parcel services and shuttles I don´t doubt that taxis, trains and maybe grocery shops will be next to introduce such a silly extra on their regular prices. At least our driver was satisfied with 4 paying passengers and we started our smooth drive to the city. To add some luck the Hilton San Francisco was the first destination point so I got there as quickly as by going with a taxi – but much cheaper!

Shortly after my reservation the Hilton San Francisco (near Union Square) warned me about possible incommodities due to some construction work inside the hotel wich is actually performing a major renovation. So I was a little bit worried but I have to admit that I didn´t hear anything. I wouldn´t even have recognized it but after entering the lobby I recognized that it was a little smaller than usual. They had separated a part from the left lobby side and moved the bar area near the entrance. That was all. Very good.

There were quite a few guests performing their checkin but the area reserved for HHonors members was deserted so I got greeted immideately by a young and friendly guy who welcomed me to San Francisco, smalltalked a little bit and was at the same time looking for a room. By the way: that seems to be quite a difference compared with European Hilton´s where everything is usually already prepared in advance. At checkin I have to show my passport and a credit card and that it is. Everything else including the room key is ready and waiting. This makes the checkin nicer, faster and more comfortable – room for improvement, but of course no big deal.

I got a nice room on the 30th floor and access to the executive lounge. As I was still a little bit worried after the shocking experience in New York the days before I asked if the executive levels were fully booked which he confirmed. I was really not looking forward to a fight for the muffin again and asked if he could give me a voucher for a continental breakfast in the restaurant instead. No problem at all. I reveived my voucher and was happy for the rest of the day – meaning for the next 30 minutes as this was the time I needed to shower and head straight to bed (another three hours of time difference to cope with).

The bed was again wonderfull and I enjoyed a restfull sleep for a little more than 10 hours which was exactly as planned. I was hoping to sleep as long as possible as the next night on the airplane back to europe was going to be short.

Another shower and as sparkling clean as refreshed I was making my way to the breakfast. This is another change due to the construction work but indeed a very welcomed change. Breakfast is served in the top level restaurant on the 46th floor with a great view over the city and the Golden Gate. Under normal circumstances. At these special day the famous San Francisco fog took over the command of the views and I was able to see exactly nothing out of the panoramic windows. Okay – I know the looks so it was sad but of course no big deal. More important was the breakfast buffet as I was starving. To make a long story short – it was wonderfull (they had fresh strawberries) and with a attentive service. The upgrade to the full American buffet costs 5$ extra and I enjoyed my time.

I stayed in my room up to 11am, making use of the large and well equipped working area, catching up on some emails and German online newspapers before leaving. Before checking out I had a closer look to the impressive christmas decoration. The center of the lobby was dominated by a large christmas tree complete with fluffy cotton snow and nicely decorated present boxes wich were highly attractive to the smaller children. On the left side they had set up an also very impressive landscape with a small christmas train crossing the scenery. Very nice and one thing as was missing in the capital of christmas shopping, New York, too.



Checkout was performed with the same politeness and efficiency than the checkin. I was thanked for staying at the Hilton and they offered me to store my luggage free of charge, which I gladly accepted. All in all a very nice stay and a very welcomed change compared to the disgusting experience in New York. I´ll be back in 2008.

After this I met with my friend in the lobby and we were out for a nice day in the foggy city of San Francisco. Thankfully the air cleared up a little bit during the day so I was able to make some photos – which now stayed in sharp contrast to all the other, clear blue sky San Francisco pictures in my collection.

mijugo

Satureday, December 29
LH459
SFO-MUC
Aircraft: Airbus A340-600
Seat: 1A – First Class
Scheduled Departure Time: 9:50 PM
Actual Departure Time: 10:04 PM
Scheduled Arrival Time: 6:00 PM next day
Actual Arrival Time: 6:02 PM next day

This was a flight I was really looking forward to for more than one reason.

First, the 340-600 is an exciting aircraft. The nickname “silent giant” (at least the worlds longest aircraft) is well earned as I had experienced back in 2006 during my flights from Frankfurt to Johannesburg and back from Capetown on board of South African Airways. Unfortunately these flights were in Economy and (believe it or not) still very pleasant, quite and comfortable. So First Class on this plane should be something near to the seventh heaven.

Second, the flight times of LH459 are really strange. AFAIK this flight is by far the latest Westcoast to Europe service of all significant carriers and due to the time difference of plus 9 hours I was going to lose almost the whole next day. My natural choice would have been the flight to Frankfurt which leaves SFO shortly after 2pm (and was available in First too) but this would have cost me the whole day in SFO and the only opportunity to spend time with an old friend. I was very curious about the possible consequences to my jetlag and had developed a little strategy to fight against it. More of this topic later.

The third reason was the expected load of the flight. I had checked the loads and the seatmaps in the morning and the flight seemed to be full in Economy (Y2), almost empty in Business (C9D9Z9 with only 10 seats preselected) and with me as the only passenger in First (F7). As Lufthansa doesn´t do upgrades if they don´t need to and with very few passengers in Business I was hoping for the jackpot in form of a private cabin.

My shuttle was prebooked for a departure a 7:30pm from the Hilton. The ride was again smooth and fast with only one additional passenger picked up on our way to the airport. At checkin the picture was as expected. A long line in front of the Economy counter, a shorter one at the Business checkin and nobody at the First and HON Circle counter. Checkin was smooth and performed by a nice young American lady who was fluent in German too. I received the boarding pass for my onward flight to Hamburg too and was given the directions to the lounge.

At security their was only one line for all passengers – no premium line. But to be fair, it was short anyway and I was done with my striptease in ten minutes and on my way to the United International First Lounge.

The terminal was very quite, with only four more flights leaving this evening and so was the lounge. I was warmly welcomed by the staff and directed downstairs (the is a lift too) to the lounge where I found a comforable seating area in front of a EVA Air Boeing 747 waiting for their departure to Taipeh. I had a quick look around the lounge to discover potential seat thieves for the LH flight. There was one couple sitting in front of the TV and I saw their United boarding passes (the only United flight leaving this evening was the Sydney service) – a young overstyled lady sitting near to me and I heard from her phone conversation that she was on her way to Sydney too. Nobody else in the lounge? No. Great. Still the chance for the jackpot.

The SFO IFL lounge is one of the better ones in the United network with a good selection of food (sandwiches, cakes, sushi, sashimi, vegetable sticks, fruits and lots of smaller snacks) and the usual selection of drinks at the self service bar/buffet. I helped myself to a Bacardi with Coke, some fruits, vegetable sticks and a German magazine and snaggled in my comfy chair.



At 9pm I decided to go to the departure gate (still nobody else was showing up in the lounge). At gate 100 boarding was in full process with priority boarding for first class and business class passengers on the right sight of the gate. Okay – now the final dices are rolling.

I entered the aircraft and headed to the first seat after the right turn, 1A, and was immidiately welcomed by a FA with the warm words “welcome on board Mr mijugo – please make yourself comfortable and be spoiled by free seating tonight as you will be the only guest in the front on this flight”. YES!

She then asked me for my welcome drink. A glass of Sherry for me please. I know the continued decline of Champagne is a reason for being thrown out of the Flyertalk community but I´m still not into these stuff. The words sparkling and wine simply don´t belong to each other.
My drink arrived together with a bowl of macadamia nuts. A fluffy pillow and the amenity kit were already placed in my seat – a pyjama was distributed shortly afterwards. I took it as a souvenir – IMHO the toilets on Lufthansa planes are to small to change during the flight (at least for me) and I weared comfortable clothes for this night flight anyway. But there are some friends at home (of course only flying once a year to a beach) who are begging for some souvenirs from the world of sophisticated travel like pyjamas, amenity kits and small ducks from the lounge. So these little things won´t get lost.

After this the Captain of the flight came over to introduce himself and to tell me personally some details concerning the routing. He mentioned that we will hardly see any daylight on this flight as the routing possibly is too much northbound. He then told me that our aircraft today is almost brandnew and stayed in full service for only two weeks (wich I might have guessed as the seats, the walls and the ceilings were almost sparkling). Before heading back to the cockpit he mentioned that they don´t expect any major turbulences, thanked me for flying Lufthansa and wished a nice flight. A very nice and formal touch.

Shortly after this the Sherry was topped up and I was allowed to keep the glass as well as the nuts during takeoff.

Doors were closed, followed by the usual security movie during our long taxi to the runway (nice views of the bay – the fog finally disappeared). Almost on time the engines gave their best for a powerfull takeoff roll – and hell were they silent. You feel the takeoff but you hear almost nothing, truly a silent giant, at least in the first row . Although most experienced flyers know that an Airbus 340 is only climbing due to the curvature of the earth we reached our cruising altitude surprisingly fast.

So this was the time, where usually the chief purser shows up to introduce himself and to distribute the menu. So he did and this was the dinner menu:

MENU – Lufthansa First Class / San Francisco - Munich
Selected and created by the chefs of the Peninsula New York

Dreamer´s Delight
Use the time on board to get some restful sleep: in the form of our Dreamer´s Delight, a select meal served in one course.

Cold Gourmet Plate
Barbeque Chipotle Tuna with Jicama Salad and Guacamole

Hot Specialty
Baby Corn Soup with toasted Corn and Truffle Oil

Cheese and Dessert
Sage Derby, Gruyére and Cambozola Cheese

Selection of Fresh Fruit


The Full Dinner

Choice of Hors d´oeuvres

Caviar with the traditional Garnishes
Five Spice dusted smoked Duck Breast, wild Mushrooms and Leek
Pistachio crusted Shrimp with sweet Pea Tarragon Flan and Tomato Vinaigrette
Grilled Vegetable Antipasti with sweet and sour Sauce

Salad

Selection of Seasonal Greens with Balsamico or Potato Dressing

Choice of Main Courses

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

Vanilla Thyme roasted Cod, Baby Bok Choy and Fondant Potato

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

Saffron Fettucine, roasted Vegetable with Chunky Tomato Sauce and Garlic Olive Oil

Selection of Cheese and Dessert

Sage Derby, Parmesan, Gruyére, Cambozola and Humboldt Fog garnished with Grapes
Apple Raisin Bread Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream
Wild Berry Charlotte in its Consommé with Sweet Cream


The wine- and drink selection was exactly the same as on the inbound flight to New York. See post #3 for details.


A nice dinner to look forward to, two motivated flight attendents caring exclusively for my needs – this was going to be a great flight. And to tell you something: promises were not broken!

At this time I was thinking about my anti-jetlag strategy. Passengers in Lufthansa First are “masters of time”, wich means that you are completely free to choose what to eat and when to eat. Regulars on this route often decide for the Dreamers Delight, then head to bed, skip breakfast and enjoy the dinner the next day before landing – wich is of course more “natural”, as the last time I experienced a decent breakfast at 5pm was during my student years. On the other side – who am I to skip a meal offering in first class? So I decided to enjoy the full dinner now, followed by a relaxing movie, three to four hours of sleep and a full breakfast. My goal was to stay reasonably tired to make a restfull sleep the next night possible. It turned out to be the exactly right strategy by the way.

So let the dinner start. First of all I got a hot and lightly fragranted towel, nicely decorated with rose leaves. After this my table was set up with the usual parts: white table linen, cutlery, salt and pepper, butter, a plate for the bread with an extra knife and the red rose.

It is of course a little bit weird to see the two FA come by with a full trolly of nicely arranged appetizers. I decided for a generous portion of caviar first (with everything but the onions), accompanied by three slices of fresh toast and a glass of icecold vodka (served in an iced glass as well). Next were the appetizers – I tried the Duck Breast and the Shrimps and both were absolutely amazing. Tasty, spicy, softly and simply perfect. The salad was fresh and I got a generous portion too.

During this my FA asked if they should prepare the main course immidiately or if they should wait some minutes to make me a little bit more comfortable. I orderd my Beef Tenderloin to be served 20 minutes later wich helped alot to enjoy the great dinner. During this time I sipped on one more glass of the excellent Riesling – a great wine, but not recommended for a meal of red beef. To accompany the very spice main course, the FA recommended the French Margaux of 2001 – a very good choice wich I gladly accepted. She opened the wine (as all wines during the flight) in front of me, let me taste first and then filled up my glass.

The whole dinner was truly celebrated and this was one of the best, no – it was the best meal I ever enjoyed on board of an aircraft. Truly five star with great foods, fantastic wines and a professional as well as friendly and attentive service from the two ladies serving my tonight.

My choice of dessert was the Bread Pudding wich came with a really large bowl of Vanilla Ice Cream. I skipped the cheese, instead I had some of the chocolates served after dinner and a glass of the dessert wine. Man – I was stuffed.

My movie of the day was the third Bourne Thriller. During this I made myself comfortable and had two cups of Yogi Tea as a digestiv. After an hour or so I decided I was too tired to finish the movie now and headed to the bathroom. Coming back I was surprised and delighted that the FA had prepared seat 1D as a bed (fully flat, two fresh pillows, water bottle, another red rose and the large blanket. That is the advantage of travelling in a private cabin. She asked if and if yes, when she should wake me up – three hours before landing should be fine. Lights were turned of and the shades were closed. Good Night!

The seats in an A340 are in general the same as in the 330 or the 747 but nevertheless I felt more comfortable on this new old seat than ever. I found out later that the footrest slips out a little bit more (8cm as told by the FA) than in the older seats wich is great for longer people (I´m 1,90m / 6´20´´) as I was able to fully strech and sleep deeply in every position.

Did I sleep? Suddenly I recognized some light. It was daylight, wasn´t it. In fact it was my wakeup call. The FA opened one and a few minutes later a second one of the window shades on the right side to give me some kind of mood lightening. Surprised to see the sun I had a look at my watch. Wow – I slept for almost five hours. The FA welcomed me with another hot towel and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and wished a good morning. I really can get used to this kind of wakeup calls.

I made myself comfortable on 1A again, enjoyed one or two cups of cappuccino and finished my movie. Then it was time for breakfast.

Unfortunately I lost the breakfast menu but I contained the usual stuff like a wide selection of bread, bagles, rolls, croissants, toast, muffins and danishes, muesli, yogurt, plates with fresh fruits (one with berries, one with sliced fruits like melons, pineapple and kiwi), a selection of coldcuts, ham, cheese, smoked salmon and the opportunity to order eggs, freshly prepared any style. I ordered two fried eggs wich came a few minutes later (classic style or sunny side up Mr mijugo? Classic style please). Although it was already dark again outside it was a great breakfast.

Shortly before landing the chief purser once again showed up and did the usual goodby routine including asking for my connection flight and confirming the gate.

All to soon we had a rather bumpy decent but a smooth landing in Munich. Time to say goodby to the great crew!

What a flight! Of course the fact I was the only passenger in First made some differences but over all I am from now on Munich-addicted and can definetely confirm the wide spread rumours that Munich based crews are in general more professional and more caring as their Frankfurt colleagues. FRA crews do a great job too and I know it is always a hit or miss but I for sure felt the difference in the small details like presenting and explaining the meals and wines, making recommendations for the meal courses and the drinks, preparing the seat for the night, filling up glasses regularely, building up a lovely decoration in the bathroom, preparing a Yogi Tea with fresh hot milk without needed to be asked and so on. IMHO Munich crews are the better ones on shorthaul flights but this was my first longhaul with them and as told - the next flight will be for sure out of or into MUC if possible.

This was by far the very best flight I have had in my life. A truly five-star-experience.