cockpitvisit

LH455 SFO-FRA, May 8 2008
Departure: 13:55
Arrival: 09:15

All good things come to an end, this trip being no exception.

The business class check-in was quick with no queue. I had some dim sum in the terminal before heading to security. This time, there was a queue, but it took less than 10 minutes. No smiles and jokes from the TSA staff this time, but everything was very professional and every TSA employee clearly made an effort to process the passengers as quickly as possible.

I proceeded to a duty free store to ask a standard question about bottled water, and got a standard reply they had none and that taking water onboard wasn't permitted on flights to Europe. After I wondered why it is OK to take duty free vodka but not water, one shop employee directed me to another shop that indeed sold bottled water. I drink lots of water onboard (about 2 liters for a 12-hour flight) so the tiny bottle LH provides is not enough for me, although I do appreciate the effort.


Concourse at SFO


The plane

Soon it was boarding time. There was a separate BP check for business/first passengers, but clearly, there were many Y passengers in that line too. I didn't mind. For some reason, duty free bags were delivered to the gate. Maybe I was just lucky to get onboard with my water bottles. After boarding, I got into my preassigned seat 2K. It offers extra legroom than a regular seat due to the curvature of the nose. While I couldn't make the seat fully horizontal (my feet wouldn't fit otherwise), it allowed me to keep my backpack under the seat in front of me even when putting the seat into the "lie-flat" position.

The flight started with an embarassment for me. As pre-flight drinks were offered, I wanted champagne and took a glass with champagne-colored liquid inside. It turned out to be just water, the glass simply stood in front of champagne-filled glasses, which gave the water the color. I began plotting a way to quickly get a glass of champagne without losing face.


After takeoff

This opportunity offered itself very soon. The person in 1H complained about the headphones not working (a usual issue when someone plugs in his own headphones and doesn't reconnect the LH-provided ones at the end of the flight). After watching an FA struggle to reconnect the headphones for a few minutes, I offered her a deal: I would fix the problem and she would immediately bring me a glass of champagne. I think both of us were very happy with the deal

Later I had a chat with the crew about the headphone problem. The headphone jack is located at the bottom of the very narrow and dark pocket where the onboard headphones are stored. It is difficult to fit one's hand into this space, let alone connect anything there. I personally have a tiny pocket light with me on LH flights in C, which I bought and use exclusively for helping me connect headphones. The crewmember I spoke to told me the problem will likely be fixed on Airbus aircraft, but probably not on the 744s, which are going to be phased out in a few years. I personally don't understand why it is so difficult to fix this problem. It should be enough to add a short extension cable between the headphone jack and the headphones themselves, so that everyone would be able to pull it out and easily connect whatever headphones they like.

I also asked if there were any news or rumors about a revival of the onboard Internet. I was told that there is currently no provider for anything like that, and nothing was heard inside the company about such a possibility. Apparently Boeing offered to sell Connexxion to LH before terminating the service, but LH decided against buying it.

The takeoff was in the Western direction, we flew a nice curve around San Francisco and I got a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco Bay and the downtown from above. A pilot announcement came soon and he said that the lucky passengers who have seats on the right side got a good view of SF. "Lucky"? I don't think so


San Francisco from above


Downtown (color-enhanced)


Golden Gate Bridge


Golden Gate Bridge. I didn't get to cross it, but saw it from lots of angles on this trip!


Somewhere in North America


Somewhere in North America

I started with the shrimp and salad and liked both. Based on the descriptions in the menu, no entree appealed to me. Maybe I was just not hungry enough. I chose the chicken breast but was not hungry enough to eat it.

Next came cheese. I tried to forego the cheese service and asked for something sweet, but was told that sweet items would come next. Good news for those who wanted to try out both cheese and sweets. Bad news for those who like me, wanted to finish the meal quickly and get some sleep.

The meal service took a total of almost 3 hours with long pauses between meals and no one coming to clear the tables in the pauses. Not good at all, the time would have been better spent sleeping. The meal served certainly didn't justify spending so much time on it. Some passengers went to sleep in the middle of the meal service rather than waiting for it to end.

After the meal service, the cabin lights remained on for at least 30 minutes. I went to the kitchen and asked the crew to finally switch off the lights. They told me they were "just" about to do it anyway. While I can sleep with lights on and the eyemask, I find a darkened cabin much more comfortable.

I got a few hours of sleep before the cabin lights were turned back on.

For breakfast, I chose the omelette. The omelette and the fresh fruit made a good breakfast.


Breakfast

Soon we started descent. The landscape became a lot greener than it was when I departed, with lots of yellow rape fields. The final approach was from the West over the junction of Rhine and Main rivers, which offered an excellent view of Mainz and Wiesbaden cities. Soon we were on the ground.


Looking forward to some nice weather on the ground


City of Mainz on the Rhine river


Cities of Mainz and Wiesbaden and the junction of Rhine and Main rivers


Lufthansa A340 landing in front of us

Lufthansa did it's best to make me feel right at home in FRA, because after the landing we taxied past the terminal and had to disembark via stairs and take buses to the terminal The crew told me it was not usual to disembark a 744 this way and that it was most likely due to our early arrival. Don't know about other passengers, but I would have preferred spending the 20 minutes until the scheduled arrival time circling somewhere over Germany

I went to the lounge to grab some fruits. When passing immigration, I insisted on getting an entry stamp in my (German) passport in order to have some proof that I didn't overstay in the USA. Half an hour later I was at home enjoying a beaufitul warm sunny day in Frankfurt.

This concludes this trip report. The total distance traveled was slightly over 35600 miles and it was a very good way to spend 160K award miles. Just like after every good trip, I arrived home not exhausted, but looking forward to future adventures

uavking

Great trip report!

aSiAnRiCk

I stayed 45 mts after work just so I can finish reading your report. Well, I was doing other stuff too but mostly spent on reading them

Anyway, great report! Thanks for the good read ^

Gnopps

Thanks for the report and all the pictures, and congratulations on getting that SIN-EWR in C!

MilesDependent

One of the best reports I've read here for a while. Succinct and interesting comments combined with great photos. Well done.