Old World First Class: LH vs BA plus Aloft London
May 7, 2012, 3:57 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: A few
Posts: 5,499
Old World First Class: LH vs BA plus Aloft London
Please be gentle, first time trip report...
The Germans and the Brits have a long history. While the Brits may have gotten the better of the two world wars, since then in both the economic and sporting fields the Germans seem to have pulled ahead. Despite our Russian assisted World Cup win in 1966 we all know deep down inside the Germans have outclassed us in our native sport. Britain has had it's ups and downs in the global economy but can't compare to the steady and consistent development of Germany. As a Brit now living abroad and needing to make a quick trip back home for a week, I was curious to see how these old rivals fared in the skies. Having read lots, and lots, and lots about the joys, pains and wonders of Lufthansa and BA first class I simply could not resist the opportunity to try them out head to head. I have done BA First in the past, but quite a few years ago now, and have never had the pleasure of Lufthansa.
My company policy is to fly coach, but that is against my own religious principles, and with 3m odd miles sitting in my various accounts I thought may as well blow some of it on a first class extravaganza. So I booked RDU-IAD-FRA-LHR on the way out in LH F (and UA), and as I had a family visit on the way back came back MAN-LHR-MIA-RDU on BA (and AA) on the way back.
So here is how it fared out. I am only covering the TATL sections, no need to bore you all with how UA domestic F is on a 237 mile flight! Turns out I ended up in both carriers respective "old" F products, so this is going to quickly become a historical relic. And the comparison may be unfair as I was the only passenger on the outbound leg, while 14/14 F seats were taken on my BA return flight. Anyway they were both excellent....
1) Spending the day in IAD - AAdmirals Club and Lufthansa Senator Lounge
2) LH 417 IAD-FRA - the whole F cabin to myself!
3) Brief visit to Lufthansa F lounge Frankfurt
4) Aloft London Excel
5) On way home - Concorde Room at Heathrow Terminal 5
6) BA 209 LHR-MIA - full house this time
7) Concluding thoughts
Thanks for reading!
p.s. all photos are taken with an iPhone so quality is ok not great. The quality of these cameras are getting to the point where it's getting tough to justify carrying a separate camera on a trip
The Germans and the Brits have a long history. While the Brits may have gotten the better of the two world wars, since then in both the economic and sporting fields the Germans seem to have pulled ahead. Despite our Russian assisted World Cup win in 1966 we all know deep down inside the Germans have outclassed us in our native sport. Britain has had it's ups and downs in the global economy but can't compare to the steady and consistent development of Germany. As a Brit now living abroad and needing to make a quick trip back home for a week, I was curious to see how these old rivals fared in the skies. Having read lots, and lots, and lots about the joys, pains and wonders of Lufthansa and BA first class I simply could not resist the opportunity to try them out head to head. I have done BA First in the past, but quite a few years ago now, and have never had the pleasure of Lufthansa.
My company policy is to fly coach, but that is against my own religious principles, and with 3m odd miles sitting in my various accounts I thought may as well blow some of it on a first class extravaganza. So I booked RDU-IAD-FRA-LHR on the way out in LH F (and UA), and as I had a family visit on the way back came back MAN-LHR-MIA-RDU on BA (and AA) on the way back.
So here is how it fared out. I am only covering the TATL sections, no need to bore you all with how UA domestic F is on a 237 mile flight! Turns out I ended up in both carriers respective "old" F products, so this is going to quickly become a historical relic. And the comparison may be unfair as I was the only passenger on the outbound leg, while 14/14 F seats were taken on my BA return flight. Anyway they were both excellent....
1) Spending the day in IAD - AAdmirals Club and Lufthansa Senator Lounge
2) LH 417 IAD-FRA - the whole F cabin to myself!
3) Brief visit to Lufthansa F lounge Frankfurt
4) Aloft London Excel
5) On way home - Concorde Room at Heathrow Terminal 5
6) BA 209 LHR-MIA - full house this time
7) Concluding thoughts
Thanks for reading!
p.s. all photos are taken with an iPhone so quality is ok not great. The quality of these cameras are getting to the point where it's getting tough to justify carrying a separate camera on a trip
Last edited by ma91pmh; May 8, 2012 at 6:39 am
May 7, 2012, 3:57 pm
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: A few
Posts: 5,499
1) Spending the day in IAD - AAdmirals Club and Lufthansa Senator Lounge
While I really wanted to try the LH product, last minute availability and scheduling meant I could only get a 6am flight up to IAD before the 3pm departure to Frankfurt. So basically I had to spend most of my Sunday ambling around the joy that is IAD. Now on landing and on arrival in the UA area this was looking a grim prospect. I wasn't sure my plane had gone south instead and I had somehow ended up in some forsaken corner of Honduras, but a decent enough stroll over to where the "real" airlines fly from quickly lightened up the mood. Thing is it was only 7am and while Lufthansa have a Senator lounge here, it didn't open until 8:10am. As luck would have it though the AAdmirals club was already open and thanks to my Citi Exec Card which recently just pushed me over the magic 2m mark on AA, I was able to grab my first coffee of the day. The lounge was quite small but very nice and clean, and pretty much empty. The only guy in the shot below had vanished by the time I got back from the bathroom:
Other than the bar there was a seating section (with a couple of sleeping passengers who looked like they'd been there all night) and a computer stand
Anyway I had some time to login and read emails etc with a great internet connection. After a coffee or two it was soon enough time to start heading over to the LH lounge to check it out. Loved that they place it right under the German flag (correction: as pointed out it is the Belgian flag, though the colors are pretty easy to mix up!):
I'm kind of wondering what the staff thought I was smoking when I check in at 8:15 for a 3:00pm flight but hey I don't make up UAs schedules. I was directed to the left and into the Senator lounge which I had read GREAT things about. I took a look around, so the food stand, seating area etc and thought "this is ok". Food presentation looked nice:
However there was not a lot to be had for breakfast, which was a bit of a let down as I hadn't eaten at that point. So had to settle for some cheerios and juice. Not surprisingly the place was pretty empty, a couple of other folks who I presume were waiting for the noon-ish ANA flight to Tokyo.
After breakfast I needed to get a shoe shine, which turned into an adventure in it's own right. The only place listed inside security was in the UA area, so I wondered back over there. But no shoe-shiner in sight. No problem I will go check out the UA First lounge and see if they can point me in the right direction. However I got the walk of shame there as apparently you can only go in if you are on UA first or *A Gold. Whatever, I am sure it was a dump anyway *lol* But they did tell me the place inside security was closed so I had to go out. So out I went, and frankly got a phenomenal shine, so was happy with that even though then I had to do the 3-2-1 security dance once again. But hey not like I did not have time....
On returning to Senator lounge the place was packed. Internet connection at this point was plain awful. That is for sure one thing the AA club had much better. But at least here I could have a nice lunch of clam chowder:
Soon after that the ANA flight boarded and I was now the only person in the club. This was a sign of what was coming! I had checked previously how full F was and it looked like two other passengers, which was backed up by both the F5 (out of 8) status and the seat map. But obsessive as I was, I checked the seat map and saw that the two taken seats were now opened up. Could it be??
I decided to have a glass of champagne as it was now the afternoon. The odd thing is you have to ask for it, but there is no bar, so you kind of have to stand around like a lemon until someone asks you. Well someone did, and ended up chatting to this person who was from Nepal which was kind of interesting. By this point the plane was sitting there for my admiration:
Nice to have the dual jet bridge to avoid the peasants in Y
Rather amusingly I was no longer able to watch TV as it seems someone had forgotten to pay the bill!
Anyway it was fun sipping champers, enjoying the view, and bantering here on FT. I was giving something of a live rundown on this thread here
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...abin-j-lh.html
And I had time to read a lot of this thread, which a) is just about the funniest thread I have read anywhere on FT, and b) was great preparation for what was to come.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...ce-thread.html
And with that there was an announcement that we were boarding, and off I went. It is very nice that you board from the club itself, so no need to go back into the nasty terminal, just straight on board that nice Airbus awaiting me!......
While I really wanted to try the LH product, last minute availability and scheduling meant I could only get a 6am flight up to IAD before the 3pm departure to Frankfurt. So basically I had to spend most of my Sunday ambling around the joy that is IAD. Now on landing and on arrival in the UA area this was looking a grim prospect. I wasn't sure my plane had gone south instead and I had somehow ended up in some forsaken corner of Honduras, but a decent enough stroll over to where the "real" airlines fly from quickly lightened up the mood. Thing is it was only 7am and while Lufthansa have a Senator lounge here, it didn't open until 8:10am. As luck would have it though the AAdmirals club was already open and thanks to my Citi Exec Card which recently just pushed me over the magic 2m mark on AA, I was able to grab my first coffee of the day. The lounge was quite small but very nice and clean, and pretty much empty. The only guy in the shot below had vanished by the time I got back from the bathroom:
Other than the bar there was a seating section (with a couple of sleeping passengers who looked like they'd been there all night) and a computer stand
Anyway I had some time to login and read emails etc with a great internet connection. After a coffee or two it was soon enough time to start heading over to the LH lounge to check it out. Loved that they place it right under the German flag (correction: as pointed out it is the Belgian flag, though the colors are pretty easy to mix up!):
I'm kind of wondering what the staff thought I was smoking when I check in at 8:15 for a 3:00pm flight but hey I don't make up UAs schedules. I was directed to the left and into the Senator lounge which I had read GREAT things about. I took a look around, so the food stand, seating area etc and thought "this is ok". Food presentation looked nice:
However there was not a lot to be had for breakfast, which was a bit of a let down as I hadn't eaten at that point. So had to settle for some cheerios and juice. Not surprisingly the place was pretty empty, a couple of other folks who I presume were waiting for the noon-ish ANA flight to Tokyo.
After breakfast I needed to get a shoe shine, which turned into an adventure in it's own right. The only place listed inside security was in the UA area, so I wondered back over there. But no shoe-shiner in sight. No problem I will go check out the UA First lounge and see if they can point me in the right direction. However I got the walk of shame there as apparently you can only go in if you are on UA first or *A Gold. Whatever, I am sure it was a dump anyway *lol* But they did tell me the place inside security was closed so I had to go out. So out I went, and frankly got a phenomenal shine, so was happy with that even though then I had to do the 3-2-1 security dance once again. But hey not like I did not have time....
On returning to Senator lounge the place was packed. Internet connection at this point was plain awful. That is for sure one thing the AA club had much better. But at least here I could have a nice lunch of clam chowder:
Soon after that the ANA flight boarded and I was now the only person in the club. This was a sign of what was coming! I had checked previously how full F was and it looked like two other passengers, which was backed up by both the F5 (out of 8) status and the seat map. But obsessive as I was, I checked the seat map and saw that the two taken seats were now opened up. Could it be??
I decided to have a glass of champagne as it was now the afternoon. The odd thing is you have to ask for it, but there is no bar, so you kind of have to stand around like a lemon until someone asks you. Well someone did, and ended up chatting to this person who was from Nepal which was kind of interesting. By this point the plane was sitting there for my admiration:
Nice to have the dual jet bridge to avoid the peasants in Y
Rather amusingly I was no longer able to watch TV as it seems someone had forgotten to pay the bill!Anyway it was fun sipping champers, enjoying the view, and bantering here on FT. I was giving something of a live rundown on this thread here
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...abin-j-lh.html
And I had time to read a lot of this thread, which a) is just about the funniest thread I have read anywhere on FT, and b) was great preparation for what was to come.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...ce-thread.html
And with that there was an announcement that we were boarding, and off I went. It is very nice that you board from the club itself, so no need to go back into the nasty terminal, just straight on board that nice Airbus awaiting me!......
Last edited by ma91pmh; Jun 3, 2012 at 6:26 pm
May 7, 2012, 3:58 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: A few
Posts: 5,499
2) LH 417 IAD-FRA - the whole F cabin to myself!
LH417 IAD - FRA Dep 3:00pm Arr 5:15am
Seat 1k
Upon entering I was quickly whisked to my seat 1K. I was holding out for some vague hope that some switch would mean it would be new F, but it was the old product, but still looked pretty good. I was in pretty quick and was still not 100% sure at this stage I'd have the place to myself, so while it was quiet I took plenty of snaps of the very nice cabin.
my home for tonight:
cabin views
I was asked if I wanted a drink, and there is only ever one answer to that question, so on it came.... along with confirmation at this point from the FA that I would have the entire cabin to myself! She said there were two other pax who had switched to the later flight. Frankly having now done this flight I think they made the smart move! But still very nice to know and made the champers all the more enjoyable
Although there were two jet bridges everyone in J boarded through F, so I had to watch the crowd amble through the cabin, along with one guy who for whatever reason insisted on his bags going in F overheads. Go figure. But before long we were all boarded up and ready to go, and after a quick taxi we were up in the air....
Once up in the air, service started pretty quickly... and hey I kind of knew I was going to be first served
First up was a nice little salmon and cucumber amuse-bouche to fiddle with while I perused the menu
Now the thing I normally like about first class dining is you have more interesting options like duck and lamb and some usually exotic stuff, so I was a bit disappointed to see that the offerings this afternoon were basically a first class version of chicken, beef or fish sir?
So anyway I decided to go with the beef. But the best bits were like some of the more beautiful folks in the world all "up-front"! I was asked if I wanted the caviar, with the obvious answer, and whether or not I wanted vodka, which was a less obvious answer. I am not a hard liquor drinker, but it seemed "de-rigeur" so I had to say yes. Anyway caviar was fabulous:
I could have passed on the vodka but hey another glass of champagne easily removed the bad taste. Next up a nice platter of appetizers to choose from, and I took the shrimp and the sirloin, both of which were ab fab:
At this point I glanced outside and saw we were passing over a very exotic looking island, I figured we were too far north for Bermuda and it looks similar but not quite the same, anyone know where this is??? I have no idea:
Anyway back to the food and soon was time for the main course. I had to giggle as each and every time the FA laid out my knive and fork the wrong way around:
The beef turned out pretty nice and well presented:
and by this point I had my own little private bar going... I switched to a Bordeaux red, which was a pleasant but unmemorable Haut-Medoc:
I figure you ain't in F every day, at least I am not, so I basically did not say no to anything. So next up was some nice cheese to help go through the rest of that Bordeaux:
and finally, last but not least, a nice chocolate desert with tea to try help me get some sleep
After all the indulgence it was time to try get some sleep. Oddly they did not hand out pyjamas, just some kind of sweater, so I had to try sleep in my jeans. And I have to say I just could not do it. The problem is the departure time of mid-afternoon, and when you land it is basically around midnight, which is round about the time my body is actually ready for sleep. So try as I did, I could not get a wink of sleep.
Instead I ended up watching a couple of movies on the AVOD, which was a pretty small screen and smaller selection. But the seat was darn comfy. And I had some fun just walking around the cabin trying each seat to check out the view!
I had asked to not be woken up for breakfast, but hey I didn't go to sleep, but unfortunately was too spaced out through lack of sleep to get snaps of the breakfast menu and options. I ended up going with fruit, yogurt and coffee and enjoyed some pleasant views of Frankfurt as we came into land
And then before you know it the F experience was history, but not before checking out at least one the famed F lounges in Frankfurt.....
LH417 IAD - FRA Dep 3:00pm Arr 5:15am
Seat 1k
Upon entering I was quickly whisked to my seat 1K. I was holding out for some vague hope that some switch would mean it would be new F, but it was the old product, but still looked pretty good. I was in pretty quick and was still not 100% sure at this stage I'd have the place to myself, so while it was quiet I took plenty of snaps of the very nice cabin.
my home for tonight:
cabin views
I was asked if I wanted a drink, and there is only ever one answer to that question, so on it came.... along with confirmation at this point from the FA that I would have the entire cabin to myself! She said there were two other pax who had switched to the later flight. Frankly having now done this flight I think they made the smart move! But still very nice to know and made the champers all the more enjoyable
Although there were two jet bridges everyone in J boarded through F, so I had to watch the crowd amble through the cabin, along with one guy who for whatever reason insisted on his bags going in F overheads. Go figure. But before long we were all boarded up and ready to go, and after a quick taxi we were up in the air....
Once up in the air, service started pretty quickly... and hey I kind of knew I was going to be first served
First up was a nice little salmon and cucumber amuse-bouche to fiddle with while I perused the menu
Now the thing I normally like about first class dining is you have more interesting options like duck and lamb and some usually exotic stuff, so I was a bit disappointed to see that the offerings this afternoon were basically a first class version of chicken, beef or fish sir?
So anyway I decided to go with the beef. But the best bits were like some of the more beautiful folks in the world all "up-front"! I was asked if I wanted the caviar, with the obvious answer, and whether or not I wanted vodka, which was a less obvious answer. I am not a hard liquor drinker, but it seemed "de-rigeur" so I had to say yes. Anyway caviar was fabulous:
I could have passed on the vodka but hey another glass of champagne easily removed the bad taste. Next up a nice platter of appetizers to choose from, and I took the shrimp and the sirloin, both of which were ab fab:
At this point I glanced outside and saw we were passing over a very exotic looking island, I figured we were too far north for Bermuda and it looks similar but not quite the same, anyone know where this is??? I have no idea:
Anyway back to the food and soon was time for the main course. I had to giggle as each and every time the FA laid out my knive and fork the wrong way around:
The beef turned out pretty nice and well presented:
and by this point I had my own little private bar going... I switched to a Bordeaux red, which was a pleasant but unmemorable Haut-Medoc:
I figure you ain't in F every day, at least I am not, so I basically did not say no to anything. So next up was some nice cheese to help go through the rest of that Bordeaux:
and finally, last but not least, a nice chocolate desert with tea to try help me get some sleep
After all the indulgence it was time to try get some sleep. Oddly they did not hand out pyjamas, just some kind of sweater, so I had to try sleep in my jeans. And I have to say I just could not do it. The problem is the departure time of mid-afternoon, and when you land it is basically around midnight, which is round about the time my body is actually ready for sleep. So try as I did, I could not get a wink of sleep.
Instead I ended up watching a couple of movies on the AVOD, which was a pretty small screen and smaller selection. But the seat was darn comfy. And I had some fun just walking around the cabin trying each seat to check out the view!
I had asked to not be woken up for breakfast, but hey I didn't go to sleep, but unfortunately was too spaced out through lack of sleep to get snaps of the breakfast menu and options. I ended up going with fruit, yogurt and coffee and enjoyed some pleasant views of Frankfurt as we came into land
And then before you know it the F experience was history, but not before checking out at least one the famed F lounges in Frankfurt.....
Last edited by ma91pmh; May 8, 2012 at 6:17 am
May 7, 2012, 3:58 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: A few
Posts: 5,499
3) Brief visit to Lufthansa F lounge Frankfurt
We made a smooth landed and began our taxi to the terminal. And then we taxied some more ... and some more ... and some more... I started thinking we might have landed in Munich and the pilot was taxiing us down the auto-bahn to Frankfurt! Some fun plane-candy along the way though:
The "fun" crowd including CX, EK and KE
Handsome neighbor:
Finally we made it to the terminal at around 5:30am local. I had planned on an 8:20 connection to give me some time to enjoy the first class terminal, but frankly having not slept I wanted to get to London so I could go to the hotel and get some sleep before heading to work. So after wandering a lot I managed to switch to a 7am and then wandered some more to the gate. I didn't even plan on going to the Flounge but saw that it was right next to the gate for my LHR flight so could not resist popping in to check it out
Checking in the lady mentioned that I was too close to get a car (darn!) and that I only had 20 minutes before boarding, but frankly that was fine for a look around and a chance to get a coffee. And while I was wondering around aimlessly looking for the coffee machine a nice lady asked me if there was anything I wanted, and then I realized in F you don't pour your own So I took a nice seat next to a very cool TV that was showing sports highlights. Great chance to catch up on the weekends football results (the soccer variety) and enjoy a very nice coffee
After that there was no time to stay. I went to the very nice restrooms, picked up a shoe shine kit as I knew it would be raining in London and I wanted to keep that army-boot-shine I had got in IAD. I spotted the spa and some cabana rest rooms which looked sorely tempting. My basic conclusion having spent 20 minutes in this place is I need to come back, do this again, and really spend several hours to get the most of it. Clearly a first class, first class lounge
Next stop Heathrow and then on to my Aloft hotel in London's Docklands....
We made a smooth landed and began our taxi to the terminal. And then we taxied some more ... and some more ... and some more... I started thinking we might have landed in Munich and the pilot was taxiing us down the auto-bahn to Frankfurt! Some fun plane-candy along the way though:
The "fun" crowd including CX, EK and KE
Handsome neighbor:
Finally we made it to the terminal at around 5:30am local. I had planned on an 8:20 connection to give me some time to enjoy the first class terminal, but frankly having not slept I wanted to get to London so I could go to the hotel and get some sleep before heading to work. So after wandering a lot I managed to switch to a 7am and then wandered some more to the gate. I didn't even plan on going to the Flounge but saw that it was right next to the gate for my LHR flight so could not resist popping in to check it out
Checking in the lady mentioned that I was too close to get a car (darn!) and that I only had 20 minutes before boarding, but frankly that was fine for a look around and a chance to get a coffee. And while I was wondering around aimlessly looking for the coffee machine a nice lady asked me if there was anything I wanted, and then I realized in F you don't pour your own
So I took a nice seat next to a very cool TV that was showing sports highlights. Great chance to catch up on the weekends football results (the soccer variety) and enjoy a very nice coffeeAfter that there was no time to stay. I went to the very nice restrooms, picked up a shoe shine kit as I knew it would be raining in London and I wanted to keep that army-boot-shine I had got in IAD. I spotted the spa and some cabana rest rooms which looked sorely tempting. My basic conclusion having spent 20 minutes in this place is I need to come back, do this again, and really spend several hours to get the most of it. Clearly a first class, first class lounge
Next stop Heathrow and then on to my Aloft hotel in London's Docklands....
Last edited by ma91pmh; May 8, 2012 at 6:18 am
May 7, 2012, 3:59 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: A few
Posts: 5,499
4) Aloft London Excel
While not included here I have to say the flight from Frankfurt to Heathrow was very pleasant, I was very amused that the pilot was highly apologetic that we were going to be pushing back from the gate 5 minutes late, which is pretty much par for the course on any domestic US flight. Anyway nice trip over the channel, the white cliffs of Dover, and some good views of the new Olympic stadium on the way in:
And indeed after landing my trip directed back in the direction of that stadium to the Aloft London Docklands. An odd choice of hotel for someone working in West London but frankly I used to live in that neck of the woods and I was curious to see how it had changed in the years since I left, and given the exceptional rate of 69 GBP per night I wanted to check it out and see if this would be a good base for a future family visit
The hotel is situated at the "back" of the London Excel center right outside what to me is a new DLR station at Prince Regent. It is a brand new large complex that is directly connected to the center, so if you are going to Excel this is clearly a great location. Would be a great place to stay during the Olympics if you can find a room!
Despite arriving at around 10am check-in was a breeze and I took to my room on the lowly 2nd floor. For those of you not familiar the Aloft is a cheapo version of the W brand, so it's meant to be all glam and glitz. Personally I hate the Ws but find the Aloft a more bearable interpretation of the idea. Basically it's a glitzed up Novotel/Holiday Inn type place that looks like it's from this era and not the 70s. This particular one was trying to play up to it's Canary Wharf location too by having a stock ticker board in the lift area:
completely pointless, but a nice aesthetic none the less.
Anyway to access the rooms area you have to swipe your card and on entering I got that "new block of flats" smell that you get everywhere with these development in the UK. I guess it's something to do with the glue or whatever they use to stick these places together but they all smell the same and it's kind of comforting in assuring you it's all new! Quickly got to my room and I have to say very impressed, for London, close to transport and brand new at this price this is a lot of room:
Beds - two large singles/twins
Vanity
Shower
View of Docks/Excel
View of Excel
I managed to get a comfortable couple of hours nap before heading to work and a few days in my old home town of London which were thoroughly enjoyable
Got a couple of snaps on the way out too
Hotel exterior
DLR station
I very much enjoyed my choice of hotel. It won't be for everyone. If you are visiting London and really need to save money and don't mind a 30-45 minute trip to the main tourist spots then this will work out well. If you are visiting the Docklands area itself it is a great choice, certainly at the price point I paid.
While not included here I have to say the flight from Frankfurt to Heathrow was very pleasant, I was very amused that the pilot was highly apologetic that we were going to be pushing back from the gate 5 minutes late, which is pretty much par for the course on any domestic US flight. Anyway nice trip over the channel, the white cliffs of Dover, and some good views of the new Olympic stadium on the way in:
And indeed after landing my trip directed back in the direction of that stadium to the Aloft London Docklands. An odd choice of hotel for someone working in West London but frankly I used to live in that neck of the woods and I was curious to see how it had changed in the years since I left, and given the exceptional rate of 69 GBP per night I wanted to check it out and see if this would be a good base for a future family visit
The hotel is situated at the "back" of the London Excel center right outside what to me is a new DLR station at Prince Regent. It is a brand new large complex that is directly connected to the center, so if you are going to Excel this is clearly a great location. Would be a great place to stay during the Olympics if you can find a room!
Despite arriving at around 10am check-in was a breeze and I took to my room on the lowly 2nd floor. For those of you not familiar the Aloft is a cheapo version of the W brand, so it's meant to be all glam and glitz. Personally I hate the Ws but find the Aloft a more bearable interpretation of the idea. Basically it's a glitzed up Novotel/Holiday Inn type place that looks like it's from this era and not the 70s. This particular one was trying to play up to it's Canary Wharf location too by having a stock ticker board in the lift area:
completely pointless, but a nice aesthetic none the less.
Anyway to access the rooms area you have to swipe your card and on entering I got that "new block of flats" smell that you get everywhere with these development in the UK. I guess it's something to do with the glue or whatever they use to stick these places together but they all smell the same and it's kind of comforting in assuring you it's all new! Quickly got to my room and I have to say very impressed, for London, close to transport and brand new at this price this is a lot of room:
Beds - two large singles/twins
Vanity
Shower
View of Docks/Excel
View of Excel
I managed to get a comfortable couple of hours nap before heading to work and a few days in my old home town of London which were thoroughly enjoyable
Got a couple of snaps on the way out too
Hotel exterior
DLR station
I very much enjoyed my choice of hotel. It won't be for everyone. If you are visiting London and really need to save money and don't mind a 30-45 minute trip to the main tourist spots then this will work out well. If you are visiting the Docklands area itself it is a great choice, certainly at the price point I paid.
Last edited by ma91pmh; May 8, 2012 at 6:32 am
May 7, 2012, 3:59 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: A few
Posts: 5,499
5) On way home - Concorde Room at Heathrow Terminal 5
The only exciting thing about my trip from MAN-LHR is that as someone close to 40 years old, and having spent the majority of those years living in the UK, this was the first time I had ever flown domestically in the UK. There is not a lot to report other than I like the fact that they use a decent sized plane as this I am sure would be a CRJ if it were in the US, and also they gave out chocolate biscuits which were a very nice breakfast!
After the very short flight we got into Heathrow on time and got a gate at T5. Within a minute or two I was right in the middle of T5, and after ambling around the shops a little to get some souvenirs for the kids, I headed to the Concorde Club Room. They had a bouncer manning the door, which is a nice touch seeing the guy in front of me got turned away *lol* I was quickly checked in, there were a lot of people waiting but an equal number of staff to help smooth it along, and then I had an amble around to see what was on offer. I have to say it is a beautiful lounge, very open, airy with great views of the birds on the tarmac outside.
enjoying the views
While the lounge chairs all looked very comfy I was in the mood for a bite to eat, it was late morning and my flight was 1:35pm meaning a couple hours at least until lunch. I did not want to sit down in the dining area, a bit too much formal restaurant style for me and I would lose the view so I perched myself on one of the stools along the longbar tables next to the bar. I was quickly offered service and had to make the hard choice between Bollinger Rose and Taittinger. I've got to hand it to BA they offer great champers. I went with a glass of the pink Bolly and ordered some duck dumplings which turned out to be fabulous
duck dumplings and bubbles
the bar
ccr scenery
After the food I started to make my way over to the Elemis spa. I had called in advance from the terraces lounge at MAN to make a booking which is a good thing as they were otherwise full, and I was very quickly checked in and soon getting a nice shoulder and scalp massage. The only odd thing is they use these massage chairs that are extremely powerful, so I could barely tell what was going with the actual massage as it was being "drowned" by the strength of the chair. I'd suggest they make this a separate option.
Anyway it was a very nice way to while 20 minutes and by the time I was out it was getting close to time to leave for the gate. As with the Flounge in FRA, I wish I had allowed more time here. Could really imagine spending a fun afternoon between massages, booze and food at this fabulous club. But not to be this time and so off I headed to the B gate area for my departure
Some nice scenery along the way:
While at the club I noticed that 1K was available (I was booked in 2K) and I decided to switch to that. There is just something to be said for sitting right in the nose and watching forward. Anyway with 8-9 hours of F service in 1k ahead of me, I am pretty sure I will....
The only exciting thing about my trip from MAN-LHR is that as someone close to 40 years old, and having spent the majority of those years living in the UK, this was the first time I had ever flown domestically in the UK. There is not a lot to report other than I like the fact that they use a decent sized plane as this I am sure would be a CRJ if it were in the US, and also they gave out chocolate biscuits which were a very nice breakfast!
After the very short flight we got into Heathrow on time and got a gate at T5. Within a minute or two I was right in the middle of T5, and after ambling around the shops a little to get some souvenirs for the kids, I headed to the Concorde Club Room. They had a bouncer manning the door, which is a nice touch seeing the guy in front of me got turned away *lol* I was quickly checked in, there were a lot of people waiting but an equal number of staff to help smooth it along, and then I had an amble around to see what was on offer. I have to say it is a beautiful lounge, very open, airy with great views of the birds on the tarmac outside.
enjoying the views
While the lounge chairs all looked very comfy I was in the mood for a bite to eat, it was late morning and my flight was 1:35pm meaning a couple hours at least until lunch. I did not want to sit down in the dining area, a bit too much formal restaurant style for me and I would lose the view so I perched myself on one of the stools along the longbar tables next to the bar. I was quickly offered service and had to make the hard choice between Bollinger Rose and Taittinger. I've got to hand it to BA they offer great champers. I went with a glass of the pink Bolly and ordered some duck dumplings which turned out to be fabulous
duck dumplings and bubbles
the bar
ccr scenery
After the food I started to make my way over to the Elemis spa. I had called in advance from the terraces lounge at MAN to make a booking which is a good thing as they were otherwise full, and I was very quickly checked in and soon getting a nice shoulder and scalp massage. The only odd thing is they use these massage chairs that are extremely powerful, so I could barely tell what was going with the actual massage as it was being "drowned" by the strength of the chair. I'd suggest they make this a separate option.
Anyway it was a very nice way to while 20 minutes and by the time I was out it was getting close to time to leave for the gate. As with the Flounge in FRA, I wish I had allowed more time here. Could really imagine spending a fun afternoon between massages, booze and food at this fabulous club. But not to be this time and so off I headed to the B gate area for my departure
Some nice scenery along the way:
While at the club I noticed that 1K was available (I was booked in 2K) and I decided to switch to that. There is just something to be said for sitting right in the nose and watching forward. Anyway with 8-9 hours of F service in 1k ahead of me, I am pretty sure I will....
Last edited by ma91pmh; May 8, 2012 at 9:39 am
May 7, 2012, 4:00 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: A few
Posts: 5,499
6) BA 209 LHR-MIA - full house this time
Boarding had already began and it was a bit of a scrum but I quickly made my way through and before I knew it I was back in one of my favorite spots of the world - the nose of a 747! It took no time at all for someone to bring me some more champagne along with PJs (ok BA already up on LH at this stage!) and amenity kit. So far cabin was looking about half full or so and I managed to get a few snaps of the surroundings while it was quiet:
infamous 1A. many a celeb butt has sat on this seat
1a and 2a
cabin view (this was actually taken on my way out of the plane at the end of the flight)
I had of course been hoping to try New First, and had followed the tracking thread and seen my flight was around a 50/50 chance but those odds looked bad when the latest update showed about 4 days solid of the flight running NF (meaning I was likely to hit the next patch of OF). But none the less I was happy as the product is still in my view excellent and I could tell from the get go it was a good crew. The purser came over and introduced himself and actually unprompted apologized profusely for the old product and said they were in the process of converting everything. I was just glad it was someone clearly enthusiastic and proud of their work.
I was curious if 1A would end up being taken, as it sure was close. Meanwhile the rest of the cabin was filling up, and soon enough we had a full house. A middle aged lady took seat in 1A and I suspected she was non-revenue and I am pretty certain this was the case (the biggest evidence being when the FA was taking meal choices I heard her "whispering" that they would let her choose from whatever is left). Not that it bothered me in the least bit quite the opposite in fact just an observation. But looking around I saw the cabin was completely full, all 14 F seats occupied. A stark contrast to my previous empty cabin on LH!
After a bit of taxing round and about T5 and enjoying the spectacle of dozens of BA planes we were up and on our way to Miami.
After take off champagne was quickly delivered again. They were serving Laurent Perrier Grande Siecle. This is one of the most fabulous champagnes in the world IMHO and smoother and more refined than the offerings of DP or Krug. It is a fascinating tri-vintage product and very unique. It was making me a very happy camper:
I started to look at the menu, and had a bit of a laugh that it was again chicken or beef style done posh
It took quite a long time for my order to be taken, I am going to say a good hour after take-off, but as I say a full cabin so can understand they were busy. The biggest disappointment of Old F is the crappy IFE, and I was initially pleased to see a card offering the iPad service. My own laptop was battery dead so I hadn't been able to load anything up on it as backup, so I asked about getting an iPad and the FA said yes all enthusiastically but then came back maybe 10 minutes later to say they weren't available and were only on 777s. That's fine and dandy but a bit odd then to carry the cards? Ah whatever, give me some Grande Siecle and I won't complain
Eventually my food service began and glad this time they knew which side to put the knife and fork
I went with the scallop and pork "thing" to start with and it tasted about as good as it looked"
and given the lack of a more interesting option I went with the beef for main. It tasted ok, but er, there ain't much of it:
At this point I had switched from the Grande Siecle to the Bordeaux, which was an obscure 5th growth but pretty decent.
I guess they were just being nice with the small portions in leaving lots of room for desert. Which I gladly made use of. The sundae was it has to be said fabulous and went some way for making up for the lackluster main
with desert I switched to the Sauternes on offer, which was absolutely fabulous. Despite the full house I appeared to be the only one drinking the desert wine, and the half bottle did not take too long to polish off!
After polishing off the sundae I was also brought a nice box of chocolates, and I managed to devour many of these to enjoy the Sautrernes with:
After all of that I was feeling pretty stuffed, and so went to change into the PJ's and managed to sleep for a few hours. I have to say the old F product is a very comfortable bed. The FA made up the bed as I changed and it made for a very comfortable sleep and a good chance to catch up on some sleep after a hectic week and a lot of champagne
Before too long though it was time to come back down to Earth both literally and figuratively. We were offered afternoon tea with sandwiches which I thoroughly enjoyed while listening to some Radio 4 comedy. Some real "getting back to British roots" moment there! Shortly after we made the descendant and in no time were on the ground in Miami and my F experience for now was over.
Boarding had already began and it was a bit of a scrum but I quickly made my way through and before I knew it I was back in one of my favorite spots of the world - the nose of a 747! It took no time at all for someone to bring me some more champagne along with PJs (ok BA already up on LH at this stage!) and amenity kit. So far cabin was looking about half full or so and I managed to get a few snaps of the surroundings while it was quiet:
infamous 1A. many a celeb butt has sat on this seat
1a and 2a
cabin view (this was actually taken on my way out of the plane at the end of the flight)
I had of course been hoping to try New First, and had followed the tracking thread and seen my flight was around a 50/50 chance but those odds looked bad when the latest update showed about 4 days solid of the flight running NF (meaning I was likely to hit the next patch of OF). But none the less I was happy as the product is still in my view excellent and I could tell from the get go it was a good crew. The purser came over and introduced himself and actually unprompted apologized profusely for the old product and said they were in the process of converting everything. I was just glad it was someone clearly enthusiastic and proud of their work.
I was curious if 1A would end up being taken, as it sure was close. Meanwhile the rest of the cabin was filling up, and soon enough we had a full house. A middle aged lady took seat in 1A and I suspected she was non-revenue and I am pretty certain this was the case (the biggest evidence being when the FA was taking meal choices I heard her "whispering" that they would let her choose from whatever is left). Not that it bothered me in the least bit quite the opposite in fact just an observation. But looking around I saw the cabin was completely full, all 14 F seats occupied. A stark contrast to my previous empty cabin on LH!
After a bit of taxing round and about T5 and enjoying the spectacle of dozens of BA planes we were up and on our way to Miami.
After take off champagne was quickly delivered again. They were serving Laurent Perrier Grande Siecle. This is one of the most fabulous champagnes in the world IMHO and smoother and more refined than the offerings of DP or Krug. It is a fascinating tri-vintage product and very unique. It was making me a very happy camper:
I started to look at the menu, and had a bit of a laugh that it was again chicken or beef style done posh
It took quite a long time for my order to be taken, I am going to say a good hour after take-off, but as I say a full cabin so can understand they were busy. The biggest disappointment of Old F is the crappy IFE, and I was initially pleased to see a card offering the iPad service. My own laptop was battery dead so I hadn't been able to load anything up on it as backup, so I asked about getting an iPad and the FA said yes all enthusiastically but then came back maybe 10 minutes later to say they weren't available and were only on 777s. That's fine and dandy but a bit odd then to carry the cards? Ah whatever, give me some Grande Siecle and I won't complain
Eventually my food service began and glad this time they knew which side to put the knife and fork
I went with the scallop and pork "thing" to start with and it tasted about as good as it looked"
and given the lack of a more interesting option I went with the beef for main. It tasted ok, but er, there ain't much of it:
At this point I had switched from the Grande Siecle to the Bordeaux, which was an obscure 5th growth but pretty decent.
I guess they were just being nice with the small portions in leaving lots of room for desert. Which I gladly made use of. The sundae was it has to be said fabulous and went some way for making up for the lackluster main
with desert I switched to the Sauternes on offer, which was absolutely fabulous. Despite the full house I appeared to be the only one drinking the desert wine, and the half bottle did not take too long to polish off!
After polishing off the sundae I was also brought a nice box of chocolates, and I managed to devour many of these to enjoy the Sautrernes with:
After all of that I was feeling pretty stuffed, and so went to change into the PJ's and managed to sleep for a few hours. I have to say the old F product is a very comfortable bed. The FA made up the bed as I changed and it made for a very comfortable sleep and a good chance to catch up on some sleep after a hectic week and a lot of champagne
Before too long though it was time to come back down to Earth both literally and figuratively. We were offered afternoon tea with sandwiches which I thoroughly enjoyed while listening to some Radio 4 comedy. Some real "getting back to British roots" moment there! Shortly after we made the descendant and in no time were on the ground in Miami and my F experience for now was over.
Last edited by ma91pmh; May 10, 2012 at 6:15 am
May 7, 2012, 4:00 pm
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: A few
Posts: 5,499
7) Concluding thoughts
It was a really fun trip to take, I am glad that I paid the extra points to go F rather than J (or use vips to upgrade Y fares). It would have been really nice to have had both new F products, but hey that just means I will have to do it all again some time to experience that
I don't think there is much I can say here that hasn't already been said on FT many a time. Both products are excellent, I think Lufthansa has the better food, and a more efficient style of service. BA has dubious food offering but a very colloquial service style that works well if you are British or fond of things Brit. I think both are really true to stereo-type to be honest and I doubt that is accidental. I think a "neutral" would likely prefer Lufthansa, and I certainly understand that BA can be hit and miss on the service front, and I was lucky enough to get the hit. I will say I find the BA seat more comfortable in pretty much any position, but as the new F products rollout that difference will change. And finally I will say BA has superior wine, especially the champagne. The Devaux in Lufthansa is pretty plane stuff (no pun intended!) whereas the likes of Grande Siecle are the upper echelons of fine wine. I think LH have gone for pleasant, accessible mid-range wines whereas BA go for a more refined selection while staying away from the obvious heavy hitters like Dom, Krug etc
I found both the F lounge and the CCR to be fabulous and would rebook a trip involving either in a heart beat, I'd just make sure next time I had a good 4-5 hours or even more to really relax and enjoy the offerings.
But overall a thoroughly enjoyable experience and one I look forward to repeating in the future.
Thanks for reading and hope it was in some ways useful.
It was a really fun trip to take, I am glad that I paid the extra points to go F rather than J (or use vips to upgrade Y fares). It would have been really nice to have had both new F products, but hey that just means I will have to do it all again some time to experience that
I don't think there is much I can say here that hasn't already been said on FT many a time. Both products are excellent, I think Lufthansa has the better food, and a more efficient style of service. BA has dubious food offering but a very colloquial service style that works well if you are British or fond of things Brit. I think both are really true to stereo-type to be honest and I doubt that is accidental. I think a "neutral" would likely prefer Lufthansa, and I certainly understand that BA can be hit and miss on the service front, and I was lucky enough to get the hit. I will say I find the BA seat more comfortable in pretty much any position, but as the new F products rollout that difference will change. And finally I will say BA has superior wine, especially the champagne. The Devaux in Lufthansa is pretty plane stuff (no pun intended!) whereas the likes of Grande Siecle are the upper echelons of fine wine. I think LH have gone for pleasant, accessible mid-range wines whereas BA go for a more refined selection while staying away from the obvious heavy hitters like Dom, Krug etc
I found both the F lounge and the CCR to be fabulous and would rebook a trip involving either in a heart beat, I'd just make sure next time I had a good 4-5 hours or even more to really relax and enjoy the offerings.
But overall a thoroughly enjoyable experience and one I look forward to repeating in the future.
Thanks for reading and hope it was in some ways useful.
Last edited by ma91pmh; May 8, 2012 at 1:32 pm
May 8, 2012, 4:48 am
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: A few
Posts: 5,499
Thanks for the correction on the flag. I have updated. They are quite close, and being right above the Lufthansa lounge my mind was playing tricks on me
And thanks for answering the island dilemma! Nice looking place!
May 8, 2012, 5:59 am
#11
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: BTR/MSY
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LTP, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,266
[B]2) Oddly they did not hand out pyjamas, just some kind of sweater, so I had to try sleep in my jeans. And I have to say I just could not do it. The problem is the departure time of mid-afternoon, and when you land it is basically around midnight, which is round about the time my body is actually ready for sleep. So try as I did, I could not get a wink of sleep.
Nice start to the TR. Looking forward to the rest.
May 8, 2012, 6:37 am
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: A few
Posts: 5,499
Thanks for the compliments, I am trying to get the rest done asap while it is all still fresh!
May 9, 2012, 2:37 pm
#14
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Dallas
Programs: AA LTPLT UA1P Hilton Dia Marriott Plat
Posts: 1,183
I just flew in the new BA F LHR JFK, your not missing anything except the IFE screen. 14 seats is way to many, BA should have gone with 10 or 9 like CX. It's very cramped and you have no place no store anything.
May 9, 2012, 4:40 pm
#15
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: YYZ
Posts: 369
2) LH 417 IAD-FRA - the whole F cabin to myself!
At this point I glanced outside and saw we were passing over a very exotic looking island, I figured we were too far north for Bermuda and it looks similar but not quite the same, anyone know where this is??? I have no idea:
.
At this point I glanced outside and saw we were passing over a very exotic looking island, I figured we were too far north for Bermuda and it looks similar but not quite the same, anyone know where this is??? I have no idea:
.
The island in the photo is Nantucket, Massachusetts. I have never been there but your photo has spiked my interest.