TLS to WAW via MUC and FRA; LH J along with the Westin Warsaw
Jul 29, 2012, 2:18 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: TLS/London
Programs: BA Gold, SPG Plat
Posts: 442
TLS to WAW via MUC and FRA; LH J along with the Westin Warsaw
Trip on LH from TLS to WAW via MUC and FRA with a stay at the Warsaw Westin
Please be kind as this is my first proper trip report - I've recently upgraded my point and shoot camera to a DSLR and inspired by Matt_Handy's work I felt that I should get to know it by taking it on a short business trip and producing a trip report.
I'm normally almost exclusively a BA flyer but occasionally venture onto other carriers and in this case I needed to do a business trip to Warsaw from the Toulouse area where our family has a holiday home and retreats to for most of the summer.
When looking at booking the trip I was trying to minimise the time away from the family and nights away and one of the good things about Toulouse airport is there is a 06:45 flight to Munich and another at the same time to Frankfurt, both with LH. The Munich flight offered the better connection to a Warsaw flight so booked that going out but coming back the Frankfurt connection was better so booked that to come back. LH operate the Munich legs as LH Regional and use a Canadair 900 whilst Frankfurt from Toulouse is "mainline" and operated on a 737 (some might consider that sacrilege to operate a 737 to the home of Airbus!).
It was an early start however to get the flight as we're about an hours drive from the airport so alarm duly set for 4am I arrived at the airport about 05:50. TLS airport has had considerable development the last couple of years and the parking garage is now enormous but steps from the terminal. Checking the rates on the way in showed that my 2 day stay would cost €31 and I managed to find a spot that left me a 50m walk to the terminal.
It was my first time in the new extension to the terminal and the feeling of space is very nice - glad they haven't gone for the soaring ceilings a la Heathrow T5 or Madrid T4 and the terminal felt nicely comfortable in its scale. The original terminal is best described as a crescent with the new bit extending one end in a straight line. An arched tunnel connects the old and the new.
The new "Area D"
Tunnel to the older part of the terminal
Airside access is through security either in section D or section B - there was a monitor at each entrance showing the queue time for each which is a nice touch.
I had checked in online using LH's impressive iOS app so went straight through B security as the flight would be departing from gate 05 (below 08 and you know it is a bus departure). Security was brisk and efficient with several lanes open but hardly any punters!
On the way to the gate, had to go past the Frankfurt gate and the early AF flight to Orly so the gate areas were reasonably busy.
AF A319 boarding for Orly.
The Canadair 900 that would be operating our flight to MUC.
"Boarding" (well filling the bus anyway) was underway when I got to the gate. Don't know if LH have use of a lounge here (assuming they do) but didn't really get the chance to check it out in any case - I should say I was flying J for this trip but don't have any status with LH. I got on the bus and found it oppressively hot, even at that time in the morning - there was no aircon and it was made worse by then having to wait for stragglers for a further 10-15 minutes.
On getting to the aircraft I held back boarding as I wanted to try and get some shots of the other side of the airfield where the Airbus factory is to see what was out on the field - unfortunately though without my larger lens the shots were a little too distant to share here but there were 3 A380s on show (Singapore Airlines, Malaysian Airlines and generic Airbus branded) and a host of A340s (Kingfisher, Virgin etc).
Luggage still being loaded as we boarded.
Now I have to admit that the Canadair 900 is not my favourite aircraft but for regional business class LH give you a pair of seats so the one next to you is free. Didn't really matter as for 3 rows of J there were only 2 of us but makes it bearable nonetheless!
The flight was fairly uneventful. There were 2 stewardesses serving the whole plane and both were friendly and had an engaging attitude. Their spoken English was absolutely perfect but not sure how much French they had. Announcements were done in German and English with French ones pre-recorded.
I fell asleep pretty quickly after take-off and awoke after a short nap to find the breakfast tray had been delivered to the table of the vacant seat next to me. Coffee and Juice was also quickly offered when it was noticed I was awake and refills were offered once the crew had delivered breakfast to the Y pax. Breakfast was largely as I expected - cheese and some fruit. The cheese was particularly good.
LH Regional breakfast
the Alps
En route there were great views of the Alps and Mont Blanc and it wasn't long before we arrived in Munich with a smooth landing. There was a little delay getting to the parking area for regional jets and there were quite a few lined up - both Lufty and Air Dolomiti.
Line up of regional jets at MUC
There was a single bus waiting to take pax to the terminal and it filled up pretty fast with those pax who had checked their bag at the aircraft door able to pick them up from a small trolley by the plane. Bit of a trek to the terminal but easy transfer once in the terminal building - just up a short escalator and that's it (for Schengen transfers at least) - you are then in the middle of the terminal area (terminal 2), no further security check or passport required. The escalator throws you out pretty close to the centre of the terminal and close to the LH lounges. As I had a couple of hours to kill (my flight to Warsaw wasn't until 10:45 and we landed around 08:25) I decided to check out the Business lounge.
Entrance to the LH Lounge Complex
The efficient lady at the lounge entrance took my iPhone to scan my boarding pass and gave me the green light for the Business lounge - I noted her console told her that I'd need my Senator card if I wanted to go into the Senator lounge. The Business lounge is upstairs and first impressions were good - it seemed spacious and very light. Not sure how many flights it needs to serve though - if it is the only J lounge then suspect it might get a bit packed at times. The space was divided into a cinema area near the entrance, a beer garden with long tables/benches, a business centre with a fair number of workstations, a cafe area with tables/chairs and a lounging section with armchairs lined meticulously lined up.
The lounge from the entrance steps
Cafe area of lounge
Have to say I felt the food offerings were fairly meagre (maybe I've just been spoilt by the BA F lounge at Heathrow T5!) - some cereal and a couple of cold cuts. Whilst the coffee machines did the job the booze selection was definitely limited. I did however appreciate that there were lockers supplied to store bags near the entrance and I noticed that there were showers if required in the lounge (though the toilets were unbearably hot). There is free wifi provided by T-Mobile so was able to catch up on email traffic.
I left the lounge about 10 in the hope of some good photo opportunities on the way to my gate and noticed at this point that the lounge had filled up substantially and there were few spare spaces available.
Now one of my pet peeves - the gate for my flight was G83 which is right at the end of the terminal and is a bussing gate - whilst I don't mind bussing so much, I do mind that they make you schlep out to the end of the terminal to get the bus - what's wrong with having the bussing gates in the centre next to the lounges, shops, cafes etc?
Mini-Allianz Arena in the terminal
Please be kind as this is my first proper trip report - I've recently upgraded my point and shoot camera to a DSLR and inspired by Matt_Handy's work I felt that I should get to know it by taking it on a short business trip and producing a trip report.
I'm normally almost exclusively a BA flyer but occasionally venture onto other carriers and in this case I needed to do a business trip to Warsaw from the Toulouse area where our family has a holiday home and retreats to for most of the summer.
When looking at booking the trip I was trying to minimise the time away from the family and nights away and one of the good things about Toulouse airport is there is a 06:45 flight to Munich and another at the same time to Frankfurt, both with LH. The Munich flight offered the better connection to a Warsaw flight so booked that going out but coming back the Frankfurt connection was better so booked that to come back. LH operate the Munich legs as LH Regional and use a Canadair 900 whilst Frankfurt from Toulouse is "mainline" and operated on a 737 (some might consider that sacrilege to operate a 737 to the home of Airbus!).
It was an early start however to get the flight as we're about an hours drive from the airport so alarm duly set for 4am I arrived at the airport about 05:50. TLS airport has had considerable development the last couple of years and the parking garage is now enormous but steps from the terminal. Checking the rates on the way in showed that my 2 day stay would cost €31 and I managed to find a spot that left me a 50m walk to the terminal.
It was my first time in the new extension to the terminal and the feeling of space is very nice - glad they haven't gone for the soaring ceilings a la Heathrow T5 or Madrid T4 and the terminal felt nicely comfortable in its scale. The original terminal is best described as a crescent with the new bit extending one end in a straight line. An arched tunnel connects the old and the new.
The new "Area D"
Tunnel to the older part of the terminal
Airside access is through security either in section D or section B - there was a monitor at each entrance showing the queue time for each which is a nice touch.
I had checked in online using LH's impressive iOS app so went straight through B security as the flight would be departing from gate 05 (below 08 and you know it is a bus departure). Security was brisk and efficient with several lanes open but hardly any punters!
On the way to the gate, had to go past the Frankfurt gate and the early AF flight to Orly so the gate areas were reasonably busy.
AF A319 boarding for Orly.
The Canadair 900 that would be operating our flight to MUC.
"Boarding" (well filling the bus anyway) was underway when I got to the gate. Don't know if LH have use of a lounge here (assuming they do) but didn't really get the chance to check it out in any case - I should say I was flying J for this trip but don't have any status with LH. I got on the bus and found it oppressively hot, even at that time in the morning - there was no aircon and it was made worse by then having to wait for stragglers for a further 10-15 minutes.
On getting to the aircraft I held back boarding as I wanted to try and get some shots of the other side of the airfield where the Airbus factory is to see what was out on the field - unfortunately though without my larger lens the shots were a little too distant to share here but there were 3 A380s on show (Singapore Airlines, Malaysian Airlines and generic Airbus branded) and a host of A340s (Kingfisher, Virgin etc).
Luggage still being loaded as we boarded.
Now I have to admit that the Canadair 900 is not my favourite aircraft but for regional business class LH give you a pair of seats so the one next to you is free. Didn't really matter as for 3 rows of J there were only 2 of us but makes it bearable nonetheless!
The flight was fairly uneventful. There were 2 stewardesses serving the whole plane and both were friendly and had an engaging attitude. Their spoken English was absolutely perfect but not sure how much French they had. Announcements were done in German and English with French ones pre-recorded.
I fell asleep pretty quickly after take-off and awoke after a short nap to find the breakfast tray had been delivered to the table of the vacant seat next to me. Coffee and Juice was also quickly offered when it was noticed I was awake and refills were offered once the crew had delivered breakfast to the Y pax. Breakfast was largely as I expected - cheese and some fruit. The cheese was particularly good.
LH Regional breakfast
the Alps
En route there were great views of the Alps and Mont Blanc and it wasn't long before we arrived in Munich with a smooth landing. There was a little delay getting to the parking area for regional jets and there were quite a few lined up - both Lufty and Air Dolomiti.
Line up of regional jets at MUC
There was a single bus waiting to take pax to the terminal and it filled up pretty fast with those pax who had checked their bag at the aircraft door able to pick them up from a small trolley by the plane. Bit of a trek to the terminal but easy transfer once in the terminal building - just up a short escalator and that's it (for Schengen transfers at least) - you are then in the middle of the terminal area (terminal 2), no further security check or passport required. The escalator throws you out pretty close to the centre of the terminal and close to the LH lounges. As I had a couple of hours to kill (my flight to Warsaw wasn't until 10:45 and we landed around 08:25) I decided to check out the Business lounge.
Entrance to the LH Lounge Complex
The efficient lady at the lounge entrance took my iPhone to scan my boarding pass and gave me the green light for the Business lounge - I noted her console told her that I'd need my Senator card if I wanted to go into the Senator lounge. The Business lounge is upstairs and first impressions were good - it seemed spacious and very light. Not sure how many flights it needs to serve though - if it is the only J lounge then suspect it might get a bit packed at times. The space was divided into a cinema area near the entrance, a beer garden with long tables/benches, a business centre with a fair number of workstations, a cafe area with tables/chairs and a lounging section with armchairs lined meticulously lined up.
The lounge from the entrance steps
Cafe area of lounge
Have to say I felt the food offerings were fairly meagre (maybe I've just been spoilt by the BA F lounge at Heathrow T5!) - some cereal and a couple of cold cuts. Whilst the coffee machines did the job the booze selection was definitely limited. I did however appreciate that there were lockers supplied to store bags near the entrance and I noticed that there were showers if required in the lounge (though the toilets were unbearably hot). There is free wifi provided by T-Mobile so was able to catch up on email traffic.
I left the lounge about 10 in the hope of some good photo opportunities on the way to my gate and noticed at this point that the lounge had filled up substantially and there were few spare spaces available.
Now one of my pet peeves - the gate for my flight was G83 which is right at the end of the terminal and is a bussing gate - whilst I don't mind bussing so much, I do mind that they make you schlep out to the end of the terminal to get the bus - what's wrong with having the bussing gates in the centre next to the lounges, shops, cafes etc?
Mini-Allianz Arena in the terminal
Jul 29, 2012, 2:21 pm
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: TLS/London
Programs: BA Gold, SPG Plat
Posts: 442
Part 2
MUC-WAW
On reaching the gate, boarding (the bus) had already begun so seeing the bus was already quite full I went through and sure enough just after I'd gotten on, they pulled up another bus and our one left. Back out to the parking area for regional jets I was very pleased to see our flight operated by an Embraer E190 - love these planes, even in Y they are great and offer good space (at least in the configs offered by BA and LH). As LH operate them with a spare seat next to J pax things get even better!
At this point however I became very jealous of the only other pax in business class - he got the chauffeur driven Merc S class to the plane from the LH First Class Terminal - available if you fly international F or if you are Hon Circle. Wish BA, my main airline, offered this as really looks like a fantastic benefit. I've got a flight to YYZ next month from TLS and am booked in BA F at the moment but considering changing to LH F to experience the transfer service!
So only 2 of us in 3 rows of J again but seemed reasonable busy down the back. The seats LH uses on most of their plane are quite thin but I find them very comfortable and they do increase the leg room slightly.
Seating on E-190
Once again announcements were done in English/German then a pre-recorded announcement was played in Polish. Pretty quickly we were airborne and lunch was served. The tray contained 4 separate mini-dishes that had the impression of amuse-bouches from a michelin aspiring restaurant - on reading the menu that came on the tray I saw they were indeed the work of Michelin starred chef Dirk Maus. Now I have to say that, faced with the menu descriptions, it didn't strike me as particularly what I was after but fair play, it was all tasty but didn't particularly gel as a 'meal' per se.
The menu was
- Mousse and filet of smoked eel with balsamico cherry tomato;
- ‘roasted carrot’ with breast of guinea fowl confit;
- gelled vegetable soup on spicy tomato chutney;
- elderflower soup with pink grapefruit and elderflowers (the best bit)
Lunch
The flight landed on time at WAW and it was a relatively quick taxi to the gate (no bus this time) and I was first off into the terminal. There was a Polish border guard waiting at the entrance apparently expecting a returned illegal immigrant who hadn't made the flight. No passport formalities as all Schengen countries and it was quickly out to the taxi rank to head for an afternoon at the office. One thing you do notice on business trips to Warsaw is how cheap the place is - taxis to the city from the airport hardly break £10 and good 5* hotels are generally under £100 per night.
Westin Warsaw
That night I was staying at the Westin Warsaw which is my usual hotel of choice being a Starwood points junkie. I'd booked a room on the Club floor though would have club access by virtue of being an SPG Platinum - however the upgrade you get as a Platinum tends to be to the corner rooms and I quite like being on or near the Club Lounge floor. The upgrade I got this time was to the corner room on the top floor (20th) which is a Westin Guest Office.
View from the room
The room is not overly spacious but very nice with good views over Warsaw. The "Guest Office" part I always find a bit of a joke as it means they have left a hole punch on the desk and a printer/fax machine. Now I would find this last part reasonably useful however the machine is so old you need to connect it with a parallel cable which I haven't seen on a laptop for about 10 years…..
Guest office amenities
Unusable printer/fax!
Excellent Westin shower head
20th floor lift lobby
I headed down to the 19th floor Club Lounge as they offer drinks and nibbles from 6-8 each evening. There is a daily changing selection of a couple of hot and cold items plus a wide selection of small cakes etc. The booze selection is pretty good and caters for most people (except the Dutch guy who came in just after me who asked the lounge attendant if she could make him a Mojito!).
Nibbles and a glass of Sauvignon
I like the lounge here - the views are quite decent and the quality of the food and drinks is pretty good. Some nights it can get quite busy but not this trip. Having an attendant on duty means that they are pretty good at refilling or replacing bottles etc.
I was pretty tired from an early start so headed back to my room reasonably quickly and ordered some room service as I was still a bit hungry.
The next morning I headed back to the lounge for breakfast. The breakfast spread is really very good and comprises hot items as well as the standard continental type fare.
Breakfast with a view
The full breakfast buffet
TV area of lounge
After breakfast I met with a colleague who had arrived late the previous night (I am fairly anti-social at breakfast) and after checking out we headed to the office (which is about half-way back to the airport). When getting a taxi at the Westin you have a choice of city cab or hotel cab. The hotel cab is about 50% more expensive but still a bargain compared to any other major European city and has the benefit of being very comfortable (typically a late model Volvo) and the driver speaking good English - not always the case with the City cabs. You also have the option of putting the cost on your hotel bill. We got a hotel cab as there would have been a small wait for a city cab.
On reaching the gate, boarding (the bus) had already begun so seeing the bus was already quite full I went through and sure enough just after I'd gotten on, they pulled up another bus and our one left. Back out to the parking area for regional jets I was very pleased to see our flight operated by an Embraer E190 - love these planes, even in Y they are great and offer good space (at least in the configs offered by BA and LH). As LH operate them with a spare seat next to J pax things get even better!
At this point however I became very jealous of the only other pax in business class - he got the chauffeur driven Merc S class to the plane from the LH First Class Terminal - available if you fly international F or if you are Hon Circle. Wish BA, my main airline, offered this as really looks like a fantastic benefit. I've got a flight to YYZ next month from TLS and am booked in BA F at the moment but considering changing to LH F to experience the transfer service!
So only 2 of us in 3 rows of J again but seemed reasonable busy down the back. The seats LH uses on most of their plane are quite thin but I find them very comfortable and they do increase the leg room slightly.
Seating on E-190
Once again announcements were done in English/German then a pre-recorded announcement was played in Polish. Pretty quickly we were airborne and lunch was served. The tray contained 4 separate mini-dishes that had the impression of amuse-bouches from a michelin aspiring restaurant - on reading the menu that came on the tray I saw they were indeed the work of Michelin starred chef Dirk Maus. Now I have to say that, faced with the menu descriptions, it didn't strike me as particularly what I was after but fair play, it was all tasty but didn't particularly gel as a 'meal' per se.
The menu was
- Mousse and filet of smoked eel with balsamico cherry tomato;
- ‘roasted carrot’ with breast of guinea fowl confit;
- gelled vegetable soup on spicy tomato chutney;
- elderflower soup with pink grapefruit and elderflowers (the best bit)
Lunch
The flight landed on time at WAW and it was a relatively quick taxi to the gate (no bus this time) and I was first off into the terminal. There was a Polish border guard waiting at the entrance apparently expecting a returned illegal immigrant who hadn't made the flight. No passport formalities as all Schengen countries and it was quickly out to the taxi rank to head for an afternoon at the office. One thing you do notice on business trips to Warsaw is how cheap the place is - taxis to the city from the airport hardly break £10 and good 5* hotels are generally under £100 per night.
Westin Warsaw
That night I was staying at the Westin Warsaw which is my usual hotel of choice being a Starwood points junkie. I'd booked a room on the Club floor though would have club access by virtue of being an SPG Platinum - however the upgrade you get as a Platinum tends to be to the corner rooms and I quite like being on or near the Club Lounge floor. The upgrade I got this time was to the corner room on the top floor (20th) which is a Westin Guest Office.
View from the room
The room is not overly spacious but very nice with good views over Warsaw. The "Guest Office" part I always find a bit of a joke as it means they have left a hole punch on the desk and a printer/fax machine. Now I would find this last part reasonably useful however the machine is so old you need to connect it with a parallel cable which I haven't seen on a laptop for about 10 years…..
Guest office amenities
Unusable printer/fax!
Excellent Westin shower head
20th floor lift lobby
I headed down to the 19th floor Club Lounge as they offer drinks and nibbles from 6-8 each evening. There is a daily changing selection of a couple of hot and cold items plus a wide selection of small cakes etc. The booze selection is pretty good and caters for most people (except the Dutch guy who came in just after me who asked the lounge attendant if she could make him a Mojito!).
Nibbles and a glass of Sauvignon
I like the lounge here - the views are quite decent and the quality of the food and drinks is pretty good. Some nights it can get quite busy but not this trip. Having an attendant on duty means that they are pretty good at refilling or replacing bottles etc.
I was pretty tired from an early start so headed back to my room reasonably quickly and ordered some room service as I was still a bit hungry.
The next morning I headed back to the lounge for breakfast. The breakfast spread is really very good and comprises hot items as well as the standard continental type fare.
Breakfast with a view
The full breakfast buffet
TV area of lounge
After breakfast I met with a colleague who had arrived late the previous night (I am fairly anti-social at breakfast) and after checking out we headed to the office (which is about half-way back to the airport). When getting a taxi at the Westin you have a choice of city cab or hotel cab. The hotel cab is about 50% more expensive but still a bargain compared to any other major European city and has the benefit of being very comfortable (typically a late model Volvo) and the driver speaking good English - not always the case with the City cabs. You also have the option of putting the cost on your hotel bill. We got a hotel cab as there would have been a small wait for a city cab.
Jul 29, 2012, 2:25 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: TLS/London
Programs: BA Gold, SPG Plat
Posts: 442
Part 3
WAW-TLS via FRA
After a morning of meetings I headed to the airport around noon and got there pretty quickly so was in the terminal by about 12:20. I had checked in using the LH iPhone app for my flight to Frankfurt and onward connection to Toulouse. There appears to be some building work at the airport around the security scanners so the business class fast track had moved to the end of the building - it was extremely quick when I got there as I was the only one using it so no delay whatsoever. I always find security at WAW amusing as it is in the hands of the paramilitary police who are all carrying sidearms and obviously spends hours in the gym weight training as they make Arnie look like a weakling (and that is just the women).
I then headed for the LOT Business lounge eager to check out their home airport lounge and duly found it quite quickly up a short escalator.
Entrance to the LOT Business lounge
The lounge is a slightly strange shape being long and thin though in reality not that long. There wasn't a fantastic amount of seating so again I suspect it gets quite crowded at times. It wasn't busy at lunchtime on a Friday so I found a seat and went looking for some lunch. The food options were some soup (think it might have been pea as it was green) and a couple of platters of cheese and cold meats with some bread rolls. I duly helped myself to some cheese, ham and bread and made myself a couple of open sandwiches. Wifi is free in the lounge though you need to get the code on a small scrap of paper from the front desk.
LOT Business lounge
Again I left a little bit early to try and get some photos and meandered down towards my gate (again at the end of the terminal).
LH E-190 about to depart for Munich
It is a long thin terminal…
For this flight we were on an Airbus A-321. Boarding commenced a few minutes late and there was quite a scrum for boarding. Business class was a little busier on this flight with 50% occupancy of the 14 seats. The seats were standard economy seats with the middle seat left free (not expanded etc like some of the seats in European J).
Obligatory cloud shot
Lunch on this sector was somewhat disappointing - a small salad - must admit I expected more for business class on a major European carrier, something hot at least. The menu tells me it is from our friend Dirk Maus again.
Disappointing lunch
Power station on approach to FRA
FRA viewed on landing
The flight again was uneventful and I snoozed for quite a lot of it and we landed about 10 minutes early into FRA. On arrival we seemed to taxi all the way back to WAW given how long it took us to get to the terminal! We arrived at the A gates and my flight to TLS was departing from a lower A gate so quite convenient. I headed towards my gate and the lounge which was between the 2. Now I appreciate that the FRA terminal is a lot older than MUC but what a contrast. This was positively archaic and felt depressing - low ceilings, few facilities, dark and sparse views onto the apron. I briefly visited the LH Business lounge - briefly as I walked in to find hardly a spare seat in one of the smallest lounges I'd ever seen for an airline's home base (somewhere near gate A24 for those who know FRA) so promptly walked straight back out again to be much happier finding an empty table at my gate.
Boarding seemed to occur very early and the reason became clear - another bus! Timed it quite well again so didn't have to wait long for the bus to go though it was pretty crammed on. This time it felt like we were driving to Toulouse as we drove for about 10 minutes before getting to the plane at a (very) remote stand.
Our remote stand
This was a Boeing 737 and again a light load in J - just 3 or 4 of us. We taxied and took off reasonably quickly after the 2nd bus arrived and the pax boarded and were treated to a rolling start take-off. Service started reasonably promptly though I was dismayed to see that I was served with exactly the same food I had on the MUC-WAW leg the previous day!
Guinea-fowl on carrot
Mousse of Eel
Jellied vegetable soup
Still good quality but still didn't feel like a meal!
Flight passed pretty quickly and soon enough we were touching down in TLS a few minutes early. Off quickly and with no passport formalities I was in the car and on the road within 10 minutes of touch down.
Did also manage to get a shot of a completed MAS A380 as we were landing that I'd seen the previous day at distance when I left TLS.
After a morning of meetings I headed to the airport around noon and got there pretty quickly so was in the terminal by about 12:20. I had checked in using the LH iPhone app for my flight to Frankfurt and onward connection to Toulouse. There appears to be some building work at the airport around the security scanners so the business class fast track had moved to the end of the building - it was extremely quick when I got there as I was the only one using it so no delay whatsoever. I always find security at WAW amusing as it is in the hands of the paramilitary police who are all carrying sidearms and obviously spends hours in the gym weight training as they make Arnie look like a weakling (and that is just the women).
I then headed for the LOT Business lounge eager to check out their home airport lounge and duly found it quite quickly up a short escalator.
Entrance to the LOT Business lounge
The lounge is a slightly strange shape being long and thin though in reality not that long. There wasn't a fantastic amount of seating so again I suspect it gets quite crowded at times. It wasn't busy at lunchtime on a Friday so I found a seat and went looking for some lunch. The food options were some soup (think it might have been pea as it was green) and a couple of platters of cheese and cold meats with some bread rolls. I duly helped myself to some cheese, ham and bread and made myself a couple of open sandwiches. Wifi is free in the lounge though you need to get the code on a small scrap of paper from the front desk.
LOT Business lounge
Again I left a little bit early to try and get some photos and meandered down towards my gate (again at the end of the terminal).
LH E-190 about to depart for Munich
It is a long thin terminal…
For this flight we were on an Airbus A-321. Boarding commenced a few minutes late and there was quite a scrum for boarding. Business class was a little busier on this flight with 50% occupancy of the 14 seats. The seats were standard economy seats with the middle seat left free (not expanded etc like some of the seats in European J).
Obligatory cloud shot
Lunch on this sector was somewhat disappointing - a small salad - must admit I expected more for business class on a major European carrier, something hot at least. The menu tells me it is from our friend Dirk Maus again.
Disappointing lunch
Power station on approach to FRA
FRA viewed on landing
The flight again was uneventful and I snoozed for quite a lot of it and we landed about 10 minutes early into FRA. On arrival we seemed to taxi all the way back to WAW given how long it took us to get to the terminal! We arrived at the A gates and my flight to TLS was departing from a lower A gate so quite convenient. I headed towards my gate and the lounge which was between the 2. Now I appreciate that the FRA terminal is a lot older than MUC but what a contrast. This was positively archaic and felt depressing - low ceilings, few facilities, dark and sparse views onto the apron. I briefly visited the LH Business lounge - briefly as I walked in to find hardly a spare seat in one of the smallest lounges I'd ever seen for an airline's home base (somewhere near gate A24 for those who know FRA) so promptly walked straight back out again to be much happier finding an empty table at my gate.
Boarding seemed to occur very early and the reason became clear - another bus! Timed it quite well again so didn't have to wait long for the bus to go though it was pretty crammed on. This time it felt like we were driving to Toulouse as we drove for about 10 minutes before getting to the plane at a (very) remote stand.
Our remote stand
This was a Boeing 737 and again a light load in J - just 3 or 4 of us. We taxied and took off reasonably quickly after the 2nd bus arrived and the pax boarded and were treated to a rolling start take-off. Service started reasonably promptly though I was dismayed to see that I was served with exactly the same food I had on the MUC-WAW leg the previous day!
Guinea-fowl on carrot
Mousse of Eel
Jellied vegetable soup
Still good quality but still didn't feel like a meal!
Flight passed pretty quickly and soon enough we were touching down in TLS a few minutes early. Off quickly and with no passport formalities I was in the car and on the road within 10 minutes of touch down.
Did also manage to get a shot of a completed MAS A380 as we were landing that I'd seen the previous day at distance when I left TLS.