Welcome to my 2nd Trip Report. My first report is available under this link:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...-first-tr.html
This time my trips took me from FRA to LCY (LH) and then from LHR to WAW (LO) and then from WAW to ORD (LO).
If you only like to view
pictures (with some comments), links to Picasa albums are identified with
bold word ‘pictures’
FRA-LCY (in Y, 8am departure from FRA) is nothing to write home about, apart from the fact that I like these new LH breakfast items (cereal bowl with milk). B-gates SEN lounge was as average as always – I have only noticed they replaced ‘pasta counter’ with ‘Asian soup serving station’ (that was closed in the morning). But the Asian soup menu looked promising and I need to give it a try next time… After arriving at LCY (on time), I took a cab to client’s office.
My meeting in Canary Wharf ended much earlier than expected and I took another cab to get to LHR. My client’s secretary by mistake booked me a taxi ride to LCY and the cab driver was extremely unhappy that I actually wanted to go to LHR - IMHO he should be a bit more grateful - the bill was quite high, even after taking GBP weakness into consideration.
LO280: LHR-WAW (5.50 pm departure)
6 Jan
Business Class, seat 5F
I reported to LHR Terminal 1 *A Gold designated area some 4 hours prior to ETD. I was served promptly and was soon given my BP (I had hand baggage only). After clearing security, I decided to go to the BD lounge (aka ‘Great British Lounge’). It is still my preferred *A Lounge at LHR. I was warmly and genuinely greeted by one of the BD Reps. The lounge was not busy at all, and I managed to get one of the best armchairs facing towards the LHR runway. I still like lounge’s fantastic design and I have not noticed any food or drink cutback (times are hard and one should appreciate when airline is not cutting back
).
About one hour prior to departure, I went to the *A lounge, only to have something to eat (the situation is still that *A Lounge is a dark dungeon place, but food-wise it is better than the BD lounge). As always, I had some Indian food and – about 30 minutes prior to ETD - went to the gate area.
I almost had a heart attack, when I noticed the flight will be operated with a charter aircraft (it had LOT Charter name pained on the fuselage). The seat pitch in C was REALLY BAD… Maybe slightly better than with FR and Wizz, but quite unacceptable for a so called ‘full service airline’.
Most (if not all) B737-400’s aircraft used by LOT are probably 20 years old, but this bird was very well maintained. The seat fabrics were brand new and they really invested a lot of effort to deep clean this particular machine.
There were only 3 pax in C that evening (for 28 seats) and after boarding I was almost immediately approached by purser who offered re-seating to 1F (I declined, as I already removed laptop and printed material from my bag and started settling in). As the other 2 folks were not offered this, I believe I was the only *A Gold on this flight (at least in C). Am I the only one who thinks, that these small gestures really allow airlines to differentiate one from another? While I still believe LOT should not use charter aircraft for scheduled flights, F/A’s action somehow erased these very bad original impressions… Kudos to her!
Config was 2 plus 2 with middle seats blocked.
Before take-off we were offered welcome drink (water or OJ) in plastic glasses (I guess LO Product Mangers fly too frequently with US and UA
). After departure purser offered cold towels and a round of drinks (proper glasses this time) and I asked for red wine. I was offered 2 to choose from: Bordeaux and Italian 2009 Bolla Valpolicella. As I am not a fan of French reds, I have chosen Valpolicella which was awesome (maybe slightly too intensive & heavy to be served on board the aircraft, but still awesome).
Again, I am happy to report, that no cutbacks were observed: they still set-up tables with tablecloths (yes, I really mean it: tablecloths), dinner still consists of an excellent appetizer (goat cheese in peppers - kind of stuff one would expect in fusion restaurants - and it was awesome) & dessert of a huge piece of cheesecake with cherry syrup. We were offered 2 main courses to choose from: I have chosen turkey with veggies and cuscus. Overall meal was truly outstanding – big thumps up to LOT for maintaining high catering standards!
After service I was offered another wine (offer was accepted) and then crew F/A’s basically disappeared. I do not like when load is too low as F/A’s then have a tendency of just disappearing (my worst flight in 2010 was from ZRH to CAI, when F/A’s virtually neglected all of us in C – and the total load in C was 5 pax
for 42 seats). Some 30 minutes prior to landing purser started patrolling C cabin again and I was offered another Valpolicella (I declined and asked for water, instead).
I didn’t take any pictures on this particular flight, I took a few on another WAW-LHR trip a few days later: link to
pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/10012290...eat=directlink). Flight was operated with a ‘normal’ B737-500 that had good seat pitch in C, but somehow was not very well maintained (I should even say was a bit dirty). So what’s LOT logic: charter aircraft was deep cleaned/very well maintained BUT ‘normal’ aircraft was a bit dirty????? Looks like you cannot have everything with LOT
VERDICT:
Overall it was not a terribly bad flight:
Check-in (by Menzies): 10 out of 10: prompt service, I was asked if I knew where *A lounge was
BD Lounge: 10 out of 10: fantastic design, warm greeting at entry
*A Lounge: 7 out of 10: more light please
Seat: 3 out of 10: it should be 1 out of 10 (1 just for blocking middle seats), but purser’s proactive approach with re-seating me to row 1 increased the score to 3
Aircraft appearance: 8 out of 10: old aircraft, very well maintained, new seat fabrics
Food: 10 out of 10: I only hope LO will not try to cutback in this area
, plus I think there are only 2 airlines that still set tables with tablecloths on short-haul flights in C: LOT and Aeroflot
Wine: 10 out of 10: Valpolicella on board
F/A: 9 out of 10: it would have been 10, but they disappeared after meal service for good 40 minutes
Punctuality: 10 out of 10: punctual departure and arrival
Overall: 6 out of 10: not a very bad flight, but dear LOT please DO NOT use charter aircraft on your scheduled flights!
UPDATE: a few days later I flew from LHR again (this time with LH to MUC) and I noticed another LOT Charter aircraft parking at the terminal. Looks like they regularly use these charter machines to operate scheduled flights… THIS MUST STOP! Unfortunately, it means that for now I am not going to use LOT…