LH 409 EWR-DUS A-340-300 1745-0610 (+1)
I hate this concourse. It’s so dated and crowded and noisy and there’s only one place to eat and it’s really overpriced. Thankfully, I could at least get partial refuge in the United Club.
As you can see, the lounge was if anything, MORE crowded than the gate! Thankfully, I found a seat, and got my first free beer of the day.
If you can call that “beer”.
After an hour I figured I’d head for greener (for EWR anyway) pastures and rode the bus to Terminal C. This was one of the highlights of the visit as it meant fun tarmac spotting.
This is better, right?
At least I was able to grab a decent lunch. This plate of vomit-looking stuff was a fairly decent open faced turkey sandwich. Service at the restaurant was really good and I got the sandwich, a salad and a soda plus tip for under $20 which ain’t bad.
I hadn’t been to this lounge (the one above Gate 74) in a while and I probably should have kept it that way. Not only did the theme of the lounge being crowded continue, but this is not a good lounge. They layout is very strange and confusing and my other theme of the day (playing the Hunt for the Working Outlet) continued. But hey, I got to look down at a food court, right?
I HAVE LOUNGE ACCESS I AM BETTER THAN YOU!
Riding on the Airtrain over to Terminal B, you can see the tail of my LH A340 behind the much better looking Star Livery.
I picked up some LH BPs which listed me as a “UAP” instead of UA*G so I decided the fun party was probably over. This meant a long trip through security too but I’d of course left myself lots of time just in case.
While walking to the gate I saw the SEN Lounge and figured I was in the most advantageous position of nothing to lose and everything to gain. So I walked in, showed my US BP with “STAR GOLD” on it and my itinerary and said I couldn’t understand why the LH BPs didn’t say *G and I didn’t have my card. The agent went ahead and typed for awhile, then printed me out two new BPs with *G on them and welcomed me in. JACKPOT!
While I was glad I got in, I was more glad I’d stuck around the United Clubs for most of the afternoon, this lounge was small and crowded. I did manage to find a seat but I had to wander awhile and it felt like I was sitting in two people’s laps.
Good spread though, sure beat the United Club (have I thanked
Jackal enough yet?).
Quick glance inside the Business Lounge, it seemed emptier but the snacks were mainly of the packaged variety. I started off to the gate but I didn’t quite make it because on the way I saw the SAS Lounge. Well, why not have a visit?
I liked the layout here as it was big and open but it was just as crowded.
Food was a step down, but the cold cuts and rolls were delicious.
Alright now I
really need to head to the gate!
I joined the massive crowd of people hanging around the priority boarding line which naturally included a bunch of non-eligible people. When they finally announced boarding, the agent did a great job turning people away by saying “it’s not your time yet”.
This was my first ever A-340 and also my first Lufthansa trans-atlantic flight in over 15 years. It was nice to be back though, the f/as were all over the aisles and very friendly and the aircraft felt well maintained and comfortable. Plus, unlike in the early 2000s, there were PTVs for all!
By the time we went to push back we were less than 50% full. This meant anyone who wanted it had a seat next to them empty. Who needs Business Class at that point?
And we’re off!
The AVOD was decent, not the greatest I’ve seen and a little dated, but I’d needed to see
Blue Jasmine anyway so I was set.
Meal choices were a teriyaki chicken or pasta with red sauce. This was all pretty decent and the fact that there was good beer was a major plus.
After diner the f/as came around offering after dinner drinks. Brandy? In Coach?! Gotta love non-US Airlines. I’d like to take a moment to say I was very impressed with LH on this flight. The flight attendants were friendly and non-rushed and they provided a lot of service. Even the meal service went drinks, another round of drinks, dinner, after dinner drinks. Not bad for coach, not bad at all. Plus, between the two seats and all that liquor I slept easily and for almost five hours!
Okay, maybe my praise was a little premature. In the words of
The Simpsons: “pretty lame, Millhouse”.
Connecting gate info on the PTVs, nice touch.
Flight Over! An on time arrival is always appreciated, but doubly so when your connection is a mere 70 minutes.
LH 3062 DUB-BUD A-319 0720-0905
I’d been a little worried about this connection as, 70 minutes? That’s short. But FT reassured me it would be easy and doable and oh wow were the posters in the LH Forum right. I walked off the plane at 0615 and was in the lounge at 0625. I think I’ve had longer trips from plane to lounge at CVG…in 2012! Even passport control was a breeze, AND I got a stamp!
It seemed like a nice enough airport too, the entrance to the lounge is up that staircase.
Another day, another crowded lounge. Also, I was wearing a shirt and tie and slacks and here I was one of the LEAST dressed up people. Very impressive, Europe!
Not fast enough! Gimme gimme!
An okay spread I guess, but some more hot options would have been nice. I made do with a croissant and some yogurt. And as I said above, my connection was short so after 20 minutes during which I realized the power adaptor I’d brought didn’t work, I headed to my friendly neighborhood bus gate.
Boarding was a “all passengers going to Budapest” affair but when you’re boarding a bus, what’s the point of boarding by class/status/row number anyway?
At least buses = tarmac views. You can see the A-340 I flew in on all the way on the right.
Logo jet! Big line to board! Yay?
My first time in the slim-line seats. They seemed alright, a little lacking support in the butt/lower back area, but thankfully the flight was only 1hr35 AND I had another empty seat next to me. In the aisle was a business type who snacked on pepper slices the whole way. A smell I can’t stand, ick.
Ugly day in Germany, note the awesome Fokker-70 landing though.
Much better.
Another lame meal, made me glad I’d already eaten. Another great crew though, I asked for a Coke and was offered coffee or tea with it. When I declined, the f/a said “how about another Coke then?” So I got to double fist…in coach! Anyway, after that alleged meal, I went to sleep until we were descending into BUD.
Euro Spotting!
I’m still disappointed that flying into a European Airport feels like flying into a US Airport but I know it’s easier. Incidentally, this seems like a good time to say “if you don’t care about what I did in Hungary, feel free to skip down to the next aeroplanes part".