After suffering though a dearth of electrical receptacles and dial-up speed Wi-Fi it was time to board US 716 from PHL-MUC. As I said previously, this is one of the new parts of my trip as I have never flown US J class before. I have flow in domestic steerage a few times over last couple of years, and a worst it was benign, not counting the FA on the previous flight who was more interested in checking out her nails as we were boarding. I really didn’t know what to expect. Would I regret choosing US for this segment? As a I was cobbling this trip together back in November I had an itinerary on hold that had me on AC for the flight over the pond.

At the gate I positioned myself to board early so I could take a few shots and not annoy fellow passengers. Well, my BP fired blanks at the scanner and I was pulled aside as the GA tried to figure out what was going on. I immediately feared that my ticket had been cancelled because of an error when I took a later flight later that morning. A few minutes later it was all cleared up and I made my down the jet bridge where we boarded though 2L. When I made the turn into the J cabin I was blown away. The colors on the seats were richer than I expected and the cabin looked like it was all in great repair. Since the cabin was full I didn’t take pics of the seat itself, you all know what the a reverse herringbone seat looks like. So I settled in and noticed a large bottle of water was in a holder on the side of the seat.


Charger, reading light and AVOD control



Predeparture beverage, sparkling wine in a real glass. Also offered was OJ and sparkling water.



Meal selections were taken while at the gate. I wrongly took this as a sign that the crew wanted to feed us and get the lights off.


The amenity kit was rather unattractive to look at:

But the contents were adequate

A good thing:


Really, really, really cheap blanket and pillow:



Seat controls. I didn’t find the sear particularly comfortable for lounging.


After a short ground hold we took off and climbed rather quickly to the 10,000 foot level.


Tonight’s route:

I ordered a Screwdriver for my predinner drink. Was shocked that it was delivered as seen below, but the FA was very engaging and visited for a minute and told me that the Vodka was distilled in Austin. She promised to come back and see how I liked the taste. Mulling the presentation over I decided it wasn’t all bad because I could mix it to my taste. Sure enough about 5 minutes later the FA asked what I though about the Vodka. I told her I thought it was pretty good. That being said the nuts were room temperature.

The AVOD selection was really impressive. GREAT selection of new movies and old, with over 200 selections. I choose to watch an old favorite during dinner. Why? I wanted to try to sleep as soon as the dinner service was over and didn’t want to form an emotional attachment with something new that would keep me up longer than I really wanted.


The appetizer was actually good. The ham flavorful, the salad fresh.



Now for the main course. Bleh. The meat was devoid of all flavor. The spinach was soggy. The potatoes were OK though. Flavorful without being over salted.


I declined dessert and put my seat flat and tried to go to sleep. It was comfortable, even with the cheap, undersized pillow. I kept fighting the urge to stay awake and finally fell asleep not waking until we were over London. I declined breakfast because I wanted to grab something German to eat. I haven’t been to Germany for 4 years and was dying to eat some German bread.

The flight arrived 20 minutes early and I was the first through passport control. The Customs Officers were just as disinterested and those in FRA and I was landside within 10 minutes of stepping out of the plane.

I located a shower and took a nice long one for 15Euro. A bit overpriced but well worth the cost. It was entertaining to hear the love noises coming from the next cabana over, a female was quite enthusiastic in whatever was going one station over.

So what do I think about my decision to fly US J to Germany? Let me grade it on a 1-5 scale.

Hard Product: 5. Slept well, slept comfortably. Isn’t that what matters on an Eat bound TATL. I’m sure I would have been just as comfortable on a westbound.

Soft Product: 3.5 The Bose NC headphones are awesome, but the flimsy blanket and pillow as well as bad steak detracted from the experience. The FA was attentive, but not as polished as many would care for. I personally didn’t have a problem with that. She was frequently in the cabin checking if we needed anything.

Would I fly this product again? Sure. Just won't eat the steak. Learned my lesson on that one.

Next: Making my way to the ancestral home by way of the ICE train.