Originally Posted by
worldtraveller73
Nice finish.
Indeed I see your point about Zurich ground transfer being disappointing. Going the other way (long haul to short haul) is a much more pleasant experience.
I also count amongst those that have suffered in the back while MrsWT73 has been up front, on several flights I might add. I guess there are unspoken masses after all.
Thank you
worldtraveller73. Indeed LH to SH is better but I still think its a PIA to arrive as you have to queue for security before the train and passport control and the long walk in the terminal to get to the FCL or your connecting flight. The F experience in MUC or FRA is so much better IMO.
Originally Posted by
AA_EXP09
At least AF lets me check for O space using a TA GDS which I can often not see for other Skyteam airlines (and on some routes TATL they have more space than DL/KL.)
What is TA GDS?
Originally Posted by
iaflyer
Great report, loved the pictures of the South of France.
Thanks
iaflyer.
Originally Posted by
farbster
I wonder if you were permitted to drive to Italy. We rented a car back in 2007 and I seem to remember them saying we weren't permitted to go to Italy with it. I suspected back then that it had to do with insurance or something. Also, was there a jacket requirement for the Casino in Monte Carlo? I thought they had one. Were the places you went crowded? Is it very much the off-season? Finally, as usual, nice TR.
Thanks very much
farbster. Good question about Italy. No one at Avis said anything and I never though to ask. It was very much off-season in Monte Carlo. Can't really tell about the jacket requirement for the Casino. We assumed that there was but never got passed the "we need some ID" ticket counter.
Originally Posted by
Thunderroad
Thanks for the fine TR, SFO777. Agree that the intra-European business class actually makes our USA domestic first look kind of good...though I'll still take the intra-European flights for service.
OTOH, LH and LX might look relatively good compared to the new BA intra-European business class configuration. Whatever lousy, inadequate pitch it was beforehand, they've cut it back by a couple of inches.
Congratulations on landing LX F, even though the ground experience at ZUR sounds really disappointing, as does the cramming of the LX F cabin. Perhaps you mentioned it upthread, but how would you compare LH F and LX F purely in terms of the hard and soft product on-board experiences, putting aside those disappointing aspects of the trip?
For that matter, if you haven't done this before it would be fun to see your rankings of North American/European airlines' transatlantic F options. (You could leave in or out SQ and the Middle Eastern carriers as you see fit.)
Thanks again
Thunderroad. IMO, new First LH hard product beats LX on comparable A333/346 metal. The LH 744 is in a class by itself. Food and maybe even service is better on LX, but the ground experience is so bad that it more than offsets any food/service advantage.
I remember you asking about my overall ranking before. Based on this most recent experience, I would probably knock Swiss down a couple of notches.
1. Lufthansa
2. Singapore
3. Emirates
4. Cathay
5. Qatar
6. Etihad
7. ANA (8)
8. Korean (9)
9. Swiss (7)
10. Qantas
11. Malaysia
12. JAL
13. British
14. Thai
15. Air China
...
98. Air Koryo
99. United
100. American
The ranking excludes three I have not yet flown: Air France, Asiana and Garuda. Although I will be flying Air France F in June so looking forward to trying the new 4 seat F cabin and Joel Robuchon menu.
Originally Posted by
AvidFlyer1990
An outstanding report! Thanks SFO777! I was just in Lyon, about 3 months back with my family. It was amazing. Your picture brought back memories!! The rental cars at the Lyon Gare station were prohibitively expensive, so we got the Lyon city pass that allows unlimited use of the city's public transportation systems. May I ask, what do you use to check the loads on your flight? Is it ExpertFlyer, or something else?
Thanks very much
AvidFlyer. Indeed, I use ExpertFlyer to check loads and a lot of other things. A great resource.