Lufthansa First Class: Philadelphia to Frankfurt
Today's flight to Frankfurt was going to be a special one.
In the weeks and months before August, Lufthansa had been having a jolly good time ripping the F cabin out of the upper deck of their 747-400s, or sending them to the scrapyard. A schedule change in July however, shifted a number of 747-400s with F onto the PHL-FRA route, and I knew I had to catch one more of these flights before they truly went the way of the dodo bird.
To boot, when I booked it 2 weeks earlier, I was the only passenger in the F cabin. All the way up to 3pm (2 hours before boarding), I was still the only passenger booked in F. Would my dream of having the entire upper deck to myself come true?
D-ABVN, named "Dortmund" was delivered to Lufthansa in May 1992. Its final flight before being scrapped was in October 2015, just two months after I took this flight. She still seemed so young at the time.
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nomadtom89, on Flickr
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nomadtom89, on Flickr
A walk up the stairs leads me into this oasis:
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nomadtom89, on Flickr
"Welcome on board Mr. tng11, you are the only guest in the First cabin today, so every seat is yours!"
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nomadtom89, on Flickr
Being on the upper deck, it felt like I was flying a private jet!
Nonetheless, I stuck with my assigned seat, 83C.
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nomadtom89, on Flickr
Let's begin with a glass of Laurent-Perrier Grand Siecle, my favourite champagne over Krug or Dom.
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nomadtom89, on Flickr
The Braun Buffel amenity kit and pyjamas. I was a bit disappointed they didn't have Rimowa kits this time (though they're just as useless to me), and ended up leaving it behind.
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nomadtom89, on Flickr
After the obligatory greetings from the captain and purser - it is announced that our flight will be just a hair over 6 hours because of some strong tailwinds, meaning that we would arrive FRA early. Great, just when I want this flight to last longer!
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nomadtom89, on Flickr
Shortly after takeoff, meal service begins, which is done efficiently since they only have to serve one person...
Some amuse bouche of watermelon and strawberry. Meh.
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nomadtom89, on Flickr
Tonight's menu:
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nomadtom89, on Flickr
I start off with the shrimp cocktail and asparagus appetizers. The shrimp cocktail is decent, the asparagus is flavourless.
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nomadtom89, on Flickr
The caviar serving is less generous than I expected, being the only passenger on board. I don't mind in the end, because I really can only stomach 2 or 3 mouthfuls before the salt overwhelms me.
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nomadtom89, on Flickr
Lobster bisque was quite good, albeit a bit on the salty side:
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nomadtom89, on Flickr
The Maryland Lump Crab Cakes were excellent. One of the best tasting mains I've had on a Lufthansa First flight.
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nomadtom89, on Flickr
The brownie with vanilla ice cream was amazing. Though the maraschino cherry really wasn't the proverbial "cherry on top":
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nomadtom89, on Flickr
With just about 4.5 hours to go to FRA, I move over to the bed in the hopes of catching a few Z's before spending the entire day exploring Mainz:
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nomadtom89, on Flickr
Overall, this was another great Lufthansa First flight with a very efficient, polite and professional crew. Being a TATL redeye, the flight time is simply too short to enjoy the full service and try to get some decent rest. And being the only passenger in First didn't really do anything for me in the end, and in fact felt rather uncomfortable as I felt like I was always being watched by the crew (and besides, I couldn't take up all 8 seats practically if I wanted to.)