Singapore to Frankfurt on Lufthansa First Class
After making the long trek from the lounge back to the boarding gate, I found an empty security line (just like at KUL, security screening takes place at individual gates), as boarding had just started and everybody was already crowding the way too small gate holding area.
Before I could proceed through security, my boarding pass was checked, and the staff seemed to be a bit confused about the boarding pass, asking me "why is there no stamp on it? Did you connect from another flight? Which flight?" I didn't really get the nature of the problem, but at some point, one of the people at the gate circled the departure gate number, the flight number, the seat number and more or less everything on the boarding pass, placed a stamp on it with an exaggerated gesture and handed the boarding pass back to me giggling - obviously, something that I didn't really get was quite funny about the entire process. However, I wonder how this would have been possible with a non-printed boarding pass (and I will definitely get a printed version for the return flight in order to avoid any hassle).
Security was quick as I were the only one to be processed at that time. When placing your items into the x-ray tray, you'll receive some sort of "receipt" which basically is a small plate with a number on it, and when you reclaim your stuff after the metal detector, they will check whether the number on your plate matches the number on the tray. While the idea is generally good, I doubt that it is really effective.
I pushed my way though the crowd in the holding area, and boarded the plane on the upper deck, where I was pointed to my assigned seat 1D.
The Flight
Flight: LH779
From: SIN/WSSS
To: FRA/EDDF
Aircraft Type: Airbus A380-800
Registration: D-AIMB "München"
STD: 23:55
STA: 06:10+1
When I arrived at my seat, I was once again the last person to board the otherwise full first class cabin. Due to the rebooking, only 1D, one of the middle seats, had still been available, so I was "forced" to sit next to a stranger in this very open cabin layout.
A few minutes after settling in, the flight attendants introduced themselves and offered me a choice of welcome drinks. I chose a glass of still water and a glass of champagne, which was served with LH's signature macadamia nuts. While I had already stowed my carry on in the ottoman at the seat, the FAs also explained that I could use a personal locker right behind the first class cabin (where I later put my coat and my clothes after dressing into the pyjamas).
Unfortunately, due to the full cabin with its open layout, I weren't able to shoot too many pictures of the cabin itself - however, I noticed that some of the cabin details looked a bit random and could probably have used a bit more attention to detail - for example, the floor looks a bit weird for a premium cabin (particularly the red and white evacuation stripes), other airlines seem to do better at this.
Also, the ceiling looks a bit strange, as they have some kind of air vents all along the ceiling, which are probably used by the humidification system they installed on their A380s (and as far as I know, they are the only airline to have this system). During the flight, I actually noticed that the air quality subjectively felt a bit better than on other aircraft, but the difference wasn't that great in my opinion as my eyes and throat still felt quite dry after the flight.
As other passengers were dressing into their pyjamas, I had the opportunity to take a few pictures around the open cabin.
What I had already been thinking about before the flight was how the light from the entertainment screens could possibly disturb other passengers, as there is nothing blocking the view from other seats onto the screen of a particular seat (which might also be some kind of privacy issue, as everybody else would be able to see what you're currently watching). However, this turned out to be absolutely no problem, as the viewing angle of the screen was so narrow (probably deliberately so) that I could hardly see what was playing on the screen of the person sitting right next to me in 1F. The screen on below picture is actually on and displaying something:
Shortly after, I also received my amenity kit, slippers and pyjama. Contrary to other airlines, Lufthansa distributes the two parts of their pyjamas separately which enables you, for example, to take a tops and bottoms of different sizes. Also, the bag containing the slippers contains a spare bag of the same size which makes it possible to wrap your shoes individually before placing them, for example, in the ottoman.
While we were taxiing out, I could hear that they were making an announcement on the lower deck, advertising last-minute upgrades to premium economy. People who were interested in upgrading should report to the cabin staff, however, they didn't state a price during their announcement. Shortly after takeoff (which was late), I went to the lavatory to also change into the pyjamas.
The lavatories itself are quite spacious, even though I somehow had the feeling that they were a bit more cramped than the ones, for example, on Emirates - even though they are basically using the same space. The selection of amenities in the lavatory is relatively wide, while the contents of the amenity kit itself are rather basic - in my opinion, the Lufthansa first class amenity kit is the weakest of all amenity kits I have received in first class so far (this is, of course, only true for the quantity of the content, the La Prairie cosmetics are still top-notch and probably the most expensive toiletries given away on an airplane).
After I returned from the lavatory, the amuse bouche was distributed by the flight attendants who were really good, as you would expect from Lufthansa first class. They weren't particularly polished, but their way of interacting with the passengers felt really genuine, and I definitely prefer that to the sometimes artificial and sterile interaction you might receive on airlines such as SQ. The purser also came by to introduce himself and hand out WiFi vouchers, telling us that they had started providing free WiFi for first class passengers starting in March.
Unfortunately, the lady sitting next to me obviously had some trouble with her nose and ears, and started distributing gobbed paper handkerchiefs onto the area separating our seats which was quite disgusting - definitely one of the drawbacks of the open cabin layout. However, the flight attendants cared brilliantly for her, checking back and asking how she was doing and whether they could bring her something to counter the problem every few minutes.
As we had reached our cruising altitude, the menus for the flight were distributed.
The cabin crew came around to lay the table and start dinner service with caviar from a cart. I selected to enjoy some vodka with the caviar and, after being asked wheter I wanted to have ice inside, were served a really huge glass of vodka along with the caviar.
Many people say that the caviar on Lufthansa is the best you can regularly get on an airplane, and I definitely have to say that the quality was much better than what I had received previously, for example, on Emirates, even though the serving itself was relatively small.
Next up were the starters, which were also presented on and served from a cart. On Lufthansa, it is actually customary to get all starters (as the portions are relatively small), and their presentation also encourages that. They used to have an étagère a few years ago, but have removed that ever since in favor of a larger plate containing the smaller plates.
As my main, I selected the fish, skipped the cheese and had the meringue tart as a dessert:
To accompany the dessert I chose the dessert wine, wich was unfortunately corked. I pointed that out to the flight attendant who said "oh, let's hope the other bottle won't be corked, as we only load two bottles of the dessert wine on each flight". However, the second bottle was fine.
Regarding the quality of the food, I have to say that it was really good, even though the food itself might not have been as fancy as what is offered on other airlines, but I guess that is exactly what Lufthansa tries (and manages) to accomplish - they want to provide a down-to-earth experience of high quality, and that reflects both in their selection of meals and the behaviour of their crew. They are perfectly able to provide this "feel like at home" atmosphere, and I can definitely understand why so many people are fond of Lufthansa first class.
After dinner, I decided to watch one or two short features on the entertainment system, accompanied by a glass of cognac and some pralinés which had been distributed by the crew. As soon as the meal was finished, the crew came around to raise all the partitions around and between the seats (you could also do that by yourself if required), and I was very surprised how private the cabin suddenly felt. While the open layout of the cabin without partitions raised is often criticized, I cannot really see why anybody would complain when the partitions are raised, as for one, it doesn't feel cramped at all, and then the privacy is actually much better than what you would expect when seeing the cabin without the partitions. The privacy is actually better than on SWISS' A330 seats, as the partitions themselves are much larger.
The cabin went completely dark, and I decided to have my bed made. In terms of seat comfort, I also have to say that I find the seats on Lufthansa to be much more comfortable, both in seat and bed mode, than those on SWISS. I have never really been a fan of the seat cushions on SWISS' seats which are based on the Rockewell Collins Oasis (resp. Oasis 2 for the 777) platform and which, for example, can also be found on Thai Airways. However, the thick padding along with excellent bedding on Lufthansa made me sleep all the way until approximately one hour before landing in Frankfurt.
After waking up, I was asked whether I wanted to have breakfast which I declined and ordered a cup of coffee and a glass of orange juice instead. They still brought me a croissant and a piece of danish (which I ate), but as the cabin was still quite dark, I didn't take pictures of that.
As the crew was preparing the cabin for landing, suddenly everybody wanted to take pictures with the guy seated in 1K. I hadn't really "screened" the other passengers before, but while watching him, I thought that he looked vaguely familiar. At some point, he tried to set his watch to the local time in Frankfurt and had trouble doing so as the watch had obviously developed some kind of technical problem. The flight attendant, the lady sitting next to me and I tried to help him with ideas as to what he could do, and it was actually during that conversation that I recognized him by his voice - he was a former high-ranking german politician who had withdrawn from office more than 10 years ago.
We landed in a cloudy and foggy Frankfurt approximately 15 minutes ahead of schedule and I made my long way to the concourse A first class lounge after deboarding.
Verdict
I had only flown Lufthansa first class once before, and that was still on the Boeing 747 with the old (as in "ancient") first class product. On that flight, I also found the seats (despite their being completely outdated) quite comfortable, the food to be solid and the crew to be excellent. Actually, this was exactly what I experienced on this flight. The cabin product might not be the most recent out there, but it is still really comfortable, the food was once again very good and the crew did their job exactly how I like them to do it. Lufthansa seems to be providing a very solid product with few surprises (particularly no negative ones), and while nothing is really outstanding, it is exactly that what makes them outstanding. If asked, I couldn't say whether I prefer Lufthansa or SWISS in first class (even though I would prefer both to, for example, British Airways), so I would happily fly them again if the price was right.