One of the best perks of staying at the Trident Hilton Gurgaon in New Delhi is that they provide a Hilton representative to guide you through the departure process at New Delhi's international airport. Unfortunately, I wasn't staying at the Hilton. As a result, I had to settle for a "green behind the ears" driver from another hotel who dropped me off at the airport, nearly broke the strap on my bag removing it from the boot, and then stood looking at me expectantly until I slapped some Rupees in his palm.

Perhaps if he spoke English he could have given me some more direction too. I'm standing looking at the entrances to the Jawaharlal Nehru International Airport and am not even sure where to begin. Like the rest of India, the airport is very crowded. It's not clear to me why many of the people are there -- they aren't standing in queues, they don't have bags, and they don't appear to be waiting expectantly for family to arrive. I go stand in one of the human funnels channeling into Gate 3. Is this where I am supposed to queue?

After about 30 minutes, I'm almost near the front. It's only then that I realize what I'm standing in line for: a guard is checking passports and tickets before allowing passengers into the airport. Tickets... hm, right... Since I happen to be traveling on an e-ticket, I don't have proof of travel for that day. This might be a problem. As the line inches forward, I rummage through my bags hoping to high heaven that my assistant had printed out an itinerary, a receipt... something! Luckily, I find what I am looking for and hand it to the guard with a smile. He does not return the smile, but he does return my documents and waives me into Jawaharlal's lair.

The Delhi Airport & Lounges

Calling the New Delhi airport "modern" would be a generous characterization. The terminal is dimly lit, musty and has long lost its luster. I beat my way through the crowds to the Lufthansa check-in area at the far end. On my way, I notice that the 1:50AM Austrian Airlines flight has been delayed until 6AM. Ouch! Glad I am not taking that home. Since I'm at the airport nearly 2.5 hours before my 2AM flight, there is no line at the business check-in area. The agent asks me how many bags I am carrying on and issues me two "Lufthansa Hand Baggage" tags (as it turns out, these were very important: One of my fellow passengers was caught at boarding without these on his bag and was sent back through security to check-in again) and an invitation to the business lounge.

There is no Lufthansa Senator or FTL lounge at New Delhi airport. In fact, as far as I can tell, there is only one lounge in the entire terminal. And everyone is in it -- mostly Westerners crowded around the small tables sipping drinks, reading, and generally doing their best to stay awake. With at least two 747 flights leaving that night (BA to Heathrow and LH to Frankfurt), it would appear to be nearly impossible to find a seat. I end up sharing a small table with two Germans. It seems like BA has done a good job claiming space in the lounge for its passengers -- little table tents announce that these seats are "exclusively" reserved for BA passengers. I don't see any seats exclusively reserved for Lufthansa passengers anywhere. Just before boarding a beautifully dressed young woman enters the lounge and makes her way around to the BA passengers encouraging them to finish up their drinks and prepare for boarding. Some of the chairs open up and I move to somewhere more comfortable.

The lounge sits awkwardly between immigration and security, so I leave about 45 minutes before boarding to get through security. There is no separate business class security line, but one of the lines opens up directly in front of the lounge "implying" that it is only for lounge passengers. It is slow-going through security -- the guards seem to often rescreen bags and hold up the line while they manually search through contents. A separate women and men security area doesn't seem to help speed things up. When I finally get through, it is no surprise to find that the boarding area for the plane is already packed full of people. Not a seat, and already a queue was beginning to form near the First, Business Class and star Alliance Gold boarding gate. Lufthansa had done a reasonable job of organizing an economy board area to one side, but still with so many people sitting in business class, it is all a jumble anyway.

So it's 2AM, I'm tired and cranky. Many people are crowding the front of the line (except the Americans who stand neatly where they think the lines begin and end). When in Rome... I unabashedly squeeze my way towards the front just when the door is about to open and manage to be the third person on the plane. Silly, I know, but I'm trying to maximize sleep time here people!

Lufthansa (LH)
Delhi to Frankfurt (DEL-FRA)
Boeing 747, Business Class

United was kind enough to FedEx me one of my SWUs to use to upgrade from business class to first class on this flight. Unfortunately, as you can tell, I am sitting in business class. While the FedEx would have arrived on time, the delivery man failed to leave it at my door and I missed it before I left! On the plus side, I can now compare apples-to-apples with Austrian Airlines' C class.

I had reserved a seat in the nose area of the 747, which provides a 5 or 6 row mini-cabin to enjoy. The middle section has a small coffee table with magazines. I settle back into my seat and test out the various functions. Everything seems to be working. I find it a bit odd (or perhaps reassuring?) that new earphone foam covers are provided in the amenity kits. Unfortunately, I can't find an outlet to plug in my own noise-cancelling set, so I have to settle for the airline provided earphones. It's a pain in the @$$ trying to put those little foam covers on and takes me about 10 minutes, destroying one in the process. An FA fetches me an extra pair from a stash somewhere.

I then have a go at the seat: it is comfortable and feels more like a cocoon than the Austrian Airlines seat. When I'm in full recline it's hard to tell I'm next to someone. While the cushions are firm, it is easy to adjust the seat and the incline feels less steep than on Austrian. I definitely have less of a sliding problem here and can sleep comfortably on my stomach. I pop the seat back up when the FA comes around with some pre-departure champagne. While sipping that down, I flip over to the entertainment center and begin to scroll through the options.

Here again, as a regular United flyer, I have very low standards when it comes to in-flight entertainment... but this system on Lufthansa blows my socks off! Not only can I scroll through a long list of movie, TV, and audio selections, but I can pause, FF and REW to my heart's content! I find "Paris, Je t'Aime" and start playing that as the plane taxis back from the gate. I'm 30 minutes into the movie by the time we take off.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm tired and cranky. And it's now pushing 3AM. The cabin is dark so I stop the movie, screw some earplugs into my cranal cavaties and slide the chair all the way back. I drift off to slee... What the?!? All the lights suddenly come on full-blast! I squint around to see Lufthansa FAs going up and down the aisles taking meal orders ... at 3AM!! Silverware starts to clank and talking begins ... at 3AM!! Even United FAs, for all their foibles, have been known to be more considerate on night flights. Did I mention I was cranky?

I roll over and slam my eyelids together doing my best to ignore what's going on around me. I think my neighbor, a military-looking businessman who sits upright in this chair the whole way to Frankfurt, ordered something. Who knows... who cares... I manage to drift back to sleep again before we leave Indian air space.

If sleep quality was the best measure of a seat's comfort, I would have to rate the Lufthansa business class seat fairly well. I'm sure leaving at 3AM helped as well. Needless to say, I slept through the first meal service, but I did save a menu in case anyone was desperately curious:




There are also a few vegetarian options on the menu. The featured wines included Chapagne Jacquart Brut, a 2006 "Sonnerwind" German Riesling, a 2005 California Chardonnay from "Valley Oaks", and a 2003 Chateau Mazails Cru Bourgeois from France. As much as I would have liked to sample dinner on Lufthansa and have a glass of the 2003 Cru Bourgeois, I am off in sleep land.

I did, however, awake for breakfast, much to my delight:




The musli to start with along with the fruit is a fantastic way to begin your day. I find the tiresome, greasy croissant on United to be an unwelcome breakfast sight (although the fruit plate on United is much more generous than the one on LH). The musli was not too rich and well-complemented by the fruit. When the FA comes over to take my food order, I realize I had forgotten to consult the menu! (In truth, I thought the musli was all they were serving.) She hands one to me and goes about the rest of the cabin. I find what I want and try to catch her eye... she does not acknowledge me... 5 minutes... 10 minutes... 15 minutes later all my neighbors are finishing their breakfasts. Finally an FA walks by and I wildly wave my hands in the air. "I'll take the crepes!" I exclaim with a smile. She looks in shock that I have not been served and rushes a hot plate of apple crepes to me. Nothing to get excited about unfortunately.

I finish "Paris Je T'Aime" as we begin to descend in Frankfurt. Our plane is parked at an off-site location and we pile onto a bus to the terminal. Not exactly my favorite way of disembarking a plane, but I'm glad to be back in Europe. Now, get me into a SEN lounge shower!