Hi there,
first of all, after all my passive reading, I decided to join FT and share the experience I had last week.
Despite all the rumors about the new First Class on board several aircraft, collected by various members and their "trustworthy reliable sources" - which in the end did turn out to be incorrect - I've flown FRA-DTW-FRA on LH 442 (the early departure) with an A340-300, registration D-AIGZ.
Before the flight, HON-Circle Linie contacted me to ask, whether or not I would be willing to "test" the new seat. Since I had a full fare F ticket, they could not persuade me with an upgrade from C to F for doing that
Anyway, of course I said yes. Once in the Terminal, the PA told me about the "rules" for this flight. All people board and deboard through door no. 2 L, because the product is top secret and no-one other than crew and First Class Pax are allowed to see it. Cabin is limited to 4 passengers only. We were given seats in row no. 2 (A,D,G or K) which had the old seats. This turns out to be only a "back-up", if the new seat breaks down or is unsafe for take off and landing. The crew on board would assign us to the new seats.
When I arrived on board after my S-Class ride, I was greeted by the nice P2 who brought me to my seat. First Class Cabin has 4 new seats, 4 old seats. New seats are in row 1, old seats, as I previously stated, in row 2. (I was given a window seat - I don't give you the exact no. as well as not the exact date of the flight. why? you'll see later
)
When I settled down and started exploring the new seat, in the meantime with a glass of bubbly at hand
, a person from TNS (a german survey company) approached me. These guys are also in charge of surveys in the F Terminal, that LH does once in a while. She immediately gave me a paper I had to sign, saying that I am not allowed to take pictures of the cabin, nor speak to the press or LH rivals about this new product in detail. Thats the reason why I am so strict about my exact itinerary and so on....
So...how is the new seat? - Simply...great! Of course, it's a test version, so the color scheme wasn't final and they are changing some stuff because of the results of these test flights. Anyway, I LOVE IT. It's a matter of taste, but it's very classy, very comfortable and high quality.
When converted to a bed, you have a lot of space (especially width). The crew folds a real white mattress (about 3-4 cm thick) on your seat, you are given a fluffy biiig pillow and a REAL cover. The test seat has electrically adjustable privacy screens, that sort of make a suite out of the whole thing. Nonetheless the seat feels airy and elegant. Much better that those horrible EK suites, that I don't like at all.
The TV is about twice the size of the one in C-Class and it's gonna become even bigger according to the P2, who was specially instructed (like the FA working in the cabin) about the new seat.
One last thing: LH is gonna keep the lovely First-Class rose
There is, again, a vase integrated into the seat - this time made of porcelain
At the end of the flight, and after various detailled interviews conducted by the TNS lady - and one technical fix by a flyalong of the company that produces the seat "CONTOUR", we were given a present (leather ticket holder) with a "thank you" note for taking part in this test.
So, I hope this info was interesting for you. Can't wait to see the seat rolled out on the whole fleet...sadly, tomorrow, I have to travel on the old seat to asia
HON-ExclusiveCGN
P.S. the test continues until 21st of April or so. Only on D-AIGZ and LH 442. So if any you guys travel to DTW on the late flight LH 486...you might consider changing
P.P.S. On the outbound day flight I slept around 4 hours, where I usually never sleep at all. And on the outbound flight I slept around 6 hours!! Felt like my bed at home - now we are talking about comfort. I am a fan