My first class experience
 

Hi All,
Just wanted to share my first first class experience with you all.
I fly quite a lot for business but unfortunately most of the time in coach. Rarely I fly in W so I can never upgrade to First.
That is why I have decided a couple of months ago to redeem some points and get a F (actually P) class ticket to LHR. I booked a 744 TLV-LHR and 777 on the way back.
The F experience in the airport was very nice - Was whisked away in Ben Gurion directly to First lounge which is more or less the same as the Kind David regular lounge only less people and quieter.
Then directly to the plane.

The 744 first is great (in my opinion much better than the 777 which is just too small in comparison to the 744) the amount of space per passenger is amazing!
The F was full and fortunately for me 6 of the other passengers knew each other (and the crew as well!) so the entire flight to LHR was like a small party aboard the plane (which I joined of course as a good Israeli that I am :-)) - Because of the enormous space on the 744 first everybody could stand and easily chat in the middle of the plane and drink and just have a nice conversation/time.
Frankly I do not even remember the food (To be brutally honest I would prefer the coach HUMUS AND PITA :-)) I do remember the seat which was very comfortable especially in the sleeping position.
I did not feel the time running and viola we started the landing procedures and landed in LHR.
On the way back I flew 777 with 4 other people (who turned out to be football agents and not on the talkative side) - The space is much smaller on the 777 and you do not have the same spacious feeling that you have on the 744 - Of course the seat was the same (it was not the 772) and the meal/service the same.
To summarize the 744 flight to LHR was by far the best flight I ever had, crew was amazingly nice and helpful and fellow passengers nice as well and of course you get the best seat in the house :-)
The 777 was of course great - But nothing compared to the 744 in which you just felt as "Royalty".
My next F experience if hopefully in 2 months but this time on LH 744 and LH 343
Just wanted to share

ysmisc Welcome to FlyerTalk! ^

Nice report. Have you tried the BA 'FIRST' product to LHR? I think you'll be impressed as well.

Ba First
 

Thanks for the welcome :)
I am thinking (hoping) to fly BA F TLV-LHR-BKK-LHR-TLV as it is "doable" price wise (it is around 4800$. The cheapest by far that I found to the far east).

Thanks for the nice trip report ysmisc, and welcome to FT and the LY forum.
Glad you had such a great flight, shame you don't remember the food, as for me it is part of the F experience, much more then chatting to everyone around me…

As Johnny said too, I would highly recommend BA First if you get a chance, as I think you will be surprised how much more of an exclusive and private feel it will give you compared to LY's.
Although service can sometimes be a hit and miss. depending on the crew.

As to your upcoming flights on LH, well all I can say is you are in for a treat as far as the ground service is concerned!
Make sure you use the First class Terminal at FRA airport, even if you only have little time to use it.
It’s fantastic!!!

Thanks for the welcome clubman.

About LH F - I only have 1 hour between flights so I will have to run in order to see the FCT in FRA - Not sure if I will make it unless LH will provide transport to the FCT from the main terminal (Do you know if that's possible?)

About BA F - I am thinking about it - But the only possibility to do that is far east as only to the these destinations (mainly BKK and SIN) I found "reasonable" pricing (around 4800$).

Thanks again.

I got SIN with SIA for 4300$ in C and 5300$ in new F
I took the new F. The best F product I have ever seen
LiorM

One hour is enough time! I have had even less time and got to use the FCT, and yes they will indeed pick you up and take you there.
Then when your flight is ready and people have already boarded, they will call you and take you in either a brand new Mercedes S class or Porsche Cayenne

When you arrive at FRA, just go to flight connection or the First class check in area and ask them to send a driver to pick you up for the FCT.

If you have never experienced it, you must do it, even if you have little time, plus you won't waste a minute waiting to board the plane.

As to BA, why only Far east?

I looked for SIA in F and found only 10000$ and above F pricing (TLV-???-SIN-???-TLV).
Through what hub can I find this nice F price?
Thanks!

Thanks for the information regarding the FCT - I will definitely try!!
Regarding BA - I have 2 options - America(s) or Far East - the pricing for Far East F is half the price of F to the America(s)- That is the reason.

I think you need to find via Zurich.

Via Zurich or via FRA.
You get C class for TLV-FRA OR ZUR and from there you get the real F to SIA.
Call your travel agent and he/she will call SIA office in Israel for that price.
(tell them I sent you :)
The New C in the SIA 777-300 is also amazing
see the movies on their website

LiorM

Price of F
 

Thanks LiorM about the SIA information.
What's funny (or sad?) is that you can get BA F or SIA F for less than 5300$ for TLV-???-BKK-???-TLV but LY F TLV-BKK cost around 5800$ (Yes I know it is direct but still!) Sometimes I really cannot understand LY pricing as their product for F is great but still below BA/SIA standards.

For BKK or HKG I always buy I class and add 1400 points for Elal F

Once you do SIA new F you don't go back. (even the "OLD" F )
I didn't want the flight to land....
LiorM

mmm, you sure about that...? :)

I know what you mean though! I felt that way when I first flew First with EL AL to New York. On the return leg I was a bit annoyed that we arrived an hour early. I mean, imagine being in an hotel and being woken up at 3am and being told "I'm sorry, sir, but the morning has arrived early today ... get out" ... I actually remember the old rail sleeper service from Aberdeen to London, which came in at about 6am, but which allowed passengers to sleep until about 8:30am!