JohnRain

That depends on whether your wife likes cars or not (mine does).
If so, you could try the LH F Porsche Experience and rent a lovely 911 for 3 hours for 99 euros. (I did it for the second time just two weeks ago and it's great fun). 8 hours is just enough to have two meals in the lounge, relax a bit, drive the Porsche, have a drink and board...

worldclubber

My wife would love it.

You get into MUC, a Porsche picks you up from your VCE flight, you have a snack and then a great a-la-carte meal at the FCL, take a relaxing bath in one of the bathtubs, take a nap in one of the day rooms, have a few cigars in the cigar lounge and/or glasses of champagne on the open-air patio, get some work or reading done, go back to the restaurant section and have another wonderful meal with apron and runway view, before you go to the gate... If your wife needs to do some shopping, there are plenty of shops in terminal 2 and the satellite. I would convince her to give it a try.

Hey, you posted in the "how to maximise your LH F experience" thread.

dera

8 hour is nothing, I have 14 hours in the FCT tomorrow

worldclubber

Enjoy!

For stay of more than 10 hours, I would definitely recommend to take a Porsche for a spin.

malgudi

Wow ... 14hrs?

dera

I thought about it, but I also maximized my onboard experience and there's no way I'm fit to drive anything today

worldclubber

I do understand that. Very responsible! ^

The nap rooms at the FCT may come in handy then...

BenSenise

i am absolutely thrilled to have snagged a last minute F ticket SFO-FRA using AP miles. I have flown CX and BA F and am happy to be able to check off a few more items off my "to do" list all in one go; fly LH F, fly in an A380, and check out the FCT in FRA. I have intentionally booked a six hour layover before continuing on to GVA rather than the more reasonable two hours. So now begins my research and planning so that I may, as per the title of this thread, maximise my F experience! I'm hoping to validate a few of my thoughts and ask a few questions here that I have not been able to verify or answer after reading numerous posts on this forum and researching on the web.

SFO - I'll have a few hours in SFO and was planning on visiting the Centurion Lounge as well as United International First Lounge which I assume is for LH F pax as well. Anything else to see or do there?

The Flight - There don't seem to be any any posts about F on the A380 on this forum's "LH - OS Seating Thread." Any comments about 1A on the A380? Is it allowed to use the stairs during flight? i'd love to go downstairs, walk to the back, then up and back to my seat. I have not yet been on this monster of an aircraft and would like to get a feel for its size. Any other tips would be welcome.

Arriving at FRA - A friend of mine flew LH F from North America to FRA a while back and he mentioned that when deplaning, he missed a supposed shortcut to the FCL right at the jetway with a dedicated passport control or something and just went with the crowd and made his way back to the FCL. Does this make sense?

While at FRA - Ideally, and in no specific order, I would like to walk around the shops a little bit, take a shower or even a bath, get a ducky , maybe snooze a bit, have lunch, visit the FCT, and be driven to my gate or aircraft for the flight to GVA. I could visit either FCL in the terminal but it isn't obligatory. I've read a lot of comments in this forum outlining the pros and cons the FCLs and FCT and I still want to go to the FCT just to check it off my bucket list. I understand that all FCT pax get driven to their flight even if mine is a flight to GVA. I'm hoping that it will be at a remote stand but I think it has been from the A gates recently. Would anyone care to share any suggestions for the order in which I fulfill my above stated requirements or any other suggestions. I'm not interested in leaving the airport to go to Frankfurt city as i've been there many times and i'm not looking to rent a Porsche as I have driven one on the Autobahn quite a few times as well.

I think that's about it! Still a week-and-a-half away but I am giddy with anticipation. I usually take pictures and may do a bit of a trip report once i'm back in late july.

Viennafly

You will have a great time on your SFO-FRA-GVA flights! A few remarks and personal opinions on the points you raised:

UA Int. First Lounge in SFO: Not worth planning to spend more than an hour there. Good food and drinks but by no means comparable to First Class Lounges in Europe or Asia. Other than 1-2 standard shower rooms, nothing exciting or special. Overall the LH F departure experience has a lot of room for improvement: You have to find your way alone from check-in through security and to the lounge. Boarding is announced in the lounge, but then you have to wait at the boarding gate (at least there is an extra line for F class; but maybe depending on the departure gate).

On board: Seat 1A is perfect in opinion, as the galley is behind row 2 and there is only the personal locker for 1A in front, whereas the personal lockers for 2A, 1D and 2D are behind row 2. The stairs in front to go down to the lower deck between the two bathroom doors is typically locked off with a metal barrier during the flight. So nobody (I do not even remember having seen any crew member use the front stairs during the flight) uses the stairs during the flight. But I think if you want to explore the A380, you can walk on the upper deck through C class and take the back stairs to the lower deck.
Arrival in FRA: If you arrive in Z (which is quite common), you can walk straight to the FCL in A if you want. If I am not mistaken there is a Passport control in the lounge (as in the MUC FCL), but there is no shortcut. As discussed in other threads, in terms of food, drinks, spa and other amenities the FCL and FCT are very similar. Still, if you have not been to the FCT, and as you have a lot of time (+ to get some fresh air), it is certainly worth it to leave the main terminal and walk to the FCT. In total 10-15 min. As you also may have read, you are only driven to your connecting flight from the FCL if the flight leaves from a remote stand, whereas always from the FCT. Concerning your FRA-GVA flight, in my experience (~10 FRA-GVA flights per year), it is 90% from a remote stand (even if the boarding gate is an A gate). So even if you stay in the FCL, you will likely be driven to your GVA flight.

daumueller

No passport control in the lounge in FRA - that's only MUC

NYC1

And if you're arriving from the US and want to go to the FCL A, you have to go through passport control (which is nothing with a EU passport and, depending on your luck, no big deal / a bit of a wait with a non-EU passport).

BenSenise

thanks for all your input. i must admit that i'm a bit confused about the gates at FRA. A and Z seem to be on top of each other. Is one for arrivals and one for departures? And some of the A gates are bus gates? I've looked at the FRA website and can't find good information. I've been through FRA many times and have always found it to be very confusing. one of the most confusing airport i've ever been to.

thanks.

ok, thanks. not a big deal. I have Swiss and Canadian passports and carry both so i can choose whichever line is shorter.

daumueller

A is for Schengen, Z for non-Schengen so the passport control in between makes the difference

all gates can also be used as bus gates

a few are only bus gates.

Koc

Quick LH F-newbie question; arriving from CPH in LH C and connecting to ICN in LH F. Is there any difference between FCL A and B? If arriving at bus gate I suppose we are taken to the lounge closest to our departing gate (most likely Z-pier). Any reason to walk over to the B-lounge in this case?

..and; any idea what's the minimum connection time for visiting the FCT? We only have 80 minutes, so basically I think we are better of just relaxing in one of the FCL's. Unless any special reason to visit?

MichielR

If you arrive at an apron position, there will most likely be a car for F pax. Ask to be driven to B Schengen arrivals. From there up the escalator, through passport control and to the F lounge at B. You will be driven to Z, C and apron departures from there, only if your ICN flight leaves from B will you have to walk a little.

The car from FCL B to your plane will leave approx twenty minutes before departure, so this should give you some time for a drink in the lounge.

If your flight from CPH is on time and if you really want to try the FCT, then ask to be dropped at A Schengen bus arrivals, which is a bit shorter to the FCT.

The FCT will guarantee a car to the plane but will involve a walk outside and a security check albeit a very civilized one.

I would stick to FCL B in this case.