pdsuk

Following excellent reception of my previous post http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=894393 on the outbound, I decided to put pen to paper for the return journey. I hope that I don't get in trouble by creating a new post

Check in
We arrived at (what some may call it and I tend to agree with them) the hell hole that is MIA having dropped off our rented car at the offsite lot. Oh do I wish that MIA could get its act together and make the entire car rental process more simple – for those unfamiliar, all car rental companies are offsite at MIA (unlike MCO where it’s about half and half and an absolute dream if you choose one that is in terminal ^^^). This arrangement means that you have to stand watching four lanes of traffic separated by a median to spot your bus, then flag it down before dragging cases to where it has stopped before lugging heavy suitcases up the steep steps into the bus . Why they cannot have a specific “car rental bus stop” is beyond me . The bus then weaves it way to the industrial-esque type estate that is home to all car rental companies and is in a not so nice part of town – what a lovely introduction for the tourist .

Anyways, back to LH. We hopped off the bus and proceeded to the LH check in counters in concourse J. MIA was very busy at this time of day, the LH counters had a long snaking line for Economy and about 20 odd people in the Business class lines. This is to be expected as the FRA and DUS flights both leave within a 2 hour window, I did notice some people from the DUS flight in the same lines. Mercifully there was no one in the First Class line ^^, the agents were busying helping 2 people at the designated First Class desks. Our friendly check in agent confirmed us into 83A and 83C for the MIA to FRA leg, 3A and 3C for the LHR leg. Bags were tagged through to London and adorned with “Priority HON” labels ^^^ before disappearing into the bowls of MIA to make their way to the 747 that would take us across the pond.

Lounge
Sadly, LH and other major EU airlines operating from MIA have not yet been able to open their own lounges so we were directed to the Club America lounge on the 4th floor – it’s a wee bit challenging to find, basically head for the Alitalia desks (depends how long they are around for !) and take the escalators opposite them to the 4th floor.

The lounge itself is very large and was very full when we entered – it caters for a multitude of airlines, I could see that there were passengers from Alitalia, Avianca, LH and Swiss however the plaque at the door indicated that it was home to many other airlines as well. Despite being busy, we found some spare seats. Drinks are served by a bar man, there were some cookies that you could help yourself to and a limited selection of papers. Interestingly, whether or not you could have a sandwich depended on what airline you were flying with – let me expand. A lady was pushing a cart with sandwiches on it, she approached each bank of chairs and asked which airline you were with. LH passengers were entitled to sandwiches (don’t bank on it being a substantial meal, if you are hungry then use one of the restaurants) but Swiss passengers were not (much to the shock and disgust of a lady sat near us who looked very very annoyed) . On the plus side, the lounge had good free WIFI signal so I spent sometime on my laptop.

Security and Boarding
We headed down to TSA checks at around 3.15pm – there are 2 areas where LH passengers can clear security, we used the one at the very far end of concourse J as most people used the one between concourses H and J making it very crowded when we passed it – an excellent tip from the LH check in staff @:-)@:-).

We passed the various Duty Free shops on our way to J17 to be met with a melee of passengers all trying to board at the same time. I spotted a “First / Business” sign and having negotiated the melee the nice lady spotted our red “LH First Class” boarding sleeves and escorted us through ^^.

Pre-departure
Once settled in our seats, the friendly male FA handed us our Van Laack pyjamas, Bognor amenity kit and unbranded slippers for the flight. Rollaboards were stored in the locker at the top of the stairs before I like most other F passengers changed into our PJs before take off. Unfortunately a late passenger meant that we were delayed in push back which meant that we missed our slot and had to endure watching various other tiny little planes go ahead of us – I will admit to willing the captain to crush some of them like annoying little flies with the hulk of our 747 but alas it was not to be.

Onboard Service
After 10 minutes, we roared into the air having taken off heading west before the captain did a hand brake turn and headed East over the Bahamas. At this time, crew flew through the cabin making preparations for the legendary meal service. And boy was the food EXCELLENT (I will post menus later) it was even more delicious than on the outbound.

I had the full monty tonight, the tier of starters were all excellent and very very flavoursome. I chose beef as my main course, it was well done but still moist. One small issue with the beef: there was too much of the pepper crusting on it for my liking so I scraped most of it off the top. I am not much of a red wine fan so stuck to the German Riesling, I know that some foodies say you must drink red wine with beef but it’s a personal preference for me. BTW, the Riesling was excellent ^^^, I thoroughly recommend it – German wines have come a long way since I was a youngster and when they had an awful reputation. I shall be looking for this one in my local supermarket as it was THAT good.

IFE was being troublesome this evening for both of us, it seemed to go blank (but with sound) after we both had started movies. I **suspect** that it was something to do with brightness, the touch screen flashed up the brightness controls without me requesting it just before the screen went dead. I used a damp napkin to give it a wipe and a dry, thankfully we the picture eventually stayed with us after having stopped and re-started about 4 or 5 times – has anyone experienced this before ?

Having watched a film I reclined the seat and tried to sleep. I say “tried” as I was horribly unsuccessful. In my previous post I said that it is all about the seat for me but I just could not get comfortable on this flight , it seemed to be the case that the seat was a bit lumpy (for want of a better phrase) and not as completely smooth as some other F class beds that I have experienced.

Not to worry, we had a strong tail wind and before I knew it LH were planning on doing what the do so very well – food !! And what a spread !! I felt gutted that they had to throw much of it away, by my reckoning only 4 out of our full cabin of 16 had breakfast the rest preferring to sleep as much as possible on our journey to FRA. Scrambled eggs were great, croissants were warm but had not been warmed to the point were the edges become cooked and hard and I loved having bagels and cream cheese. Excellent coffee too ^^ (total bonus for me as I am a lover of stronger dark roast coffee).

Once all was cleared, the crew prepared for landing before we touched down to a cold and dark FRA. I noticed that crew members stationed themselves at the bottom of the stairs allowing all First Class passengers to de-board first – excellent idea and very welcome ^^.

Connection in FRA
We had approx. 90 minutes before our flight to LHR and so decided against the Transfer Centre’s advice that we “land” ourselves and make for the FCT. Following all the signs and advice, we took the train to the B concourse, negotiated security (they did not mind the amenity kit toiletries not being in a plastic zippy and I had no money to pay the 50 cents for one) and headed to the FCL at gate B24 for a shower. The lady got us to the top of the shower waitlist before giving us a presentation box with toiletries from Etros (never heard of them) to use in the shower suite.

Mercifully the water pressure was excellent and the water hot so we were both able to change into fresh (and warmer) clothes in FRA before we headed to B60 and through yet another security screening where again they did not bat an eyelid at the amenity kit toiletries not being in a bag.

The bus then took us to our 737 on a remote stand where I confess to dozing for most of the flight and am therefore unable to comment on the short connection flight. I woke up over London to see frosty ground and was glad to have put on a sweater in FRA, our captain deposited us into LHR terminal 2 bang on time and we were quickly through immigration before waiting 10 minutes for our luggage. Our two bags were first on the belt gotta love those “Priority HON” tags !!

Conclusion
So what is my humble opinion ? LH service was efficient and friendly throughout, the staff were always willing to help and assist. Food was the absolute highlight for me, they clearly use this as one of the factors to distinguish their F class offering. The FCT is amazing and has to be experienced if only "once in a lifetime" even though there are people on FT who probaly spend half their lives at it. Priority tags worked a dream (unlike over at BA where it is hit and miss) and I admit to loving the red “First Class” BP jackets especially as agents seemed to be on the look out for them when we were boarding in MIA so that they could help us through the melee.

The seat is the most important part of the F class experience for me and this is what (thankfully) LH are working on. I hope that the new seats are more “bed like” a la EK, QF, BA, CX etc. with the quilts and sheets in addition to offering a set up on 747s that provides more privacy for the solo traveller.

Would I do it again ? Hmmmm ….. it is peculiar / illogical (?) to “fly east before heading west” on trips to North America but I enjoyed doing it for this experience. In addition, I find FRA to be not a great place to transit between connecting flights, I have heard that MUC is much easier in this regard. Unfortunately I don’t get to experience F that often normally being in Business on longhaul flights and so would probably stick with BA for future Business Class flights (depending on price, of course, when on holiday). But if the new LH F and A380 are spectacular then I would definitely give LH another go. Would I recommend them to others ? Absolutely.

mamb0

Ask for 1 or more blankets to use it as a bedspread/sheet. If the seat is a little bit worn out, that really helps me. I also put a cushion under the sheets were seat and backrest join...

DTS

I think german white wine was never bad, but somehow notorious in Europe, mainly because they only export what we call "Pennerglück", stuff like "Liebfrauenmilch". The good ones seem to stay in Germany and be drunk by Germany.

DownUnderFlyer

Great post as always and glad you liked it.

Yes, the new LH F seats will offer a lot more privacy with screens you can move up and down on all (relevant) sides. It will not be retrofitted into 744s but will go into all longhaul Airbuses as well as 748s.

SMK77

I am still keeping all my fingers crossed that this rumour of blocking the seat on the 744 to reduce the number to 8 is still a joke. LH would make a fool out of themselves if they are really considering that an option... Not sure what the product people are smoking - it cannot be very good... Fish & Chips as entree in F for Jan & Feb seems to be leading the way though... More to come???