vincentb89

After reading so many reports, I decided it was time for me to contribute !

I'm 21 years old and am certainly not the most adequate frequent traveller to compare airline F class products nor the customer crews expect to serve (and it was highlighted from the moment i put my foot on board LH). I'm used to flying mainly C class on Air France, had a few times the opportunity to fly its Première product and only once did an Asian Carrier in F (Asiana). So not a lot of data in order to compare or evaluate so lets say that these reports and details will contain what i "believe" can be expected from such fights in F from my limited experience, and more important to me, what i was expecting and not expecting.

So I left today for a mini RTW trip in F (except intra european flights in "Business" whatever class it is called), with the following itinerary :
CDG-MUC-SFO (on LH)
SFO-NRT (on UA)
NRT-ZRH-CDG (on LX) .

I'll post reports as soon as flights are completed

Day 1: Paris to San Francisco

Alarm woke me up a 6.30 am, enough time to get prepared and take public transportation to CDG to be there at 9.30 am for a 11.05 am flight. The checkin desk for Lufthansa is located at Terminal 1 (oldest terminal in CDG) and fellow flyertalkers had warned me that the lufthansa lounge being what it is, I could arrive 30 min before check in closes and wouldn't really miss a thing. I was quite surprised to see that, despite Paris being an only european flights airport for LH (so 2 class cabin configuration), there were separate desks in the premium area with C and F check in. Check in done in 30 secs, bag checked in with the HON tag (which would prove to be quite useful), and I'm going through security in order to grab a coffee in the lounge and eat a few bites. As soon as I enter the lounge the two dragons see me and tell me, in a kind way i must add, that it is for C class only… and their faces dramatically change when they contemplate my red sleeve with boarding tickets to SFO. From this moment the lufthansa experience starts and they warmly welcome me and direct me to the lounge. What to say about the lounge … Honestly not so much, at maximum 20 people, 3 bottles of different juices, a pack of cereals and a few bottles of alcohol ( maybe it was because I was in the lounge at a late morning hour (10.30 am) and that past morning flights had consumed everything on offer

At 10.50 am i grab my things and go to the boarding gate, wondering how the intra european experience in C class is going to be in such a short flight after reading so many …. clear reports on the forum. And the experience can only strengthen my first opinion… here we go

Flight 1 : CDG - MUC
flight time : 85 minutes (65 min)
departure : 11.05 am (11.25 am)
arrival : 12.30 pm ( on time)
Load : 5/16 in C ( 4 rows of 4 seats with middle seat blocked)
2/3 of Y class
Plane : A 320 (if I recall well)

So first flight of my journey in F is going to be LH C class from Paris to Munich. There is indeed a premium line for boarding but no agent in sight so it's going to be cattle class line. Not the best starter for a C class experience, especially when you know that on board differences between coach and business are quite "non existent". No special welcome ( 2 FA's, not even checking the boarding pass) and no pre take-off drinks (only newspapers offered). After take off, under heavy rain, service starts with drinks and food offerings at the same time, maybe because of the short flight time. Since it's only 11 am and that I don't want to be buzzed before Munich First class lounge a Diet Coke it is. 4 food offerings, ranging from disguting to acceptable, and a piece of bread with butter can sum up the experience. I'm still astonished about the quality of the product itself : no more legroom space, food offerings less than satisfying ( and I'm 21 and a really low standard eater, from junk food to everything that qualifies as food so not the typical difficult to satisfy guy), no premium treatment in C class so only one question came in mind during the flight : How does LH manage to sell C class tickets when difference between C and Y is not even significant and prices are up to 6 times higher for C class ? Apart from that, flight was on time despite the departure 20 min delay and being the first off the aircraft is nice, especially when the first class lounge is only a 30 secs walk from the gate.



Munich transit and First class Lounge ( flight to SFO : 4.05 pm)


Landing in Munich, on time, i soon walk to the first class lounge (downstairs section for Schengen area) but not before buying a pack of cigarettes at the closest shop. Not the most interesting thing in the report, but still an introduction for a funny story. Back in LH lounge at CDG, i had spotted a man in his late 20's drinking alcohol at 9 am (not judging, my liver just couldn't handle it this particular morning !), speaking loudly on his phone about the fact that he was flying in C class so to sum up the kind of guy showing off that I abhor. Boarding had started in CDG and he was sitting a row behind me (i was in row 3) in C class and juste before boarding finishes the FA comes and asks him to "please go back to your seat, which is 14 A and not 4 A" literally speaking. Well tried, but thinking that with an empty C class cabin you're not going to get caught is a bit optimistic. Back to Munich, after a 5 min stop for cigarettes, i try to enter the LH first class lounge and guess who's leaving the lounge (same guy) after i believe another attempt to crash in the lounge. Still don't get how his mind works : if you get caught trying to op up yourself in C class, do you actually believe that you won't get caught trying to do the same at the F class lounge, where LH people are supposed to take care of you and watch you constantly?

So back to the lounge in Munich. When I say that I try to enter the first class lounge it's mainly because i still haven't found how the door works and after patiently waving my hand to a LH dragon for 5 min and showing my boarding pass doors open for the GREAT part of the day, the beginning of the LH F experience (airline I've never flown before). The dragon explains the lounge facilities and gives me a tour, asking me about any thing I may have in mind. First thing that actually hits me is that the lounge, at 1pm, is really empty (10 pax at max) and that the cigar room is waiting for me and my heaving smoking habit . Lounging in a chair and surfing the web, waiters come every 5 min to the smoking area (which is quite well hidden) to offer top ups. After a few glasses of champagne ( not a really good one, cannot find the name but part of the name is "Cru Bourgeois") i'm starting to feel relaxed and slowly alcohol starts to produce some effects on my body. It's time to eat something and I'm heading to the buffet section (didn't want to try the restaurant since time was unfortunately passing by too fast) for a few nibbles of everything on offer. Then it's time to take a shower (no little yellow duck unfortunately) with instant hot water, quite useful to come back to earth after many top ups. A few cigarettes and an orange juice after, a lounge dragon comes at 3.20 pm to tell me it's time for boarding. To sum up the experience, i did find the on ground product quite excellent, whether it may be for the lounge itself ( smoking area, fast internet, really good beverage and food offerings, showers and comfortable chairs and resting area) or the service provided ( constant attention from the staff without invading privacy). However No limo or escort (not that I needed one but the limo transfer would have been the cherry on the top for the eternal kid that I'm!) to the plane and a quick 5 min walk to security with patdown and boarding . Then it's time for the first F flying experience of the report !

Flyingfox

Your report is good thus far - the man trying to nick the C class seat sounds like a dimwit.

This is the first time I've seen a FCL LH lounge agent referred to as a "dragon"!

Let's see how your flight goes....................

vincentb89

Flight 2 : MUC - SFO
Flight time : 12h 30 on the boarding pass, 11h45 according to the F class FA and a 10 min delay on arrival due to traffic at SFO airport
departure: 4.05 pm ( 4.10 pm)
arrival : 7.30 pm local time ( 7.15pm)
Load : 2/8 in F
C class full
Y class full

So how to start… I had, thanks to reading many trip reports on this forum, quite an idea about the in flight experience itself and high expectations about this long flight. Lets say that these expectations were fully met but that a few things did surprise me for a F class flight. But back to the start :

Walking to the plane, with a long line for priority boarding ( at least 30 people), I start regretting not spending any more time in the lounge (still the heavy smoking habit). Entering the plane, from the front, the FA, after seeing the red sleeve, warmly welcomes me and escorts me to my seat ( an escort for a 2 meters walk : that where I realize LH really wants to highlight the treatment provided to F customers compared to C customers). Then, shortly after, the other F class FA comes to help me settle ( coat, amenity kit, Bogner light blue polo), asks me for drinks, comes back with a glass of champagne (If i recall properly Piper Heidseck Cuvée rare was offered onboard) and starts to chat for a while, explaining me the flight time, schedule and how the service is going to proceed. A few minutes wait, chatting with the other pax (we had already talked while enjoying the smoking area in the lounge) and it's time for departure. Just before taking off, the FA comes and asks me if, due to the light load, i would like to have my bed made in 2K : a nearly empty cabin, 1 FA by Pax and two seats : what more could I ask for?
After take off the show starts : another drink (champagne seems to be the german sparkling water on LH F…) and, with the ability of deciding whenever you want to eat, a "late lunch" as they call it (it's already 6.30 pm) is served 90 min after take off. The amuse bouche was a failure for me ( putting cream cheese and frozen spinach in an eggshell was a bit risky) but apart from that, the late lunch was quite nice , starting with the traditional caviar with garnishes , a soup ( i can't remember the actual composition, thanks to the alcohol but it was really tasty and it did include croutons with parmesan ) and then the chicken breast with rosti and brussels sprouts. Skipped the dessert course and the coffee, feeling more than full after such a food fest. Than it's time for a movie ( Thomas Crown affair, with Steve Mc Queen and Faye Dunaway, always a pleasure to watch), a quick nap in the lie flat seat. Honestly I was a bit disappointed by the seat itself: i found it REALLY perfect for lounging (it's really big and arm rests are perfect for reading or lounging) but not that perfect for sleeping, especially if you're tall with long arms and have the habit of loving to move while sleeping…) Still managed to get a 2 hours fix of sleep and woke up, with 6 hours to go and the will to enjoy the most of the inflight experience. And that's where the downfall comes : FA's were really responsive (not that i had fun pushing the call button on my seat but they were always, at all calls, here in less than 15 seconds and I needed quite a huge number of bottles of water after the first class lounge in Munich ) but couldn't be seen (not in the good way). I was expecting some proactive attitude, like for example coming to see the Pax and ask him if everything is allright after watching him wake up, stand up, wander around looking for a FA during 1 min) but from the moment that the dinner was finished and the cabin put into sleep mode, you had to ring them to be there. Quite the opposite of the first three hours of flight, where the 2 FA's were constantly, yet discreetly, watching you. That was kind of a change, and honestly, at one point, i was surprised to have to go to the business class galley in order to find a bottle of water, because FA's were nowhere to be found, even after pushing the call button.

However, despite the lack of attention during a short part of the flight ( i would say two hours, because four hours before landing FA's were back in the F cabin), service was pretty perfect in every aspect. Technically all went well, according to the "Lufthansa guide rules for F class flights" well described in numerous reports but what did convince me of the luck of flying LH F was more than that. I don't know if it can be explained in plain words, but as said Macabus, sometimes a smile or an attitude means everything. Not to put it in a personal way but i was not in the best mood before flying yesterday ( breaking up after a 4 year long relationship the day before maybe helped) and lets say that my appetite was nowhere to be found. Yet the FA ( and I can only thank the light load) explained from the very first moment that part of flying first class on LH was about creating an interaction (AF La Première: take some time to think about it). It may sound cheesy but it worked, and not because I was offered refills about quite everything onboard( having to share a box of caviar for 2 means no sacrifice..) but more because the FA was constantly being proactive, after watching me for 5 min, about what could improve my state of mind. Not that she acted like a mother ( yes I'm 21…) but it felt like she tried everything to put a smile on me. So, to sum it up, i couldn't have asked for more. Being a heavy smoker, long flights such as this one are usually painful. However, watching to clock tickle, i could only wish it stopped. And that's where, to me, LH F class service is golden.

Next installment will be in 10 days, after flying UA new F suites to Tokyo !

glennaa11

looking forward to the next installment.

Even a short person like me didn't find the LH F seat very comfy. That was on an A330 IAD-MUC. I definitely much preferred the new UA F on my ZRH-IAD leg.