FlyerTalk Forums - JFK-FRA-SIN Lufthansa First Class

OK, this is my first trip report. Been dying to write one but never had the time. Now that I'm on vacation... here goes. This was a trip done on UA miles, booked in early August. I love LH making its seats available for award travel so easily, and I will definitely give European business travel to LH.

Aug 24, 2002
LH 405 JFK-FRA
D-ABVW ("Wolfsburg"?)
sched dep 2125
sched arr 1045+1
(Actual: Ontime departure and arrival.)

I spend the day in midtown Manhattan. It's been a beautiful day (slightly on the warm side) and I've enjoyed brunch and a trip to the Met with a friend. Oops... now it's suddenly 7.30pm and I *have* to go! I head out of my friend's apartment with my single piece of luggage and hail a cab.

Cab driver says: the usual route to JFK is crowded and usually costs $37. Let me take you my way and we'll do a flat fare thingy, OK? Immediately, my New York swindle-alarm goes off. Does this cab driver in post-Giuliani Manhattan take me for a fool? On the other hand, I *must* get to the airport in time for a shower, and have to maintain the goodwill of the taxi driver. So I simply say: I'm in a hurry, we'll use the meter, you have a nice cab, and don't worry, you'll get a GOOD tip. Well that seems to have been good enough for him, because we were at the airport by 8.15pm, via the Triboro Bridge.

AT JFK, I walk over to the first class check in counter, only to find BOTH first class agents busy. One is doing ticketing for a J passenger at the ticketing counter, and another is doing boarding passes for a gaggle of Y passengers. I wait... and wait... and wait. Three minutes pass. The J-passenger-helper wraps up her work and now tells me her computer is down! She tries to be helpful and seems to ask the Y-passenger-helper if the latter can stop helping the Y passengers and help me instead. No dice. So, I seize control of the situation and ask if I can check in at the Senator Lounge, since I have no checked baggage. Yes. OK, off I go.

Senator Lounge is located before security at JFK, and I get there within a minute. A couple of people are ahead of me, being helped by the sole desk agent. Then she gets around, after five minutes, to helping me check in. Exit row Seat 83A has been pre-assigned, and I ask her if she can block off 83C. She checks the load and there are 4 seats that will remain empty for this flight. Yippee! I get a suite-experience.

Check In rating: 1/5. (The 1 is for the blocked seat. The length of time this F passenger had to wait was abominable.)

Now I ask for a shower. Oh oh... too many passengers have taken showers and there are no towels left. Time to get creative:
"Maybe you can ask Virgin for some towels."
"Ja, maybe. Are you a Singapore Airlines PPS member?"
"No, but all I need from them is a towel, not a shower."
"I'll try my best."

Desk pages me five minutes later and gives me Virgin's ENORMOUS (and thus VERY LUXURIOUS) towels, and I use the lounge's sole shower for half an hour. The shower is nowhere near as nice as UA's NRT showers, but is handi-capable and thus much larger than LH's FRA showers.

I was given a chance to dine in the lounge, but declined in favor of the shower. Lounge had a good view of the tarmac, but food and drink selections were spartan.

Lounge rating: 4/5. (The shower improved the rating.)

9pm. Time to pass through security and board. Security was a breeze. No scissors, no nail clipper, no metal on the body. My belt with its metal buckle was in my bag. Zoom right through.

Boarding was a mess. There was only one long dragon of a line. The last time I flew LH out of JFK in F, I asked and was escorted to the front. This time, I sneak in near the front of the line, right behind a couple of of red-boarding-pass F passengers who also do the sneak-in thing. I wave my boarding pass at the agent as the line undulates past the counter, and she merely waves us through without bothering to take us to the front. No problem getting on the plane within a minute, though, and secondary inspection, though free, did not select me.

Security (2/2) & Boarding (0/3): 2/5

Once on board, a drink was offered, individual tape movie brochure, Van Laack amenity bag, and duty free catalog were distributed, and after take off, the purser came around to hand out the menus, and introduce the month's featured Riesling from the Rheingau. I had a special request: I notice Gosford Park is available on the FRA-JFK leg, but I would like to watch it tonight. Can I put it into my armside tape player? No, it's VHS... but I will play the film instead of a documentary so you can watch it. How nice!

Dinner was soon served...

Dinner

Hors d'oeuvre
Caviar with the traditional garnishes
Grilled shrimp and rice paper roulade with tomato chili relish
Breast of quail with shiitake mushrooms
Green asparagus with Balsamic Vinegar

Salad
Seasonal greens presented with Caeser or raspberry balsamic dressing

Bread, rolls, toast, baguette and butter

Entrees
Halibut in Fennel Thyme with Vegetables Provencale
Marinated Breast of chicken served with lemon and herb sauce, fresh green beans, roasted tomatoes and a potato and brie souffle

Cheese and Dessert
International Cheese: Port-Salut, Petite Basque, Goat and Camembert
Haagen-Dazs Chocolate Ice Cream accented by Cherry Compote
Fine Chocolates

I had two servings of caviar, which were beautiful and generous, the quail, which was a little dry, and the Halibut, which was not very flavorful. The cheeses were satisfactory. With dinner, I had:
2000 Schloss Johannisberger Riesling trocken, Goldkapsel, which was very flavorful, and accompanied all the dishes very well. According to the purser, it was available only on LH.

During dinner, I amused myself as best I could with Gosford Park, but found myself falling asleep. Time to sleep, then!

Dinner: 4/5 (with superb service factored in).

I asked the FA to raise my privacy shields, which was quickly done. The cabin was full, except for the seat next to me, and for this I was thankful. I had to ask specially for the Bogner sweatshirt... when I did the FA apologized for not offering it to me as she had all the other passengers, because I was already wearing a sweatshirt. I said it was a nice gift. She agreed and that was it.

I managed to get two hours of sleep during the 6.5 hours of flying time. Sigh. I guess I just won't ever feel comfortable enough to sleep on a plane. The flat seat was good enough, the nice blankie was comfy, but the dreams just would not come. I awoke an hour before landing, with the Dutch coast coming into view, and very soon breakfast was served:

Buffet
Freshly squeezed orange juice
Fresh fruit
Yoghurt, Cereal, Muesli with Almonds and Strawberries and Milk
Bread, rolls, toast, ciabatta, bagels, croissants, muffins and Danish pastries with cream cheese, butter, diet margarine, preserves and honey
A variety of cold cuts featuring ham, cervelat (a kind of sausage, according to my dictionary), camembert and Swiss cheese.

Entrees
Omelette with Ratatouille and Corn Cake
Crepe filled with chicken and vegetables enhanced by mornay sauce and sauteed spinach

The fruit was good, the muesli was very Germanic (thus fitting for the trip) and the crepe was absolutely delicious. English Breakfast Tea, however, was slightly bitter, but the Crepes were SO GOOD that the rating is

Breakfast: 5/5

My rollalong was in the upper deck closet, and there it stayed until landing. Landing views were unspectacular: the regular rolling German countryside, with views of the Rhein and the Main. After we were at the gate, I retrieved it, packed my things away, and was the last F passenger off the plane.

General intangibles (i.e. how well I was looked after in-flight): 4/5

Rating for JFK-FRA: 20/30.

Next post: Buster CT1K does Frankfurt!

[This message has been edited by Buster CT1K (edited 08-29-2002).]

[This message has been edited by Buster CT1K (edited 08-29-2002).]

After arriving at FRA at Pier A, I headed straight for the A pier Senator Lounge, and grabbed a shower. Very relaxing, though a little on the small side. I called my friend who's working at downtown firm and I meet him at his office, head out for lunch, then as he continues his work, I wander around town, managing to get a peak inside the house in which Goethe was born.

I get back to his office in time to have a light dinner with him, and then suddenly it's 8.30pm. Time to leave for the airport! I grab a cab, and we're very soon at the airport. A check at the First Class counter shows that six seats are going to be empty for this flight, and the man behind the counter cheerfully blocks off 83C, next to my 83A.

By the way, I love Frankfurt taxis! They are clean, neat, inexpensive, and the drivers mind their own business.

Security was a breeze - I love the efficiency and friendliness of professional security! And being a friendly passenger myself, I usually get a nice reception. One thing to note: Germans cut in line quite often. A business-traveller type tried to cut in front of me at security when there was only one person ahead of me, and no one behind me. I asked him if he was traveling with the guy in front of me, he said no, I advanced a step, and he fled to another line. Now, lest you think me a hypocrite, apparently cutting in front of others is the done thing in Germany: an article in a German guidebook says that it's OK to cut infront of others, for example when you're in a big hurry. If others object, that's their prerogative, but you're entitled to try cutting the queue.

Flight 778 to Singapore will leave from B25, so I head to the B20's Business Lounge, got a shower (necessary after a unusually warm day in Frankfurt), and headed to the gate around 9.40pm. Lounge was somewhat spartan: you wouldn't think you were in a Virgin Clubhouse, a Silver Kris lounge or The Wing.

Lounge: 4/5.

Aug 26
LH 779 FRA-SIN
D-ABVY ("Nordrhein Westfalen"?)
sched dep 2210 (actual: 25 min late)
sched arr 1555+1 (actual: 15 min late)

Boarding was a mess. Again, no first class line, but whereas last time (in JFK) there were two gate agents taking boarding passes,
this time there's only one, before a holding area. I got to the holding area, and asked if there was first class boarding. Nope. So I joined the shortest of three lines converging on a single narrow doorway. The lines moved fairly quickly, since two aircraft doors (1L & 2L) were being used for boarding, but the chaos was unnecessary.

Security (2/2) & Boarding (0/3): 2/5.

Aboard, the entire upper deck again filled up, except for the seat next to me. Ah, wonderful! An empty seat. The last row, 84 with an entire family that had gotten upgraded and was toasting one another with champagne and other alcohol. (I had my welcome drink of sparkling water, which was served with a ramekin of warmed nuts.)

I snag the pillow from 83C, made myself comfortable... and quite soon, a sonorous Teutonic voice announced: "Boarding completed." We sat... and waited... and waited. The gate does not push back. Suddenly a fellow comes up to the upper deck in his socks, bearing his shoes in one hand, and plops himself into 83C! What's going on?! I return his pillow to him, and clear his seat of my stuff, then I ask the FA. Apparently there has been no mistake: he's been upgraded to First.

Yuck. I felt like a promise had been breached and sulked for about 15 minutes, then decided this little setback wasn't going to ruin my first class experience. We finally pushed back and took off, with a nice view out my left window of a mostly darkened Frankfurt downtown.

But once in the air, the service took forever to begin. It was about 40 minutes before the purser came around with the menus. This purser was nowhere near half as nice as the other guy. He basically dumps the menus in my lap and moves on. It's a whole 60 minutes before we get to the appetizers. Meanwhile, I try to amuse myself with the personal video cassette tape of The Royal Tennenbaums: quite funny! I get 1/3 through the movie by the time dinner is served. At that time, the inflight entertainment is also switched on, so I decide to watch Ice Age, which is quite funny. I watch it in snippets during dinner, but enough to get the storyline.

Dinner

This was a Star Chefs dinner, specially planned by Joerg Mueller of his eponymous restaurant, and Johannes King of Soel'Ring Hof.

Hos d'oeuvre
Caviar with the traditional garnishes
North sea shrimp, horseradish yoghurt and marinated cauliflower florets
Yellow bell pepper terrine with vegetable relish and basil oil
Smoked breast of duck in honey coriander crust with lentil salad and balsamic vinaigrette

Salad
Frisee, radicchio, Belgian endive, arugula and red radishes presented with Kefir or raspberry walnut dressing

Bread, rolls, toast and butter

Entrees
Herb crusted shoulder of lamb with bean medley and rosemary potatoes
Bouillabaisse featuring a selection of North Sea fish, saffron broth and herbed baguette
Tagliatelle pasta flavored with thyme and lemon shiitake mushrooms, romanesco cauliflower with tomato coulis
Pan-seared breast of guinea hen accompanied by mashed potatoes, curry lime sauce and summer vegetables

Cheese & Dessert

International chess: brie, reblochon, allgaeu, Saint-Nectaire and Bresse Bleu served with grapes
Bread pudding Sylt-style with apricots
Creamed semolina and red fruit compote
Fine chocolates

I had each appetizer, but skipped the salad. The FA was a little stingy with the caviar, but complied when I asked for more. The horseradish yoghurt was very innovative and yummy. The bell pepper terrine was not quite to my taste but I appreciated the thought that had gone into it. The duck was a little tough. I choose a white wine to accompany the appetizers, the FA offered the Rheingau Riesling, but I asked to try the Greek wine instead: 2000 Amethystos, Constantin Lazardis, Weingut, Macedonia.

Now, I had no idea what Greek wines were like, but in the interest of electicism went for this one. I was not disappointed. This was a powerful white wine, just the way I like it. It muscled its way to the palate, over the bell pepper terrine and the duck and the caviar and the yoghurt. It left hints of fire, olive oil, and Aristotelian catharsis on the tongue. It was wonderful. Kudos, LH!

For the entree, I had the Guinea Hen, which was tender and yielded to the (metal) knife very readily. With the curry lime sauce, it was both tart and spicy, and absolutely heavenly, despite the fact that I had had dinner at 8pm. I finished it. I asked to try the Bordeaux and the Burgundy:
1998 Chateau Lynch-Moussas, 5 Cru, Classe, Pauillac, Bordeaux;
1997 Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru, Burgundy.

Both had wonderful bouquets. But perhaps because of the strength of the food and the Macedonian white that had gone before, both seemed to lack something in the taste department. I chose the Burgundy by a hair... but as I suspected it did not accompany the Guinea Fowl well. I asked the FA for the third red: 1998 Villa di Capezzana, Carmignano DOCG, Italy. This one was also inferior to the Burgundy. I stuck with the Burgundy, and concentrated on the flavors of the curry lime sauce.

Feeling like a pig, I had the cheese for dessert, accompanied by port. The cheese was satisfactory. A hazelnut chocolate rounded off the meal.

Dinner: 5/5. When it comes down to it, wine is much less important than the food. The absence of a good red wine did not detract
from the Guinea Fowl.

After dinner I walked around the aircraft. Business was mostly full, I counted at most a half dozen empty seats. Economy was also mostly full.

I returned to my seat, receive my blankie and a Bogner sweatshirt, hinted to the FAs that it's about time the lights were turned off (some people were already asleep one sleepyhead was snoring louder than a jackhammer) and settled into a slumber some 2.5h after take off.

I awoke in darkness 2h later, parched with thirst. Too much alcohol, I guess! The jackhammer on the right side of the plane in Row 83 is still going at it. I drank a lot of water, then decided to take the purser up on his offer of a midflight snack. Soon after takeoff, the service announcement had said something to the effect of "during the flight, we welcome you to enjoy our midflight snacks." The FA however said there wasn't any snackie thingy. There was some leftover cheese and chocolates. There used to be fruit and canapes, but the FA was very sorry: they don't offer these any more. I really wanted a sandwich: carbohydrates instead of fat. I declined food and went back to the film....

There was something wrong with the tape player. It refused to play! I had to fiddle with it a while, fast-forwarding and rewinding until the player "caught" and played. Surprise! The FA shows up with a plate of 4 crackers, and has personally spread cheese on them for me! What a wonderful touch. I didn't feel like consuming more heavy cheese, but felt obliged to eat. They were quite good. Feeling as glutonous as Tfung does on his trips, I switched off the tape player and went back to sleep.

During this period of awakeness, we flew over central asia, including Afghanistan, then across Pakistan into India. It was early morning, and I dared to sneak a peak on the world... Afghanistan is a desolate country. I have never seen it in daylight, but when I flew over it at night once, one could be impressed by the lights of cities in Iran, Pakistan and India... and by the total darkness of Afghanistan. Sad. In the daytime, the craggy peaks of Afghanistan rear themselves above an arid ground. This is still the territory of the Mujahideen or whatever they call themselves these days.

This time, I get four hours of great sleep, and when I wake up, it's 1h before landing, we're over Thailand, everyone else is awake, their tray tables deployed and linened, and I have a plate with a cold towel on my armrest awaiting me.

The FA comes over and tells me that she tried waking me several times, but I was sound asleep. I told her she did the right thing by letting me sleep. She offers me breakfast, which I heartily accept, despite the fact that the local time in Singapore is 2pm. I wonder why they don't serve brunch instead, and put it down to the importance of breakfast to the German clientele - perhaps someone on the boards will correct me if I am wrong.

I decide to try and finish The Royal Tennenbaums before we land... and drats, my tape player has conked out for good. Try as I might, it won't play. We can zip through the scenes soundless and at high speeds, but it just won't play. Frustrated, I resign myself to views of Malaysia and Airshow and the tastes of

Breakfast

Buffet
Freshly squeezed orange juice
Fruit plate: mango, papaya, kiwi, starfruit and melon
Yogurt, muesli with yogurt (sic) and orange slices, cereal and fresh milk
Bread, rolls, toast, croissants, danish pastries and muffins with butter, diet margarine, preserves and honey
A variety of cold breakfast specialities featuring turkey ham (sic), beef pastrami, bonbel and basil cheese

Entrees
Scrambled eggs will be frshly prepared upon your request accompanied by your choice of bacon or chives
Pancake filled with quark and nuts, enhanced by fruit chutney

I had the fruit, yogurt mixed with honey, and the scrambled eggs. Along with these, I had a special vanilla tea: Rooibusch Vanille from South Africa. It lived up to its promise of hints of vanilla and was quite good on its own without added sugar. The fruit was fresh, despite being in the air all night, the yogurt was good, but the scrambled eggs were nothing special.

Breakfast: 3/5.

Soon it was time to land. I went to the upper deck closet to retrieve my bag, packed my things away, and went to read the previous day's International Herald Tribune, pretending it was my morning paper. The FA came back to collect the tapes, and I tell her about the problems with my tape player. She fiddles with it, agrees that there is a problem, but somehow manages to get it to work. I ask her if the film will be available on the return trip. She says yes. That's fine by me... I'm looking forward to Singapore.

Landing was smooth, but nowhere near as impressive as the kiss-touch landing the previous day at FRA. We taxied to the gate, I was the second F passenger off the plane, but as the C passengers were seated in the nose, they managed to get off first. No problem: this is Changi and I have no checked bags. I'm the first to the immigration counters, hit the restroom, and blitz out of customs faster than you can say "Your luggage is arriving on belt 32."

Intangibles: 3/5.

Trip: 17/25. If I had checked in at FRA, it would have been queue-less and hassle free I'm sure (5/5), for a hypothetical total score of 22/30.

In a week or so, I may post the trip report for SIN-FRA-JFK.

[This message has been edited by Buster CT1K (edited 08-29-2002).]