warreng24

Another great report. Sad to hear about LH F. I'm hoping to one day read one of your reports on LX F in order to get a comparison.

Safe travels and I'm looking forward to the rest of this report!

AtlFlyer123

Ever since I saw the photo of your mystery desert on your last British Airways I have doing some research what you had was the Rhubarb and raspberry dome

British Airways used to be a great airline when they flew Concorde but unfortunately it is now retired and British Airways is not so good anymore

chris1979

nice TR so far.

that wallpaper with the carpet would have given me a headache though.

looking forward to reading about your BA experience - though imagine it won't be overly positive given your other F experiences....

gaobest

Great TR as usual but WOW - I cannot believe that LH F was so poor! I've been coveting this experience for years but now feel zero desire. Now what should I do with my 500K UAL miles - I get them with the chase card, but otherwise only fly paid F on VX and HA.
I'm just stunned that LH F was so unpleasant - it looked more like UA C in terms of food and lounge offerings.
Maybe the *A F lounge had limited food because of insufficient demand (i.e. Cost cutting)? They shouldn't be worse than the C lounge...

I definitely want to try AF F (La Premiere), but remain stunned that LH F isn't as good as I've read. I'll have to re-read JohnRain's reports because I was sure that he had great soft service in his recent Hawaii holiday.

This TR has burst my bubble about LH F, and I can now stop thinking of how to use (and accumulate) miles to fly LH F. I can just go with any intl C and feel satisfied.

MatthewLAX

Many have had bad experiences in LH F once in a while -- remember Gary's bad flight?

http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea....a-first-class/

I've never had a bad flight, for which I am very thankful! (FRA-LAX x3, FRA-SEA, FRA-ORD x2, FRA-IAD x2, FRA-JFK, ORD-MUC, PEK-FRA, FRA-DEN, CAI-FRA [those were the days]).

Notice something? A lot of FRA, not a lot of MUC. I think flying LH F out of FRA may be a reason why my flights have been so good.

I would still take your trip and give it a shot.

OneMileataTime just posted a great review of his FRA-BOS flight (and mediocre from DFW-FRA...)

SFO777

Rome Day 1


We met our hotel driver Momy and concierge booked guide GianLuca in the lobby at 9:30am and headed out to the Vatican Museums. Long line of visitors waiting to buy tickets snaked down to and around the next via.



Fortunately, we had reserved tickets and were able to skip most of the queue. Although, that didn't help with the throng that was inside.





















































Just a few other visitors.













OMG, let's pack 'em in.



































After the Sistine Chapel, outside right by the entrance to St. Peter's.













And outside again.







Unfortunately, we missed out 1pm reservation at Roscioli which Mrs. SFO777 had chosen because Mario Batali claimed it was his favorite Rome lunch spot. So we headed back to the hotel and re-group, decided to take both driver Romy and concierge Cristian's recommendation for nearby Tullio. Nice atmosphere and the bread was great but nothing we ordered was pretty disappointing.









But the wine was great.





After lunch, back to Hassler to rest up for the next round. The view from Suite 620.









Much better luck for dinner that evening at Moma. Great atmosphere, service and food. Typical North Americans, we were pretty much the first to arrive at 7:30p opening time. By 8pm, the place was hopping.





Wow!







Our pasta with truffles was fabulous.

Moving Chicane

Great pictures as always - than you so much for sharing! While not a museum "rat" by any means, that hallway in the Vatican with the tapestries is magical and brings back wonderful memories. Thank you again. Hope you had a private viewing of the Sistine Chapel included - also fun!

SFO777

Yeah, I don't think I'd willingly fly them again, although the MLA lounge was quite nice and the prices were very reasonable. Then again, you get what you pay for.

LOL. It didn't seem so bizarrely matchy-matchy at the time. I guess we got used to it after a while.

Thank you McG. I emailed customer service. Will report back on their offer.

Good one. Thanks krazykanuck.

Thank you SAtraveller. LH still has its good moments and a good crew (of which LH has many) can make up for a lot of other issues. Nevertheless, if you haven't flown LH First, I would certainly not pass up the opportunity. I would try something to/from FRA though.

I found their prices were pretty reasonable. It was less then €390 each for FCO-MLA and MLA-LHR.
Not a lot of service but they were pretty serious about dividing the cabins, when we finally got actual real Air Malta metal.



Thank you very much BA5E.

Thanks so much steveman518. We survived BA. I guess when you set your expectations low, you won't be disappointed. But alas, it wouldn't be BA without the same old, same old... ratty CCR furniture, train to B, chaotic and non-existent priority boarding and cramped F cabin. However the food in both the lounge and on our LHR-SAN flight was very good and the LPGS chilled and flowing. But it was the BA staff that made the day as service both the lounge and on board, service was close to flawless.

And I thought furniture in the DEN UC was bad...



Thank you CosmosHuman.

LOL. It is certainly not for everyone.

Thank very much luluv. A great FA and crew can overcome a lot of other failings. Glad you had a positive LH First experience. Mrs. SFO777's rollaboard is a 20" Tumi.

OMG, what a miserable experience. Thank you want2fly4less.

Thanks warreng24. We've a few LX First flights and while ground service isn't much, inflight service was generally excellent.
ZRH-ORD from January 2015

Thank you AltFlyer123. Yeah, BA is not my favorite and their First Class is more like J+. But our experience a few days ago was much better. Wow, great memory on that dessert. I had to go back and take a look.



Thank you chris1979. Yeah, I would agree that the Hassler decor was a little over the top.
BA was OK. Hey, at least they didn't cancel the flight and no one threatened to have me arrested this time.

Thanks very much gaobest. I wouldn't be put off by our recent LH issues. It's still usually a positive experience especially and worth it if you've never experienced it. I would make sure to use FRA instead of MUC though, as others have suggested.

Thanks Matthew. Wow, I'd forgotten about that lemon of a flight. Strange that LH First can be so hit and miss.
I agree that odds of a good flight are probably improved using FRA.

PWMTrav

Tullio isn't bad, but it's also not anything special. Every concierge in Rome will send you there, though.

SFO777

Thanks Chicane. The tapestries were indeed magical. We did not have a private Sistine Chapel tour, unless you count seeing it with 500 of our closest friends.

Can we say kickback, the added perks of a concierge?
Even our driver suggested it, so I figured heck if they both recommend it...
Come to think of it now, the driver was a Hassler driver.

glasman19

Holy Smokes, just read up on your .com. The people! You weren't kidding. Hope Mrs SFO recovered.

mauld

And chairs, and bedding, and couch etc. Nice hotel, but do you think they went a bit overboard on the 'matching decor'

PS-- Great Trip Report!

PWMTrav

Probably, among other factors. I'm not sure that the kickback is huge, but I think the restaurant has a reputation of being popular among Americans. I think it's seen a bit of celebrity clientele in the past. So when you ask where to go, it's front of mind. It's not as though Romans hate it - the one time I went there (suggested by the St. Regis concierge, many years ago) there were plenty of Italians in the dining room. The thing I remember about it, and what others who end up there tell me about it, is that it's a safe bet. It'll never be spectacular, but the food will be at least average and the service very good. And no matter what, the place isn't a dump inside. All things considered, it's not the worst place to end up on a blind rec.

And that's way more than I ever expected to write about Tullio in 2017.

offerendum

They are reasonable but with around 150 € Economy I donīt really see the reason to pay the surcharge. Same with LH. Could have for 400 € more 2 Persons inner European J-flights. But canīt see the reason (says the person who donīt fly int. J).

MarkCron

Shame you missed the buffalo mozzarella at Roscioli as it is the best I've ever had.