pjs

Around 4:15, my escort came for me and one of the other passengers (I suppose the other two were flying Swiss or on the later LH flight). We walked through the door in the lounge and down two levels to the jetway, passing by those waiting to board and turning left into the nose of the plane.

LH 423 BOS-FRA B748 5:00pm-6:00am

The escort walked myself and the other passenger onboard. He was in 1K, I was in 1A. We eventually had 2 others in F that evening, a woman in 2A and a guy in 3K. The purser introduced herself and asked me if I had flown in F before. I said no and she immediately suggested taking a picture of me with a glass of champagne in hand which was cute.



The FA wasn’t quite as friendly, but offered me pajamas and an amenity kit, along with slippers. I decided to change into the PJs before takeoff and put my clothes and shoes in the closet assigned to 1A, along with my rollaboard. I was just about able to fit my backpack into the ottoman. Some pics of the seat, amenities, and the various controls:

























Menus and the wine list were handed out before takeoff:




























The purser asked if I wanted to be woken for breakfast, but I explained I had a 7 hour layover and planned to visit the FCT. “Definitely eat breakfast at the FCT” was the response.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say my seat beat anything on this bird...




We pushed back a few minutes ahead of schedule and had a long taxi. We seemed to cross other runways and taxiways before finally being cleared for takeoff.




French government aircraft:







I watched through the four! windows and viewed the forward and nose cameras on the IFE as we had a nice view of Boston before heading out over the Atlantic.

pjs

I decided to watch Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri over dinner as my wife had recommended it. It was a very good movie, but the first half was better than the second half. Around 5:40pm, about 10 minutes after takeoff, a hot towel service was provided and an amuse bouche was served.



The table was set for dinner. The purser also handed out a free 24 hour internet voucher. Download speed was OK, but don't try and send anything other than text messages and emails without attachments.



The bread basket was brought around and I selected a pretzel bread and garlic bread.



Then it was time for caviar. I told the FA it was a shame that they didn’t have a proper caviar spoon and she had no idea what I was talking about. Never mind that 95% of what I know about caviar I learned in this forum:



The FA also told me that Lufthansa was the only airline still serving caviar, which I knew was false as I have plenty of other review on here showing otherwise. I decided not to argue (22 years of marriage have taught me well). I ordered the special vodka with the caviar because why not?

Following the caviar service, I was served the appetizers and salad:



I asked for a tasting of each of the reds and decided on the French Cab to accompany the beef:







The beef was overcooked but the dish was tasty if not overly impressive. I tried both desserts and they were excellent:



Following dinner, I was watching the end of the movie and the FA interrupted me to see if I wanted the bed made up, which I found annoying. Surely she could see I was still watching the movie? When the movie ended, I used the restroom and asked her to make up the bed around 8:30pm.

It was a little bumpy over the mid-Atlantic and despite the comfort of the bed, I had a hard time falling asleep. I finally nodded off around 9:30pm (3:30am Frankfurt time) and woke up around 5:05am just as we were starting our descent. I watched on the forward camera as we came in to land.



We landed at 5:37am, about 20 minutes early, and parked at Z25. I thought it was interesting that no landing cards or fast track information was given out by the FAs. I suppose since I was technically connecting they wouldn’t have provided that information, but it seemed a bit odd.

Overall, FC was an excellent experience, made better by the very enjoyable lounge visit in Boston. It was a short flight, but the FCT beckoned.

tom tulpe

There are no landing cards in the Schengen Area. As for Fast Track immigration, I don't think I've ever seen a Fast Track immigration line at FRA. Fast Track security (or at the FCT, a dedicated security channel) is available for first class BPs anyway.

pjs

I went through EU passport control with my British passport (maybe for the last time?), walked outside and turned left. I passed through the smoky taxi waiting area (very first class experience - not) and found the FCT right at 6am.



I took the elevator up and was immediately greeted and shepherded through security. The PA took my passport and told me she would come get me when it was time to board. She gave me a quick tour and signed me up for the day room and the shower room. I decided on a quick breakfast before taking a nap and took a look at the menu in the dining area:



I had a mango smoothie and then the Asian breakfast as I wasn’t in the mood for eggs and heavy breakfast food:





Then it was nap time.



I passed out pretty quickly and woke up about 9:30am about ½ hour ahead of my alarm. I took a shower and forgot to ask about the bathtub room, but remembered to get a souvenir duck.





Then it was time to relax. I found an unoccupied seating area and ordered an iced coffee.



For some reason I had to access the wifi on my iPhone via Boingo instead of directly. I watched some TV on my iPad until I was hungry around 11:30am. I left my things (I would hope they would be secure here) and went to the dining area. The menu was as follows:







I grabbed some appetizers off the extensive buffet:



Then I ordered the Tom Kha Gai and the schnitzel which were both excellent:





I saved some room for dessert as well:



To wrap up my layover, I decided on a whiskey tasting. I told the bartender which types I preferred and she set up a sample:



In the end, the bartender recommended the Dalmore King Alexander III as well, which turned out to be my favorite (at over $200 a bottle). Here's just part of the whiskey menu:



My PA hadn’t returned but my flight was showing a green light on the board, so I went down to the car area. My PA found me and handed me my passport. I was directed to the dedicated passport control which took almost no time and then I was handed off to my driver for my S class ride to the plane:





We had a nice tour around the airport and then reached my A319 for the Manchester flight.





It was a bus gate, but no bus for me.



LH938 FRA-MAN 13:20-14:05 A319

I was one of the first ones on board and settled in for the 90 minute flight over to Manchester. I had reserved an aisle seat, but after boarding, the window seat in my row remained empty so I moved over to enjoy the views on takeoff. Nothing special about the legroom:



Some traffic in Frankfurt:





Some views after takeoff:





Not much to report about this flight. We had a friendly crew and a decent snack:



Unfortunately, this aircraft was not installed with wifi so I could not extend the use of my free pass.

Some plane-spotting at MAN after landing:





We landed a little early, but by the time I got through immigration, I had just missed the 14:06 train to Liverpool. I bought an anytime return for £22 as I would be returning at rush hour the following Wednesday morning.

The train to Liverpool Lime Street was on time and not crowded. I walked over to the Aloft, checked in and took a nap. Sorry for the lack of pictures of the hotel, but the rooms are furnished just like every other Aloft, even though they are all slightly different shapes due to the hotel being a former insurance office building that was refurbished a few years ago.

I took a long walk after my nap and decided on dinner at Death Row Diner, which is owned by one of the guys on my favorite Liverpool podcast. The burger was good but, being Sunday night, it was quiet. I decided just to turn in early in preparation for a long day trip the following day.

pjs

Thanks - won't be going, but hoping we get #6 .

roadwarrier

Your dedication is amazing!! Thank you for your TR's, they make for enlightening reading.

pjs

Thanks - appreciate the kind words.

pjs

I woke up at 7 feeling refreshed and ready for a nice day out. I had quickly looked into possible day trips from Liverpool before I left (as I have seen most of Liverpool on 2 previous trips) and narrowed it down to the Lake District and North Wales as two good options. The Lake District would be good with a car or on an organized bus trip, but the train connections weren’t great. I didn't feel like renting a car for the day. The only good bus tour wasn’t running on a Monday so that left me with North Wales. It looked like Conwy Castle followed by a nice hike around Llandudno and the Great Orme would be a good itinerary.

I walked over to Lime Street Station and bought a day return to Llandudno Junction for £25. I grabbed a coffee and pastry at Costa and then caught the 7:45am Merseyrail train to Chester. It was busy with commuters and schoolkids. At Chester, I changed to the 8:55am Arriva Wales train to Llandudno Junction. Llandudno Junction is a town with a rail station just across the River Conwy from Conwy Castle. The town of Llandudno is about a 20 minute drive further North West toward the Irish Sea. I walked from Llandudno Junction station across the bridge toward Conwy Castle so I could catch some pictures of the castle. There are walkable walls all around the castle (and the town) to get some nice views.

Harbor from the bridge:



Castle from the bridge:



I arrived at the castle just before 10am and had the place mostly to myself. It was a cloudy but pleasant day with temperatures in the 50s. The castle was very interesting, having been built in the 1300s by Edward I to ward off the pesky Celts.









View of the bridge back to Llandudno Junction:



Everything in Wales is bilingual, but I didn't hear a single person speaking Welsh all day. After an hour or so exploring the castle, I walked down to Castle Square (not really a square, more of an intersection) and caught the bus to Llandudno. A day pass on the bus was £5.60 (less than the cost of 2 rides).

Llandudno was a pretty seaside town:





I was getting pretty hungry by this point so I looked for a place for lunch. I found a nice looking restaurant with fish and chips on the menu and took in some fuel for my planned hike.



After lunch, I walked around Llandudno a little bit before catching the tram up the hill to the top of the Great Orme. My plan was to look around up top at the small museum and then hike around the top of the peninsula before walking back down to the town.

Leaving the tram station for my hike:



I started my walk OK but then got a little sidetracked and lost the trail.







I ended up on the main road around the peninsula which was still a nice walk but considerably longer.





I took a side trail back up to the top and found the main trail again.

Company:



Former company:



I saw some kids taking ski lessons at the ski hill despite the lack of snow. Then I walked back into town and found the bus stop to get me back to Llandudno Junction station. On the way I found some refreshment:



I had about 45 minutes to wait for my train, but luckily there was a pub across from the station where I could get a pint.



In the end, my phone told me I walked about 13 miles that day including the castle and the hike.

I took the train back to Chester and then Merseyrail back to Moorfields station, right across from the Aloft. I got caught up on some work emails and got off my feet for an hour or so.

I took advantage of my SPG Gold amenity at the Aloft and grabbed a couple of beers at the bar. I met two Everton fans who were headed to the match that night. I had no idea they were even at home that night (nor did most of Liverpool to be honest).

I went to my favorite Indian restaurant, Mowgli, for a great dinner and then found a pub to watch the second half of the Everton v Newcastle match. On the way back to the Aloft, I stopped at the Cavern Pub for some great live music before calling it a night around midnight.

travellingwineO

Great report so far, pjs! I am really looking forward to hearing about your experience at Anfield. What a night!!

YNWA

pjs

I slept till 8 and went next door to Shiraz, a Turkish restaurant that has a great full English Breakfast for £6.



Then I went into town and looked around the Liverpool team store and found a Liverpool scarf for my friend’s daughter at a stall in the pedestrian area of the city centre. I bought some Beatles souvenirs for my wife and then did some work at the hotel for a couple of hours.

Around 2pm, I met some guys at a new restaurant named Harvest. My favorite Liverpool podcast crew was having lunch there and invited anyone in town for the match to join. There were some fellow supporters from Norway there as well. We enjoyed the beers and food before parting ways to make our own way to Anfield.

I caught an Uber around 4pm from the Aloft. A Swiss guy and his two kids piled in and shared the Uber and the cost with me. I went to the Arkles pub to catch the pre-match atmosphere.



My cousin’s friend showed up with the ticket and we enjoyed some beers together before it was time to walk over to the stadium.



Had a wager on the match and a snack:



My seat wasn't up close, but I was in the stadium:







The match was amazing. Despite 2 late Roma goals, we battered them 5-2.



After the match, I met my friend at The Twelfth Man pub near Anfield before we headed over to another pub about ½ mile away to meet up with all of his friends. I hung out there until about 11:30pm but I needed to get back as my flight was at 11am the next morning out of Manchester.

I grabbed an Uber back to the Aloft and packed up my things. I had plans to take the 8:16am train to Manchester airport the next morning.

:D!

Great TR. I wouldn't have thought a Turkish restaurant would serve bacon...

offerendum

They even do in Dubai, but only on request. Wired indeed......

pjs

Thanks. As to your comment, there are plenty of non-Kosher restaurants in Jerusalem for example. I think it's actually more of a "Middle-Eastern" restaurant than Turkish by the way. I doubt many restaurants could serve breakfast in the UK profitably and avoid pork products.

pjs

I woke up at 6, pretty hung over, and couldn’t fall back asleep. I decided to catch the 7:16am train to avoid rushing. The train was packed with commuters and I was lucky to find a seat.



At MAN, I walked over from the train station to Terminal 2 and checked in with Virgin. I received a lounge pass to the Escape Plus lounge (not to be confused with the Escape Lounge which is a PP lounge).



The lounge was nothing great. The eggs were powdered and terrible, but I made a pretty good sausage sandwich (or barm as they say in Liverpool).



It wasn’t crowded, but people kept coming in and getting turned away as they thought it was the Escape Lounge, which is across the hall. The bathrooms were outside of the lounge too, which wasn’t great and the wifi was slow. I guess what I’m saying is, this is not the Virgin Clubhouse.



Boarding was called at 9:45 but the lounge attendant told me to wait at least until 10. I walked a long way down to the gate (216) which was not only at the end of the hall, but down several flights of stairs due to construction. When we went through the gate, we then had to walk down several hundred yards further of hallways before we ended up going outside to board via stairs.





Our boarding process at least afforded nice views of the plane:





My immediate thoughts upon boarding (having flown the Virgin A330-300 a couple of years ago) was that the Upper Class cabin was very small and intimate (only 18 seats vs. 30+ in the -300). The 4 window seats (assuming that 5K is not being used for crew rest) were clearly the best seats as the other options were all less than stellar (sitting in the aisle or crammed in next to someone in the ‘love’ seats).

That being said, I much preferred the window seat to the Upper Class coffin on the other VS planes where you can’t even see out the window. Here are some pics of the seat and controls:









Unfortunately, there are no individual air nozzles on these planes (just like on Lufthansa), and I found the temperature to be a little warm even I closed the window shades and didn’t have the sun beating down on me.

Upper Class wasn’t full (12/18) and the captain announced 214 total on board, so considering there are 268 economy seats, neither was economy. I also found the Virgin boarding music very annoying, a mix of overplayed 80s and 90s hits.

The purser also handed out socks:



We were ready to leave a little early and pushed back a few minutes before 11. MAN planespotting:











The taxi was a little longer than I would have expected at MAN, and wheels up was at 11:18am.

I started watching The Death of Stalin, which if you like the show Veep and are a history buff, you will love as it’s written by Veep’s creator. It was absolutely hilarious.

Entertainment screen:



Here’s the menu for the flight:







I ordered the Highland Spring cocktail which was good. Free messaging worked (similar to Delta) on this flight and there was an online survey that you could fill out to get a free 40MB internet voucher. The survey looked long and ponderous so I didn’t bother.

My drink and crisps were served at 11:45.



Another round was offered and I gladly partook. The starter was served at 12:10pm and it was simple but tasty.



The main course was served at 12:25pm and it was my last chance to get an English curry for a while. Also simple but tasty.



Dessert was served at 12:40pm and it was as good as it looks.



At this point, after the movie, I decided to try and take a nap, but I’m not normally a big napper and couldn’t sleep. I did find the seat more comfortable reclined or fully flat as it was lumpy while sitting up. The foot cubby was not deep enough, however, and I’m only 5’11”. The one advantage of reclining was that it was cooler -down there away from the windows. I wouldn’t fancy this seat on a redeye or an ultra long-haul flight.

I watched the movie Downsizing instead, a great concept which was poorly executed and super preachy. Another round of snacks a drinks were offered and I decided to watch Paddington 2. OK don’t judge me. I watched the first one with my daughter a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. I used to love Paddington books when I was a kid growing up in the UK and this movie did not disappoint. It was cute. I’m sure the FAs thought it was weird for a solo 47 year old male traveler to be watching this, but whatever.

About 2 hours out from ATL, I asked for tea and sandwiches.





That seemed to give everyone the idea to order food as all of a sudden, the FAs were forced into action.

I watched some downloaded Netflix shows on my iPad and put the moving map on the screen for the last hour or two. We landed 10 minutes early at 2:50pm local time and taxied to the International terminal. Overall, this was a solid flight with a good soft product and OK hard product, but I'm not sure it's worth the mileage difference between economy and upper (12500 vs 47500) plus the surcharge difference, especially for a daytime flight.

Mobile passport was great as usual in ATL and I got through immigrations and customs in no time. I was in a Lyft by 3:10pm and home around 4pm.

This was as close to a spur of the moment trip for me and went off without a hitch. The match was the main reason for the trip, but I really enjoyed the opportunity to try LH F and the FCT. I’m not sure if I will ever do it again, but I highly recommend it at least once. I also enjoyed seeing a bit of Wales for the first time. After giving it some thought, I’m not going to Kiev for the final. Flights using points are scarce and hotels are non-existent. Could UEFA have picked a worse place for the final? Maybe Kazakhstan would have been more accessible. Anyhow, I’ll be watching in Atlanta with my local supporters club and cheering on the Reds from afar. YNWA.

kosy91

enjoyed this trip report, thank you