Boraxo

+1

LH crews are professional but I've had excellent crews on UA and BA too. It is luck of the draw. You have to go to Asian-based carriers if you want to see a noticeable difference in the C cabin.

I would not go that far, LH is not "garbage" like old DL and AA seats LH is simply inferior in terms of seat comfort and IFE, and IMO no better than UA on food and service. LH also takes forever to bring the meal which is not good on a 7-hour TATL overnight and annoying given the # of personnel. The only area where LH shines is a better beer selection. I guess UA management aren't beer drinkers or get sweet perks from their suppliers, because nobody I know drinks any of those crap beers.

JC1120

Another consideration is that depending on how many are in your family, you may have a problem with LH opening enough seats in F (generally don't see more than two seats available). So I'd go with a combination of UA F and C if I were you.

Time traveller

Since LH flies various plane configs to/from US, what would be the preferred aircraft in F to/from FRA?

A380 > B748 > B744 > A343/A346/A333

Amongst B744 aircrafts, currently 14 out of 24 planes are fitted with new F. Do only the refurbished planes have the separate seat and bed in F, or do some of the older planes also have separate seat and bed in F?

Is getting an award F seat on a A380 fairly difficult?

You want to go where?

While I agree that it is the luck of the draw, I find that I 'get lucky' far more often on LH and BA than on UA, which suggests that the overall percentage of well-trained, motivated crew is higher on LH and BA than UA.

mbarreto

The old 744 have 16 seats, but only 8 are sold. So in essence, the seat next to you will be a fully dedicated bed. FAs will usually make the bed after dinner service (unless you request otherwise), but I think it's specially nice when travelling with someone else, you can both have dinner together.

Only negative (IMO) about old 744 are IFE, which is not that great.

Time traveller

Thank you for the clarification. I suppose that means the refurbished 744's don't have a dedicated bed next to the seat.

I'm trying to see if I can get an award F on an A380 or B748 and will track 2 weeks out, what the F seat availabilities are like.

CASAFlyer

The refurbished 744's do have a dedicated bed next to the seat (with a much better mattress compared to the roll-down one which is placed on the flattened seat in the old config). You lose the ability to dine next to a companion (the bed is fixed and cannot be converted into a seat), but refurbished first on the 744 is probably the best experience within the LF fleet.

Madone59

Almost impossible. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

Really? Thanks for the rec, this has helped me greatly in the planning of my award trip to MXP next year.

mbarreto

^

Although any LH F (refurb or not) will beat anything US carriers provide. It's going to be a nice experience regardless which bird you take.

Droch

The A380 had F seats available the other day, but they only appeared 1 day out.

So I am sitting here and wanted to get peoples opinion. I have seats on AA F in just over 2 weeks and I have been watching availability of LH F and there is a possibility that I can book for my flight to Europe so either JFK-MUC or EWR-MUC. Currently have AA F JFK-LHR. It sounds like with the chance of getting the older LH F on my flight it will be better to stay with the AA F for the night flight.

Coming back I am working on the same thing trying to get LH F on my return. My current return flight is on BA F. I have flown them before and the only thing that could happen is its old BA first but won't know till the day of. I will definitely jump on LH for the return if I can because I will save a fortune on the Fuel surcharge.

So if you do reply please don't tell me that you would never use points on such a short TATL flight because that doesn't help me. I play the points credit card game and get more than enough points to fly 2 times a year with the wife and its going to be in first if I have my way.

ijgordon

The "only" negative?!? For me, a big negative is the general discomfort of the old LH F seats in bed mode. Many of them don't actually go full flat (I think it's a maintenance thing), the seat back stops about 5-10 degrees short of horizontal. Makes laying on ones stomach a little tricky. Plus the seat backs bounce up and down a bit in turbulence (more than just from the movement of the plane), as they're not fixed on anything.

If you can get any of the new LH F seats (guaranteed on 748/380, hit-or-miss on 744/330/340 - see the LH thread linked above for the latest), that would probably be the best choice. The JFK lounge is much better than EWR in terms of preflight dining. But I would probably go with AA F over old LH F for the better seat/bed on a redeye. FWIW, AA's Flagship Lounge preflight dining is probably better than what you get in the SK lounge in EWR (but not nearly as good as the LH Lounge in JFK). AA's on-board catering is pretty decent, but won't be as luxurious as LH.

On the return, again, new LH F over any BA F. Lounge is a bit better, on-board catering is somewhat better, and I think the seat is probably a little better even vs. BA new F. I'd probably lean toward old LH F over BA as well, as this is would be a day flight so the good flat bed isn't as important. But this is a closer call, although the BA fuel surcharge probably tips it toward LH.

DC777Fan

As far as I can tell:

IAD-MUC-LHR
Pros:
Departs after 10pm and longer flight, so I'll probably actually sleep
LH F service > UA F service


Cons:
Arrives LHR much later in the day (though my friend is working all day, so it may be tired, aimless time)
~50% more "travel time"
GF is probably a more comfortable hard product from what I can tell
AVOD vs looped (though I have an iPad)


Thoughts? Suggestions? What would you do?

Edit: RE: thread being moved. I saw this thread, but didn't think it applied. Whatever...

funkbandit

Hi,

I have the option to choose between taking an 8 hr overnight flight with either UA in F (777) or Lufthansa in C (new 747-8). The departure and arrival times are almost identical. Say price is fairly irrelevant in this particular case. So it really comes down to carrier and class of service. Any suggestions?

BTW: We're a party of three...

Thanks!

smichelm

What are the start and end points? Are you *G? Connecting in FRA or MUC? All these variables will make the ground experience slightly different. If you're flying F on UA from SFO, the use of the IFL is a nice touch. Also the lounges open to you in FRA will differ depending on your status...

funkbandit

Status is long gone...
The flight will be HNL-IAD-FRA. First leg is in UA domestic first.
Have canned a HNL-SFO-LHR-FRA flight (ua eco/ua first/ua biz) for that...