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UA 777 or LH 747 in Biz FRA-IAD

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Old Jul 2, 2013, 12:46 pm
  #1  
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UA 777 or LH 747 in Biz FRA-IAD

Flying 5 of us back from a Med Cruise from Rome on 7/24/13. Only Biz avail through FRA (wanted to stick 3 kids in Y). On FRA-IAD leg, both UA 993 (777-2) and LH 418 (747-8) are available in business class for the 5 of us. What is your opinion on best choice? Time of flight is not really a concern.

Do we get lounge access in FCO (flight ot FRA on LH is only coach service)? I believe we get to use biz lounges in FRA (with no Star Alliance elite status- we can't use SEN lounges).
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Old Jul 2, 2013, 12:48 pm
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No brainer - LH on the 748
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Old Jul 2, 2013, 12:49 pm
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Originally Posted by MaxMiles
Flying 5 of us back from a Med Cruise from Rome on 7/24/13. Only Biz avail through FRA (wanted to stick 3 kids in Y). On FRA-IAD leg, both UA 993 (777-2) and LH 418 (747-8) are available in business class for the 5 of us. What is your opinion on best choice? Time of flight is not really a concern.

Do we get lounge access in FCO (flight ot FRA on LH is only coach service)? I believe we get to use biz lounges in FRA (with no Star Alliance elite status- we can't use SEN lounges).
Without ever having flown on the 748.. I say hands down book that over a UA 777! UA has 8 across in biz on the 777.. LH has only 6 across. This is an easy choice. If it were one of the LH aircraft with the old angle flat business seats I'd say go UA, but not on the 748.

http://747-8.lufthansa.com/#/b747/experience/business

If you're in economy out of FCO you won't be able to use the lounge there (it's an AVIA lounge, not operated by Lufthansa). And yes you can use the Business or Tower Lounge at FRA, but not the Senator Lounges. Don't worry..the difference between business and senator is negligible.
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Old Jul 2, 2013, 1:08 pm
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Since I flew both of these planes (747-8 to FRA and the 777 back to IAD), I will tell you..... go with LH and on the 747-8 plane. Its hands down the better of the 2 options. LH has the 2-2-2 layout. The 2 middle seats have a lot of room so perfect for the Mom/Dad and the kids can be in the side seats. The food, service, lavs etc all better on the 747-8 on LH.
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Old Jul 2, 2013, 1:11 pm
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How is this even a question? UA is garbage compared to LH.
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Old Jul 2, 2013, 1:19 pm
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Originally Posted by GKC1987
How is this even a question? UA is garbage compared to LH.
i have flown iad-fra a few times on both in (I) class. i greatly prefer ua (I). the ua flat seats are nicer. i find the lh seats hard and lumpy. i like the ua food and the wine better(better wine, more choice).
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Old Jul 2, 2013, 4:21 pm
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Originally Posted by SEA1K4EVR
If you're in economy out of FCO you won't be able to use the lounge there (it's an AVIA lounge, not operated by Lufthansa). And yes you can use the Business or Tower Lounge at FRA, but not the Senator Lounges. Don't worry..the difference between business and senator is negligible.
Two comments:
1) The *A lounge in FCO is not all that nice anyway.
2) As of my last connection in FRA, one can only use the Tower lounge anyway for US-bound flights. The lounge is combined business/senator, and it's quite crowded.
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Old Jul 2, 2013, 5:48 pm
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Originally Posted by topcat_dcx
Since I flew both of these planes (747-8 to FRA and the 777 back to IAD), I will tell you..... go with LH and on the 747-8 plane. Its hands down the better of the 2 options. LH has the 2-2-2 layout. The 2 middle seats have a lot of room so perfect for the Mom/Dad and the kids can be in the side seats. The food, service, lavs etc all better on the 747-8 on LH.
I may have to fly the same route in September, but was wondering whether LH has a practice of swapping aircraft on this route, so that I might get an older plane w/o the lie-flat seats in J/biz class?
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Old Jul 2, 2013, 6:02 pm
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If you're travelling as a family you might consider that UA in business has the 4 across biz seats so you can fit most of your family in one row together and then one person elsewhere.
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Old Jul 2, 2013, 6:10 pm
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Originally Posted by GKC1987
How is this even a question? UA is garbage compared to LH.
Add me to the list of people recommending LH over UA. If LH were flying any aircraft other than the 748, I'd go with UA in a heartbeat -- guaranteed lie flat seats. But the 748 is a sweet ride, especially if you can get seats on the upper deck.
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Old Jul 2, 2013, 6:51 pm
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Originally Posted by astroflyer
Two comments:
1) The *A lounge in FCO is not all that nice anyway.
2) As of my last connection in FRA, one can only use the Tower lounge anyway for US-bound flights. The lounge is combined business/senator, and it's quite crowded.
The tower lounge closed for renovations with the new A+ pier section opening a few months ago in FRA. The new lounge near gate Z50 is much nicer and more spacious as I understand it.

I would also take the 748i over the 772 in the OP's case and I've done both on that route.

LH Seats:


UA Seats:
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Old Jul 2, 2013, 6:56 pm
  #12  
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Originally Posted by GKC1987
How is this even a question? UA is garbage compared to LH.
If you say I have to fly old C on LH's 333, 343, or 346, I would fly UA any day !
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Old Jul 2, 2013, 8:29 pm
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Since its the 748, go with LH.

I recently flew the LH 744 and its old as heck, the Biz seats were falling apart and aren't really flat. Catering wasn't great.

Ice-Cream container for dessert? Someone needs to tell LH that most Asian carriers give those out in Economy.
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Old Jul 2, 2013, 9:01 pm
  #14  
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Originally Posted by bsb21
Ice-Cream container for dessert? Someone needs to tell LH that most Asian carriers give those out in Economy.
So did UA as part of the mid-flight snack on DEN-NRT a couple weeks ago.
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Old Jul 2, 2013, 9:34 pm
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Originally Posted by sbm12
The tower lounge closed for renovations with the new A+ pier section opening a few months ago in FRA. The new lounge near gate Z50 is much nicer and more spacious as I understand it.
The new lounge is a huge improvement over the old Tower lounge. I stopped in there recently flying BOM-FRA-IAH. Far larger, more showers. ^
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