This is the second chance via LufthansaFlyer for you to enter VERY GOOD POINTS’ (VGP) fantastic contest celebrating her site’s FIRST anniversary. By sharing your experience and answering the following question, you’ll have a chance to advance to VGP’s Grand Prize round for a chance to win one of her great Grand Prize options.
The question:
What has been you MOST favorite flight experience EVER?
Too many times we read about all the negative experiences that people have when flying. Seldom do we hear about great flights which can include great cabin crew, a funny pilot, great food, a fantastic aircraft, etc.
It usually appears that it’s easier to complain than to pay a compliment. So this time I want to draw out compliments and positive experiences.
I’ll pick a winner based on the impact the answer makes on me (remember, it’s the JOURNEY not the DESTINATION!) and advance them over to VGP for a chance to win one of the Grand Prizes:
Grand Prize #1 –
300k Delta Sky Miles
200k Hilton Honors Points
Grand Prize #2 –
240k US Airways Dividend Miles
100k Marriott Rewards Points
50k Hyatt Gold Passport Points
Please note, only ONE ENTRY per person! I’ll accept entries through midnight (US Eastern Time) on October 26.
There is one more week left in her contest during which she has been awarding weekly winners as well. For this final week, she is awarding 20,000 Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints. To enter this week’s give away on Very Good Points, please visit her Contest Entry Post.
Share your experiences and GOOD LUCK! 🙂
Tough call, I need help deciding between 2 flights this past summer. First flight was on Lufthansa’s new Boeing 747-8 from IAD – FRA. I originally arrived from JFK on a UA shuttle specifically to experience this new aircraft. I got to spend a few hours in the lounge at Dulles. Experience was great in the lounge overall, and a great precursor to the trip that followed. Boarding was direct from the lounge, and I went directly upstairs to my seat. Everything that was hyped about the plane was real, from the sense of space ( it helped that no one sat next to me…;) to the lie-flat seat, to the live video view from the tail. Service was top notch, par for the course with Lufthansa. The crew was also pumped and excited about the new plane, from the captain announcing the fact that the plane was in service for only a few weeks, to the F/A who offered to photograph me when she saw me taking pictures of the plane. The flight itself literally flew by. I arrived refreshed and ready to tackle the day ( which of course included showering and eating at the Welcome lounge…;)… Trip 2 was the return leg from FRA to JFK on a Lufthansa Boeing 747-400. I originated in BUD, and was able to spend a whole day in the First Class Terminal. I had originally planned on departing in the early morning on the A380, but after reading the many blogs including 744’s and others on MP and FT, I knew 2 hours would not be sufficient time to fully partake In the FCT experience. But I digress, as this contest is about the flight, not the lounges;)…Boarding started when I was found by my personal attendant at the lounge, who escorted me to a dedicated passport control officer. After getting stamped up, I was escorted to a waiting Mercedes, which drove me on the Tarmac, past a few Jumbos, straight to my plane. A quick elevator ride up, and we were right by the gangway to the plane. The chauffeur took my hand luggage up the stairs, where he introduced me to the First Class F/A’s, and then he left after a quick goodbye. Once again, after extensive research and blog reading, I looked forward to experience the First Class Product on the 747. I am really not sure it gets better than this! A reclining oversized chair plus a full size bed right next to it! After being offered pre flight beverages and nuts, we pushed back right on time ( unfortunately, as I was savoring every moment…). Dinner service commenced shortly after, with the service being attentive and hospitable as the finest restaurants. After being fully satiated and watched a movie, I was ready to try out the bed. I can’t remember the last time I fell asleep with a smile, Its a good thing I was facing the window otherwise the F/A’ s would have thought I was loco! I woke up a few hours later fully refreshed and ready for the snack, which was scrumptious. Shortly thereafter, we arrived in New York exactly on time. LH for you, punctual! In summary, flying in a premium cabin is usually all it’s hyped up to be, and of course flying First is in a league of it’s own, but Lufthansa takes it to whole different level. Hope I don’t sound like a PR guy for LH, or a TR on a frequent flyer site, but those were my amazing experiences.
My most favorite flight experience ever would have to be one I had earlier this year. I flew from Belize City to Flores, Guatemala, on a 12-passenger Tropic plane. It was amazing, because we flew at such a low altitude we were able to see the amazing landscapes below very clearly–Mayan ruins, dense rainforest, farms and towns. It was so much fun! There was nothing posh or cushy about this flight, but it was awesome because of the views AND the adventurous feeling of flying in a small plane.
My best experience was flying on Asiana from Manila, Philippines to Incheon, South Korea. It was in 2010, where they used their Boeing 747, now they are using either a Boeing 777 or Airbus 330. The check-in was smooth in the Manila Airport and the representatives were so friendly. My ticket was a Business Class ticket, but they moved our seats from a Business Class seat to the First Class seat which was awesome. Flying in First Class was so cool and a great experience. There were only about 8 of us for Business Class I think…. I had Bibimbap on board and requested another meal and they gave it to me. The flight was smooth with turbulences over Taiwan, but overall it was good. The landing came in very smooth as it touched down in Incheon. My experience in Asiana is one that I will never forget.
Best flight was on a Seoul to Bangkok on an award ticket in Biz on Thai. The crew were wonderful and while it was an old school biz seat, and not lie flat, it was extremely comfortable and there was plenty of Thai hospitality. 4 days later as I boarded my continuing flight from BKK to BOM, as soon as I walked in, it was the exact same crew serving biz and they recognized me instantly as well even addressing my by name as I walked into the cabin. Sometimes its the little things that leave lasting memories.
I haven’t flown enough in higher class to have a best experience really. The best experience i’ve had was flying to Japan on ANA. Just really enjoyed the experience and the crew seemed to really care about me unlike other providers =]
I am building my miles now in United for use on ANA now because if that was Economy then I can’t wait to get First Class on my next trip over =D
Best flight ever was when a friend and I managed to get first class tickets back from London to NY. For some unknown reason there were only four of us in all of 1st class. We practically had a flight attendant each. When we landed in NY it felt like the end of an extended pajama party with a bunch of great friends.
So far it has been flying Business on Swiss …. but I hope this week’s flight on LH will change that 🙂
Flying business class on Emirates from MNL to DXB and then on their A380 from DXB to JFK!
I had a great flight form LAX to ATL sitting next to the actress Alexandra Holden. We had great service from the FA’s, and great conversation about her career. She was on her way to an audition for a TV series part, and I hope I see her again soon on TV. She was one of the most approachable actors I have had the good luck to run into. Besides her being so beautiful!
As a 50th birthday present to myself, I took a Sero-G flight. The plane they use is a converted 727, with most of the seats taken out and padded walls. The 36 passengers are seated at the back of the plane for takeoff and landing, but the plane flies to an area of controlled airspace where it does parabolic maneuvers so everyone gets to be weightless. There were 15 parabolas – 1 at lunar gravity, 2 at Martian gravity and the rest at zero. When I showed my mother the video, she commented that we all sounded like 13 year old girls squealing at a pajama party.
Last year, I had to take a flight 2 weeks after I had knee surgery. I still had crutches with me at the time to help me walk (I could hobble short distances without them, but navigating a big airport would be impossible without crutches). When I boarded the plane, the flight attendant put my crutches in the overhead bin, and they were nice enough to get seats switched around so I could have an aisle seat (there were none available when I bought my ticket). I had to get up to use the restroom halfway through the flight, and I started hobbling up to the restroom. The flight attendant immediately came over to me and offered to get my crutches down, but I said I didn’t need them – I didn’t want to bother with pulling them out. Instead of going back to sit down, the flight attendant held my arm and let me use her as a brace as I walked down the aisle to be more stable. She also helped me back to my seat when I was done using the restroom. It was a huge help and made it easier and less painful to get to the restroom and back. I was very touched by this lady’s kindness and how willing she was to help me out – I felt she was going above and beyond the expectations of a flight attendant. Offering to get my crutches down is something I would expect from a flight attendant for a passenger wearing a brace in my predicament, but I didn’t expect her to help me walk each way which is why it was such a great experience flying for me at a time when flying isn’t very convenient, comfortable or fun.
I grew up in the NYC area and went to college in D.C. One time to get back to school after a visit home, I took the AA shuttle from La Guardia to Reagan airport. Those airplanes are really small and I get nervous on planes that size. For some reason, this flight really stands out in my mind as one of the best I’ve ever taken, probably considering how uncomfortable I was when I boarded. I remember there being absolutely zero turbulence, very rare for the NY-DC corridor on a small plane. Plus, they gave us a bagel and what tasted like fresh-squeezed OJ (though I’m sure it was Tropicana). It was an early-morning flight and when I got back to DC, I had to go right to my on-campus job. I remember feeling refreshed and not at all tired, the complete opposite of how I usually feel after air travel.
You said a flight but not a commercial flight:) My most memorable flight was my first SOLO cross country while obtaining my private pilot license. I had flown as per requirements to a small non towered aiport and landed breathed very heavily, then turned around and taken off again. Then 2nd requirement was to land at a towered aiport, LIT (Little Rock, AR) I was scared lets just spitless:) The winds had really picked up and I probably should not even been flying, but if you go up you gotta go down so I started my approach and was being directed and told I was cleared to land. Ok, heart beating outside of chest. A few second later the ATC guy came on and said “sweetie” are you landing on 22L or 22R? I said 22L? Well I cleared you to land on 22R. OOOOHH CR** “I am so sorry I’ll get over I am on my first cross contry and VERY Nervous.” ATC:”Well Honey you just land wherever you’d like then.” Thank you, Thank you very much. Ha! Making a name for the only 5% of pilots than are women everywhere! This was 10 years ago and still the most memorable!! Anyone want to go fly with me?
Falling asleep in a lie flat bed seat when I really needed the sleep….
I would have to agree that really good flights occur few and far between. Especially for those of us that rarely have the cash or miles to upgrade to business on those long international flights! To be fair I’ve only been doing this for a couple of years.
My absolute favorite flight experience was an internal flight in Costa Rica – there were about 10 of us in the plane, and fortunately no one had motion sickness problems. We flew from San Jose to the Nicoya peninsula. There is nothing like a low altitude tour of some of the most beautiful landscapes on earth!
When I was 17, I met a girl, but she lived in Los Angeles, whereas my home was in Ohio. I liked this girl a great deal and I made it a priority to see her as often as possible, so I bagged a lot of groceries and booked many tickets. When I was 18, one of my trips to see her when through Atlanta on Delta. Her parents were taking us to their club that night directly from LAX, so I was sported a tie and coat. During my layover, I came across a photo booth and captured the rare good picture of myself that I gave to her upon arrival.
I had status on Continental at the time, but none on Delta; despite that, a very nice lady at the gate took one look at a boy dressed like a man and upgraded me to first class where I spent my journey in a wonderful seat, with great service being fed Chateaubriand on actual china with actual silverware. I’ve been in first class since, but I’ve never had an airline meal that good again. Four hours later I landed in L.A. and in 1996 I landed the girl (for good) when she said “I do.” Our oldest is now 15, almost the age when I met his mother and would jet around the country pursuing her.
My best flight experience was on UAL, when absolutely everything went perfectly. I was a first-time international passenger and it was a flight from EWR to Milan Malpensa last June….no delays of any kind, up to date announcements from the podium, no angry passengers in the waiting area, boarding time was exactly as posted and everything went smoothly. Flight was as smooth as the boarding process, food was pretty good, seat was comfortable, cabin lights were turned off after dinner, no crying babies were heard, everybody fell asleep, and arrival in Milan was ten minutes early. Customs was a breeze and my luggage was waiting for me. It was the perfect confluence of everything us passengers hope it will be every time we fly. Because that rarely happens, this flight was truly memorable. I started my first day in Italy with a big smile.