Lufthansa Wins Coveted Skytrax Award for BEST FIRST CLASS LOUNGES!
A big CONGRATS to Nicola and her First Class Services Team!!!
Lufthansa has been awarded the 2013 Skytrax award for “BEST FIRST CLASS LOUNGE” during a ceremony at the Paris Air Show last week. Lufthansa certainly faced formidable competition from the likes of Singapore, Asiana, Cathay Pacific, Emirates and others but at the end of the day walked away with very well deserved award.
The award took into consideration all of Lufthansa’s First Class Lounges in Munich and Frankfurt including the venerable First Class Terminal (FCT) (which in my opinion is a travel destination in itself!). Over the years I have made many pilgrimages to Lufthansa’s First Class Lounges and FCT as well as to Singapore Airlines and Asiana First Class lounges and I’m trying to be impartial here, but I can see where Lufthansa deserves the award over the others.
When you visit one of Lufthansa’s First Class lounges, the high quality of the facility, dining and staff is evident. You know as soon as you enter one of the Lounges that you are in for a treat. Lufthansa’s staff is always ready and willing to help travelers even it means going well out of their way to accommodate a passengers needs or request (more on that later). The selection of food and beverages is on par with the finest restaurants and the facilities are always modern with up to date amenities, clean and easily accessible.
Fantastic amenities include Day Rooms for resting in privacy, spa services, private bath and shower facilities, private business workstations, dedicated Cigar Rooms with great cigar and apertif selections and private Mercedes or Porsche vehicles that will transport you to your plane allowing you to miss the stress of the passenger terminals. The list goes on an on! 🙂
Oh, and then there are the First Class Ducks that are given to visitors as souvenirs (if you take the time to grab a shower or enjoy a bath). My brace of 36 ducks always puts a smile on my face and instantly transports me back to those fantastic lounge experiences. For me, especially with the FCT, it becomes a mini-vacation within my trip and often I’ll go out of my way to make sure I can pass through Frankfurt to get my ‘fix’. Like flying from Chicago to Hong Kong via Frankfurt for example…..
If you have ever had the opportunity to visit one of Lufthansa’s First Class Lounges, I think you know exactly what I mean.
One First Class Terminal experience will ALWAYS stand out for my wife and I during one of our trips.
2 years ago, we had been on holiday in Europe visiting family in Slovakia and then spending several days in Rome and along the Amalfi Coast. On our return flight from Rome to Chicago (via Frankfurt) we had a few hours to pass in the First Class Terminal and this would also be my wife’s first time visiting FCT. I had kept telling her how wonderful the FCT would be and that it would be a perfect cherry on top of a fantastic trip. She was also looking forward to getting her first duck so that she would finally have one of her own. Well as luck (or lack thereof) would have it, the FCT happened to be out of their famous souvenirs which put a minor damper on my wife’s enjoyment of the FCT. Our personal assistant who helped us in the FCT was apologetic and said that he would come up with a suitable alternative. Well our time in the FCT passed and it was time to be taken in a Porsche Cayenne to our waiting 747. My wife figured she was out of luck and there would be no duck.
Once we arrived at our aircraft and took our seats upstairs, a Lufthansa associate came up to my wife a few minutes later with his hands behind his back, introduced himself, and simply stated “Mrs. LufthansaFlyer, this is for you…..” and out came his hands, cupping a First Class Duck. With the look on my wife’s face you would think she won a lottery. The smile on the Lufthansa associate’s face was priceless as well. He had no idea just how much he had made her day. After thanking him, he rushed out of the aircraft, the door closed and we were off for home. I would hate to think that they held up the plane for a few minutes for this special delivery, but if this doesn’t define what Lufthansa First Class is all about, nothing will.
2 years later, we still bring up that experience and talk about how wonderful that moment was. It has become as much a travel memory as any place that we have ever visited. So can you see what I mean when I say that a visit to a First Class lounge or Terminal is a travel destination in itself??
If you would like to experience Lufthansa’s First Class services, but are not sure how to proceed or what is involved, please email me. I would love to help you develop a strategy that will help you create your own Lufthansa First Class memories. 🙂
