Trip Reports | Lufthansa Flyer

Back From Frankfurt – The To Do List Is HUGE!

by Lufthansa Flyer | Jun 4, 2012 | Trip Reports | 0 comments

Arrived home late last night after delays from Washington DC to Chicago led me to miss my original United flight home. United was nice enough to get American to fly me home so that at least I got home the same day instead of having to spend a night in Chicago.

Now that I’m back, and looking over all the things that I’ve experience over the past 4 days as part of Lufthansa’s introduction of their new 747-8i, I have my work cut out for me in terms of sorting through the thousands of pictures, pages of notes and experiences. Here’s a small taste of what I’ll be covering in the next days:

1. Lufthansa’s 747-8i events on May 31.
2. Information on some new Lufthansa initiatives and plans for the near future (some exciting things here).
3. Some great photos and videos from the departure of the inaugural flight on June 1.
4. My flight on June 3 from Frankfurt to Washington aboard the 748 (Guess who had the First Class cabin all to himself for 8 hours). Expect a very in-depth review of the the cabin. One of the BEST First class cabins you’ll see! 🙂
5. Other things that elude me at the moment.

I met with a lot of great Lufthansa associates who were kind enough to share with me plans and visions for Lufthansa’s passenger experience going forward. You’ll have to trust me, but there are some great things already available now, and some great things that are coming soon!

Also:

A big thanks to Flyertalk’s Oliver2002 for making sure that everything was in place in order for us to have a great time at the various events and sessions that we attended!

Lufthansa First Class Lounge – Frankfurt

by Lufthansa Flyer | May 21, 2012 | Airlines, Trip Reports | 1 comment

This part of my trip report covers our visit to Lufthansa’s First Class Lounge in Frankfurt. See the bottom of this post to see other upcoming reports.

First, a background on First Class Lounges in Frankfurt:

Lufthansa maintains two First Class Lounges and a dedicated First Class Terminal in Frankfurt. There is one Lounge in both concourse A and concourse B within Terminal 1 (one for the Schengen side and one for Non-Schengen).

The First Class Terminal is actually a stand alone building located 250 meters west of the Terminal 1 Building. More on that experience in a later trip report!

This should put it in perspective:

Upon arrival from our flight from Chicago (LH431) we painlessly cleared security (an expedited lane is available for Business and First Class Passengers) and proceeded to the First Class Lounge (FCL) in concourse B (Non-Schengen). Since we were connecting to a flight to Istanbul, we were transitting the EU and did not have to go through passport control. We were in the lounge, which is located above Gate B22, within 15 minutes of deplaning. There is an escalator or elevator that will take you upstairs to the lounge. When you enter, the reception is immediately to your left where Lufthansa associates are available to help you.

Once we settled in my wife and I both decided to freshen up with quick showers since our day was only part over and still had a ways to go to get to Istanbul. To me, the ability to shower and change clothes is one of the nicer benefits of a lounge. The fact that the facility rivals a 5 star hotel only helps!

The shower rooms are always immaculate and fully stocked with what you would need:

One of the unique features of the B Concourse lounge is it’s Spa Service. The treatment room was appointed with all the things you would need for a relaxing massage or spa treatment:

The Lounge also offers a large variety of dining options based on what time of day you visit the lounge. Since we were there in the morning, a wonderful breakfast buffet was presented. Everything from hot dishes to granola, yogurts, muesli and cereals were readily available. If you have European blood in you like I do, you’ll appreciate the cold cut trays as a breakfast option.

Good variety of Muesli and Milk to meet various dietary needs:

Cereals and every imaginable breakfast condiment:

Very fresh pastries and breads:

The cold cut station is a favorite of mine:

Additionally, a “help yourself” carving station:

A nice selection of hot dishes were available as well:

For those guests wanting to have more of a restaurant dining experience, the Lounge also offers an a-la-carte menu service:

For those of you that need a “STRONGER” start or continuation to your day, you will find the wonderfully stocked bar ready with a great selection of Wine, Champagne and Spirits (Try the Lufthansa Cocktail!):

I apologize for not having many photos of the rest of the lounge, but there was a fair number of guests during the busy morning and I certainly did not want to be taking pictures and interrupting the patrons.

However I did manage to find a moment to take a picture showing a small part of the lounge:

One thing that I absolutely love to do when I travel is to “plane-spot”. The view from the FCL was fantastic as it was elevated over the apron, and gave a fantastic view of Lufthansa ground traffic. Below is an example of the view. (If you would like to see my other favorite “plane-spotting” photos from Frankfurt, please visit my Lufthansa Aircraft Pictorial Post).

I could literally sit here all day and take photos like this (all from the Lounge):

And of course, no Lufthansa Lounge visit is ever complete without getting a little souvenir of your experience:

In closing, I want to add a comment about the Lounge staff. I’m sure that Lufthansa picks the “best of the best” when it comes to choosing who works there, and it shows. The staff takes such good care of you that it borders on you being spoiled.

If an opportunity presents itself to experience Lufthansa’s First Class Services, take it!! In my experiences traveling with Lufthansa’s premium product the flights, lounges and Lufthansa associates that you encounter become as much a destination as the place you are traveling to. It’s that good!

Here is an index of upcoming trip reports from my recent travels:

Lufthansa’s First Class Services from Chicago to Frankfurt
Lufthansa First Class Lounge in Frankfurt

Istanbul – Sultanahmet Mosque.
Istanbul – The Basilica Cistern.
Istanbul – Spice Market and Grand Bazaar.
Istanbul – Park Hyatt Macka Palas.
Istanbul – Our Day with Ihsan (besttaxidriver.com).
Istanbul – Agia Sophia.
Istanbul – Other Mosques and Churches.
Istanbul – I find out what Zultanite is….
Istanbul – The Food We Found.
Istanbul – Turkish Airlines’ International CIP Lounge.

London – Hyatt Andaz Liverpool Street.
London – Opening of Parliament – Great pictures of the Queen and procession to Parliament.
London – ‘The Sunshine Boys’ at the Savoy Theater (Danny DeVito and Richard Griffiths)…..BRILLIANT, MUST SEE!
London – Spitalfield’s Antique Market – And the lesson I learned.
London – Churchill War Rooms and Churchill Museum.
London – Photos from around town.
London – Dinner at Petrus
London – St. James Park. Very friendly squirrels and ducks.
London – Covent Gardens.
London – All the other things that I can’t think of at the moment….

Pluckley – They said it was haunted……

Lufthansa First Class Services from Frankfurt to Detroit

Lufthansa Aircraft Pictorial

by Lufthansa Flyer | May 21, 2012 | Airlines, Trip Reports | 4 comments

As I was going through the couple of thousand of photos taken on our trip to Istanbul and London, I decided to start with the important ones. Yes, you guess it, I started first with my photos of Lufthansa Aircraft. In all, I took about 125 of them but no worries, I pulled out my favorite ones to share with you. You don’t have to be a Lufthansa fan to appreciate these fantastic aircraft.

A 744 arriving to her gate. Taken from Lufthansa’s First Class Lounge in Terminal B: