Before I start whining about Lufthansa's international business class, let me say I appreciate that, reading these posts, I might come across as some hateful Prima donna who's never satisfied. To clarify, I'm happy (OK, not happy, but willing) to fly in economy and I'm happy to rough it in hotels. What I have a problem with is the failure to meet expectations. Therefore, in the case of this little series of rants about Star Alliance, the issue I have is that two airlines who are selling themselves as the amongst the world's leading premium carriers are falling well short of what they promise and charge for. With that caveat in place, let's talk about Lufthansa...
By the time I finally arrived in Frankfurt, the almost four hours scheduled between flights had been reduced to well below two. Outside the entrance to the business class lounge a clipboard-wielding lady asked what flight I was on and helpfully suggested that I might prefer an alternative lounge, located after the enhanced security for US-bound flights.
Frankfurt airport have, mystifyingly, located four security lanes directly after an escalator. So when, as in this case, the security staff call an impromptu union meeting and stop screening, passengers coming up the escalator have nowhere to go but into the gaggle of people already waiting. Jostled from pillar to post by a throng of angry, and increasingly crushed, passengers shouting at a huddle of inactive security staff was not the best 30 minutes of my life. Needless to say, there was no priority lane for business class.
When finally through security, I took the lift to Lufthansa's Tower Lounge. As the name suggests, the views of the runway were fantastic - little else was. Given the chaotic nature of my connection in Zurich I was a little concerned about my checked luggage but the customer service desk in the lounge told me they were unable to check on its status, apparently only the gate can do that. I assume that telephone lines exist between the business class lounge and the gate, but I may be wrong.
My next task was to send a round of e-mails re-scheduling meetings that I was now going to be too late for, that was only possible after I paid 8 Euro for wifi - Lufthansa do not provide it as part of the business class service and there is a limited supply of power sockets. E-mails completed, I decided to quell my growing frustration with a glass of wine, until I saw the small selection of German wine on offer. I know it's the national airline of Germany, but is a some dry white too much to ask for? Air France doesn't feel compelled to serve French gin and we don't drink British vodka on BA.
At the gate, I approached the desk to enquire after my luggage, here things started to look up. A helpful agent confirmed that my luggage was aboard and, on my request, managed to move me out of another middle seat (yes, in business class, Lufthansa's 747s are configured 2-3-2) into 2K, right in the nose.
On-board service was lacklustre. The glass of champagne that welcomes you to your seat on so many competing carriers never materialised, although a glass was offered after everyone was aboard.
The rest of the flight was underwhelming. The food was perfectly edible but nothing to get excited over and the wine choice remained grim (Austrian or German?). After dinner was served the crew vanished for the rest of the flight, save for one water run - I thought that was bad form for what was, really, a daytime flight.
The seats themselves will also be something of a shock to anyone used to the increasing number of carriers who offer some form of fully-flat product. Before take-off you can't help but notice the distinct lack of personal stowage space. The privacy screen is also very small and I found no way of pointing the reading light in any useful direction. While it's not an issue on such a relatively short trip, the sleeping position of the seat is not good - fully flat but with enough angle to ensure you wake in a dishevelled mess on the floor. Amazingly, it seems Lufthansa has no plans to update these units and will only be installing a slightly modified version on its A380s.
Despite the delay to my journey, I was almost cheerful about the disruption in Zurich because it created the unscheduled chance to try out Lufthansa's Business Class - all said and done, it was a great disappointment. I have some longer trips coming up and will actively avoid Lufthansa - the seat is simply not good enough to sleep in, the service is mediocre and, frequently, the price seems higher than others.
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