Review of Lufthansa flight from Newark to Munich in Economy

DLH

LH - Lufthansa

Flight taken on 09 September 2018
LH413
20:45 07h 50m 10:35
Class Economy
Seat 26K
NewYorker
3,349 · 69 · 2 · 11

A warm welcome to part 2 of 2 of a series a posted a while ago but never actually got around to finishing, covering a summer journey back home to the US. As a reminder, the itinerary looked like this:


Flight routing

  • 1
  • 2
    LH490 - Business - Frankfurt → Seattle - Boeing 747-400
  • 3
    UA214 - Economy Plus - Seattle → San Francisco - Boeing 737-800
  • 4
    UA726 - Economy Plus - San Francisco → Newark - Boeing 777-200
  • 5
    LH413 - Economy - Newark → Munich - Airbus A350-900

In the previous installment, I promised to add a few photos from the two United flights (from which I lost the good imagery) to this report, however I don't think it makes sense to add them, given that they were in a different class of service, a different airline, and a few days before this flight. So, without further ado, let's go back to September 9th, 2018, and LH413 to Munich.

I took the 1 subway from my place on the Upper West Side to Penn Station, from where I took an NJ Transit train to Newark Airport.


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The ride was uneventful, and about 35 minutes later I was at the AirTrain station.


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Such a lovely day for my first A350 flight ;-)


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I checked in and then went to the Liberty Diner to have a final taste of American food before flying back to Europe. My nachos were pretty good, and then I passed security and made my way to the Senator Lounge.


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The lounge is nothing special, but for a US airport it's very nice.


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The food offerings are pretty good.


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I only spend around 5 minutes at the lounge, because boarding commenced right on time, at 20:00.


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Flying me across the pond was D-AIXD, a 2017-built A350-900 named Bonn.


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Very excited to board my very first A350!


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Passing through the Premium Economy cabin.


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Nice image of Lower Manhattan on the IFE.


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Nice wingview from 25K.


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My favorite type of airshow! :-D


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Leather antimacassar.


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Classy logo on the rear bulkhead.


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The beautiful cabin during boarding.


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Perhaps the greatest feature of the A350: the UHD tailcam!


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Little screens with a seat belt as opposed to a real seat belt sign.


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Shortly after boarding was completed, the captain came on the PA to welcome us onboard, and announced a short flight time of 6:30. As all 3 seats behind me were empty, I moved back to 26K. The safety video then screened and we pushed back.


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Who needs to look at the window when you have this awesome tailcam?


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Lining up on Runway 4L.


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Rolling.


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Lifting off around halfway down the runway.


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Slight right turn after departure.


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Fantastic nighttime view of Midtown :-D


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Cabin during the climb.


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Around 30 minutes after departure, the service began with a snack mix.


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This was followed by the drink service. I went for water with lemon.


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After that, hot towels were distributed.


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A better view of the nice cabin during the meal service.


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Checking out the WiFi portal.


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Eventually, the main event arrived.


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It contained crackers, cheese, butter, and dressing…


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…a mini salad and a delicious dessert…


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…and a vegetarian pasta, which was a bit on the dry side.


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I switched to tomato juice for the meal.


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The meal was just alright, but on the small side.


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Once the meals were taken away, we were flying in international airspace, off the coast of Nova Scotia.


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The fligh attendants helped passengers sleep by changing the mood lighting to a faint orange color.


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Drinks were left in the galley for passengers who were awake, like me.


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I opted to watch movies instead of sleep, and before I knew it the sun was already rising. What a short night!


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A little while later, it was fully bright outside and the cabin was being prepared for breakfast.


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The service again commenced with a hot towel.


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But oy, the breakfast was terrible. It contained a stale fruit salad, a two day old muffin, and Oreos, which were the best part of the meal.


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As were approached Dutch airspace, the captain came back on the PA and announced that we had 40 minutes to go, and that the weather in Munich was nice and sunny.


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Descending over German airspace.


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A look at our destination.


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Turning right base.


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Flaps coming down.


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Watching the approach from the tailcam.


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Look at that shadow!


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Flare.


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A firm landing on Runway 26R, 1 hour before our scheduled arrival time.


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Taxiing off the runway.


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One final look at my seat. Despite the yellow rating on SeatGuru, I didn't mind 26K at all.


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Walking through the Business Class cabin.


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Tschüß, D-AIXD! Thanks for the ride :-)


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Off to passport control.


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As it was only 10:00 AM my train to Innsbruck didn't leave until 1:25 PM, I decided to stay in a restaurant at the Arrival's Hall and eat the time away, after a very disappointing catering job by LH.

Thanks for joining me along on this flight. I hope to see you again in another FR!

Display all

Product ratings

Airline

Lufthansa 7.2

  • Cabin8.0 / 10
  • Cabin crew6.0 / 10
  • Entertainment/wifi9.0 / 10
  • Meal/catering6.0 / 10
Lounge

Lufthansa Business/Senator Lounge7.5

  • Comfort7.0 / 10
  • Meal/catering8.0 / 10
  • Entertainment/wifi7.0 / 10
  • Services8.0 / 10
Departure airport

Newark - EWR7.4

  • Efficiency7.0 / 10
  • Access8.0 / 10
  • Services7.5 / 10
  • Cleanliness7.0 / 10
Arrival Airport

Munich - MUC8.8

  • Efficiency10.0 / 10
  • Access7.0 / 10
  • Services8.0 / 10
  • Cleanliness10.0 / 10

Conclusion

Overall an average TATL flight with LH.

+ Nice Lufthansa Lounge at EWR
+ New A350 with a nice and comfortable cabin
+ Early arrival
- Weak food offerings
- Flight Attendants who didn't smile and couldn't really be bothered

It was a nice enough flight, but I have no idea how LH got 5* status.

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Comments (2)

  • Thanks for this FR.

    I share your opinion, no idea why LH deserves 5 Star, in Y class their catering is basic and in small quantities and crew are never friendly.

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