Transferring at FRA
After my connecting flight from Hamburg (you can view that review here), which arrived at the A gates, I had to make my way to the B gates for my flight to London. It’s a long walk between the A and B gates, and Lufthansa originally wanted me to have only a 50 minute connection. Don’t do it. It’s very tight. Especially when going from Schengen to non-Schengen.
The Lounge: The Lufthansa Business Lounge B Gates
I arrived at my gate B24 to find that directly across the hall was a Lufthansa Business Lounge, so I decided to stop in there for a bit.
I was only in the lounge for about 5 minutes before my boarding time of 5:00 came, so I left the lounge and went across the hall to the gate, where a document check was in progress. Sorry that I couldn’t do a full review of the lounge. Other than to say it was a large lounge but very dated. It looked like your typical Lufthansa lounge- a school cafeteria and it was crowded. And the bathrooms weren’t clean. There are showers though!
Yes, I know what some of you are thinking, but you’re star alliance gold, you had access to the Senator Lounge! I know, I know, but I really didn’t have time to go to the Senator Lounge which was further away from the gate- and in all honesty, I wouldn’t have even entered this lounge if it were not directly across from my gate.
Boarding
Even though 5:00 was the displayed boarding time, I think they just want people to be at the gate that early for document checks because at 5:14, boarding still hadn’t started. I should’ve known- who boards an A320neo an hour prior to departure?
At 5:15, they made an announcement that anyone who hadn’t had their passport checked, needed to do so.
Basically, I could’ve spent an additional 25 minutes in the lounge and it wouldn’t have been any issue because boarding started at 5:30.
Boarding started with pre boarding, then HON circle members in Group 1, and then business class and Star Alliance Gold boards in Group 2, so I boarded with my group.
The Cabin and Seat
As is typical for business class within Europe, it’s just an economy class seat with the middle seat blocked from being booked. So the cabin is arranged in a 3-3 configuration but it’s kind of like it’s 2-2…
I quickly found my seat, 8A, a window seat on the left side of the aircraft in the last row of business class. This is because the size of the business class cabin can be rearranged because it is a soft bulkhead with a curtain between business and economy. I’ve seen them make business all the way to the exit row before.
Let’s start with the positives about the seat, it offered a good amount of pitch and legroom. I was impressed. It had two windows which offered great views of the engine and leading edge of the wing, and it had nice bright LED lights and individual air vents.
Now let’s get to the bad, and I mean pretty bad. The seats are slim, and I mean slim. United provides more padding in economy. You can see just how slim the seat is through this picture:
The Flight
Boarding finished at 5:53, and I had a row to myself! Who doesn’t like having a row to themselves? After takeoff, I would end up switching into the middle seat so I could have more space.
At 5:57, the captain came on to welcome us aboard and let us know of our flight time of 1 hour and 5 minutes. He also said that we would be on time and the weather on route was looking very good. He made the announcement in both German and English.
We pushed back right at 6:00, at which point the safety demonstration began, completed in both German and English.
We taxied out to runway 07C and began our takeoff roll at 6:10 pm.
At 6:13, we reached 10,000 feet and were well on our way to London. At this point, I decided to move into the middle seat.
There is no WiFi or other in flight entertainment on Lufthansa’s short haul flights, which I’ve always found strange. This is supposed to a SKYTRAX five star airline, and there’s no WiFi or other in flight entertainment on an aircraft that’s less than 7 years old? It baffles me that their low cost carrier- Eurowings has this, and they don’t. Seriously- what’s up with that?
At 6:35, a very friendly flight attendant came by to offer me a drink. I went with a gin and tonic.
At 6:36, a flight attendant offered meals to everyone in the cabin.
At 6:37, the same friendly flight attendant who served me my drink came by with my preordered hindu meal, which I ordered just to try it out.
The meal was terrible. It wasn’t even Indian. It was some sort of hummus with cold rice. The rice was stale and the hummus had no flavor. It was served with some hard pita bread and a dessert of plums with some sort of cream. It was so bad that I didn’t eat more than a few bites, and barely touched the dessert.
It made me wonder if the normal option would’ve been better. Don’t get me wrong- I appreciate that Lufthansa even offers a meal on a flight of this length, because in the U.S., that wouldn’t even happen. But, this was just bad- and considering that it came out of Lufthansa’s main hub? Just bad…
Descent and Arrival
About ten minutes later, at 5:47 local time in London, i felt the aircraft start to descend.
At 5:54 local time in London, the flight attendant came by to clear my tray and my drink.
At 6:01, in London, we reached 10,000 feet and were on our approach into London.
At 6:03, the flight attendant came around the with Lufthansa box of chocolates that’s typical for a business class flight on Lufthansa. The chocolate was so good. But that could’ve been because I was hungry after not really eating that meal. This time, unlike on my flight from Hamburg, it was actual German Nougat, and not Ferrero Rocher.
We touched down at 6:21 on runway 27L.
We parked at gate A17 at Terminal 2 at 6:28 p.m. for an early arrival. Terminal 2 is the home to Star alliance airlines at Heathrow.
After disembarking, I made my way to the UK border, waited for my bag, and was on the Heathrow Express to central London within about 20 minutes of deplaning. The whole thing was very fast.
