Greetings Flight Report community and thanks for stopping by. I plan to share a series of flights that provided a chance to try several First Class products and lounges that were new to me and also enjoy some familiar but fantastic experiences along the way. A while back I had enough Krisflyer miles in my account to wait list for SQ25. This is a tough nut to crack for us mere mortals. (Rewardflying uses Jedi mind tricks to secure space on a whim.) I went about searching the SQ award engine for the rest of the year and wait listed on the only 4 dates (that could possibly work with my schedule) where even wait listing was available. I wait listed for both JFK-FRA and JFK-SIN. Fast forward several months and the magic email arrives telling me I have 48 hours to confirm my booking but only on the JFK-FRA segment. I'll take it!
If I'm going to be in FRA and flying Star Alliance I will all too sad not to drop in on my German friends and their spectacular lounges. The problem is I cannot book LH F through Krisflyer until space opens two weeks prior to departure. This date would come after my 48 hour window to book SQ. In comes the trusty Star Alliance member Asiana and their ever present F availability. I booked JFK-FRA-ICN on SQ and OZ as a place holder until LH comes calling. The SQ change fees are so very minimal it was worth it to me to have something. Worst case scenario is 10 hours in an OZ A380 suite. Concurrently I place flight alerts on Expert Flyer for just about every LH flight heading east form either FRA or MUC. The two week window arrives and the emails start flying in. Well, not really. FRA-PEK, FRA-PVG and, most interesting to me, MUC-PVG all offer O class space. Munich piques my interest as I have never done LH F from there and I know they have a new F lounge as well as a remodeled F lounge. Oh and expert Flyer was showing F8 for MUC-PVG.
I can't leave the table while I'm up so I start looking for where to go after PVG on this ticket. I would like to get to Tokyo but the connections don't work without an 8 hour wait. International to International MCT at PVG is 2 ours, just FYI so the other options didn't allow enough time. What about Osaka? I do like Osaka a great deal for night time food and adult beverage consumption. Plus, it's closer to Tokyo… Great, let's add PVG-KIX and book this thing! The Krisflyer rep on the phone had me hold to verify this was a legal routing but I'm confident. Shortly I have an email confirming JFK-FRA-MUC-PVG-KIX. What fun!
Now to get to JFK. I had a little snafu, you may have read about, with a ticket issued by American Airlines. Due to a date error i wasn't able to use it when I expected. I think I will try to use these miles/ticket to get to JFK. Then, in a somewhat miracle fashion, the points blogosphere blows up with news of AA releasing a lot of F and J space on the LAX-JFK transcon routes. Normally this is none. OK, this was meant to be. I look up my date and low and behold it's there. F space from LAX-JFK that fits perfectly. A call to AA and a super agent even waived all the fees. She siad technically I'm upgrading to a higher class of service so she can waive the change fee on the award ticket. Never mind that the city pairs had changed… I had to kick in 20k extra miles but i was excited to try the new AA F experience with new lounges and dining.
There is now one hole. TYO-LAX. I suppose you know how that ends. ANA of course. My favorite redemption, for 110k Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles, I booked NRT-LAX-NRT with the outbound to complete this mission and the return to begin another adventure in November. Enough talk, let's fly.
Behold the visual representation courtesy of gcmap.com:
Carrier, route, equipment, class, lounge, and procurement method:
American Airlines - LAX-JFK - A321T - First - Flagship Lounges and Flagship First Dining - Advantage Miles
Singapore Airlines - JFK-FRA - A380-800 - Suites - Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse - Krisflyer
Lufthansa - FRA-MUC - A320 - Business - First Class Terminal (Bonus Porsche Experience)- Krisflyer (This Report)
Lufthansa - MUC-PVG - A340-600 - First - First Class Lounge(s) - Krisflyer
ANA - PVG-KIX - 767-300ER - Business - Air China Lounge - Krisflyer
Japan Airlines - ITM-NRT - 767-300ER - Business - No Lounge (Bonus Narita Walk) - Cash
ANA - NRT-LAX - 777-300ER - First - Suites Lounge(s) - Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (Coming Soon)
Lufthansa First Class Terminal - Frankfurt
With about 3 hours in Frankfurt I find it worth while to make the trek over to the Lufthansa First Class Terminal (FCT). Why? So they can drive me back in a car, of course.
Love the departure board with the flip tiles. The irony of the ad above isn't lost on me.
It's a brisk morning here at FRA. Like a desert oasis she rises up after the long line of taxis.
The ground floor lobby.
I am approached immediately and welcomed. We sort out my flights and come to an understanding that I can utilize this facility today. The non HON circle J boarding pass to Munich printed on SQ Suites stock was not the ticket they are used to seeing. The F boarding pass for MUC-PVG, also on SQ Suites stock, was the magic ticket. While I was there a new set was made and placed in the proper LH F jacket. I am quickly through the private security and I leave my passport with the "personal assistant" as is customary in the FCT.
A quick scan of the lounge reveals a quiet facility at this hour.
Fancy a cigar?
The gleaming bar and all of the whiskey wonders it houses.
The gummies.
A water feature.
Paper literature. Who knew?
I make the shower suite my first stop. normally I'm a bath man when in the FCT but I'll save that for MUC.
Shower with rain head and detachable head.
Let's have bite to eat, shall we? The buffet is absolutely phenomenal.
The dining room is where i like to take a meal but you are free to dine anywhere in the lounge. Lufthansa is running a Thailand promotion during my visit.
The tables were adorned with the special Thai menu as well as the standard menu that covers the buffet selections as well as made to order items.
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A menu is superfluous for my purposes as I cannot help but order my favorites.
LH106 FRA-MUC
Apparently there is some kind of rule about living here for the rest of my days so I am politely asked to leave. The LH representative wishes me a nice journey, escorts me downstairs to deal with passport control and then into a waiting S-Class Mercedes. In our chat upon my arrival at the FCT I mentioned going down to MUC and enjoying the "Lufthansa Porsche Experience" in Bavaria. So when bidding me adieu she cautioned not to drive too crazy in the Porsche. I told her I could not agree to that in honesty.
The other passenger joining me in the car to the MUC flight overheard this and we had a nice chat about Porsche and the current 911 and where to best enjoy it in Bavaria. It turns out his son is an engineer for Porsche and is working on the next generation of 911 as we speak. He is also a 911 owner and recounted taking some American visitors on some spirited drives. I mentioned one of the qualities I most admired about the current 911 is how well it harnesses all of the power and allows a layperson like myself to drive fast and forgive mistakes. He agreed to some extent but added (insert thick German accent here), "We are still bound by the laws of physics." Lovely fellow and memorable encounter.
Some ramp views and our aircraft.
We were among the last to board and the flight departed on time. Short haul Business Class in not all that glamorous in Europe.
A rather hearty snack was served during the very short flight. I accepted one for the photo op. The crew did a magnificent job serving drinks, the snack, and coffee/tea in the roughly 30 minutes they had to work with.
Seemingly as soon as our climb ended the decent began. This will be my first time in Munchen since 2003! I'm very happy to be back.
The Lufthansa Porsche First Class Excitement experience Munich
Apparently everyone was in town for their ski holiday so it took 45 minutes to get the car. It was worth the wait.
Immediately after leaving the airport proper i came across this great park with excellent views of the runway. Unfortunately there was a 1 Euro charge to go up the stairs to the airplane spotting platform and I had no cash in the correct currency. It was still enjoyable to look around.
It goes without saying the car was epic in both form and function. I managed 256kph on one stretch of freeway (autobahn) which is an incredible experience for someone who lives in Southern California traffic. Below are some pictures of the car and a couple of the villages/towns I stopped in along my 3 hour tour. Yes, it was cold and a light rain fell off and on. You better believe I enjoyed the Targa top regardless.
Alhtough I love the FCT facility, I much prefer SWISS First lounge in ZRH.
It's as comfortable but the outside view in ZRH is astonishing.
"Apparently there is some kind of rule about living here for the rest of my days so I am politely asked to leave."=> are you saying that they kicked you out?
The Benz limo is the reason why ones always has to wait at the FCT while flying First Class from FRA.
Thank you for sharing
Thank you for the comments Indianocean.
"Although I love the FCT facility, I much prefer SWISS First lounge in ZRH."
-Can't say i disagree. And those nap rooms in ZRH...wow.
"are you saying that they kicked you out?"
-I was attempting to utilize sarcasm to express that I would love to stay all day but it was time to leave for the flight.
"The Benz limo is the reason why ones always has to wait at the FCT while flying First Class from FRA."
-Yes! That ride is so exciting and memorable for an aviation lover.
Thanks again Indianocean and happy flying.
Hi Socalnow, thanks for another great report and another detailed visit of the FCT! MMmmm that whiskey bar...I don't think I'd make it to my next flight! At least not conscious! Between the whiskey bar and cigar lounge, I don't think I'd ever want to leave lol.
Interesting that your access to the FCT was granted based on your LH F flight ex-MUC later that day and not based on the SQ F flight from which you just arrived. Not being a *A flyer I don't so much pay attention to the intricacies of *A lounge access rules, but if I understand correctly, the FCT is only accessible to LH F passengers, so you have to be flying LH metal? Same concept as the BA Concorde Room it sounds like. Either way, it's great you were able to get access and it's especially funny to see so much luxuriating at the FCT before a domestic Eurobiz flight...a decidedly less luxurious experience, though the catering seems pretty decent for such a short flight. It's a shame that LH started the trend of 30" pitch in J and no table between the seats. There was already so little distinction between Eurobiz and Y, now more carriers are following suit, namely BA, and devaluing the product IMO.
Nice ride in MUC! 256kph...wow, you were going as fast as the ICE!
Greetings KevinDC and thanks for the note.
"MMmmm that whiskey bar...I don't think I'd make it to my next flight! At least not conscious! Between the whiskey bar and cigar lounge, I don't think I'd ever want to leave lol."
-It says a lot about an airport lounge to become a destination in and of itself.
"Not being a *A flyer I don't so much pay attention to the intricacies of *A lounge access rules, but if I understand correctly, the FCT is only accessible to LH F passengers, so you have to be flying LH metal?"
-For the most part yes. You have to fly same day LH F or LX F. Also Hon Circle members (absurd top tier elites) can use the facility in conjunction with any flight. The gentleman in the car with me, for example, was a Hon member simply flying between FRA-MUC.
Thanks again Kevin and happy flying.
That's it! You have me searching for LH first! You are pulling off both LH flagship lounges same day.If I remember you did similar recently with Swiss and their first class lounge along with FRA LH FCT? Yes?
Hello Mark,nice to hear from you. Your memory serves you well regarding the ZRH-FRA lounge indulgence. That ZRH lounge, I agree with Indianocean, it’s even more spectacular.
My finger was on the button to book LAX-MUC-PEK leaving this Friday for 120k UA miles. All A380...
I hope you find something to you liking. Happy flying.