#66 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
1597 reviews
I arrived at Heathrow’s Terminal 2 approximately 1 hour prior to my departure. Terminal 2 is named “The Queen’s Terminal” and hosts all Star Alliance flights.
The Check In hall is huge, so be sure to check the departures board to verify where your airline’s check-in zone is located. Lufthansa and its subsidiaries, such as Swiss, Austrian, and Brussels are located at Check-In Zone B. The main cabin check-in is located near the doors of the terminal.
I went to the main cabin check-in, and was then directed to the business class/star alliance gold check-in located right next to the security check point, due to my United Airlines Premier Platinum Status. The line was much shorter and is able to be used for passengers flying in First Class, Business Class, or Star Alliance Gold.
Check In took less than 2 minutes where the agent verified my passport, printed my boarding pass, and checked my bag. She also told me that I could use the Gold Track security lane, and use the Lufthansa Senator Lounge located in Concourse A.
After check in, I proceeded to the Gold Track security lane. There was a crowd of confused passengers next to the automated gates who were being manually checked. I used the automatic gates, which opened for me, but overheard the agent turning a lot of people away as they were not eligible to use the gold track side. There were a lot of people bound for the U.S. who seemed to think that because they had “TSA Pre-Check” that they could access the gold track lane, and were upset to find out that the UK doesn’t allow access to TSA.
Security took me quite some time as I was randomly selected for additional screening. After a few additional checks, I was on my way.
Once through security, I had approximately 45 minutes until my flight’s departure time. I checked the board, and as is typical in Heathrow fashion, the gate wasn’t announced yet- it would be announced approximately 10 minutes prior to boarding. So, I decided to head to the Senator Lounge for a few minutes, just to check it out.
The Lufthansa Business Class and Senator Lounges are located in lounge area A1. The entrance is just upstairs on an escalator, and is pretty easy to find.
As is typical with Lufthansa lounges, the business class lounge and senator lounges are co-located, with different access rules for each. Whereas the business lounge is open to passengers traveling in business class on any Star Alliance airline, the Senator Lounge access rules are stricter:
• Passengers connecting onto a Lufthansa/SWISS First Class flight (no First Class flights on Lufthansa/SWISS depart from LHR)
• Miles & More Senator/HON Circle members traveling on Lufthansa group airlines
• Passengers with Star Alliance Gold status traveling on any Star Alliance in any cabin
I entered the lounge and presented my boarding pass, I was immediately handed an invitation to the Senator Lounge which contained a QR code. The Senator Lounge is located in a separate room towards to back of the Business Lounge, and requires you to scan your QR code for entry.
I entered the lounge and presented my boarding pass, I was immediately handed an invitation to the Senator Lounge which contained a QR code. The Senator Lounge is located in a separate room towards to back of the Business Lounge, and requires you to scan your QR code for entry.
The Senator Lounge is pretty typical of what you will find in other Lufthansa Senator Lounges. Upon entry, there are some tables with chairs to the left, with a buffet of food containing some snacks, pretzels and other items on the right. A bit further back in the lounge is an area with some armchairs. The Lounge also features a business center, and has some decent views of the ramp outside.
I only spent about 5 minutes in the Lounge before checking the departure board in the lounge, which now announced my gate as gate A17.
After my very brief visit to the Senator Lounge, I proceeded to Gate A17 for boarding. Boarding was scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. for the 1:30 p.m. departure time. The gate had signage for Priority Boarding lanes, which according to my boarding pass, I was in. So, I proceeded to the lane for Priority Boarding. The gate agent was asking everyone to see their boarding passes, and after checking mine, directed me to another lane. I didn’t question it, and followed- though, maybe I should have.
At about 1:05 p.m. boarding began with the agent calling for Priority Boarding including “Business class, Senators, HON Circle Members, Star Alliance Gold customers, passengers needing assistance, and families with children under the age of 2” I then saw all of those people board in the lane I was originally in. Apparently, the gate agent put me in the Pre-Boarding lane, which apparently boards after Priority boarding and passengers needing assistance? I was a bit confused by the boarding order here. I stayed in the pre-boarding lane, and decided just to go ahead and board then.
Once on board, I proceeded to my seat, 14A. By the time I boarded, there were quite a few people on board and I couldn’t snap a picture of my seat. The two other seatmates in my row were also already on board. After doing the usual dance of asking them to step into the aisle so that I could take my seat, I took my seat.
Once seated, I noticed that the legroom was sufficient for the roughly 90 minute flight, but he seat was slim, and not very well padded. So, I wouldn’t be comfortable sitting in it for a long period of time. I was able to get a picture of the A320Neo wing, as well as the Swiss A321Neo parked next to us bound for Zurich. I love the Airbus Sharklets, expecially with the little Lufthansa goose on it!
A few minutes later, the captain came on the overhead speakers to announce our flight time of 1 hour 25 minutes from takeoff to touchdown. Announcements were made in both German and English.
Just prior to Pushback, the flight attendants began their safety demonstration. Completing it in both German and English. After pushback, one of the flight attendants came by my seat to personally welcome me on board, which was a nice gesture, but a bit strange because I didn’t notice her doing that with anyone else!
We pushed back and had a quick taxi to Runway 27R for our departure.
Once airborne, I tried connecting to the wifi, but there seemed to be no wifi available on board. So, I settled in to listen to an audiobook that I had downloaded on my phone. I decided to explore the seat’s recline. The recline was standard at about 2 inches of recline.
Once we were at cruising altitude, the flight attendants came around offering bottles of still water. One thing to note about Lufthansa, is that even as a Skytrax 4 star airline, they do not offer any beverage or snack service in Main Cabin within Europe, as opposed to other European carriers, such as Air France, which even offer beer and wine on short haul flights. A bottle of water is the only complimentary thing that you’ll receive on Lufthansa.
I normally don’t complain about other people on flights, but the woman sitting next to me in the middle seat, was encroaching into my space for the entire flight. She would stretch out into my space, and before landing, she kept shuffling around and hitting me with her arms. It wasn’t so bad, but was slightly annoying after a while.
About 30 minutes prior to landing, the captain came on to announce our descent and that we would be arriving at the gate approximately 5 minutes behind schedule.
We approached in and landed on runway 25R at Frankfurt, which meant we had a long taxi to the B gates, where we parked.
I noticed something extremely strange when I was disembarking. There were a lot of people in the aisle when we parked. When my two seatmates got up and out of the Aisle, I let the people across the Aisle from us, disembark, and then a bunch of people in the Aisle behind me kept going, including people in the rows behind me who weren’t in the Aisle. With no ‘thank you” or anything from anyone. Eventually, I got a bit frustrated, and got into the Aisle to get off the plane. The guy behind me rudely said “excuse me, but I need to get off the plane.” To which I said, “Yes, so do I.” Yes, I was a bit heated, I know… but… come on! I was generous to a point, but I was starting to think that folks may have been taking advantage of that.
After deplaning, we entered the non-schengen area of the terminal. I followed the signs to Baggage Claim and the A gates. This led to to passport control, and once I cleared passport control, I followed the signs to baggage claim where I collected my bag, and then exited the customs area.
Overall, this was a pretty average short-haul experience with Lufthansa. The only thing that surprised me was the lack of complimentary service on board. I expected more on board from a Skytrax 4 star airline. For me, it was great for the 90 minute flight, but if you’re flying for a longer period of time, you may want to consider brining your own food on board with you. Everything else was pretty standard for a short-haul economy flight, and I would consider flying with Lufthansa again.
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 17 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne London (LHR) → Frankfurt (FRA).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est British Airways avec 7.3/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 1 heures et 28 minutes.
More information
3 Comments
Very true indeed! And what's worse is that they were actually 5-star for a few years, which made absolutely no sense. I believe that was based solely on their Intercontinental First class experience.
P.S. I had to change your cover photo as it has to be one of your own photos. Also, you may not be aware that there is a tool to blur faces in the photos window when writing an FR--please use that when faces can be clearly distinguished.
Looking forward to future reviews and welcome to Flight-Report!
Login to post a comment.