Lufthansa - Fine in the Air. Needs Some work on the Ground
Written: Feb 16 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Safe and efficient transport.
Cons: boring food. hard to get around their hub and they don't help
The Bottom Line: The food was dull, but included chocolate. They need some work on helping people in Frankfurt.
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| naphtalia's Full Review: Lufthansa |
I've taken Lufthansa in the past. This winter, I flew it again for the first time in a long time. I've also had many friends who have flown Lufthansa when coming to visit and have heard their tales of flight. The flights with Lufthansa have, for myself and my friends, been successful (ratio of take-offs to landings that could be walked away from = 1:1) This trip, the ladies with whom I dealt at check-in were all efficient and quick. They were able to answer my questions and process me through. Lines moved quickly. There was always plenty of people manning the windows when I had to deal with Lufthansa. This, according to friends who fly Lufthansa more often, is their norm.
Flight stewards were very good. All spoke German and English. Surprisingly, those flying out of Poland did not speak Polish. More surprisingly, those flying out of Spain did not all speak Spanish. All flights I have taken on Lufthansa going toward their hub in Frankfurt took off on time. All flights from Frankfurt took off late by anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes. However, all flights from Frankfurt arrived earlier than scheduled where we were going. I'm not sure how that works, but it seemed to be the norm when I flew and when I picked up others who flew with Lufthansa.
Food on board was.....well, it was airline food. The presentation was pretty enough considering what airlines work with, but was unseasoned and utterly flavorless. My seatmate whose snack consisted of cold cuts of ham, beef and some sliced turkey breast said that he could only distinguish between them by texture. My vegetarian meal was a variety of salads which were indistinguishable and a few slices of white cheese that was hard to distinguish from the plastic plate on which it was served. Friends who fly Lufthansa more often say that when they get upgraded as frequent flyers to business or first class say the food is fine. They, however, agree that the food in economy is economy. On the other hand, each meal came with a bar of Toblerone chocolate, so one can't complain too much.
My biggest problem with Lufthansa is its hub airport in Frankfurt and their service there. My connection from Frankfurt to Katowice was in a different terminal than my arrival. Nowhere was there a map to indicate how far away my new gate would be. Luggage carts are not permitted on moving sidewalks (which frankly don't go that far or that fast anyway.) No one met our plane to direct us to where our connections were. No one was available to offer us a ride to our next location. As a healthy adult travelling alone, this is more an inconvenience to me. However, there were families with children travelling on my flight. I wonder how these families would handle with getting from the far end of one terminal to the far end of another terminal with children and bags in tow. I wonder how a senior citizen might get where they are going. Even moving at a healthy clip, I got to my connection near the end of the boarding process. Not a fun feeling. I would have had a similar experience going the other way, but I had a longer lay over going that way. No where was there any one when I arrived to direct me or to help me get where I was going.
My final comment - in the air, Lufthansa is fine. On the ground, they need to do some work.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
naphtalia
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 in Restaurants & Gourmet |
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Just cause you got the monkey off your back doesn't mean the_circus has left town.
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