Miami International

I arrived at the airport at 13:40 for my flight leaving at 15:40. The driver of the shuttle from the car rental dropped me at the terminal and I was on my way to the Lufthansa counters. At the Economy counter, a long line of passengers were queuing. There were not so long lines at the Business and First Class Counters but all of them were busy checking in guests and they had some lines. So I waited at the Business Class Counters, as there one of the passengers was in the final process of checking in. He already got his passport back. Just seconds later it was my turn and I approached the counter. The agent was not overwhelming friendly, but she checked me in. I asked for the load of the flight and was told, it was full, but there was no need to upgrade people. However, I was offered to redeem miles for an upgrade. I declined this offer and got the lounge invitation. No explanation how to reach the lounge, and so I was on my way to the security counters. Security was a bit of a mixed impression. There were two x-ray machines in use but the agent directed the lines and the people in a very disturbing process. You have to queue here and then move to another line and queue there just to be winked over to the old line. Once through security I headed for the gate and the duty-free shops since I had to buy some cigarettes. At this moment I noticed and remembered that the lounge was landside. Silly me. By coincidence I met szg in the concourse again – I have met him landside – and since we had more than half an hour until boarding was scheduled to start, we decided to go landside for the lounge.

At the counters we met ralfkrippner, who was flying back on the same flight but in First, and together we headed for the Club America Lounge on the fourth floor, which is also an Priority Pass Lounge.

In the lounge, staff was distributing sandwiches if one was flying on Lufthansa and we got a sandwich and at the bar something to drink and chatted a bit about the DO and some other things.

Twenty minutes prior to boarding time, we went to the security checkpoint, but this time we took a different one which was faster and more convenient. The checkpoint at the end of this terminal, on the left side of the Swiss Counters, seems to be faster and less crowded than the one in the middle of the terminal. SZG had used them before and had reported no lines, while the other checkpoint had long lines as we passed it on our way from the lounge to this security checkpoint.

Boarding had not started yet but the announcement was made just a few minutes after we had arrived there. There was a preboarding announcement made for all passengers travelling in Business and First Class as well as Star Gold and Star Silver passengers. At the jet bridge the duty free items were waiting to be picked up by the passengers and I was on my way to the plane and to my exit row seat.

26 April 2009
MIA – FRA
[Miami – Frankfurt]
LH 463 (Lufthansa); Boeing 747-400 (D-ABTL / 'Dresden')
Gate J 17
15:40 – 06:35 [effective 15:32– 06:43]
Economy Class
Seat 32 J

I stored my belongings in the overhead compartment. Pillow, blanket and headphones were already placed on the seat. had talked with szg and he had an exit row seat, too, but on the other side of the plane. So we decided to ask our seat neighbour to change seats. Since my fellow seat mate arrived earlier than szg’s one, I asked my seat mate if he would mind to change seats and he agreed, so szg move from the right on the left side of the plane.

The plane filled with passengers and it seems the plane was full in Economy.

The safety video was shown at the gate after the announcement “boarding completed” was made. Earphones, pillows and blankets were already laying on the seats as we boarded.

We pushed back at and taxied for our runway.

The flight attendant in the jump seat opposite our seat was not in the mood of a conversation and so szg and I chatted while we climbed into the sky.

Soon enough the seat belt signs were switched off and the crew moved to their positions. The usual announcements were made about the flight time by the captain first and then soon later of the purser about serving the three classes and starting the entertainment system.

After twenty minutes in flight the first beverage round was done. Szg and I opted of a glass of sparkling wine and got also a small packet of pretzels. A hot towel service was also done a bit later.

The exit row seats are nice, but this time a lot of passengers were standing in this area and they did not really care about not disturbing us. Anyway, since the meal service started after an hour they returned to their seats. This time the question was again chicken or pasta and szg and I both went for the pasta. The pasta was okay, nothing really special, and of lower quality than on the Swiss flight to Miami two days ago. I choose a glass of white wine and a glass of water to accompany the meal. Refills of the wine as well as of the water were done by the crew. The meal came along with a bowl of salad and a slice of cheese and a roll. Dessert was a slice of cake.

A coffee and tea service was done later and I got a cup of tea for the dessert, while szg choose a glass of Baileys.

The trays were collected after 45 minutes or so.

We took this opportunity to discuss some things for Flyertalk and so szg asked our fellow co-moderator upstairs to come to the back with the hoi-polloi so that we can discuss a few things. This was done quite fast, so that ralfkrippner could continue to enjoy life in the upper deck.

Again fellow passengers queued for the lavatories and used our exit row as place to relax and to wait. A group of three, two of which were sitting in the seats behind us, waited there for a longer time and after the lights were dimmed, one of them went inside the lavatories quite a few times and suddenly and a bit of a rush they moved back to their seats. Well, they had set off the smoke detector and four flight attendants reached for the lavatories and poured water in the bin. They asked us, if we had seen who had been there and we told them about the three passengers who had been there, but we could not say for sure, who was the one who smoked. Of course, A few of the passengers near the lavatories had noticed what has happened and a middle aged lady became pale. She was brought by a flight attendant to the galley. We headed a bit later also to the galley. The female passengers was sitting there and it seems she was okay again. She was talking to one of the flight attendant and I heart her saying, that she was afraid of the situation and the certain danger of a plane crash. The flight attendants were very helpful to her while the purser was annoyed about the three passengers. We talked with her about the three guys causing this situation and the purser told us, she kept an eye on the passengers.

Later in the flight the 'smoking guys' returned and though they managed this time to avoid that the smoke detector was set off, one could clearly smell the smoke of a cigarette as they went out of the lavatories and passed us on their way back to their seats. The purser had already noticed it and went after one of them, the one who was quite often in the lavatories. Not sure what she did, but she went back to the front cabin with sheet of paper after it.

I have really no understanding for passengers smoking in a plane if this is a non-smoking flight.

During the flight, szg and I chatted and listened to music and I got a bit of sleep. The flight was partly a bit bumpy but otherwise it was normal flight without anything worth mentioning. The crew did a few beverage rounds during the flight and in addition water and apple and orange juice were available in the galley. There was no form of special recognition by the crew for Senators or other passengers with status in Economy. Not that I need it, but it would have been nice. At least the only HON in the Economy Cabin got a bit more of attention by the purser.

As usual 90 minutes prior to landing the lights were turned on and another meal service was done. I skipped the omelette served for breakfast as szg did, but opted for a coffee.

Soon later the crew collected the items and the crew began to prepare the cabin for the arrival in Frankfurt.

During the final approach the flight attendant on the jump seat opposite our seats were a bit more in the mood of talking to us, she even began to talk to us. However, either she did not flew quite often or she is a bit naïve, but she told us, that Frankfurt at this time of the day is really empty. Szg and I looked at each other and told her, from our experience with transiting through Frankfurt this is one of the busiest time with a lot of long lines.

We finally touched down at and taxied for our gate in the A concourse, where we arrived at. It took a couple of minutes before we finally were able to disembark through the front door. Ralfkrippner were waiting for us and together we headed for the security checkpoint at the First Class Lounge in the A concourse.

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