Munich Franz-Josef Strauss Airport

Security was not that bad, though my hand luggage was once again manually checked. However, this procedure is more efficient than in Frankfurt and the officers are in my opinion friendlier than the ones in Frankfurt. What I never will understand, why my hand luggage is searched in Germany, while in the US as well as in Asia it has never been done so far.

Since I had not much time, I decided to skip the Senator Lounge and head in the Senator Café instead. I got a new boarding pass issued (on the nice yellow LH paper). The Senator Café was full, but a few seats were avilable. The selection of coffee, tea and juices as well as muffins, donuts, sandwiches and fruits were quite good. I ordered a smoothie and a coffee and had a really good and really fresh sandwich. I later learned than the Senator Café had the same staff than the LH First Class Lounge and also the same catering service. This really makes a different in my eyes.

Time passed too quickly and I headed for the gate, where the boarding process had just started. It was here, as I discovered that US got me a middle seat since my original seat was not available anymore due to a plane change. Well, it is just a 60 minutes hop to Düsseldorf

19 January 2009
MUC – DUS
[Munich – Düsseldorf]
LH 830 (Lufthansa); Airbus A 319 (D-AILC / 'Rüsselsheim')
Gate G 24
10:35 – 11:50 [effective 10:36– 11:42]
Economy Class
Seat 08 E

The plane was nearly full in Economy and full in Business Class. I stored my laptop under the seat in front of me. Safety demonstrations was done shortly before we pushed back and headed for the runway. We took off at 10:47 and climbed into the sky.

The flight was a bit bumpy for the first couple of minutes, but became calmer later. As usual on the short domestic hops from Munich to Düsseldorf, a beverage service was done. I opted for a coffee and read in the magazine I got in the lounge in Munich. Flight time passed quickly, but it is really awful to be packed in the middle seat. The flight was as usual short and after 45 minutes in flight we already had began our approach to Düsseldorf International airport. We touched down at 11:39 and arrived at our gate three minutes later. Although on a middle seat, I was relatively quick in the terminal and headed down to arrivals where my parents picked me up and drove me home.

Overall is was a short, but nice trip. US Airways is in comparison to Lufthansa not that good. However the lounge in Philadelphia was a nice surprise and I would rate it even better than the Red Carpets Clubs. I understand, this is a international Envoy Lounge, but since you have to use a Red Carpet Club for international Business Class travel, too, this could be compared. The service of US has improved since 2006 a lot, the in-flight entertainment system is easier to navigate than the one of LH and runs more stable, the selection is okay. The food has improved and I am not sure, if LH or US is better. From my perspective it is depending of the food selection. Nevertheless, if one can eat in the lounge, one should do so. The planes of Lufthansa are in better conditions, though this time the crew of LH was lacking any form of special treatments for Senators like personal greeting, etc..

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