Frankfurt Rhein-Main

Since I arrived from a bus gate, I reached the concourse A at the beginning just behind security checkpoint. I walked back to the tunnel and changed to the concourse B of terminal 1. I wanted to see on the one hand, if the iris scan works and wanted to make a quick visit to the Senator Lounge near gate B 41. The Senator Lounge in the c concourse was too far away and there was another security check. Later I learnt from cathaana, that security was empty and I could have used it.

The Senator Lounge was busy, but not overcrowded. However, the service staff was more caring about their own pleasure, esp. one guy, who was using the coffee machine himself frequently for some time. I took a seat at one of the tables near the bar and had two cups of coffee and a croissant.

I had phoned fellow flyertalker cathaana and we planed to meet at the gate. She was using the lounge facilities in the concourse c. Around 10:05 I left the lounge and walked to the gate C 9 where our flight to Philadelphia should depart.

Security was slow, although not that many passengers were queuing at the security checkpoint. There was only a female security officer working and therefore all male passengers had to wait until the only male security officer returned. There was no other security officer able to help. So the whole process took more time than necessary. The questioning was very strict this time and I was asked several questions about my luggage and the electronics in my carry on. At the boarding area my boarding passes on Lufthansa paper were changed into US Airways ones and they were also able to get the Star Gold on the boarding pass.

Boarding just began at the moment as I entered the waiting area around 10:35 and was done by zones. First families travelling with small children and then passengers with disabilities, soon followed by Envoy Passengers as well as Star Gold Passengers in Zone 1. Since cathaana had not made it into the boarding area, I decided to wait for her. After a few minutes she arrived and we joined immediately the lines and were allowed to board, since we were in Zone 1 due to our Star Gold status.

20 August 2009
FRA – PHL
[Frankfurt – Philadelphia]
US 701 (US Airways), Airbus A 330-300 (N277AY)
Gate C 09
11:10 – 13:50 [effective 11:04 – 13:34]
Economy Class
Seat 28 H

We headed to our seats in row 28, in the second part of the Economy Class. We stored our belongings, after another passenger, who had accidentally taken my seat moved to the right seat. The plane filled with the other passengers. Pillow and blanket were already placed on the seat, but of course not headphones, since US is still selling them for 5 USD.

The plane was nearly full, with only a very few seats remaining empty. I had looked at the open fares classes on this flight the previous day in Galileo and the cheaper classes were not available anymore, while the more expensive classes were available with a few remaining seats.

The captain informed us, that we could take off in time. The safety demonstration was done during push back and we were finally heading to the runway. We had to queue for start and finally at 11:22 it was our turn and we took of in Western direction and then made a turn to the north towards France.

Once airborne, the crew distributed the green I-94 forms along with the customs declaration as one of the first things; they had been also available in the boarding area.

I again missed a hot towel service, but so is life on US Airways. It took some time before the crew began the meal service.

The beverage and meal service was done after one hour in flight. This time we had the choice between Chicken or pasta. I opted for the pasta, which were raviolis in tomato sauce. The meal came with a salad, a roll and a slice of apple cake. Nothing to write homeabout and while the pasta was eatable, the salad was not really good and I did not even try the cake. Alcoholic beverages were sold, while the non alcoholic beverages were free of charge. Like on my previous flight I got the whole can, unlike on Lufthansa flight, where only a glass is offered, the US airlines still offer the whole can which is to me an advantage. Trays were cleared after app. 35 minutes. Twenty minutes later the tea and coffee service was done. Since I had already started to use my laptop, I skipped this beverage service.

The in-flight entertainment system had been started before meal service. Headphones were for 5 USD or 4 EUR. The AVOD system was working properly this time.

The sky became cloudy while we were flying over Europe and the Atlantic, but after 3 ½ hours it became clear and there was no cloud in the sky and one could see the blue Atlantic Ocean for twenty minutes before it became cloudy again.

I was able to work for three and a half hours on my laptop. I finished some things for work and wrote a bit on this trip report. After this I listened to music, although I knew some of the music and films from my previous flight from Philadelphia to Munich and to and from Charlotte back in January and February. Even on US, I had thought they would change the available films and music CDs after six month, but it seems, they did not.

The crew made a round through the cabin offering duty free items. But to my very surprise they were not available for a long time, because even before half of the flight time, the call “Duty free shopping is closing in ten minutes” was made.

The crew did two big beverage rounds using the cart during the flight and offered water and orange juice and some pretzels at the second round. In addition, water of orange and / or apple juice was offered during the flight.

As we passed Greenland, the captain notified us about the great views on the right side. The view was indeed very good and a few passengers took the opportunity to take some pictures, including me.

The flight itself was uneventful. As we reached Newfoundland it became a bit bumpy, but nothing really worth mentioning and it seems, nobody really cared about the fasten seat belt signs and the crew did not interrupt the service and even did not enforce passengers to remain seated.

90 minutes prior to landing, a snack service was done, which consists of a chicken-cheese-sandwich. I only had a few bits, it did not really tasted good and so I skipped the rest and only had the sparkling water I had requested to accompany the sandwich.

The plane was okay, some scratches and one could see some fixing with tapes if one took a closer look, but otherwise the plane was in a good shape (good in terms for US Airways planes). The crew was really good, they even smiled and were friendly. From my impression they made a great job and were enjoying it. They liked it and it was for sure not the attitude of just doing the things needed to do and nothing else. I would rate this crew as the best I have had on US Airways flights since my first flight with US back in 2006.

The crew began to prepare the cabin for the arrival in Philadelphia and soon we began our final approach into Philadelphia offering good views to down town Philadelphia. We touched down ahead of schedule and it took a few minutes before we finally were able to disembark the plane and head for immigration.

Immigration was busy with flights from Zurich, Paris, Birmingham among a few other long-haul destinations. But many counters were open and waiting times seems to be okay. We had to wait twenty minutes before it was our turn and we were finally in the US. My checked luggage was already awaiting me. We cleared customs and headed for the pick up of the rental car shuttle buses.

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