San Francisco International Airport

Unfortunately the Singapore Airlines Lounge was closing as the noon flight had already departed and therefore I could not use it, so I headed for the Red Carpet Club in the International Concourse of SFO. I was friendly greeted and after it was confirmed that my Lufthansa Star Gold Status was in the system, I took the stairs up to the second floor and arrived soon in the lounge.

To get an impression, I walked through the huge lounge and looked around. The lounge was busy and in the part opposite the elevator. Many seats were taken and it was nearly impossible to have a free seat next to the one taken. Therefore, I decided to see in the section close to the bar, if there were more free seats available. To my very surprise, there were plenty of seats available in the part near the Business Center, as I wanted to have a free seat next to me, I took one there. It seems the most people did not notice the front section of the lounge or avoided the area closer to the bar. It was quiet and there was not much noise in this part and so it was even the better place for me. I exchanged one of the drink chits for a glass of white wine. I checked e-mails and put some work in my trip report.

The monitors showed the inbound flight as delayed but according to the screens the flight to Frankfurt was leaving ahead of schedule. This seems to be a misinformation and according to the agent at the desk the boarding of the flight was delayed by at least 30 minutes. So I decided to exchange another drink chit into another  glass of white wine and got some vegetables and cheese to accompany with the white wine.

Finally the announcements was made that boarding was about to start and I took my belongings and headed down to gate G 100 for boarding. As I approached the gate, I asked to remove the green I-94 waiver from my passport and waited for the boarding announcement of my flight. Passengers with small children as well as passengers with disabilities were allowed first to board the plane. Finally the announcement was made for passengers traveling in Business and First Class as well as HON and Star Gold passengers were allowed to board. I headed for the plane and decided to use the Economy Class jet bridge because I had a seat in the last row of the Business Class Cabin, which was in the part between the rear door and the Economy Class.

10 January 2010
SFO – FRA
[San Francisco -Frankfurt]
LH455 (Lufthansa); Boeing 747-400 (D-ABVO / 'Mülheim a.d. Ruhr')
Gate G 100
14:20 – 10:10 (+1) [effective 14:33 – 10:37]
Business Class
Seat 25 C

After entering the plane I was friendly greeted and shown directions to my seat. The assigned seat 25 C was the second row of the rear part of the Business Class Cabin and the last row of the Business Class cabin of this 747. This meant a bit of disturbance while the rest of the passengers where boarding the plane, but the rear cabin is somehow small and therefore a bit more relaxing and more quite in comparison to the the big front cabin. I also disovered, that I had been on this plane before: on my flight back in November from Hong Kong to Frankfurt and also in Business Class.

The boarding process did not took that long and we were able to safe some time.

The safety demonstration was done while sitting on the tarmac and pre-departure drinks were also offered. As usual it was a choice of apple juice, orange juice, water and champagne. I took a glass of champagne while my seat neighbor took a glass of water. We did a quick introduction to each other, but did not exchange many more words on this flight.

pre departure drink

We pushed back behind schedule at 14:33 and headed for the runway 28. The captain had informed us about the flight time to Frankfurt as well as the weather conditions in Frankfurt. He expected an arrival on time or with an only a slight delay of ten minutes or so.

The glasses for pre-departurre drinks were collected and I asked one of the flight attendants passing by to put my jacket in the wardrobe.

We took of towards the Pacific ocean 13 minutes late and made a turn towards the south heading to the Canadian border. After the seat belt signs were switched off after 20 minutes or so, the crew began to prepare the service. First it was a beverage service with an aperitif. Since the Lufthansa cocktail is not available anymore, I went for a glass of Champagne with the assorted nuts, which were distributed as well. The trays were laid with linen and the menus were also distributed.

Aperitif

I looked in the menu (click on the icon for the menu)

I searched the CD, audio and video channels of the inflight entertainment system but she selection was not to my satisfaction. I have to say, the selection on Swiss was far better and more the music I prefer to listen to. Maybe and hopefully, we will see and improvement in the near future. Compared to SQ, this is not really a selection.

First Course
Beet cured Salmon; shaved Fennel, cucumber, minted Yogurt

Second Course
Roasted Arctic Shar, Baalsamic Onions, Fingerling Potatoes
Fava Beans, Parsley Horeseradish Sauce

Third Course
Lemon Madeleine, fresh Berries, whipped Cream
fruit salad

Anyway, approximately 70 minutes after we had left the ground the meal started with the first course. I opted for the salmons and choose the Austrian white wine to accompany the first course of the menu. As usual the tray was presented with the first course holding the napkin as well as the cutlery. Rolls and bread were offered as well and I choose a roll and later on another roll and also asked for salt and pepper, since this were not longer delivered with the tray but you have to ask for it. I love this sort of cutbacks...

While I was eating the first course the purser came around and introduce himself and chatted a bit about the flight and the recent changes due to the incident on the Delta / Northwest flight on Christmas Day. He informed me, that the map was currently switched off, but he would turn in one after we had left the US airspace. I told him about the experience on my recent flight from PPT to LAX and ZRH to LAX, on which the map was available and on LX also the camera. We chatted a bit about the recent changes / enhancements in air travel. He thanked me for flying Lufthansa and told me if there was anything I needed just to address him or another flight attendant and they would take care of my needs. I have to admit I was impressed. This was a Frankfurt based crew and for sure one of the better crews I have experienced so far. This was one of the crew, who really got the extra mile to satisfy the needs and requests of their customers. I only ask myself why they address only me – at least in the rear cabin – in this way; according to the boarding pass my seat neighbor was also a SEN an he was traveling on a paid ticket.

Trays were cleared and soon later and the main course was served. I was asked by the purser what my first choice for the main course was and soon later the fish was served. My seat neighbor took the meat and it was delivered soon later. I also got a refill of my Austrian white wine and another glass of sparkling water.

The first and the main course was quite good. The fish was really tasting good and not too dry. Since I have experienced quite a few meals where the fish was too dry, this one was okay, Not sure, but the catering was good. I assume catering was done by LSG and they have done a quite good job, so kudos to LSG in SFO for the quality.

After some time, the trays were cleared and the flight attendants approached the rows and offered the dessert. I decided to skip cheese and go for the sweat options and was also offered some fruit salad. I also opted for a cup of tea and a glass of the Williams Christ Birnen Brand, which was really good. I have had this on my flight from Hong Kong in November 2009 and could highly recommend it, if you want to try something different from the port wine offered for dessert as well. Later I accept the offer of the purser for a cup of espresso from First Class which was quickly delivered with some petit fours later on. I also accepted the offer of another cup of espresso later during the flight. Meanwhile I had took my laptop out of the carry on and put some work into my trip report. Nearly three hours had passed since we took of in SFO and the lights were also switched off.

espresso and petit fours

In the meantime the captain had informed us about our flight time and route toward Frankfurt heading over Canada, Greenland and the North sea between the UK and Noway towards The Netherlands and heading over the Ruhrgebiet and the Dusseldorf / Cologne Area towards Frankfurt,

I put some more work into my trip report and updating it until the current time.

The flight attendants did a few beverage rounds during the night while I was using my laptop. I was not really tired, since it was not even close to evening and I had adjusted to the Pacific time quite well.

Lights were switched on a bit and I picked the menu to see about the choices for breakfast.

70 minutes prior to landing the crew began to prepare the breakfast service and soon later the cabin lights were switched on and the trays were laid with linen. I ordered the omelet and got a cup of tea and some Champagne (very good for blood circulation) and water to go with the omelet. A roll was offered as well as jam and “nutella”. The service was done from the cart. Coffee and tea were frequently refilled and I could have had topped up my champagne as well.

Breakfast
Omelette with Asparagus Ragout, Potato Crowns

The omelette did not taste that bad at all, however the portion was small.

45 minutes prior to landing the trays were cleared the cabin began to prepare the cabin for out arrival into Frankfurt. The captain gave us an update of the current weather situation in Frankfurt, it was snowing with temperatures below 0° C. Jackets were given back.

The AVOD system was still running, although the headphones in the Economy Class Cabin were already collected. But not so in Business Class ...

We touched down at 10:15, but unfortunately had to wait on the tarmac, since our gate was not cleared and the plane waiting there was still in the de-icing process. The captain informed us that we had to wait a few minutes, which were close to 20 minutes in the end. He later told us, that using buses would not have been an option, since this would have needed even longer.

Finally the gate became available and we rolled the last few meters to the terminal B and at 10:37 this flight was finally at its final destination.  

Economy Class Passengers were not hold back, but Business Class Passengers were blocked so that First Class Passengers could disembark easily. However, I was among the first Business Class Passengers who could deboard and walked towards immigration and customs and then to the Welcome Lounge.

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