Munich Franz-Josef Strauß

I returned my rental car and walked over to the baggage drop counter, which was quite busy and the lines were long. I had already used online check in and also printed my boarding pass, but I did not want to queue, so I walked to the First Class / Star Gold counters and checked my baggage there. This was of course possible and the agent printed also a new boarding pass.

On May 06th was the regular table of the Munich VFT / FT community, so I took the stairs to Restaurant Maredo, where they met. I spent two hours there and also learnt that VFTler dipoli was on the same flight, but in First Class. I was fun to see new faces and also talked to a few people I have not seen since StarMegaDo.

As colleagues of me were booked on the same flight to Singapore, we had arranged to meet in the Senator Lounge at the H Gates. So I left the regular table as it was in full swing and walked over to security which was not that full and while my hand luggage had to be searched, the security people at the belt were not taking care too much and the box with my watch and my phone was nearly pushed from the belt. By trying to avoid this, my laptop slipped out of my hand and fell on the ground. Luckily, it was not damaged as there were rubber tiles on the floor. The agents were a bit shocked as they of course had noticed that it was at least partly their fault and so I was allowed to start the laptop and see if there was any damage. I have never noticed the rubber tiles on the floor before and it shows, how less at least I care about these sort of details if I pass through and airport, but will notice if a lounge does not offer a special sort of beverage. Well, today this minor detail was of bigger importance and so I was also not that disappointed, as I discovered that the lounge was quite busy and nearly all seats taken. After a few minutes, a table with three seats became available and my colleagues arrived as well, quite a good timing. We spent the remaining time in the lounge, chatted about some projects and the trip to Singapore wrote some e-mails and as the boarding time had come and the lights for our flight on the screens were flashing and indicating the start of boarding. So we headed to the gate.

As it was my turn, the gate beeped and a a new boarding pass was printed. The agent looked at the name and me and just said “Oh, it’s you. You have been upgraded because we are overbooked”. So I received my first Op Up to First and this in front of my colleagues … oh well, promotion, there you go…

06 May 2011
MUC– SIN
[Munich Franz-Josef Strauß – Singapore Changi]
LH 790 (Lufthansa); Airbus A 340-300 (D-AIFE / 'Passau')
Gate H 18
21:40 – 15:55 [effective 21:49 – 15:53]
First Class
Seat 2 D

I passed through the small Business Class Section for my seat in the middle section of the First Class cabin. The cabin was full and I was the second last passenger to board the first class cabin, only dipoli was missing. I stored my belongings in the overhead compartment on the left side, since the First Class as well as the small first section of the Business Class Cabin has not overhead bins over the middle seats.

I had not even finished storing all my belongings which I needed during the flight, as dipoli arrived. He had the window seat 2K and I walked over to him to welcome him and telling him the good news. The passengers on seat 2G offered to change seats more or less in the same moment we asked him if he would not mind to move over and so we had the two middle seats and could sit together. The flight attendant noticed this and noted the change on her passengers manifest to be sure to address the right person with the correct names.

Pre departure drinks were offered while we were at the gate and I celebrated my first ever upgrade to First Class as well as another flight with fellow member of our online community with a glass of Champagne – there is not really another appropriate drinks for such an occasion. Also a small bowl of macadamia nuts was offered with the pre departure drink.

Pre-departure drink
Champagne and Macadamia Nuts

Time to get a bit into history of this A 340-300 named after the Bavarian city of Passau. This Airbus 340-300 or 34P in the nomenclature of Lufthansa has 8 seats in First Class in 1-2-1 configuration, 48 seats in Business Class in 2-2-2 configuration and 165 seats in Economy Class in 2-4-2 configuration.

The plane made it first flight on September 26, 2001 and was delivered to Lufthansa brand new on October 29, 2001. The Airbus A 340 is a four engine plane and only one engine type is available, the CFM56-5C4 by CFM International. The Airbus is in term of fuel efficiency not the best plane and was not really a success compared with is major competitor Boeing 777. The CFN56-5C4 have a thrust of 151 kn and each a weight of close to 4 tons.

But back to this flight …

We had to wait a few minutes for connection passengers and their luggage to be stored in the cargo of this Airbus A 340-300. My glass of champagne was topped and so was dipolis orange juice. The first impression of the crew serving the first class cabin was quite good. Both crew members were attentive and friendly. The purser had already introduced herself while we were still at the gate. She also told us, we could dine whenever we wanted. Not that I care too much about the food, but I decided not to look back on my last experience in LH First on the Star Alliance Mega DO flight back in November 2010. And since it was a long flight with an arrival time in SIN in the early afternoon, I thought about minimize sleeping time to be tired in Singapore. Of course, I knew that my colleagues in the back wanted to discover Singapore and therefore it might be a short night nonetheless the next day.
Pajamas and slippers were offered and also the Rimowa Amenity Kit.

One of the advantages of the first class seats of LH is that they offer a lot of space to store belongings. The advantage of the A 340 is that you have overhead bin large enough to store a cabin sized carry on. After two flights in a 747 in the upper deck, this was the first time in an Airbus and I have to admit, that I prefer Airbus over Boeing if it comes to the first class cabin. But I might think about it again, if I have tried the re-configured 747-400 with the new First Class in the upper deck.

The old seats in First Class are still very comfortable with a seat pitch of 85 inch and a seat width of 21 inch. The seat is fully flat and reclines 180°. Nevertheless if you prefer a Z position the seat is not the best, as the back reclines and the footrest could be moved up, but the middle part remains in the same position. The in seat monitor is quite small, even smaller than in Business Class, but the screen has now the same touch screen like in Business Class, only smaller.

Meanwhile the doors were closed and the safety video was shown. Being pushed back in the meantime at 21:49 we began to taxi to the runway a bit behind schedule. It had started to rain and it was good to know, that I would be in warm weather back soon. Munich Airport was quite busy and we had to wait quite a bit. I chatted with dipoli who had sent a text message to the Stammtisch people to let them know about my upgrade and now joining him in First.


At 22:14 the captain powered the four engines and we accelerated over the wet runway of Munich’s Franz-Josef-Strauß Airport and climbed into the rainy sky. Despite the rainy weather we had a smooth take off. Once the fasten seat belt signs were turned off, my fellow passengers in first class decided to change into their pajamas. With all lavatories occupied, I decided to go back to Economy Class to visit my colleagues. At least they had secured an exit row, so it was easier for them to stretch their legs (one of them is quite tall, the other is holding SEN status like me and could prebook this seats). Usually the seat pitch in Economy on this plane is 32 inch, which is a third of what I have in First Class. Seat width is 17.5 inch. I took one of the crew seats and we talked about the flight, Singapore, some work related issues and the life upfront. I think one of the flight attendants serving the Economy Class wanted to address me sitting on the crew seat, which some attendants dislike, but refused so as the purser addressed her nodding in my direction. After ten minutes or so, I went back to first class. The flight was completely sold out in all three classes and it must be a hard work for the crew.

Time for a quick look at the menu and the winelist (click on the menu / opens new window)

At my seat, the amuse geule was waiting, but I decided to make us of the now available lavatories and change into my pajamas. I had a gin tonic as aperitif. Soon later the used pate of the amuse geule was cleared and I got a refill of my gin tonic and the tray table was laid with linen and salt and pepper shaker and the cutlery was arranged.

The first course arrived and I went for the Lobster Terrine and the Beef à la Mechoui. Dipoli had decided to skip most of the dinner service, but went for the Asparagus Mousse with mixed salad. Despite the fact, that there was not much of “mixed salad” all hors d’oeuvres were quite good – and indeed, we both skipped the caviar. As white wine, I decided to go with a German one and took a glass of the 2009 Schloss Vollrads Riesling. I like the wines of this wine yard and had also sampled them on the ground occasionally, but usually prefer wines of smaller wine yards.

Rolls and bread, including warm garlic bread, was offered throughout the meal service.

While diploi skipped the next two courses, I went with the salad and a refill of my wine was also offered. I tried to avoid any thought about my colleagues suffering in the back in Economy Class, while I had a seat the size of four Economy Class Seats. So is life – but honestly, I already knew that one of them was flying back in Business Class since he had to go straight to a meeting after touchdown in Frankfurt and a connecting flight to Brussels in a week.

The salad was also quite good and I think it might have helped that I had told the crew that I would prefer to have only a very few drops of dressing, so the salad tasted like a salad and not like a dressing.

A third refill of my wine class later the plate was cleared and now the main course arrived. The orders had been taken earlier and I was looking forward to the Guinea Fowl. The food on this flight was by far better than on the earlier flights I have experienced in first class. Maybe, the LSG subsidiary in Munich is better than the one in Frankfurt? Or was it just luck? Who knows, I have to try this again, that is for sure.

Dipoli had started his Mac and was updating his trip report. We also chatted about our travel – he was making use of the fares out of CAI, while I was using a fare out of CGK, which no longer exists.

Trays were cleared and it was now time for the dessert. So no more wine for me, but a spicy Chocolate Delice with Mango Sorbet. The sorbet was quite refreshing and the Chocolate Delice was very sustainable.

I was addressed by name not every time, but always when it was appropriate. Not in the servile way as one can experience it sometimes on Asian Carriers, but every time it was appropriate.

I went with a coffee and a brandy while dipoli took a Baileys on ice. We also got some chocolate for dessert and I decided to visit my colleagues in the back again. The flight attendant offered to make my bed and I told her, I would be happy, if she would do so. I got the chocolate of dipoli as well and so could gift my colleagues with two boxes. I got a few strange views as I passed the first section of Economy Class, especially as the pajama had in small letters First Class written on the collar. My colleagues had already finished the meal service and the crew had dimmed the light and started the round offering duty free items. We chatted a bit, but I do not want to disturb the crew too much and also a few passengers in the back wanted to sleep. I had to wait in the Business Class Cabin on my way back to let the flight attendants with the duty free cart pass. I chatted with the purser, who was in the galley about being upgraded while the colleagues had to sit in the back. She had noticed that we knew each other as she welcomed us on board the plane.

Returning to the first class cabin, I found my seat converted into a bed with a pillow and blanket and called it a night as did my fellow seatmate dipoli. It was not already after midnight and close to 01:00 am Munich time with a remaining flight time of 8 hours.

I had asked the flight attendant to woke me up in 5 hours, if I was still asleep.

As the first class seat is not the newest, it is nevertheless a comfortable a flat seat. I slept quite well for the next 4 hours or so before I wake up. We had close to four hours to go, but I decided to get up and listen to music. I did not want to disturb anybody with light from my laptop and the reading lamp. I got me a glass of water. The flight attendant brought it to my seat while I made a quick visit to the lavarotries and had also converted my “bed” back to a seat. The next hours or so I listened to music from my mp3 player and skipped to a magazine using the build in reading lamp of my seat.

The captain made an announcement about turbulences and the seat belt sign turned on and thus waking up dipoli who was a bit annoyed, especially as the expected turbulences never happened.

Approximately two hours prior to landing the cabin lights were dimmed on and the passengers being awake were asked if they would like to have breakfast. A small menu was offered were the available options were listed. In addition a scrambled egg was also available.

Lert's look at the breakfast selection (click on the menu / opens new window)

The trays were laid with linen again and rolls, bread and pastries were offered. I had “Bircher Müsli” and the selection of different hams as well a fresh fruit for breakfast and a coffee and an orange juice. As far as I remember did dipoli choose the scrambled eggs for breakfast.

Breakfast
Selection of Fresh Fruit / selection of ham / Contury Style Granola

The remaining flight time passed quickly. Having finished breakfast, I took the opportunity that both lavatories were available and changed back into my regular clothes, which were hung in the front closet by one of the flight attendants.

We chatted a bit about computer hardware and dipoli tried to convince me, that Apple makes the better computers and showed me the features of his iPad 2 and gave it to me so I could try them. As usually, the crew did not care that much that I was using the toy as the announcement was made, that all electronic devices had to be shut down now.

The cabin was prepared for our arrival and the immigration cards were also distributed and I decided I should fill them out before we arrive at the gate and gave the iPad back to dipoli. A really nice toy, but I am still – and most likely will remain – a PC guy.

We touched down at 15:45 local time and taxied to our runway. The LH flight out of FRA was already there, as we could see the tail wing at the terminal. We taxied to our gate, where we arrived at 15:53. We had to pass through the first part of the business class cabin and therefore were not the first passengers to deboard the plane. I did not care that much, as I had to wait for my colleagues anyway. At the door I thanked the crew for their service.

All together this was a very attentive and friendly crew, who enjoyed their service and did a great job. The great crew in addition to the good catering on this flight, it made this a really nice and enjoyable experience. My colleagues told me later, that the service in the back was good but not outstanding. Given that this was a full flight, I think, it is really impossible to do an outstanding and personal service in Economy with all the cut back in terms of the number of flight attendants on board if the cabin is fully booked in all three classes.

The only down was, that I had to wait for my luggage for ages. A few priority tagged pieces of luggage appeared quite fast – for example those of my colleagues – but all priority tagged luggage of passengers who checked-in in Munich appeared last. Either a mistake during loading in Munich or during unloading in Singapore, who knows.

We took a taxi to our hotels, first the Conrad for me and the Intercontinental for my colleagues.

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