Technically, this trip didn't do anything to advance my lifetime miles. It was, by necessity, a free trip, since that is the only way to get into Lufthansa First Class with a reasonable cost. And being in First Class is the only way to get into the Lufthansa First Class Terminal at Frankfurt Airport. The First Class Terminal was the primary focus of this short trip. But, Lufthansa First Class is certainly worth writing about.
I managed to find a free ticket route via Denver. Lufthansa flies a daily 747 flight between
Denver and Frankfurt, which made it even more appealing in that they are
upgrading their 747 planes to put in real beds in first class, locating them
right next to the seat. Hopefully, I
would be on one of those planes. To get
to and from Denver, my free ticket included flights on United. At first, the available flights on United
were not ideal – Outbound flight only gave me a 1.5 hour layover to change in
Denver, and the return was going to take me through Aspen. Fortunately, I was able to change these
flights as award space became available closer to the travel dates.
The outbound flight from Denver started well. They had a nice champagne to offer, although
not the vintage one that was also listed on the menu). The food offerings were very good and nicely presented.
On the far side, they had set up my bed. Since I was the only person in the whole row,
they decided it was easiest to set my bed up on the other side. Unfortunately, this was not a refurbished
747, but the seat still goes flat and they put a small mattress on top. It was still comfortable enough. They also supplied sleepwear, consisting of
sleep pants and a long-sleep top.
There was a second meal service offered, about 2 hours
before landing. I forgot to take photos,
but it was breakfast – juice, eggs and fruit.
The eggs were prepared to order with one’s selection of accompaniments
from the menu.
Upon our arrival in Frankfurt, as is often the case, we had
to park at a remote location and then the passengers take a large bus to the
terminal for passport control and exiting or catching onward connections. Much to my surprise, as we descended the
stairs, the first class passengers were directed into a small four-seater
Porsche sports car (a Panamera). There
was no waiting for the bus to fill up for us.
As soon as we were in the car, we drove rapidly across the large airport
towards our entry gate, beating all the crowds to passport control. Unfortunately, since I was taken by surprise,
I did not get a chance to take a photo of the car or trip across the tarmac.
When I was ready to depart Frankfurt, I headed toward the
First Class Terminal for Lufthansa. It’s
about a 5-minute walk from the main Terminal if you get to the airport by
public transportation. One can be driven
to and directly dropped off at the First Class Terminal.
The Denver flight is nice in that it does not depart until
12 noon. The flights to SFO, New
York-JFK, and Washington Dulles all leave earlier in the morning. So I was able to spend a lot of time at the
terminal to take advantage of the experience.
If you walk over, you enter at the ground level and take an
elevator to the main lounge level. Upon
arrival, I was greeted by a Lufthansa Agent.
She asked for my passport and looked up my flight and then, confirming
that I was on an appropriate flight, asked me to take a seat for a few minutes
and took my luggage to get checked through.
She then walked me over to the security screening area, where I waited
just a minute for the people who had arrived at the terminal at the same time
as I did to pass through. It’s all very
efficient and takes very little time – there is a metal detector and then they
quickly wand you as well.
Just past security, the agent pointed out the Duty Free shop
that they had and then we walked into the main part of the lounge. She kept my passport and said it would be
returned when I was ready to depart for the plane and that they would come get
me at the appropriate time.
When it was time to leave for the plane, about 35-minutes
before flight time, they found me and handed me my boarding passes (I was
checked-in all the way though Denver to SFO).
We went downstairs where there is a passport control agent (that’s him
way in the back). He examines my
boarding pass and hands it back to me with my passport.
We exited the car at the base of the jet bridge for the
plane. The driver used his access to get
us in an elevator which then opened up right to where the other passengers were
stepping onto the plane, so we just stepped right in and boarded (no further scanning
and no further passport checks).
Unfortunately again, I was on a 747 that had not yet been
refurbished. There were also more people
in First Class on this flight – the full complement of 8 passengers.
Our approach to Denver Airport was a bit bumpy. It was a very clear and windy day. The approach seemed long. We eventually touched down but then
immediately began to climb. It wasn’t a
quick climb, but we were definitely not going to land. First, the flight attendant came on the PA to
say that we just did a touch and go and that the pilot would soon be explaining
what happened. The pilot later came on
and said that the winds were strong and that caused the aborted landing and
that we would go around again and land in about 15 minutes. A friend of mine suggested that the plane
probably touched down much further down the runway than expected. That would make sense given our careful
approach with the strong winds.
This was the first time I had ever re-entered the United
States in Denver. So far, I’d rank it
near the bottom of the list for entry points. First, you disembark in Concourse
A. You have to walk or take several
moving walkways to get all the way back to the main Terminal Building. Second, there are no Global Entry Kiosks (they
say they don’t have the volume). Third, once
you clear Customs and Immigration, you exit right out to where the regular
security lines are for everyone coming into Denver and heading for the
concourses. You then get have to get
back onto the train to catch your connecting flight back on the appropriate
concourse.
Lufthansa’s International First Class Service was nicely
done. The staff was courteous, friendly
and professional throughout.
