p3t0t

I will be flying on Lufthansa from Bos-Frankfurt and Spore-Frankfurt-Boston routes.
Just wondering to see if anyone has any comments on the airline...?
How is it compared to Singapore Air, or am I even allowed to do the comparation)?

Cheers.

JoanneH

I like them, especially on the longer flights. Good food and beverages, service is good, etc.

dfr4848

In the last 4 yrs, we've flown them on 6 transatlantic flights and 5 intra European flights. We've had good experiences. Very decent food (and good quantities), friendly and efficient FAs, very punctual, free wine etc (if that matters to you), plenty of snacks in between meals and have snacks and drinks available in galley during flight. Only complaint is their entertainment - no IFE, but drop down screens. Although plenty of choices of music.

p3t0t

Thank you for the replies.
It's great to hear positive feedbacks on the airline.
Thanks again!

travelgourmet

They are okay. Certainly not remotely in the class of Singapore Air (no US or European carrier is anywhere close, IMHO), but definitely okay.

Seating can be tight in coach, on many of their planes. I think they have largely completed their IFE rollout which addressed their previously lacking entertainment options.

scdreamer

Guess I'll be the lone dissenter here ... have only flown Lufthansa once (Frankfurt to San Francisco) and decided never again. Seats were incredibly cramped, and onboard service was almost non-existent.

I fly to Europe and domestically (USA) often - have not had any other travel experience that measures down to Lufthansa.

rick_c

Definitely one of the better airlines I've ever flown. On time, good service, with typical German precision. I use them whenever I can.

traveller1959

If you rank airlines by stars (one to five), Singapore would get 5 stars, Lufthansa 4 stars and all American carriers 3 stars.

Two weeks ago, on the LH flight from Denver to Frankfurt, economy class had personal inflight entertainment with a selection of 100+ movies.

travelgourmet

traveller1959 - I think you vastly overrate Lufthansa. Honestly, I fail to see the difference between most of the major European carriers and most of the major American carriers for long-haul coach. Oh, you get a couple of free drinks, but that is about it.

Speaking about coach - If Singapore is 5-star, then Lufthansa and most of the European and US airlines would be 2-1/2 stars. Maybe BA would inch up to 3-stars. Some Northwest planes might get there too. Air France on a good day might be 3-stars. Delta would be 3-stars if they improved the IFE. A KLM 747 or MD11 would probably drop down to 2-stars, along with US.

Fabio

Lufthansa has coach IFE in all Airbus A340-600 and A330-300. Not yet in B747-400 and Airbus A340-300. However they have placed orders for 15 A380 and some other B747-800 which will replace the -400s. A380 will start operating within the end of this year. All new aircrafts will have individual IFE in coach. As regards the pitch and seat width they are exactly in the average of major airlines, see www.seatguru.com. I like their service and mostly fly with them as my favourite european airline.

Fabio

With all the respect I see no comparison between Lufthansa and major US airlines. Last summer I flew Delta FIRST CLASS from Salt Lake City to San Francisco and ALL I got was a SOFT DRINK.

rkkwan

Fabio - You are comparing oranges to apples.

If you fly intra-Europe business class, all you get is a economy seat with a blocked middle seat! Why don't you complain about that?

Fabio

at least that is not called first class !

You are right regarding the intra-european business class seats but as regards food and drink service within Europe, as you say, it is like comparing oranges to apples.

Geordie

<<Honestly, I fail to see the difference between most of the major European carriers and most of the major American carriers for long-haul coach.>>

People who write reviews on here and on www.airlinequality.com seem to be able to see the difference.

I've flown Lufthansa many times both in Europe and internationally and I've found them to be very good. The level of service is very high and consistent.

I have a young family and they really do make an extra effort to help you out, this I certainly haven't experienced on US based airlines.

<<Fabio - You are comparing oranges to apples.>>

Why is this the most commonly used answer to any comparison between European and US airlines, it makes no sense at all, I got the same answer when I compared Virgin with US airways

Geordie

rkkwan

Geordie - Many of the most knowledgeable frequent flyers on this board and others do not pay attention to airlinequality.com.

Also, Fabio is comparing a UA domestic flight inside the US with LH. LH doesn't fly domestic flights inside the US, so any comparison is useless.

Just like I will never say European airlines are crappy just because they use economy seats for their "intra-Europe Business class".

Fabio

Geordie

Thanks for your message. I also checked www.airlinequality.com.
I would say that airlne rating mostly depends on individual experiences, either positive or negative. Coach seats and pitch for longhaul flights receive negative reviews anywhere by almost any airline, european or american, if not considering premium economy on some airlines or seats next to the exit with extra leg room.
Lufthansa is very late for coach individual screens and p3t0t will not have them on B747-400 BOS-FRA and SIN-FRA-BOS. However, despite of this, it is still a great and safe airline.

As regards comparison between US and EU airlines, again, all depends on individual priorities: seats, food, drinks, punctuality etc..
Nevertheless www.airlinequality.com reports a 4 stars rating for AF BA LH and 3 stars for DL AA CO UA US.
Lufthansa, being based in Germany, has short intra-european flight, max 1,5 / 2 hours as average, while US carriers have long domestic flights, up to 5 hours and more. This might be a reason why US carriers have larger first class seats even on domestic routes while LH business class on short flights gives priority to the food and drink service.
On our DL 1 and half hour first class flight SLC-SFO I found a larger seat but a poor service.

Geordie

<<Geordie - Many of the most knowledgeable frequent flyers on this board and others do not pay attention to airlinequality.com.>>

But some do

Author: rkkwan
Date: 11/17/2006, 09:15 pm
www.airlinequality.com though I hardly ever use it.

Author: AAFrequentFlyer
Date: 09/02/2006, 01:58 pm
http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/israir-airlines.htm

Author: AAFrequentFlyer
Date: 01/02/2006, 04:44 pm
http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/etihad.htm

Author: Gardyloo
Date: 02/27/2008, 04:46 pm
Welcome to the club. There's no "U" in Qantas; Air Tahiti Nui has a pretty decent reputation - see here: http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/air_tahiti_nui.htm

<<Also, Fabio is comparing a UA domestic flight inside the US with LH. LH doesn't fly domestic flights inside the US, so any comparison is useless.>>

Of course its not, you can compare food, service, entertainment, seats etc regardless of which airspace your 30 minute/ 60 minute / 2 hour flight is taking

Geordie

travelgourmet

<i>Coach seats and pitch for longhaul flights receive negative reviews anywhere by almost any airline, european or american,</i>

And this is my point. Even if we were to take airlinequality as the gospel (I don't think it very useful), the fact of the matter is that the bulk of the reviews of the coach cabin for Lufthansa, or any US or European are poor to middling, at best. The site is simply no help in differentiating between carriers in coach.

Take a look at some stats and quotes from the website:
- Mean comfort rating for LH coach = 3.5 out of 10.
- Comfort rating mode (most common ranking) = 1 out of 10.
- At least 6 out of 22 respondents made some version of the &quot;worst flight/most uncomfortable seat ever&quot; claim.
- 3 separate unfavorable comparisons to either Click (a Mexican budget carrier), a charter operator, and 3rd World Airlines.

Now, I am not saying that this makes LH a bad airline. But, it does not support claims that they are somehow a good airline and any better than your typical American or European airline.

As to the 3 vs 4-star debate... I don't put much stock in rankings that are completely opaque. The site provides neither the methodology nor the complete scores behind the various rankings. My guess, though, is that LH is lifted by their premium cabins. And, were the OP traveling in First (I am perhaps erroneously assuming they are flying in coach), then, by all means, Lufthansa is a top choice. Even in Business, Lufthansa might sneak into a preferred category.

But, when it comes to coach travel, I stand by my assertion that Lufthansa is no better (nor really any worse) than the average TATL carrier, European or American.

rick_c

Well, the only opinion I care about is my own. Nothing personal. And that opinion is that the American carriers don't come close to Lufthansa. And yes, I'm an American, and not one of the Blame-America-First crowd, either.

My experiences on Lufthansa have been very predictable and professional. Most of the time, they are on schedule, they don't lose baggage, and their service is far better than what I'm accustomed to from the big US airlines, with the exception of Southwest.

Kyliebaby3

They're wonderful... just came back from Europe on American after flying with Lufthansa last October. Making that comparison, which I realize isn't quite apples to apples, I'd deliberately fly with them whenever I could. The FA's are really friendly, and the food and beverage is far superior to any American carrier I've flown with over the pond.

Go with Lufthansa for sure.