Has anyone had any experience with flying coach on Lufthansa?
 

I am flying to Frankfurt on Lufthansa in coach in a few weeks. Has anyone had any experience with this airline they can share?

Hi, From reading other posts other travelers seem to have had better experiances than I have. I flew from Frankfurt to Boston coach last Sept and it was the most uncomfortable flight that I've ever had. Even my sister who is 5'3" was very uncomfortable. I've never had so little leg room in my life on a long trip. <BR>Good luck <BR>Art <BR>

We flew on Lufthansa RT from SF to Munich in 1998 and thought it was very nice. My husband *really* liked that airline (mostly I think because they seem to never stop handing out food and drink the whole way across on the flight...far more in-flight food service than I've ever seen on coach, and I've flown on lots of different airlines). It was almost as if as soon as they got to the end of the plane with lunch they would start right up again at the front with drinks then a snack then drinks then dinner etc etc. My husband was very disappointed Lufthansa's fares were high from where we are now and we will be flying on another airline in May to Germany.

I think Lufthansa is the best transatlantic that I have flown.

We flew from Chicago to Munich R/T in Oct '00. It was comparable to other airlines we've flown to Europe in the past i.e. AA,UA and BA. Food and service was good. The only downside were the ugly yellow head rests. Enjoy your trip to Europe...Paul J

flew boston to frankfurt-one of the most uncomfortable flights we ever had. it was a 747-200 very cramped with terrible food. the 747-400 from frankfurt to madras(chennai) was a different ballgame. good food-at least the indian food and the leg room was much better. i guess it depends on whast route and what aircraft. lots of luck also just flew swiss air on the %%^$%#@**(&&^% a330 airbus boston to zurich. a fear of censorship prevents me from describing that plane. just moo when you enter that cattle car

i flew last summer on lufthansa and i found it a dissappointemnet. first of all the flight attendants were less then friendly. when i asked for blind folds the woman said it was only for business class. food was average. timing was more or less punctual. but compared to british airways for example, they are less than average in everyway. also the entertainment system was very bad. they had one tv for each 3-5 rows and they gave u head sets, but i had already watched the movies they were showing as they were released 2 years ago. overall i did not like it, but maybe that's just me.

We had a miserable experience on Lufthansa a couple of weeks ago. Long and boring story short, they lost our luggage, which is apparantly one of their specialities, and it took close to a week to recover it (it sat for 5 days at Logan airport and they simply were unable/unwilling to deliver it to us - only got it by showing up in person at the airport and refusing to leave without it - it miracously appeared!) My very strong advice to you is to hang on to those little sticky luggage claim tags as if your life depended on it. The coach flights were pretty uncomfortable - but arent they all? Our overall experience was negative enough to cause us to never fly Lufthansa again. But I think you ought to relax and hope for the best - enjoy your trip and hold onto those baggage tags!

Frequent: I guess it is really too late for you do anything but take your flight. I am not a picky flier; give me a reasonable rate, and I will go. I will never fly Lufthansa again if I can possibly avoid it. The flight attendants were not "unfriendly"; they were absolutely rude to everyone! I observed it all around me. Whatever you do, don't stack your dishes on your tray before passing it back to them. They scolded everyone for that. If you don't recognize the food, don't ask what it is, and don't hand your cup to them for coffee; they want to take it off your tray, and they will let you know in no uncertain terms. The clerks at the check-in desk were cold and rude, also. I just couldn't believe that everyone was having a bad day. I did, afterall, pay for their services! I hope your flight is better.

I must admit I also had the most unconfortable flight to Europe on Lufthansa. But my problem was made worse by having the window seat & having the person sitting on the aisle fall asleep and not wake up for the entire flight!!! I could barely move in my seat and didn't want to disturb the person sleeping.To their credit, I did not have any problems with my luggage nor my food, and we did arrive on time. So, if the price was just to good to pass up, I would consider them again. Good Luck!

Any recommendations for favorite carrier (economy)- for those who haven't booked flight yet?

My husband & I flew Lufthansa at Christmas time this past year (LA to Paris via Frankfurt). The seats seemed more cramped than normal (He thinks Lufthansa is German for "sardine" - don't write, I know it isn't) so my husband got up and walked around. The flight attendants were annoyed with him and refused to serve him anything - not even water, unless he took his seat. It became a test of wills and he stood for 12 hours & they ignored him. He didn't miss anything, the food sure wasn't what we get on Air France or KLM... They lost our luggage and the delay made us miss our shuttle at CDG. The Lufthansa airport staff could have cared less. We had prepaid the shuttle and it took weeks to get our money back. My husband packed his overcoat so he was a little chilly until the bags arrived 7 hours later. On our return we saw that there was a mechanical problem with the plane. At last call it appeared the problem hadn't been corrected and there was an animated discussion on the ground under the plane. We wanted info about the nature of the problem before we would agree to board as I am a white-knuckle flyer. The gate staff yelled at us and said we were being ridiculous. they refused to tell us what was wrong. They tried to pressure us into boarding by making a scene and telling us that we were responsible for everyone being delayed. When we held our ground and demanded to know what was wrong or be reassigned to another flight they brought out the pilot who very patiently explained what was wrong and the difficulty they were having in obtaining the part. We all sat in the plane waiting to depart for almost 2 hours while the repairs were completed. At no time were any of us offered any refreshment and my husband & I were ignored by the flight crew for the remainder of the flight.We bought the tickets through the Lufthansa auction site and paid a ridiculously low price, so we really can't complain, but I don't think I would ever do it again.

Could people hate this airline more than United?

I have to say that we have flown Lufthansa on the Singapore-Frankfurt leg of several flight between France and Australia and we have found the planes, the seating, the food, and the service excellent. I am sure that the seat pitch was better than many other carriers over the same route. The only resson we have not flown with them lately is that there have been better deals with others. In my experience, the airlines that attract the most compliments are Emirates and Singapore.

Lufthansa used to be one of the premier European airlines, alongside Swissair and SAS. They concentrated on business travel, and gave reliable, frequent and convenient service for jetting executives. In the last couples of years they seem to have gone downmarket and started discounting heavily, often to the levels of 'no frills' carriers, accompanied by a noticeable decline in standards of service, esp in economy/coach, due to large extent on cost-cutting after huge losses. I personally had a good, not excellent, service last year flying 50% discounted business class to Far East. The only black mark was ground staff in Frankfurt who were abrupt and unsmiling.

The food on Lufthansa is about the worst in the air.

It was 3 years ago but my Lufthansa flight was very nice--good seating room, constant and very good food, helpful staff, etc.

I just completed my trip to Europe and used Lufthansa on my Los Angeles-Frankfurt Frankfurt-Florence and Florence-Munich flights. I was pleasantly suprised. The service was professional, all the flights arrived on time (with my luggage), their planes were comfortable with the expected amount of legroom that you get in coach. Not great, but not bad. The food was typical (airline style), the movie and videos were interesting. Lufthansa does not have english magazines on board so bring a book! I will say that since I am a United Airline Frequent flyer holding a Star Alliance Gold card, my treatment on Lufthansa was exceptional. They gave me access to their business class lounges and at LAX gave me a $15 restaurant coupon to have lunch before take off. <BR> <BR>My return flight was on United via Washington DC. This was uneventful with typical haggered United flight attendants. The videos were really bad and some were not working. The flight attendant told me to write a letter since telling her wouldn't matter because she was one of the little people. A lot of good that did me on a 9hr flight! <BR> <BR>Lufthansa is just one of many airlines to Europe. I know they get the hard knocks sometimes but anyone can have a bad experience on any flight. Their flight attendants are very professional but not very personable. but they get the job done efficiently. Compared to some airline I would say that they are a little above average. I will give the four stars for on time arrivals! They are famous for this.

I flew Lufthansa in March from Boston to Frankfurt to Florence. It was without doubt the most uncomfortable flight of my life. I'm small (5'2" - 115 lbs) but felt extremely cramped and constrained by the tiny seats and leg room. In addition, the carry-on limits are very restrictive. HOWEVER, the worst part of the experience was getting stranded by the 2 hour Lufthansa strike which took effect as soon as our flight landed in Frankfurt. Not one single Lufthansa representative would help us or any of the other confused travelers. Needless to say, I'm not a big fan of the airline. Hope your flight is better!

I flew Lufthansa many years (8-9?) ago from Detroit to Frankfurt. The flight was ok - I don't recall any rude employees. My luggage was not lost - but it was a direct flight. The thing that sticks in my mind was the AWFUL food. I have flown a lot and this was one of the two worst airline meals I have ever encountered. My recollection of the main dish was some sort of mystery dried out meat particle wrapped around a cooked pickle. UGH! It was all a sort of drak grey-brown in color and covered and soaking in greasy gravy. Yuck. (The other terrible meal was on PanAm - I won't go into it here - but I think Lufthansa's was the worse of the two.) Be sure to pack a lunch to carry on with you. :)