bob_brown

We flew Lufthansa just once -- Paris to Munich. We were put in first class because our original flight on US Airways was screwed up (usual case I might add).

If that was first class, I would hate to experience cattle class.

I don't want to start "profiling", but the members of the flight attendant crew had a few personality deficiencies in my view.

I agree the flight got us there. Too bad US Airways cannot let the Germans run the airline and retain the usually cordial US flight crews.

rkkwan

jag1jag1 - Yes, the Bae146/AvroRJ have excellent safety records. Can't think of any major accident. It has extremely good performance (lots of power, large wings for its size), so airlines have long used them for "difficult" airports like London City and various mountain airports in Colorado. It can land and takeoff at places many other planes cannot.

pja1

Hi,
We flew Lufthansa Oct. 2006 from Newark, NJ to Munich via Frankfurt. Very pleasant, uneventful experience. The food was typical airline fare (IMO) and drinks were pretty much offered the entire flight. We flew SAS on the return and I really didn't notice a difference as far as comfort (or lack of) service, etc. We did fly coach both ways.

Paul

mari5

Interesting about double booking of seats. I believe if I had my boarding pass in hand, and sat in the right seat first, then NO ONE would be able to get me to move.
Double booking is REALLY a sad, bad situation..but I'd like to think is doesn't happen very often.

francophile03

The complaints written about Lufthansa could be written about any other airline.

shandy

I have to put Lufthansa at the bottom of the list of those airlines I have flown with. It's nice to have the personal video screens but I can live without and playing 40 year old Mickey Mouse cartoons instead of the advertised modern movie I can also cope with.

However, what I will not put with again is the number of times they changed the flight time of the plane. It would have been changed six times in the four months prior to the flight, generally only by an hour or so. The final straw was when I logged onto the Lufthansa site about 3 weeks before we left to find out that our 2 hour layover in Frankfurt had become a 24 hour lay over and I had to redo all the Paris/Vancouver flights in order to avoid the layover. On NONE of these occasions had Lufthansa notifed us. If I hadn't been checking the reservation website myself I wouldn't have known until we got to the airport.

halcyon

Interesting I should see this thread....We are booked on Lufthansa in May heading to Italy with friends.I booked thru expedia, she thru the airline, tho more $$$$...In the past week, my tickets have been changed twice, tho hers have not. We are leaving from Bos/ Munich to Venice. She from NC to Mun to Venice. They will arrive in Venice 2 hrs before us..Same on the return flight from Pisa. She is still on the original flight and we are now leaving 2 hrs later which means a 4 hour layover in Munich. Do they bump passengers at will who do not book thru them? Seems that way...They will not explain this to me on the phone explaining that I did not book directly with them.

shandy

Halcyon, in relation to our flights kept getting changed, we were on a very cheap RTW deal so may be that had something to do with it, I don't know. However, they were booked direct with Lufthansa and not through an intermediary.

USNR

You will enjoy your trip. That is an order.

dfr4848

jag - we flew a LH BAE 146-200 two years ago from FIR - MUN. It was fine. It was comparable to a 737 and certainly better than an RJ. Because the wings are attached to the top of the fuselage, we had spectacular views of the Alps. BTW, we were served a hot meal - pretty simple but decent and more than I expected on such a short flight.

Dukey

I wonder what the difference is between an "uncomfortable" seat and a "very firm" seat?

Don't you wonder what the flight attendants say about some of the people they have to "serve?"

I would agree about the lack of personal TV screens.

I do hope there aren't any board members sitting directly behind you who have decided that you are not allowed to recline the uncomfortable firm seat even though you paid for one that DOES recline.

mari5

I've often felt "uneasy" about booking flights and hotels with the discounters..ie, expedia, travelocity and others.,,though we have never done it. Many people do use them and do well..
AFter hearing the airline story above(about having her flight changed,.. when her friend who booked directly with the airline did not have this problem) , AND reading OFTEN about poor rooms in hotels etc...do you think it IS because reservations were not made directly with the airline or hotel.???
Of course the hotel or airline is NOT making as much money....and I guess it is understandable for them to do what they do sometimes. But as I said, a LOT of people never have a problem.

Just throwing out a question for a little input!
(this should probably be on another topic, or under "general information".

milliebz

OMG, please tell me the smoking was a long time ago. You cannot smoke on Lufthansa can you?

wombat7

No you cannot smoke on Lufthansa. Rhey have even decided that their lounges will now be non-smoking unless there is a separate room for people to smoke.

Now if that could just be aplied to Frankfurt airport that woudl be great

Jolie

My flight on Lufthansa was in 2001, from Frankfurt to San Francisco. Supposedly, it was a non-smoking flight. Which is just one of the reasons I have not flown with them since.

I admit this could have just been the one bad flight in Lufthansa's entire history of great service. And that the problems could have happened with any other airline too. And that maybe the employees were wanting to strike or had some other beef with the airline? I just don't know.

LN

Hi Dukey

Generally an "uncomfortable" seat is one that has needed replacement for awhile as the padding has probably collapsed. Whereas "firm" most likely has firm padding and that would have been much better than our uncomfortable, lumpy seats on Lufthansa's 747 last September.

DAX

I prefer flying Lufthansa over United mainly due to better cabin service. I find KLM service was inferior to Lufthansa until Air France took it over. As far as seat comfort, it depends on which plane you're flying on, an old 747 or the newer 777 or the airbus. Truthfully that is the case with any airline. On interesting observation I have is the comments I heard when German passengers fly on an American carrier for the very first time: Why are the flight attendants so old; they look like they are in pain or so cranky; they should really retire. Then I would tell them how they can't afford to retire with the United ghost retirement plan.

We have experienced a flight cancellation from Lufthansa due to lack of passengers in which case I negotiated a different city return departure & date (open jaw) on Lufthansa. We could hardly believe that they agreed to it though with many consultations and being put on hold a few times.

JoanneH

However, what I will not put with again is the number of times they changed the flight time of the plane. It would have been changed six times in the four months prior to the flight, generally only by an hour or so. The final straw was when I logged onto the Lufthansa site about 3 weeks before we left to find out that our 2 hour layover in Frankfurt had become a 24 hour lay over and I had to redo all the Paris/Vancouver flights in order to avoid the layover. On NONE of these occasions had Lufthansa notifed us. If I hadn't been checking the reservation website myself I wouldn't have known until we got to the airport. snip

We are booked with them in April, SFOto Venice. United is doing the flight as a partner but we also have had our seats changed 3 times so far and we booked in June of 06. We are wondering what the deal is we seem to be getting further back in the plane.

LN

Lufthansa changed the gate AND the terminal we were flying from in Frankfurt. Because they had lost my luggage for 13 days we took our carryons with us (so that we wouldn't lose anything else). With that in mind we wound up climbing stairs, changing terminals, going through security again, and getting exhausted with it too. Unfortunately one bag did not have wheels on it and had to be carried so DH wound up with a strained groin. Our Lufthansa trip was not at all pleasant or convenient so we'll do our best to fly with another carrier.

In case you feel that we should have complained - we did time after time after time and repeatedly. So now I forewarn you be aware that Lufthansa is NOT the airline it once was and what happened to us could happen to you too!

jag1jag1

So, I posted this question on the airline thread, but I'll put it here, too. We've decided to fly from SFO to Rome round-trip. United (one free ticket for 100,000 miles), Lufthansa (who I assumed would be the best and has the best times), or Air Canada (cheapest)? After reading the posts here, I'm wondering about Lufthansa, although we haven't had a bad experience with them. Who would you choose?