Lufthansa vs British Airways
 

I will be flying to Germany this June. Any feed back on Lufthansa vs British Airways. What would you recommend?

Both excellent - BA would be my first preference. Both vastly superior to any US airline.

I recently had the worst experience ever encountered on an airline. Last week, on Lufthansa, I was royally dressed down, in front of a full plane of passengers, because I happened to be the last on the plane and there was no overhead space left for my carry-on. I have never been talked like this in public. My pieces would have fit under the seat, in fact, they finally did, but I was merely looking for space in the overhead. The flight attendant started telling me I was allowed only one piece of carry on, not two (these were small pieces, much smaller than a roll-on carry on). I couldn't put them under my seat because I was seated at the bulkhead. She proceeded to tell me loudly that this was my problem, not hers. And then she asked me witheringly if I had ever traveled before. (I am an American living in Europe, and I have traveled for 15 years for my job.) And the reason I was last on the plane? Everyone pushed ahead of me getting of the bus that delivers passengers to the plane. I will now avoid Lufthansa at all costs. <BR> <BR>British Airlines, by the way, has always been wonderful in my experience.

BA hands down. The food is better. The flight attendants less surly. It pains me to say that as when I was flying out of Philadelphia in the '70s I was a Lufthansa fan. Plus I like the hats the BA female crew wear :)

Here's one vote for Lufthansa. The main reason is because BA has the smallest coach seats of any international carrier. Lufthansa has at least an inch more pitch between the seats. It may seem like a small thing, but it makes a significant difference. We didn't have any trouble with the service on Lufthansa, but admit the food is better on BA. Especially on flights originating in Europe. The food on Lufthansa was AWFUL!

British Air by far, hands down, no question. Good food, cute booties and sleep mask, wonderful service (and the female flight attendants DO have very cool hats) and even the phone reps are very nice. <BR>Lufthansa, on the other hand, is aka Nazi Airline, run by Helga the Campguard and the Gestapo. Santachiara's experience brought back to mind OUR experience with NA on our trip to Greece; 4 girls all traveling together, checking in for the flight back home. Clerk says "next", we all start to go toward him (every other desk clerk likes traveling companions to check in together). Well, Helga who was guarding the lines, sternly commanded "ONE AT A TIME!!". I meekly went first to the counter, where the clerk says "are they all with you? then, why don't you all come up together?" <BR>We hate Lufthansa.

Ever since Lufthansa almost left us stranded in Europe two years ago, when they cancelled my non-cancellable, non-refundable, non-changeable tickets, I have avoided them like the plague. They were the most un-friendly and un-helpful airline people I've EVER run into, especially at their hub in Frankfurt. Never again!

Lufthansa don't mean Roughtansa - I am forced to fly with them on a regular basis to regional German airports and I hate them. I have a running battle with their customer servies department for the past 5 years (each flight results in a new complaint). Food awful, service appaling, prices unbelievable and delivery of bags etc unforgettable in the worst sense. My business suits are all couresty of Roughtansa (non-delievery of bags resulted in the purchase on a regualr basis of new clothes and a row with Roughtansa regarding payment - it takes until the next trip to get my cheque). Bags are eventually found and lost again prior to finally delievery. Avoid them like the plague - comfortable and re-assuring they are not. I was once on a flight where the pilot tried to land on an island in the bay area of the city we were supposed to land in. If you have no other choice ie flying into a regional airport in Germany then cross the ocean with BA and take a train. All-time worst airline I have ever experienced.

Thanks for the information. I'm flying British Airways (-: Don

Oh boy. I'm flying on Lufthansa in May. I always carry my own snacks anyway and this trip is carry on only -- hope it turns out OK!

I flew with AA last year and they were fantastic. The food and drink was superb. But if you really must choose between these other two then there's not much in it. But on balance I would go for the LH as I truly detest BA's contribution to world cuisine: cold greenbeans! <BR>

Oh, boy. Please tell me I'm ok on my flight to Munich in March! We were booked through Lufthansa, but we're on a "code-sharing" flight from United. Anybody done this before? Was it a good experience?

You'll be completely safe - Lufthansa is a good airline for that. Just consider it part of your experience of other cultures!

Some advice on flying Lufthansa: <BR>l. Do not stack your dishes on your tray. I was scolded severely for doing that. <BR>2. Do not ask what anything on the plate is, even if you have never seen anything that remotely resembles that particular food. I was told when I asked about some rolled up pink and red thing: "It's good. Eat it." <BR>3. Do not buy anything duty-free. They may offer it, but they will be very surly and unhelpful if you actually try to buy anything. I waited the entire flight to get candy bars that I paid for at the start of the flight. When they finally brought them, they acted as if I had done something criminal. <BR>4. If you fly with Nazi Airline, call as soon as you return and complain about how absolutely MEAN they are. <BR>I have flown many airlines, and they are far and above the worst. I don't expect much; I never ask an attendant for anything; I eat whatever they offer as long as I know what it is. None of that mattered; they treated everyone in our part of the plane horribly!!!! <BR>

I flew Lufthansa and had a great experience. The food was very good and they kept bringing more. Service and stewards/esses were pleasant and professional. The passengers were more diverse than US airlines & interesting. It has been too long ago that I flew British to make a good comparison, but wanted you to hear some have good Lufthansa experience.

Hi Marty, <BR>"Nazi-Airline" ? You´re a real world-traveller-I feel ashamed for you. <BR>For the record, obviously I have to use Lufthansa quite often and like most frequent travellers made good and bad experiences. The flights to the states were always United(code-sharing) and were o.k. I´m not flying for the food, I must say-service is another topic.. <BR>My worst experience on a flight so far was with Delta and the best was with Singapure Airlines. Those of you who fly Lufthansa should always consider, it´s one of the best Airlines when it comes to safety and maintenance and technical standard of their planes. For me that´s more important than the food. <BR> <BR>Miriam

Miriam: Save your shame for Lufthansa. They are making mega-bucks, and like any good business, they should remember where that money comes from. In my business dealing with the public, if one of my employees treated the customers even vaguely the way the customers on that Lufthansa flight treated all of us, I would send him/her packing. I am a world traveler, because I love various cultures, but nowhere in my experience have I felt that rudeness was a part of a country's culture, and that I should just accept it. Read back through the other posts, and you will find that my experience was not unusual. This is not the first time this topic has come up. I still believe that we should complain when we don't get what we pay for. My flight was not cheap.

Hallo Marty, <BR>I´m sorry, that you´ve experienced such bad service and you should complain and receive reimbursement. <BR>But how can one relate a companies bad service with a country, the culture and the people? By saying that and using the word I won`t repeat again you mean me as well! <BR> <BR>Miriam

Miriam: I am so sorry. I know that is not a jesting word. In fact, we plan to visit Germany two trips from now and are looking forward to it. (We will try out best to get there without flying Lufthansa, even though I do have a huge amount of duty free coupons that they gave us for our complaints!)

We call it Nazi Airline for the same reason Seinfeld called the deli guy the Soup Nazi. It defines a particularly nasty way of conducting oneself; it just happens that Lufthansa is a German airline. <BR>My sister and I still refer to a train station clerk in France as the Nazi Conductor because of his attitude. <BR>

Don, <BR> <BR>I am very new to world travel. I flew BA to Paris and what a nice experience. Best coach ride ever. Good food, extra nice little touches such as toothpaste and brush before landing etc. etc. I just booked with BA for March back to Paris. Only way to fly.

I hope someone at Lufthansa is reading these posts!! (and at British Airways too - ix-nay on the een-gray eens-bray . . .)

Well I have never flown Luf. but BA isn't always a piece of cake either. I think that you can have a bad experience almost anywhere. I flew BA from London to home last year and had the most dreadful experience of my entire travellng life...not BA fault exactly, but they refused to do anything about it. I have covered this experience in other posts, so won't repeat, but suffice to say that there was a very unpleasant situation developed between two passengers (one of which was me) and BA just refused to deal with it, or exercise any control over the situation. On the whole, Ithink BA is pretty good, although it is true that their coach seats are the smallest and closest together of any that we have experienced.

We had a very nice experience flying Lufthansa on one leg of our Germany trip last year. I just booked our trip to Munich tonight with them again. We preferred the Lufthansa operations, service and food to that of United on the trip to Germany.

Here's another good LH experience: we have flown transatlantic with them several times (O'Hare to Frankfurt/Munich), and it has always been great. The food used to be great (three years ago it even happened that people were asking for seconds), but true, it has been getting much worse since then. LH's in-flight entertainment is superb, if not the best, especially if you're into classical music. Also the agents/flight attendants/etc. have always been friendly and curteous. <BR>I've also had the "pleasure" of flying BA once (Mexico City to Heathrow), or should I say, Sardine Can Airlines. I have never been so uncomfortable on any flight (not even on the way from Europe to New Zealand non-stop). Service, etc. was good, but upon arrival at LHR they decided that it would be a good idea to remote-park a full 747, and carry the passengers to the terminal on buses. Needless to say we were in the back of the plane (since you could NOT reserve a seat in advance - can you believe it?), and waited forever to disembark. Then we had to run across half of Heathrow for our connecting flight to Rome. Since that day, I vowed to avoid BA. <BR>Funny that most people have had the reverse happen!

I'm glad someone had something good to say about Lufthansa! I've just booked a long trip with them--from San Francisco to Rome, stopping in Munich. I have flown British from the US to London and from London to Greece, and have found it nothing to rave about. Tiny, cramped seats (I'm not a large person), mediocre food, and inability to reserve seats ahead of time. Please, someone else say something good about Lufthansa!

I would go out of my way to be able to fly on Lufthansa whenever possible! Their flights have been the most comfortable (roomiest) transatlantic flights I have ever been on. That said, they can be curt and inflexible if anything happens to interfere with their efficiency. If a problem arises, they will handle it, without any input from you, and will tell you what you will do to solve it! Just know what to expect and you can relax and enjoy their crisp service and comfy planes.

We have had generally good luck with BA. You haven't lived til you've flown on Saudia Airlines...interiors are worn, everyone smokes, you get a prayer from the Koran upon take=on followed by dates (served to the men first, of course). Stewardesses can hardly see from behind their scarf headgear (to be modest), and food is Mid-eastern. However, they have a very good safety record. They checke(d) everything out before leaving Riyahd by having German shepard sniff dogs come aboard and walk the isles before we took off. Just a different cultural experience, and I am sure some of the objection to Lufthausa is similar. What seems rude and objectionable to some is just standard fare to others. Germans tend to be brisk. However, outright rudeness is the same in every culture.

Yikes! All the complaints about Lufthansa is scaring me. I just put my daughter on one of their flights to Tel Aviv. I hope they are kind to her. She is flying as an unaccompanied minor. <BR> <BR>I try to stay out of the way and not ask too much for anything because I know the flight attendants have so much to do while working in economy, but I have noticed no matter what the airline, you will get a few bad tempered ones and yes I include BA, which I have traveled 6 times now. My advice is to get a sleeping pill from your doctor and passout as soon as possible til you land. You will be fresh for a new day and have a good start on the time change. Works for me.

This has opened a can and a half of worms! Here's my two pence worth... <BR> <BR>I've flown UK-Germany monthly for the past two years or so, travelling with both BA and Lufthansa. <BR> <BR>Here a couple of comments: <BR> <BR>BA vegetarian food is horrible, on the whole, and when I have suggested more imaginative recipies via their suggestion forms they always send back standard "We're sorry you didn't enjoy your flight" letters. I've yet to send a "The flight was fine, sort out a better menu" letter... <BR> <BR>BA serve both tea and coffee, and when they come along the aisle my heart always drops because they hold a pot in either hand and free pour into your cup. Lufthansa use a tray to pour over and they have never split hot drink on a customer, although I've seen it on BA... <BR> <BR>As for baggage, I work on arriving without my baggage once in around eight flights. BA are reasonably helpful but disorganised when it happens. Lufthansa have a card of nice little pictoral diagrams of cases which you use to idenitfy the type of bag you've lost, and they arrange to deliver by taxi as soon as the bag is located and flown in. <BR>I've never had a bag go entirely awol, but I do lock and badge all my baggage separate to the standard luggage tags. <BR>I actually don't mind if my bag is late, as it means it's delivered to my hotel room door and I don't have to carry it anywhere... <BR> <BR>I suggest to anyone dealing with a complaint with an airline to do the standard things: Talk to someone who can solve your problem, usually not the person who has annoyed you; make sure you do raise any issue with the airline in a coldblooded rational way; don't take anything personally - maybe the individual who has annoyed you has just dealt with the Traveller From Hell and has had a long day - yes, they shouldn't take it out on you, but people are people. Their boss will usually do someting about your complaint/issue. <BR> <BR>I'd happily travel with Lufthansa or BA - in my experience, both are excellent 80% of the time. <BR>

For a truly superb airline with 34" seat pitch instead of 31", good service and excellent food and SAFETY record try Air New Zealand. They do fly to UK and Frankfurt now. See their prices on this website:www.rebeltours.com

Those Lufthansa stories are scary. Although no one has mentioned Swiss Air. I flew with them from Atlanta-Zurich-Berlin last summer and had a wonderful experience.

Just flew Lufthansa from Chicago to Munich and back and have nothing but good to say. Adequate leg room, food okay for airline meals, on time, quite tough about size of carry-ons going to Munich, airbus completely full going over, few empty seats on return flight. Would definitely choose them again. Flew BA a few years a go from Chicago to London and have never been on such a miserable, uncomfortable flight.

I've flown Lufthansa, BA, and Air France transatlantic and I would rate them as follows: <BR> <BR>1. Air France - they just seem to want to be the best. The food is good and the FAs seemed to care, paticularly the more senior attendants. <BR> <BR>2. BA - I flew them recently and was not expecting good things. I was pleasently surprised. There FAs were hands-down the best I have ever encountered, most friendly, courteous. Great representatives of the country. <BR> <BR>3. I flew them last about 2 years ago. There was a time I would fly no other airline transatlantic based on reputation. Those times have changed. I believe they should focus on changing their customer-service attitude to one more personal, less professionally cold. <BR>