[Anonymous]

[lloydah]

My flying for business gets less as my retirement grows on me and my leisure flights get more important. Advice – opinions please.

8 hr flight. Mrs LAH and I have the choice between AF 380 La Premiere and Lufty 747-8 F. The whole package is important, especially to Mrs L as she highly rates the FCT and general service you get with LH, but neither of us have tried AF before. Is it worth experimenting considering it’s probably a once a year trip and I have to live with her the other 11 months? or just play safe and do LH again. Day flights out, night back, east coast US. Not considering BA as too many disappointments in the past and going via CDG or FRA is no problem.

[SimonS1]

Good reviews of both here if it helps from the same author. A lot to be said for sticking with what you know etc.

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2013/12/21/review-air-france-a380-first-class-los-angeles-to-paris/

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2012/09/11/bali-and-berchtesgaden-lufthansa-747-8-first-class-frankfurt-to-washington-dulles/

[Senator]

Given my keen interest in the LH group I would have normally said Lufthansa all the way. Personally, I find the on-board experience on Swiss more to my liking, but the First Class Lounge in Zurich is nowhere near the FCT in Frankfurt, and the A340-300 on the ZRH-LAX is a bit long in the tooth. However, the A330-300s are delightful. So time in the air vs on the ground I would go for Swiss A330-300 and transit in America.

However, I have a friend. His hobby is now his job. He is a travel writer, and with the help of Air France in Sweden identified which routes would have their newest First. He tried it on a short flight from Jakarta to Singapore return two weeks back. He has sampled all of them; SQ, LH, LX, TG, JL, NH, OS, BA and AF. To him, Air France is by far his number 1. He said the new experience in Paris mirrors the Lufthansa experience in Frankfurt. I am intrigued and I am looking to sample myself.

[TominScotland]

Might be worth talking to the respective pilot unions to check for strike dates before booking either LH or AF!!

[lloydah]

Thanks for all the advice – good as usual. Those reviews SimonS1 are thorough and give all the points needed to consider – and probably make the job harder 🙂 I’ll consult with Mrs L, show her the pics and share the blame. If LH continue with the pilot strikes perhaps I won’t need to choose.

[Author]

Posts