[Anonymous]

[FormerlyDoS]

LH Business MUC EWR 8 hours 50 minutes

Flew in on KM and made my way through passport control to the senator lounge, where I had a very pleasant lunch of meatballs and pickled red cabbage, washed down with a glass of trocken (not Henkel.)

Got a couple of hours or work done and then it was time to go to the gate, which was straight forward, apart from the G4S person asking to see a copy of my ESTA, which I finally had to explain several times (eventually, ironically) was an ESTA, not a STA, because it exists in the virtual world and I don’t carry a copy of it (just the reference number.)

Once again, the MUC experience was excellent, so easy to transfer from one flight to another.

Boarding commenced promptly, with first, business, *premium card holders and families with small kids.

I was greeted in a friendly manner at the door and directed to 3G, which was a bulkhead seat in the first business cabin and featured the famous ‘Eddie the Eagle’ practice slope when fully reclined.

I found a 50cl bottle of water in the seat, along with an extraordinary amenity kit, not because the contents were special, but because it featured the weirdest plastic container I’ve ever encountered on an aeroplane – it looks as if if could contain a set of screwdrivers and had an ominous notice declaring ‘this is not a toy.’ Damn, no fun allowed, then. As I carry my own amenity kit of great mask (EY), proper earplugs and hairbrush, I promptly disposed of the contents of the LH kit and trousered the container – it will make a great protective cover for my backup hard drive, in the office. (I have tried to find a pix of this amazing thing on the net, but it is not there – not to be confused with the cute Rimowa amenity kit they hand out in first class.)

After all the excitement and novelty of my new ‘non-toy’, I took a glass of something white, sparkling and pleasant and then we departed on time.

Lunch was an elegant starter, followed by choice of shrimps or a couple of other dishes, sorry I can’t remember and I really can’t be arsed to write down the fatuous names that airline chefs use to describe a bit of fish or meat. Anyway, it was very good and I washed it down with a glass of spruedelwasser (my favourite German word, for Martyn S.)

After lunch and bearing in mind that it was a longish flight, I decided to do some more work and found that the ski slope seat was excellent for sitting and working, with the table being easy to position; the only neg was that the power to my laptop kept dropping out every 10-15 mins, requiring a 2 min wait to restore it. The crew reset the seat, but it persisted.

I finished my work by mid-atlantic (delighted, as I had managed a day’s worth in the combination of KM/LH lounge/aircraft) and decided to crank the seat back and listen to some music on my iPod, which passed a very pleasant hour or two, especially as this was one of the smoothest TATL legs I’ve had, not a bump between feet wet on the western Irish coast and St John’s, Newfoundland. The seat isn’t the best for sleeping (mind you, having done a lot of TATL in Y, earlier in my career, it is pure luxury compared to the back), but in the ‘Z’ position, it is really relaxing for snoozing on a lazy Monday afternoon.

The crew were super, really friendly and they brought juice/water round every 45 mins or so, as well as making it clear that they would be pleased to bring whatever else was requested.

I then decided to watch a movie, whoever said that Germans don’t have a sense of humour? The screen and (lack of) content made BA’s IFE look best in class and this was the worst aspect of the flight, athough it was a minor matter as I found a film I liked and took the opportunity to relax ahead of what will be an energy consuming trip with meetings in NYC and San Francisco.

As we arrived at Novia Scotia, we finally found some jetstream activity and had a couple of mod turb encounters down the eastern seaboard of Canada and then off Maine, but nothing that required the crew to sit down or that interrupted the lovely soup and salad second meal (BA please note, this was proper catering, not a sad cellophane wrapped sandwich.)

The initial descent all went very well, but EWR then got a little busy and we were stacked somewhere near Poughskeepie for about half an hour, which was a pain, as was the recalcitrant jetty at Newark that delayed deplaning by 25 minutes.

Mercifully, depsite rumours of long queues due to the effects of the recent sequester, entry to the US was painless and swift, with a professional and courteous border control officer showing what a careful, but polite, inward immigration screening should look like.

Finished off with the AirTrain to P4 (parking and hotel shuttle stop) and then a 10 min minibus ride to the Doubletree on Frontage Rd, near the airport.

All, a very classy and professional flight showing that Lufthansa, on their day, are a quality airline.

[sparkyflier]

Fdos thank you for this detailed and fun report. Look forward to repots of your onward flight to SFO! UA?

[FormerlyDoS]

Thanks sparky, I’m using Jetblue to SFO.

Will post a review afterwards, if I survive the trip, as my client has seen fit to arrange the meeting in a ‘sketchy’ part of town.

[NameRemoved-18/12/14]

Excellent review FDoS.

I have never been asked for a copy of my ESTA thankfully, and as for the outrageously long reference number…

Enjoy SF…time for a Sprudelwasser 🙂

[NADEEMumer]

i’m planning a leisure trip with my wife to langkawi Malaysia in june 2013. I will fly from Lahore.So i’m looking for an advice about the air+hotel package that which airline to choose & which resort to pick for my 10th wedding anniversary.

[Author]

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