Departed on time and arrived about 30 minutes early, with nary a bump along the way. Tried to connect to Internet with my iPhone via Lufthansa's new SkyNet in-cabin WiFi. Instructions in seat pocket stated: “opening your browser will take you immediately to Lufthansa's SkyNet portal.” No dice, even though there were “LAN Hotspot” signs in the business class cabin. There is a fee for the service...when available...but nothing in the cabin literature quoted an amount.
The approximately 12 hours it took to get by plane and train from Seattle to Heidelberg is a long time for me to be off the Internet. I am a person who checks email just before turning out the light every night and in the morning, while I'm still in bed, grab my iPhone to see what's come in overnight. So there were certain withdrawal symptoms. (Don't know about you but I get a little jumpy when I'm out of touch. I'm working on it but let's face it, I'm a little Type A.)
This is about my 10th trip with the new business class lie-flat seats offered by most airlines flying the Atlantic. Lufthansa's version falls well short of Virgin Atlantic's Upper Class, which is truly “lie-flat.” With LH, the seat adjusts via a somewhat complex and difficult-to-maneuver series of buttons on a device that also doubles as a remote control for the on-board entertainment system. In theory, the seat, the seat-back and the leg-rest all become a flat surface. However, the angle is not flat like a bed...the best that can be achieved is about 165-degrees. I had the feeling that I was sliding toward the lower end of the “bed” and ultimately might wind up in a heap beneath the seat in front. Still, I got 3-4 hours sleep and felt almost refreshed upon arrival.
Though there was plenty to amuse us in LH's on-board entertainment offerings of movies, TV, and music, the remote was clunky and not always responsive...I had to push some control buttons multiple times to navigate the system. And the individual display monitor provided at each seat is technologically way out of date. Anyone used to High Definition television will think they are in a time-machine that's taken them back at least 10 years. The picture is small, dark and fuzzy.
The food was more than acceptable and served efficiently. The beer and wine choices were tempting but we are now “no booze” flyers...crossing 9 time zones takes enough of a toll on our bodies.
But we don't cough up big chunks of miles to get up front for the food, booze, or entertainment. We seek the comfort and convenience of more space and better seats. And on that count, with a small quibble about the 165-degree seats, LH comes through big time. It was just a breezy, stressless flight experience, from Seattle check-in to collecting checked baggage in Frankfurt.
