A Lot Left To Be Desired : LH779 SIN-FRA

[Maxie773]

Hey guys! It's been a really really long time since my previous trip report. I'm now 15, and we've moved back to singapore for 2 years already. Been extremely busy with study in the extremely stressful singapore education system haha.

Over the past 2 years, we've been on numerous trips but I'd thought I'd make my comeback with our most recent trip to Germany on Dec 2012.

BACKGROUND
It's the holidays! Time for flying! Pictures taken from iPhone, so apologies for any bad pics!

Arrived at Terminal 2 at 10pm for our 11:55 flight


After getting our boarding passes (Our seats were in the first economy cabin on the lower deck), we immediately went airside to relax at the lounge

On our way up to the SilverKris Lounge


Our status only brought us to the left, Business class.


The offering were pretty good, with numerous hot dishes at such an ungodly hour. Got fried noodles and Siew Mai


And soon, we proceeded to the gate for boarding. The gate we used were somewhat more modern than other gates at T2. Why refurbish some gates only? Changi should be more consistent with this.




This will be quite a milestone for me. This flight will be my first long-haul flight in 5 years, my first long-haul on an A380, and my first time on an LH A380.


Boarded.

LH779
SIN-FRA
D-AIMD (Tokio)
Flight time: 13h05min

First impressions:


The seats looked so cramped! I started to dread the 13-hours ahead of me. And indeed it was so cramped. The seats at its upright position was too upright IMO and it was extremely uncomfortable.

Welcome Max


What a 'great' IFE controller don't you think so? Is LH that cheap to not even offer a standard controller??

[Maxie773]

IFE could be turned on on the ground


I really appreciated and enjoyed the tail camera, especially since we'll be taking-off and landing in the dark, so there won't be stuff to see out the windows.


I really dislike the curvature of the A380 on the lower deck. Because of the huge gap between the seat and the window, whenever I take pictures out the window, I always feel I'm getting stared at by the passenger seated behind me. They might just call the flight attendants to stop me, especially since I always video takeoff and landings, and electronic devices are not to be used during these stages.


The huge gap in the windows also irked me much. It was hard to get good shots of outside and it's simply annoying.


Cabin view in front


Pushed back, engines on and we were on our way to the runway


The 2 engines behind me. See what I mean with the gap in the windows? Urghh it's so annoying.


Loved the front camera though!


Took off and flew North-West towards Frankfurt


Loved NiceView on Lufthansa! One of the best flight maps I've had.


Headphones were then passed out, which was wrapped in this cheap plastic bag.


Flight attendants then came around to distribute pretzels and give out drinks. I got a coke and an apple juice. Lufthansa was very generous with their drinks, and I was offered 2 choices by the flight attendant. Could it be my looks? HAHAHA. Jokes aside, Thumbs up to Lufthansa!

[Maxie773]

Flight attendants soon came round to serve us 'dinner', at 1am. Seriously?!


Chose the chicken with rice. The rice serving was pathetic, but the chicken tasted fine.


Watched a movie on the pathetic IFE. LH only offered 10+ English movies. Not good LH, especially when many other airlines boast much better
IFEs.

I was feeling so lethargic, I slept after I took this shot, right up till 2 hours before landing. Quite proud of myself for sleeping that long on an uncomfortable seat.


Shortly after waking up, we were served breakfast like that:




Only 1 choice was offered, which was the usual eggs, sausages, potatoes and tomatoes.

Lufthansa could have done much better here. Offering 1 choice only was amusing, but not serving it in a proper tray was atrocious. Many other airlines would have done much better here. Too much cost-cutting Lufthansa!

Soon after breakfast, we prepared for landing in Frankfurt.


To be honest, I couldn't wait for the flight to end. Poor IFE and cramped seats just didn't help me enjoy the flight. However, service was quite good. Flight attendants were friendly and smiley.

It was then that I realized how quiet the aircraft sounded. I could hear people snoring from the other side of the cabin, and coughs and sneezes could be heard very very clearly. Wow. I was impressed haha.

Landed 15 minutes before scheduled arrival time


Hello Frankfurt!


We were amongst the first to disembark. Sitting at the front helped a lot.


Bye D-AIMD. Thanks for the flight.


This Lego A380 will help me conclude this trip


All in all, Lufthansa could have fared better at this long-haul ride. IFE selections were honestly quite bad, food was generally ok but portions and presentation could have been much better. SQ would have done much better at this route, with full dinners and breakfasts and much better IFE.

And this marks the start of my 12-day holiday in Germany. Will try to finish the return leg and probably add in pictures of Germany.

Thanks for reading my comeback report. This trip actually happened in Dec 2012 (Loooong time before), so I apologize for the delay. However, it's the June holidays in singapore, and I will continue with the return leg of this trip soon!

Max

P.S. Wrote all this on my phone. The power of technology haha.

[CarbonMan]

Wow, Maxie773! What a great TR from the perspective of a teenager on what's important to you. Yes, I myself sometimes wish that SQ would broadcast the video from the tail and nose cameras for the pax. They already have the cameras in place, just a matter of putting it through. Thanks, for the TR Max.

[yflyer]

Wonderful TR! I can't believe you wrote it all on your phone.

I think Y travel is all about expectations...if you think this is cramped, wait till you find yourself on a 10-abreast 777, which is becoming increasingly common! The tail camera and airshow look pretty good, though.

I have not flown on an LH A380 -- nice to know what to expect. I'll load up my iPad with movies/TV before I fly with them.

[calvinoeh]

how'd you get into the SKL flying Y? Even with *Gold, aren't you relegated to the Krisflyer Gold lounge?

[viraj735]

how'd you get into the SKL flying Y? Even with *Gold, aren't you relegated to the Krisflyer Gold lounge?

QPP travelling companions? Please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe QPP/TPP get to use the Business/First SKLs respectively when flying *A in Y.

Don't think I've ever flown a *A carrier other than SQ out of SIN.

[9V-SIA]

Welcome back. Nice TR.

The huge gap in the windows also irked me much. It was hard to get good shots of outside and it's simply annoying.

One of my peeves about the A380. Poor view from the very small & thick windows.

The other one...

It was then that I realized how quiet the aircraft sounded. I could hear people snoring from the other side of the cabin, and coughs and sneezes could be heard very very clearly. Wow. I was impressed haha.

You could add crying babies. Give me the roar of a GE90 anyday!

Loved NiceView on Lufthansa! One of the best flight maps I've had.

The new SQ flight map ( with data incorporated into map ) is disappointing

[SQGamespeed]

Nice TR Maxie773!

Spot on choice for the title. Having flown the LH A380 in Y a couple of times, I was also underwhelmed and disappointed. I agree though that the camera and NiceView are great features of the IFE. Otherwise, I was unhappy with food that was rather average at best and especially with the cramped seating (very bad for me because of my height). Honestly I think that the great reputation that LH has built has been mainly due to their service in F and J, which I agree is mostly excellent, but in Y (at least for long haul) they don't stand out much and are IMO not in the same league as SQ.

But that's my personal experience. Hopefully you have better luck on the return flight.

You could add crying babies. Give me the roar of a GE90 anyday!

One (of many) reasons to like the 777.

[dfs24]

Thanks for the TR. I flew with LH on this flight a couple of times. The breakfast has always been pathetic. In 2009, the breakfast was a cold platter. Then maybe they received feedback that Asian's like something hot. Then it because a hot breakfast when I flew in 2011. But even then the tray was a little more respectable sized.

At least what I like about LH Y class is that they always offer you 2 drinks at one go. Then water run happens very frequently during meal service.

Give me the roar of a GE90 anyday!

Even that doesn't work sometimes. I had a sleepless night on a 77W because my neighbour was snoring.

Honestly I think that the great reputation that LH has built has been mainly due to their service in F and J

Agreed for their F, but not really for J.

[Maxie773]

Wow, Maxie773! What a great TR from the perspective of a teenager on what's important to you. Yes, I myself sometimes wish that SQ would broadcast the video from the tail and nose cameras for the pax. They already have the cameras in place, just a matter of putting it through. Thanks, for the TR Max.

Thanks so much! Yup, the cameras are the best!

Wonderful TR! I can't believe you wrote it all on your phone.

I think Y travel is all about expectations...if you think this is cramped, wait till you find yourself on a 10-abreast 777, which is becoming increasingly common! The tail camera and airshow look pretty good, though.

I have not flown on an LH A380 -- nice to know what to expect. I'll load up my iPad with movies/TV before I fly with them.

Thanks! Oh I've done the 10-abreast on Emirates years back and it was fine IMO, probably cuz the seats were much better. Yes, pls load many movies before you fly on LH

how'd you get into the SKL flying Y? Even with *Gold, aren't you relegated to the Krisflyer Gold lounge?

QPP travelling companions? Please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe QPP/TPP get to use the Business/First SKLs respectively when flying *A in Y.

Don't think I've ever flown a *A carrier other than SQ out of SIN.

My elders were LH Senators

You could add crying babies. Give me the roar of a GE90 anyday!

Exactly! My favourite aircraft, the 77W!

Nice TR Maxie773!
...
But that's my personal experience. Hopefully you have better luck on the return flight.

One (of many) reasons to like the 777.

Thanks! The return was not much better sadly...

Thanks for the TR. I flew with LH on this flight a couple of times. The breakfast has always been pathetic. In 2009, the breakfast was a cold platter. Then maybe they received feedback that Asian's like something hot. Then it because a hot breakfast when I flew in 2011. But even then the tray was a little more respectable sized.

At least what I like about LH Y class is that they always offer you 2 drinks at one go. Then water run happens very frequently during meal service.

Even that doesn't work sometimes. I had a sleepless night on a 77W because my neighbour was snoring.

Thanks for reading! Wow LH is really going down in standards...
Serving 2 drinks at one go was probably one of the few saving graces of the flight.

[blackys93]

Shortly after waking up, we were served breakfast like that:




Only 1 choice was offered, which was the usual eggs, sausages, potatoes and tomatoes.

Lufthansa could have done much better here. Offering 1 choice only was amusing, but not serving it in a proper tray was atrocious. Many other airlines would have done much better here. Too much cost-cutting Lufthansa!

I agree with you on how breakfast was served on your flight. Main course on top of the covered box (with cheap plastic cover) containing a bun, fruits and yogurt? Don't they think that they may also be squashing the bun?

Oh boy. I wouldn't want to be served breakfast like that in Economy.

[G_G]

My elders were LH Senators

Thanks for this nice Trip Report

I'm LH Senator but it's impossible to access SilverKris Lounge, only Krisflyer Gold Lounge when travelling in LH Y

Did you receive an invitation for SilverKris Lounge ?