I was excited to try out Lufthansa again after a long time and was all the more excited as I was about to embark on a mini 2 week round the world itinerary, and here is my review of the first flight from Toronto to Munich.
I arrived on time at Toronto Pearson airport as there were no notifications of any delays. However, on arrival we found out that the the departure was delayed over an hour. None-the-less we were advised at check-in to report at the gate at the original time which didn’t make any sense as I would rather spend more time in the lounge than at the gate.
When we arrived at the gate, there was no sign of the Lufthansa flight on the board, it still showed an AirCanada flight and there was so much commotion at the departure gate. There were no announcements made and I guessed it was still delayed further when it was well past the delayed boarding time. Later, there was more confusion as several economy passengers were allowed to board along with those in wheelchairs. There were no separate lines for business class and economy passengers.
When we were finally allowed to board, there was a staff member directing the business class passengers to the separate entrance on the flight.
On boarding, we were offered pre-departure drinks from a selection of water, orange juice and champagne. However, the champagne tasted more like sparkling wine. This was followed by hot towels but were taken away only at the end of the meal service along with the trays.
Soon after a smooth take off, the meal service started promptly. For my drinks, I wanted to do a whisky sampling, so I asked for both the Johnnie Walker Black Label and a Glenfiddich Cask Collection. This was served with a bowl of warm nuts. They didn’t quite feel fresh though.
Meal service started with salad, selection from the bread basket and butter. I must say the portion of the salad was quite big given that there was a lot of food still to come.
This was followed by the main course. This tasted much better than it looked. It looked like the crew had run a relay race while holding the plate as there was gravy stains splattered all over.
Dessert was a choice between ice-cream and cheese and crackers.
After this the cabin lights were dimmed, so most of the passengers in the cabin reclined the seats into beds and caught some sleep. The bed was not particularly comfy but fairly decent to catch a nap. I felt there was no privacy at all and you could see all the passengers asleep. The pillow and blanket was pretty standard.
I woke up about 75 minutes prior to landing, and noticed a flurry of activity by the crew in preparation to serve breakfast.
A peek at the interactive map showed 1hour 16minutes to destination.
As soon as I switched my seat into upright position, the crew were quick to place linen on my table.
Breakfast was pretty basic. A plate of sliced fresh fruits, strawberry yogurt, cold cuts and cheese, butter, nutella and a selection of fresh breads.
Some other observations were:
The controller for the entertainment system was a bit clunky and not very responsive.
The storage areas were very limited.
The seat was not comfortable is semi reclined position.
The landing was smooth but exit was not from the front exit and as a result, economy passengers were rushing out already. There was no attempt made to hold back economy passengers until all business class passengers had deplaned.
Now, how did I book this?
This was booked with 55,000 Aeroplan points plus taxes CAD$521
This was one of two flights – Toronto-Munich-Rome – both in business class.
Overall impressions:
The hard product is nothing too exciting but not a bad flight as the crew were very friendly and attentive.