This week we are taking a walk down memory lane with a vintage first class trip report. I’m sharing photos and brief commentary from a trip I took in the final days of 2010 and first days of 2011 that included many first class flights from five Star Alliance carriers. As we enter a new decade, the goal of this trip report is to examine how airlines have changed over the last one. Although this trip report has never been published, I will not be publishing a detailed, word-heavy review as I do for current trip reports. Instead, commentary will be limited and the focus will be on photos. For the final post, I will summarize, as generally as I can, how premium products have changed over the last decade.
- Prior Segments
- United Airlines 757-200 First Class Los Angeles to Chicago
- Lufthansa A340-300 First Class Chicago To Munich
- Turkish Airlines 737-700 Business Class Munich To Istanbul
- Turkish Airlines 777-300 First Class Istanbul to Bangkok
- Fifth Freedom Flashback: Bangkok To Ho Chi Minh City On Qatar Airways + Lufthansa
- Thai Airways 747-400 First Class Bangkok To Beijing
- Park Hyatt Saigon + Exploring Ho Chi Minh City
- SWISS A340-300 First Class Shanghai To Zurich
- Lufthansa A340-300 First Class Frankfurt To New York
Flight #8: Lufthansa A340-300 First Class Frankfurt To New York JFK
- This was my brother’s first time experiencing Lufthansa First Class, including visiting the First Class Terminal…he loved it and so did I.
- One of the best advantages of the Lufthansa First Class Terminal is the drive to your aircraft when it is time to board.
- Today we had a Porsche (by request) to ourselves.
- Macadamia nuts and a choice of beverage were offered upon boarding.
- The amuse bouche was a carved out egg shell with pesto inside.
- Appetizers included caviar, and mozzarella cheese with tomatoes and peppers.
- Next, I ordered a green salad which included pine nuts, walnuts and a potato vinaigrette dressing that I’ve enjoyed for years on Lufthansa but only seen on Lufthansa.
- Today’s soup was cream of mushroom, offered with bits of bacon and croutons.
- One of my favorite traditional German dishes is Königsberger Klopse, served with beets and potatoes.
- Vanilla cream followed by chocolate pralines for dessert.
- The Lufthansa A340s have a cool feature: downstairs restrooms in coach class.
- I even got a peek at the crew rest seats, which are like mini-bunk beds (with business class bedding).
- In retrospect, the business class seats onboard look so primitive.
- Prior to landing, I was still stuffed and just had a fruit plate.
- Service was professional, but not memorable.
When I look these photos, we also need to appreciate the advancement in Mobile Camera technology compared to 10 yrs ago.
“In retrospect, the business class seats onboard look so primitive.”
Just the business class seats?
First class too, I suppose, though that was a very comfortable seat.
Those first class seats are from another age but that said I had many a good nights’ sleep on one.
The downstairs bathrooms were the coolest! Room to stretch your legs, no one congregating in front of other people’s seats. Loved it. And did you notice the double armrests for the two middle seats in economy in the four part of the 2x4x2? People would kill for that space now…
Those business class seats actually look remarkably similar to current business class seats on Lufthansa in terms of density and storage. Aka, sub-par.
I remember flying this aircraft as a young child! The downstairs lavatories in economy were really cool. I always wondered if I was remembering them incorrectly since I haven’t flown on an aircraft with such lavatories since my childhood. Also, I still love the gray and yellow color scheme used in economy.
As we just flew LH F on their 747-800 the other day, it’s interesting to compare.
Seats have obviously improved but if I look at the food service, some are still the same (caviar) but overall the food service has gone down in the last 10 years. My partner didn’t appreciate the LH F food at all, she thought that BA C has better food and even regional Premium Economy on LATAM was better. I guess it’s partly due to the LH F being rather traditional and safe with the food selection, just like German food in general. LH F staff was hit and miss.
Also no Panamera’s ja S-class today, just Cayenne’s (Turbo and E-Hybrid) and VW Minivan’s.
Cool pictures and nice story!
But I think the aircraft was a 340-600, not the -300.
The -300 did not have bathrooms downstairs…