Hey, it’s time for another Lufthansa Economy Class trip report from Los Angeles to Frankfurt. It just gets worse and worse…
I flew from LAX-FRA aboard the A380 last Friday and did economy class again because…well, we’re tightening our belts and my miles are not unlimited.
So let’s go.
Lufthansa 457
Los Angeles (LAX) – Frankfurt (FRA)
Friday, January 31st
Depart: 03:30 PM
Arrive: 11:30 AM+1
Duration: 11hr, 00min
Aircraft: A380-800
Seat: 72H (Economy Class)
In one sense, this flight was better than last time. Instead of a middle seat in the last row, I had an aisle seat toward the front of the economy class cabin. That aisle seat truly makes all the difference.
Since Lufthansa’s A380s do not have in-seat power beyond a USB plug, I came prepared with a power bank. That does not mitigate the fact that Lufthansa still does not (and probably never will) put power ports on its A380s in economy class.
I also brought along a wi-fi pass from first class, which saved me 29.00EUR. Lufthansa has jettisoned wi-fi without data caps and now offers three sized-based data packages. 1GB will set you back 29.00EUR:
I find it pathetic that while many carriers who once capped data are moving to an unlimited model, Lufthansa has introduced data caps.
Then again, the internet was so busy there were not enough IP addresses on the router for everyone to connect. I encountered this error message for over two hours:
(Once others went to sleep, I was finally able to get online, but the internet was so slow it wasn’t useable). “High-speed” internet? Don’t make me laugh…
Lufthansa has eliminated re-usable headphones in favor of single-use disposable ones. These simply don’t work well (sound quality horrible), so bring your own.
And those IFE screens….they are so overdue for a refresh. They lag and do not offer a crisp picture. So sad that this is Lufthansa’s flagship product. I passed the time by playing games…
According to the purser, the crew was “short-staffed” so we were warned meal service would be delayed. I wasn’t too concerned, since I had enjoyed a nice Persian lunch before the flight in Glendale.
But it took three hours to complete the meal service. That’s pretty sad. The meal choices are always the same, including chicken strips in teriyaki sauce or penne pasta with marinara.
For a change of pace, I chose the chicken strips, which would have been better had I actually been hungry.
If you are hungry betweenen meals, pretzels and Kit Kat bars are available.
But here’s where Lufthansa has really hit rock bottom.
I wrote about Lufthansa eliminating hot pre-arrival meals on its longer flights in economy class.
> Read More: Lufthansa Slashes Meal Service In Economy + Premium Economy (As Competition Improves)
Oddly, according to the flight menu posted online (Lufthansa posts menus for each flight in all classes), breakfast still appeared to be eggs:
Alas, we received the most disgusting sandwiches I have seen on an airplane. Seriously, Lufthansa? Seriously?
The sandwich smelled so bad (the cheap bread, the cheap cheese, the cheap egg salad) I did not even take a bite. Neither did my seatmates, or the seatmates across the aisle from me.
Lufthansa should not even waste time with this horrible offering. This is not a breakfast but an insult to passengers, especially considering United serves a full breakfast on a similar routes.
But we’re not done yet.
The flight attendants. Oh, the flight attendants.
I know they were short-staffed, but they were also short-tempered. They were just going through the motions and clearly unhappy. I asked for water with dinner and I was told that there was just coffee and tea available (even though there was water bottles on the cart!).
Lufthansa ran out of of breakfasts (lucky people) and the flight attendants starting arguing with one another in front of passengers over what to do.
It wasn’t even a full flight…
CONCLUSION
While this was a better flight for me, since I didn’t wind up in a middle seat in the last row, I’d say it was a worse flight for everyone else onboard. Lufthansa service, IFE, and especially catering has taken a dive.
I’m so sad that one of my favorite airlines in the world offers such an inferior product in economy and business class.
This was the nail in the coffin for me. Going forward, it’s first class or nothing on Lufthansa.
What on earth are airlines thinking in serving egg salad on a plane. It is one of the most disgusting smells imaginable. I can’t even imagine that flight given 300 of them being served at once. Not to be crude but it would be the equivalent of 300 passengers with flatulance all releasing at the same time.
Would a simple ham and cheese croissant be so difficult?
And here we go with the Russians and in this case Aeroflot…Jon, have u ever flown on Aeroflot???….try it for ones , you will be rather surprised…the days of the soviet carrier are long gone…since 1991 to be precise…regards.
Agreed!
First class on lufthansa ain’t no great shakes either, at least for non-Germans. I flew FRA-ORD in F last month, and unless you were German, they would hardly give you the time of day, both on the ground and in the air. No way would I go out of my way to fly F on LH again. The First Class terminal was filled with frowny somber staff and even more frowny pax. In interactions with 12+ staff in the lounge and on the plane exactly 2 managed a smile: the shower attendant in the lounge and the purser on the plane. No thanks.
Perhaps you have never met a German before? We don’t smile.
Airlines have become a bad thing!
How much did you payed for the ticket? You get what you paid for.
I recently experienced similar disappointment on a Lufthansa Bangkok to Budapest (via Frankfurt) trip.
Every leg of the journey both directions was fraught with failures.
The food, the service and the equipment were all more like an ultra low cost carrier. I have had better service and food on AirAsia.
Lufthansa is far from deserving of their status as a five star (or even 4 star) airline.
It seems current management is trying to drive down the airline to justify breaking it up and selling it piecemeal.
My experience was so poor, I would not consider wasting money or miles on an upgrade.
The cost of the ticket is not relevent,only the comparison to to similar flights. In which case LH falls down badly. The upgrades on seat and entertainment is never going to happen now that other A380 operators are mothballing there fleets, as to the grumpy staff, this is rarer now than it used to be, the old failing Iberia used to be the worst,if you wernt spanish then never complain ,no one would ever listen, any dispute between spanish and non spanish passengers addressed through the staff only went one way. These days airlines very much tend to mix staff nationalities and this takes away the problem, took A380 london to colombo with Emerites yesterday and tge cabin crew consisted of 14 staff of 8 nationalities speaking 18 languages,as usual , the economy class was first rate ,masses of leg room,good food good service,cost just over £300
Are you kidding? LH is expensive
Hey body. I did fly with Lufthansa and there service was very good! Change airline and get happy!
Aeroflot all the way!!
If I fly to Germany economy I avoid LH like the plague. I’d rather fly LX or AC over LH if it’s Star Alliance. I’d rather even connect via CDG or LHR and fly AF or BA to get to Germany, my last eco flight on Delta to Frankfurt via Detroit was actually really good too.
Lufthansa has zero service. Their CEO Carsten Spohr just milks the passengers and cut down everything. The service is ultra bad. While other airlines put 3-3-3 in economy Lh puts 3-4-3. I really avoid them at all costs
Not sure the A380 is their flagship. Does LH call it that too?
As for the rest is it seems fairly standard economy class fare. UA served you a warm breakfast but I’ve had an equally poor breakfast experience on AA in the past and also BA. Same goes for the wi-fi, same also went for the IFE screens on the aircraft on both of those before mentioned airlines plus KLM and SAS. (their breakfast was a bit better though)
Life outside the premium cabins generally speaking sucks on flights over 4 hours.
Basically if you want more pay more. Anyway the only important issue is getting there alive and Lufthansa does that fairly well
My daughters and I flew Lufthansa from Cairo to Canada to visit my ailing parents. It was a gloomy flight before we even boarded. The seats were indeed horrible and hard. Headrests were missing on the seats ahead of us and the people were told put the pillow behind their heads. Once the person in front of you reclines their seat.. They are literally in your lap. We also were told that they were having issues with their caterers… We had a blue Cheese and mystery white stuff basically throw on the tables… No pretzels no fruit no granola bar… Just the damn dry smelly sandwich. Thank God there was coffee.. Horrid coffee but still coffee. The way the seat layouts have become with added seats – I was sitting in the seat beside what was once an emergency exit and spent the trip from cairo to frankfurt with the door frame stuck into my shoulder forcing me to seat semi sideways.. My daughter was flush to the bathroom door.. I mean she was so close to the door that she actually could kiss the butt of every passenger who tried to squeeze into the bathroom in the avaliable room between her and the door. And yes the stewards were beyond short tempered.. Rude and aggressive to several passengers during the flight. I’m sure it doesn’t lufthansa one single ioda but never ever ever again will I choose this airline.
Dang, talk about exaggerating much…
Their business class is no better, very poor cabin service
That sandwich looks like something Aeroflot would serve. Only reason I’ll be flying LH this year is to fly on the 747-800. Other than that, I’ll avoid.
It‘s called 747-8 and not 747-800. So many people get that wrong.
Older one: 747-400
Newer one: 747-8
I think we should just be given meal vouchers $20 when you checkin. You are free to buy your own meals and water.
1) What a joke that LH is a Skytrax Five star airline (while TK has three stars) 🙂
2) Looks terrible but still a lot better than SAS, whose long-haul Y must be the worst within Star Alliance. Thankfully, I’ve only travelled in SAS Y once (one way ARN-ORD in a bulkhead seat) but they charge for everything except one (!) single soft drink for the entire flight and don’t have any meal options what so ever. Since I live in Stockholm, Sweden (and have a Diamond card with SK) I constantly hear both consumers and SK staff complaining about SK’s Y service and I recommend everyone to fly with another airline if possible. That said, I think that SK’s premium economy product is pretty good and their business class decent.
3) It was a similar experience on a cramped, awful plane in the spring of 2014 that made me swear to never, ever travel in economy class again. It’s just not worth it (for me as a 6’5″ male).
I’m (currently) a Lufthansa Senator, and not even one of the more experienced ones since I only started traveling for business roughly 10 years ago. As my home base is Munich I don’t have many effective alternatives to Lufthansa.
Let me get this straight: The down trend is horrific, and the pace is even increasing. Economy or Business, doesn’t matter (I’m usually flying y in short/midhaul and Y, Y+ or C on long haul, depending on upgrade availability and budget).
I don’t even consider calling it catering what they offer on narrowbodies (apart from drinks), its a joke. They even managed to shrink the already hilarious chocolate bars in short haul eco which they call a “snack” (those are close to an insult to pax). Space on the neos? Shrinked! Headsets on long haul? Shrinked! Meal size on long haul C? Much smaller than a few years ago. Amenity kits in long haul C? cheapest crappy ones on the market now (rumors are they will remove them entirely). Crew size in long haul? Shrinked (one of the reasons to shrink the 2nd meal and cut nightly drink service is to save one crew member in Y).
The list is ENDLESS. Its like a bad dream and nobody knows when the bottom will be reached. But what can I do if they offer the most direct flights from my home place? Connections in the US aren’t fun if you arrive from international, so thats not really an alternative even…
So being in the lucky position to have sen status I can eat properly at the still okayish lounges, fight for some drinks on the plane and then try to sleep… But the situation is really bad and I fear the day I might lose status. Just pathetic that they advertise themselves with that 5-Star-BS, I’m so tired of it…
And I fear that this is not even rock-bottom yet.
The interesting thing is that the lounges, both business and Senator have gotten better. I am also thankful for access to them.
We also experienced the horrible breakfast sandwiches to and from Europe. My whole family used to love their service but now ranks them with United.
How is Lufthansa rated better than Turkish Airlines? Oh wait… Bribery
A few years ago, I made a decision to fly on Delta or Delta code share if absolutely necessary. Had it with United and American especially. I used to love flying on the big European carriers. Now, Virgin Atlantic is the only one I would call great. BA seems to be waking up to their slide, finally.
Not regretting my decision. Delta has only gotten better.
There are certain parts of this I can understand. Old IFE for example. It was probably a decent system when LH bought the planes and given the economics on the 380 I get why they are not investing in new screens or proper power ports. I suspect the wifi falls into that category as well and is older tech and simply not up to what people expect. Perhaps their pricing is an effort to limit use that clearly isn’t working.
Of course nothing can change the fact that no matter how good their reasons the competition is ahead of them in hard product giving good reasons to book away. That of course hurts their bottom line though I suspect the vast majority of coach customers bought on price so from a bottom line perspective the product is somewhat meaningless.
But then there is the easy stuff. Like serving food that is edible. Like delivering good customer service. Those sort of failings are what actively tick people off. Because hey you knew going in that the IFE was old and their were not power ports etc. But then to be given indelible food and be told you can’t have water from the water bottle sitting on the cart… it’s enraging.
People who got what they expected even if it was sub par don’t tend to tell all their friends how terrible something was. People who expected little and got even less do.
Mr. Pilot ,
I suspect that the main economic problems are with Lufthansa , not the A-380 . However , I am aware of the difficulty airlines are having , filling the A-380 with better-paying customers , and thus making better profits with it . I believe that there is a good answer for them , involving their seating/luggage/cargo configuration .
The main-deck should be partitioned , so that the rear-portion is set up to transport luggage ONLY . The cargo-holds should be utilized for carrying air-freight ONLY . The top-deck , of course , should have passengers only .
Provided the cargo-holds were filled with high-density freight , and said freight replaced mostly economy-class passengers , the total revenue for long -distance trips would increase by over $200k. PER TRIP . That equates to 》$20 million extra, per year , per A-380 .Definitely a better business plan , eh ?
D.
Your plan is too common sense for an airline that thought the A-380 made sense as a purely passenger plane in the first place. I never thought that behemoth made sense for anything but freight.
I’ve had good experiences on United long haul in Polaris of course and yes even in Economy. New 787s with good IFE, decent meals and generally friendly crews. Unfortunately I’ve had some bad experiences on Air France and Lufthansa? nein Danke.
So sad how LH has fallen. I get that people want cheap seats instead of luxurious ones, and the airlines have changed to accommodate this with things like basic economy, fees for service, etc., but a lot of what you describe here has nothing to do with effective cost-cutting. Teaching your employees customer service costs pennies on the dollar, and there’s no excuse for not having a correct food count especially when there isn’t a choice for the meal.
What really annoys me is the poor offering that is LH business class. Frankly, the best part of LH business class these days is access to a Polaris lounge on departure. There should be no reason why, for the prices they charge, LH business class isn’t competitive with US airlines.
(Also, 2nd to last pp, I think your food was inedible and not indelible … we have a whole different problem if it was indelible).
That sandwich looks so disgusting I cringed just by looking at the picture. Not only it looks and smells bad but the chance of food poisoning is exponentially high. I would load myself on those pretzels and Kit Kat bars in case I was starving. BTW, that chicken also looks disgusting.
Plus they call it “chicken strips” and you literally get 2 tiny pieces 😀
My wife and I are traveling to Frankfurt Germany from Texas this year on Lufthansa ☹️. I will purchase the better meals before we leave and probably some wifi Data as well. Take our own snacks. Prior to this I had heard good things about Lufthansa.
“I will purchase the better meals before we leave…” this is exactly what Lufthansa wants people to do. I can totally relate – but its a fact.
My last three trips to Germany, I’ve flown UA DEN-FRA twice and BA DEN-LHR-HAM. This is as an LH Senator. LH wins in Denver only because their DEN-FRA and DEN-MUC services are better banked for Eastern European connections and I prefer getting to sleep on the eastbound leg without connecting in North America.
What a magnificent review. Matt, you should send this URL as a comment to Lufthansa.
Useful tip: If you didn’t already try, you can change the network preference to “DHCP with manual IP” and then start surfing IP’s in the far right (x.x.x.144, x.x.x.145) until you either find a free one or knock someone off.
Just flew LH economy last September MUC-IAD. Food was good, decent seat, and the crew quite pleasant. Perhaps the extra 4 hours to the flight makes a difference in their temperaments? Or, quite frankly, I think Frankfurt might be a bit, er, more rough than Munich and this is reflected in the crew. Are crews that fly out of, say, Texas more friendly than out of NYC?
Matthew, it looks like the are some cut backs to the pre-arrival and breakfast meals in Business class as well…in terms to quantity offered. On transatlantic flights (just as a reference, looking the menu for March for flights between Chicago and Frankfurt), the diary option is gone for breakfast, and no more soup for the pre-arrival meal as well.
Dairy, not diary…
So how can you have an aisle seat if its 72 A – isn’t A a window seat ? On SeatGuru it indicates 72A as window???
Yeah, I recently (in January) flew SFO – MUC on A380 with the newer biz class seats and although a lot better than the old ones – still found them uncomfortable. Service was better than I experienced three years ago.
Sorry, typo. I was in 72H.
Another example of too much consolidation in the airline industry.
5 star airline Lufthansa.
After your experience and their constant dithering (still waiting on their new business class) mean that if Lufthansa has a 5 star rating BA deserves 6 stars. After all the improvements made by BA they are better than Lufthansa now but Skytrax seem oblivious to it
With the exception of first class, I agree.
I truly do agree to the most you wrote. BUT there is an USB plug at your armrest on the 380. Have a look for it next time 😉
Hi Annabelle, Check again. I did mention it. 😉
I don‘t think it’s okay to post a picture with a flight attendants face clearly showing! Actually there is no permission of taking pictures on board with crew in them at all, unless you asked!!!
You mean the one with the angry face?
Yes but you can see the face of the one in the back, and your first picture of the cabin shows a flight attendants face as well.
You can have any opinion you like, but you need to respect the crew members privacy! Lufthansa has a strict policy against this.
Ariel, dear Ariel,
Since you are so knowledgeable, why not provide a link to your rant instead of acting like a barren games mistress? FACTS, baby, not RANT will win over your hordes of admirers.
The picture of that sandwich made me physically ill. Gross. Disgusting.
That said, is the catering a Lufthansa issue? Or is it a Los Angeles/United States issue? I suspect a lot of the catering issues leaving the United States stem more from the appallingly low quality of U.S. food — especially bread — than the airlines? Would a European catering service have even produced those disgusting sandwiches?
Unfortunately its definitely not a US issue. They serve the same/very similar stuff (if any) in Y in intra-European flights of several hours… Its literally all about cutting a few cents.
We do have a German frequent flyer forum which is obviously quite LH centric, and the outrage is big about all these cuts – but of course LH don’t care at all and rumors are that there are plans to make it even worse…
Flying Lufthansa is indeed dreadful should it be for a Paris-Frankfurt or Panama-Frankfurt. I am so fed up, I wish they disappear and get replaced. Unortunately, I live in Germany and choice is limited.
Raffi’s, I presume?
That ‘food?????’ looks totally disgusting. I would not touch it. That said, I would assume that catering out of Germany is probably better? We all know the ‘quality’ of processed US food.
Unfortunately its definitely not a US issue. They serve the same/very similar stuff (if any) in Y in intra-European flights of several hours… Its literally all about cutting a few cents.
We do have a German frequent flyer forum which is obviously quite LH centric, and the outrage is big about all these cuts – but of course LH don’t care at all and rumors are that there are plans to make it even worse…
Funnily I’m seeing a LH under this article 😀
Wow that’s bad. I had some LH flights few months back but don’t recall anything as disgusting as in the pics here.
Anyway, in Europe plenty of options to get around by plane.
Well, if the passengers still want to fly cheaper and cheaper and Ryanair is still expanding in Europe the airlines have to cut their expenses. The airliners market is rough.
The crew sizes are getting smaller and smaller so they have to simplify the service anywhere.
To distribute just coffee or tea and no water after the meal service is a direction from the management not a choice of the flight attendants. So, as you see, in my opinion, it’s not very fair that you assign guilt to the crews. They are just doing their job and what the management want them to do. I had wonderful experiences with LH crews on short-haul and long-haul as well. Their job is harder than most of us think and the most of them don’t even agree with the choices of the management either. They were not on strike for fun last month.
AFAIK, LH seats have a power plug in Y – 2 plugs for each row of 3 seats. They are very hidden – they are below the seat in the common pillar between 2 seats.
Nope. Not on A380.
Your plan is too common sense for an airline that thought the A-380 made sense as a purely passenger plane in the first place. I never thought that behemoth made sense for anything but freight.
Lufthansa is becoming Deutsche Bahn. Deutsche Bahn ist still ahead in decay, but Lufthansa management has accepted the challenge.
It is always the same with this kind of management school:
Short term revenue targets and bonifications OK, long term survival of the company jeopardized. No customer in their right mind accepts this treatment for longer.
I been flying with LH since I am a child the always been not that smart, rember the times where the put me as kid behind a smoker saying I am in non smoking seat, wish could make then accountable for my health now.
When the airbus 380 came about I explored first class and found only a big banch in the restroom where at emirates a shower was. The flight attended explained to much work to clean showers. Hmm for a first class price.
I often fly one way route, while LH from Fra to Lax try to charge me $2000 I can go with condor for $280! Which I guarantee you the sandwich will be better. It’s just maybe bad AI in online booking or stupidity in management. I not been able to fly LH for last 5 years since the prices are always higher for no reason.
I hope LOT will take over Condor and provide to the old LH brand as excellent service. I alway like to support humble and hard working airlines!
In general, I try to avoid Lufthansa like the plague. I don’t have any data to back up my extremely broad generalizations but my perceptions are as follow for their Y class
Germans travel very well = full plane, small chance of sitting next to an empty seat
Germans are good at economics = full plane, small chance of sitting next to an empty seat
Germans are loyal to their carrier = full plane, small chance of sitting next to an empty seat
Many non-Germans feel safe around Germans = full plane, small chance of sitting next to an empty seat
Germans are good at economics = every square inch of the plane will be utilized
Germans aren’t as fat as others = Less complaining about space. (this one is a stretch)
In contrast on Ethiopian I’ve had awesome luck snagging the coveted “sky couch” on many routes.
For international business, I still find LH better than UA, particularly for F&B, though the Polaris lounge is better than Sen-where they have one. But I think the A380 has about the worst economy experience, on any airline.
Once again I am surprised. I fly Lufthansa about 200 times a year (granted, mostly in Business) and consistently experience excellent service.
Now, maybe I am different than most of the people since what I care for most is indeed excellent service. I am aware that an airplane is not a hotel and I am happy with the seats they provide. I am aware that an airplane is not a restaurant and I am generally happy with the meals they provide. I am aware that an airplane is not a movie theatre nor a concert hall and I bring my own music and my own headphones.
I don’t want to pat my own back, but here is what maybe, just maybe, sets me apart from many other travellers: my attitude is such that if we are forced to spend time together in a pressurised tube for many hours, we may at least try to do it in style. Ever tried saying Good Morning when entering the plane? Ever tried asking how the Flight Attendants are today? I know it’s not a big deal in the US, but asking a German Flight Attendant “How are you today” can (and I am tempted to say will) make a big difference. I usually get on board early and sit in one of the front rows. When I see people walking by not even saying “Hello” I think to myself: obviously missed the class on friendliness.
I am not saying that Mathew had a bad experience on this flight. But looking at the number of bad reviews about Lufthansa I can’t help but ask myself: how does this fit my own experience and how is it that Lufthansa aircraft are always full (and yes, not only filled up by Germans).
Great promotion for United (Mathew is their status customer)!
I would and will always prefer LH or LX over United, after they just kicked me out of an overbooked flight.
Food, well if you don’t like economy, fly business or first if you expect gourmet food. United food in economy is no difference.
United’s economy food is actually much better…who knows what it will like after the pandemic, though.
I had the same exact experience flying LAX-Frankfurt but on their aging 747 with that god awful entertainment system. It was ridiculously slow and unresponsive. Wifi was offered but never worked. Crew were not pleasant. And the food served was a disaster, quite possibly the worse I’ve ever had on ANY airline. Penne with marinara was like the cheapest frozen dinner you could get and was absolutely tasteless. I sent it back. Lucky for me I had lunch prior to boarding. But the worst insult was also the sandwich they served for breakfast prior to landing. It was like being back in your high school cafeteria except the high school version was edible. I can’t believe this was once a 5-star airline. Never again.
The “five star” rating is a total joke. And I agree, the horribly dated IFE system on the 747-8 is long overdue for an update.
Flew in 2004 747,A340 the Chennai-Frankfurt-IAd route. Horrible. The IFE in all these routes was a CRT Monitor for every 10 rows. No kidding and it was the same when I flew in 2005 and 2007. After that never flown and never will. Food was stale turkey floating around mashed potatoes. Lufthansa is lousy.