I know I said trip reports would only be on Wednesdays now, but I changed my mind. Lufthansa flew me out to Frankfurt only to come back less than 24 hours later on the inaugural A380 to San Francisco, all in business class. I’ll start with the flight out so you can see the differences between the 747 and the A380. Overall, I like what Lufthansa is doing, but I simply cannot sleep in that angled lie-flat bed. The good news is that a replacement is in the works.

[Full disclosure: Lufthansa paid for the flight and one night hotel on this trip]

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May 8, 2011
Lufthansa 457 Lv Los Angeles 255p Arr Frankfurt 1035a
Los Angeles (LAX): Gate 104, Runway 25R, Depart 4m Early
Frankfurt (FRA): Gate C15, Runway 7R, Arrive On Time
D-ABTK, Boeing 747-430, Lufthansa White Colors (named Kiel), ~99% Full
Seat 1K
Flight Time ~10h20m

I arrived at LAX about 1.5 hours early so I could have some good quality time in the lounge. Having grown up in LA, there really is nothing like entering the great hall of the Bradley Terminal to get you excited about going somewhere special. This time was no different, but I walked right past the ticket counter and headed through security quickly with my boarding pass I had printed online.

The new Star Alliance lounge in Bradley is nice, and most importantly to me, had a back room with a great view of the new concourse being built as well as all the departures. I grabbed some water, tried to ignore the thrashing the Lakers were taking on the TV, and enjoyed the view. A rep came through about 45 minutes before departure and said that boarding would begin soon, so all passengers should start heading downstairs.

One of the other journalists on the trip (best known as Adventure Girl) just happened to have been seated next to me in the first row. Lufthansa is one of the few airlines that puts business class in the nose of the 747 instead of upstairs. I was happy to take advantage of seat 1K in the nose, where the fuselage is so narrow that only four seats across can fit.

We pushed back on time and took off into the afternoon sun. It was an incredibly smooth flight most of the way. The flight attendants were friendly and were frequently coming up and down to tend to the customers. The seat itself was comfortable for lounging, so I got comfy and started watching movies. Meanwhile, the flight attendants came through with hot towels and a menu with our choices for dinner. The food was actually pretty good, though I don’t like to eat much on those overnight flights. I picked braised short rib for the entree, and did enjoy it, but I couldn’t eat much because it was heavy. I thought it was strange that they bring out the entrees all on one serving cart, and then pull off the foil covers in front of you. That didn’t seem to fit the premium look

At this point, I popped an Ambien and tried to sleep. This did not work out as planned. The seat is one of those angled flat beds which, despite arguments otherwise, are REALLY angled. I could not get comfortable at all, but I did manage to snooze briefly. At one point, I woke up halfway down the seat, face down, with my legs kicked up on the bulkhead in front of me. I have no idea how that happened.

Eventually, I gave up and just watched movies in my drug-induced haze. The sun came up only a couple short hours later, and it was time for breakfast. Soon enough we were descending over the green hills of Germany into the Frankfurt Airport. I’ll cover the ground experience in Frankfurt in a separate post. But now, let’s look at the A380 return in comparison.

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May 10, 2011
Lufthansa 454 Lv Frankfurt 945a Arr San Francisco 1205p
Frankfurt (FRA): Gate C15, Runway 7L, Depart 6m Late
San Francisco (SFO): Gate G101, Runway 28R, Arrive 8m Early
D-AIMD, Airbus A380-841, Lufthansa White Colors (named Tokio), ~95% Full
Seat 14K
Flight Time ~10h50m

This was the inaugural A380 flight to San Francisco, so Lufthansa definitely made a big deal out of it. A380 boarding in Frankfurt (covered soon in my airport post in greater detail) occurs on two levels. From the top level, Biz and First Class passengers board directly from a lounge area that feeds two gates. With 8 First and 98 Business, this lounge fills up. Lufthansa does subway style boarding where you swipe your own boarding pass and then a gate opens for you to pass. Then, on the jet bridge, they check your passports before you board.

We boarded directly on to the upper deck. If you turned left, you would go into the very private First Class (another post, I promise). To the right is 98 seats of Business in what’s really 3 separate cabin areas. The seats are six abreast, and yes, they are still those old angled flat seats with just a little refresh. Apparently, this won’t last forever. I spoke with CEO Carsten Spohr and he confirmed that they are committed to a fully flat seat. The seat has been picked and he says it’s very innovative, but it won’t be announced yet. Others told me that it will be introduced on the first 747-8 when it comes into the fleet early next year.

I quickly realized that these seats are much better when not in the bulkhead. On the 747, my screen came out of the seat and the magazine net was on the bulkhead, out of reach. When there’s a seat in front of you, the screens are better positioned as is the magazine rack. Other than that, I didn’t notice many changes. The controller was simplified a bit and the inflight entertainment system was faster. It still, however, was not touch screen. I’m told it’s a touch screen in economy but not in Business because people can’t reach it anyway. Not true. I would have preferred a touch screen over scrolling using arrows on the controller.

The best enhancement to the inflight entertainment? There were three cameras – one on the tail, one in the nose, and one underneath. I can watch that channel all day (or, um, at least half the flight). The air show map is greatly improved as well with better detail on where you are and cooler views of the route. One other big improvement? Being on the upper deck means, as on the 747, there’s a storage compartment between the window seat and the sidewall.

As expected, the A380 was very quiet on departure. That long, slow takeoff roll just makes you think you’ll never get airborne, but of course, we did. We turned left and headed north . . . for a long time. We went along the west coast of Denmark and then up along the coast of Norway. Finally, near Bergen, we headed out to sea and went well north of Iceland and Hudson Bay.

I had a salmon appetizer followed by some traditional Swabian dumplings. It was very good. And every meal was accompanied by a pretzel roll. I cannot understand why they can’t make them in the US like they do over there. Man, those are so freakin’ good. After the meal, the crew came around with a cake to celebrate the inaugural, but I passed. I went exploring.

First point? There is nothing more fun than peeing while staring out the window. Every plane should provide that opportunity (and an increasing number do).

Our Business Class cabin was mostly reserved for invited guests, and having so many onboard, we had several opportunities to talk to people. I was able to speak with the A380 Product Marketing Director from Airbus, Lufthansa’s CEO, and several crew members. Just as on the previous flight, the service was excellent from the crew. As the flight wore on, I got tired. Having slept only a handful of hours in the last two days meant that I was getting loopy. I was able to nap for about an hour but not in the bed position. I had to treat it as a lounger and then I was ok. I stayed in the position to watch a movie and found it comfortable for that as well.

People like to talk about how big the A380 is, but it really doesn’t feel that large. Part of it is that it’s not particularly long, and you never see the other deck. Lufthansa has premium cabins upstairs and coach down below. The stairs are blocked off and people cannot go between cabins. (We were an exception since we were journalists covering the flight.) Because of that, it feels smaller than a lot of other, longer airplanes.

Later in the flight, they served a second, small meal which I followed that up with some leftover cake from earlier. We had gone so far north that by the time we came down, we had great views of Mt Rainier, Mt St Helens, and Mt Hood. The winds were so light, and the flight was only a few minutes longer than the flight east. That was a problem. They had this timed for media coverage, so we had to circle for about half an hour before we came in to a cloudless San Francisco.

We got off the plane on the top deck again and then went through customs. Then we came right back to the gate for a celebration before I, Adventure Girl, and Johnny Jet headed over to our United flight back to LA.

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May 10, 2011
United 274 Lv San Francisco 301p Arr Los Angeles 425p
San Francisco (SFO): Gate 72, Runway 28L, Depart 6m Early
Los Angeles (LAX): Gate 75B, Runway 24R, Arrive 8m Early
N482UA, Airbus A320-232, United White Top Colors, ~80% Full
Seat 18A
Flight Time 52m

That flight was uneventful despite a runway change before departure which made for an interesting dance to get airplanes lined up right. I’m glad Channel 9 was on for me to listen. But I promptly passed out once airborne from exhaustion and woke up on the way into LA.

Overall, I really enjoyed the Lufthansa service and the food. That seat, however, just didn’t work for me in a world of truly flat beds. It’s good to see that Lufthansa is recognizing this and will be making the switch next year. That combined with the service and food will make for a very serious competitor to just about anyone.

[See all photos from my trip on the Lufthansa A380 SFO inaugural]

Airlines have spent a lot of time and effort trying to figure out a way to squeeze a seat and a bed into a very small space on an airplane, and they’ve done an admirable job. But any time you try to create multiple uses in one place, it’s not perfect. Lufthansa has decided to go a different way. Back to 1950. First Class fliers on some 747s will now get a seat and a bed. And as far as I’m concerned, this might be the best First Class product in the air. (Not that I’ve tried them all . . .)

Tell me that doesn’t look sweet. It’s made even more awesome by the fact that it’s on the upper deck of the 747. Eight of these babies upstairs and that’s it. Amazing.

As I’ve said, airlines have put some serious research and development into creating the perfect experience in a very small space. The problem, however, is that no seat can also be a perfect bed. Except for the Craftmatic adjustable, beds are not meant to fold up. Sure, they can be very comfortable, but most airlines get to that point by putting an increasingly thick mini-mattress over the bed to hide the bumps and dips.

What you get is a pretty comfortable bed with a mostly comfortable seat. It works well considering the space constraints, but Lufthansa looked it in a different way. They applied typical German efficiency.

Lufthansa’s First Class on the 747 is dated. It does go fully flat, but you sit right next to someone. In a world of insanely-private suites and opulent amenities, it’s just not that competitive. So Lufthansa looked at the space and said, “Huh, instead of selling 16 First Class seats, why not sell only 8 of them so it’s more private?” And that’s exactly what they’re doing on the 747s starting April 22. So First Class customers will have two seats all to themselves.

But on 10 of the 747s, Lufthansa is pulling out eight of those seats and installing real beds instead. So there will still be eight First Class seats sold, but instead of two seats, you’ll have a seat and a bed. Works for me.

My only problem with this whole plan is that it’s only on 10 of the 747s. I’m told that these airplanes will not be dedicated to any specific routes, so it will really be luck of the draw. And that’s a bummer. It’s also kind of a waste since people won’t be willing to pay extra if they don’t know that they’ll actually get it. But it was emphasized to me that there will be only be 10 done “for now” because that’s how many they can get done this year. My guess is that we’ll either see more retrofitted later or we’ll just see more of the 747s retired.

Beginning next year, Lufthansa starts taking delivery of the bigger 747-8, and those will have this new First Class as well as a new business class. So it seems this year is something of a transition year.

I do like where the airline is going with this. You can now have a true bed and a comfortable seat for reclining and eating. Sounds like a nice way to pass the time to me. Combine that with the private First Class Terminal in Frankfurt and you’ve got an incredible experience from the time you arrive.

I know, I know. It’s yet another onboard wifi story, right? Lufthansa has started putting internet on its airplanes and expects to have it on its whole long haul flight by the end of 2011. So why is this interesting? A couple of reasons, actually. I do find it really interesting the way that Lufthansa is working to bring air and ground together in a couple of ways, including the introduction of CloudStream. Here’s the default CloudStream playlist.

Now, it’s no surprise that Lufthansa is the first to bring back real broadband internet over the oceans. Lufthansa was really aggressive at doing it when Boeing first launched Connexion back in the day. But then, Connexion shut down and Lufthansa just kept flying around with a bunch of sad, useless antennas. So when Panasonic resurrected a new effort at onboard satellite wifi, Lufthansa jumped at it, especially since it could use some of the hardware it was stuck with from before.

The first flights were up and running with wifi on December 1. Lufthansa is starting with Frankfurt to JFK, Detroit, and Atlanta. Yeah, I know. I wondered about Detroit as well, but it’s just because the A330 is the first airplane to get the service, so those routes get it first. If you’re flying on an A330 before January 31, it’s free so check it out.

But what’s different about this versus, say, the stuff you can get domestically. It uses the same satellite as Row 44 (the one Southwest is installing), but it’s also more robust. For example, Lufthansa will allow people to use GSM/GPRS to use their mobiles to text message and surf the web that way. For me, the most interesting thing about this is how Lufthansa is integrating it with the ground.

The service is being handled by Deutsche Telekom (better known as T-Mobile’s parent, here in the US). So it’s really like it’s just another hotspot. Because of that, you can pay using miles, roaming agreements, or just with a credit card. There are a ton of options.

The pricing seems a little screwy to me, however. You have two options – either one hour of service or 24 hours of service. The one hour option is €10.95 (~$14.50) or 3,500 miles while the 24 hour option is €19.95 (~$26.40) or 7,000 miles.

First of all, let’s all just agree that the mileage option is shockingly dumb. I mean, it’s not dumb for Lufthansa to offer it, but it’s really dumb if you as a passenger choose it. The return on that is right around 0.3 cents per mile. In a world where most people benchmark 2 cents per mile as a good place to start, this is really throwing your miles away. But then there are the two options.

For one hour, $15 seems mighty steep. I guess the idea is to try to upsell you to the higher plan, but maybe this will change after testing. Chances are, if you only want one hour on a long haul flight, you simply want to do an email upload/download to reconnect with the world. So they should do something like 30 minutes for €5 for that purpose and then just go with an all-you-can-eat for 24 hours plan.

That plan, by the way, seems to be priced fairly to me. If you’re on an 8 to 12 hour flight, $25 for internet the entire time is absolutely worthwhile. I know that if I flew on Lufthansa, that’s the plan I’d choose. But the really cool thing is how they connect this with the ground experience.

Since it’s run by Deutsche Telekom, the 24 hour period isn’t just for access on the airplane. You can also access on the ground in the lounge. Not sure if you can use your access at any hotspot run by the company, but if so that makes it even more valuable.

Lufthansa has also put together this thing called CloudStream which it calls a digital carry-on. The idea is that leading up to your trip, you can create a virtual briefcase of stuff you want to read. You know you’ve run into those 10 page articles in the Atlantic that you want to read but never have time. So Lufthansa lets you compile everything you want to read for your flight and then you can just call it up and start sifting through while onboard.

Sure, you could do this on your own by just saving a bunch of links in an email, but Lufthansa has put this together in a slick package that also lets you share with others and get content recommendations. If you’re on a long flight, it’s a great way to pass the time.

I give Lufthansa a lot of credit for really trying to integrate its wifi offering into everyday life. Now if they would only put powerports in coach. But that’s a whole different issue.

Let’s say you’re flying on a German airline and you’re riding in style up in business class. What would you like to see in the lounge before you go? That’s right, a German beer garden. And now you can. Lufthansa has installed a beer garden in its newly-refurbished Munich lounge, and I love it. They should roll this out to every lounge in the system.

When you’re flying Lufthansa, you’re expecting a German experience. I realize that beer halls are more of a Bavarian thing, so it makes sense it’s in Munich, but I’d like to see that kind of character in lounges all over. I want my airline’s personality to come out from my first interaction, and this certainly does that for Lufthansa.

It got me thinking, what should other airlines be doing with their lounges? Here are some thoughts on lounge design for just a few airlines out there.

• Aeroflot – vodka bar (preferably no flying pilots allowed)
• Air Canada – an igloo with Molson and hockey
• Air New Zealand – sheep farm
• Delta – huge veranda with mint juleps
• Emirates – made of solid gold
• Hawaiian – a lanai
• KLM – four words: red light district, pot
• Spirit – a cardboard box (extra fee for roof)
• TAM – Carnaval!
• Thai – I probably shouldn’t say this one out loud

 
Gimme some more in the comment section. I know you guys have ‘em lined up.

First Class is Disappearing in Name Only – BNET
Qantas is the latest to reduce First Class onboard, but it’s not really going away. It’s just changing names.

Premium Air Traffic Surpasses Previous Year for First Time Since 2008 – BNET
Yes, it’s true. More premium passengers flew in December than in last December. Granted, they were paying 20% less . . .

Airline Labor Unrest – Is This Catchy? – IAG Podcast
I sit down with Addison Schonland to talk strikes.

American and United Switch to Small Planes for Big Routes – BNET
American is shifting its 70 seaters to compete with United’s 70 seaters. Go figure.

End of the Affair: Are American and Alaska Set to Compete? – BNET
It’s only one little route addition, but I tend to think it could mean big things.

High Speed Rail May Hurt Airports, But How Much? – BNET
High speed rail is coming to California, and the aviation world is gearing up to fight it. Boo, I say.