We make a heavy takeoff, before flying out over the pacific where we make a 180 degree turn towards east as we set course for Moscow.

Takeoff.




Flying out over the pacific coast.




Passing by Narita again, as we set course for Moscow.




Cruising altitude is reached 30 minutes into the flight, over the sea of Japan.


With the seatbelt sign extinguished, I got up from my seat to look for a pillow and blanket as the steward had taken those away from me just prior to departure.




View of the mid Economy cabin.




The Economy Class seats.


Upon returning to my seat, I plugged in my headphones and fired up the IFE system. Men In Black 3 was the first movie to be enjoyed. Soon enough, roughly halfway through the film, the crew came around to serve drinks. This shortly followed by serving of the lunch trays. The choice today was either chicken or fish. I chose the former.




I go for my usual TJ & Diet coke.




Lunch is served. Presentation looks gorgeous!


Narita catering have a long reputation of delivering meals of great quality, and by the looks of what’s presented on my tray table, that certainly shows.

The starter consists of two vegetable sushi rolls, and a shrimp sushi, along with some pickled ginger and soy sauce. On the bottom lies two thinly sliced cuts of roast beef and turkey breast. The chicken entree consists of large chunks of chicken breast, with steamed vegetables, a creamy coconut milk sauce and Japanese rice. Dessert is a somewhat mediocre spongecake, with caramel sauce.

Everything on the tray tasted simply fantastic, and I enjoyed every single bit of the meal!




The crew later came around to serve coffee after the meal.


After the trays had been cleared, we were instructed to close our window blinds as the cabin was dimmed to near-dark. I put my seat in ”relax mode” (née recline & legs on the exit slide) and began watching another movie. Relaxing however proved to be near impossible due to a large group of loud romanians gathering up around the area near the exit door. While I may have some understanding for people using the space to take a leg stretcher once in a while, but spending three hours straight talking and laughing loudly in front of passengers trying to get some rest is not okay.

Both The Finn and I were genuinely pissed about these people’s behaviour, and the crew didn’t bother to make any effort in moving them. If this was a US bound flight this behaviour would have gotten them arrested, but that’s another story. Eventually the romanians cleared, and I could relax in peace.




Very cloudy over Siberia, mid-flight.


As with all westbound flights it seems, my internal clock was stuck at three in the afternoon. Time seem to be at a standstill, but yet flowing on nicely. Mid-ways through the flight I went to check up with The Finn, seated at 29A. A brief chat, before stopping by the galley for some hydration before returning to my seat.

Keeping hydrated is crucial on these long haul flights, but sadly Aeroflot seems to be ignoring that matter. Not a single time during this 10 hour flight did I come across a crew member doing an extra drink round through the cabin, and neither was there a self-service ”bar” set up in the galley. Pushing the call button or asking the crew in the galley were the only ways to receive some liquid.

Roughly 90 minutes before reaching Moscow, the crew conducted the second meal service. This time the choice was either chicken or seafood, of which I chose the latter.




The second meal service consisting of a hot meal.


The starter dish consisted of what appeared to be some sort of batter fried eel, with glass noodles and cream cheese. Entree was a seafood pasta with squid and shrimp in a tomato sauce. Dessert was a rather oddball melon jell-o.

The contents of the starter dish may not be to the likings of most people, given the very rubbery texture of the glass noodles and unfamiliar taste of the eel, but truth been told I actually enjoyed this dish a lot. Entree offered a generous helping of shrimp and squid, both of which blending in perfectly with the tomato sauce, and as for the pasta it managed to keep a nice al dente texture. The melon jell-o dessert tasted sweet and fruity.

After the trays had been cleared roughly 40 minutes of the flight remained. I ended up engaging in a conversation with the man seated beside me, a very polite japanese-australian businessman off on a six day business trip to Russia. Our conversation included all sorts of topics, and it spanned out throughout the reminder of the flight.

I bid the man goodbye shortly after our plane pulled up at the gate, and squeezed my way over to the other aisle from where I would de-board together with The Finn. Once again the terminal was deserted at this hour, and after the same pointless transfer procedure we found ourselves in the chic, modern airside hall of Terminal D.


Aeroflot Jazz Lounge Terminal D


In the months prior to our trip, a major conflict had arisen between Air France – KLM and Aeroflot. AF-KLM accused Aeroflot for sending them faux lounge bills to which they refused to pay. The result; Banning all Flying Blue Gold & Platinum members from using Aeroflot’s lounge facilities.

The conflict eventually got sorted, and The Finn and I had no problems in accessing the lounge with his FlyingBlue Gold card, or well apart from the long hold-up at the transfer desk trying to find out whether we were eligible for access or not. A rather disinterested agent scans The Finn’s boarding pass and takes a brief glance at mine before welcoming us into the lounge.




Lounge Overview.


The lounge is by no means what you’d expect of a flagship lounge at a carrier’s home base. The place was tiny, dark, and the ”eternal christmas lightning” as The Finn called it added a sense of cheesiness to the atmosphere. Imagine cheap 90s plastic christmas lights and you’ll get the deal. The Mercedes Benz branded leather chairs and video screens showing car commercials appeared to be a result of poor product placement, or perhaps the idea was to attract buyers from the 2010s bling bling Russian nouveau riche society; The type of people expected to visit this lounge.

Offerings were near abysmal consisting of dry pirogues, week old potato chips, luke warm beer, soda, and juice served from cartons that had been left out for too long.




I settled for some pirogues and tomato juice.


”-You know Jonas, this lounge is only good for shorter visits like this one. For longer visits this place sucks!”, The Finn said, and I couldn’t agree more. Our visit was indeed a short one, and soon the boarding call SU263 bound for London Heathrow was made over the speakers. I took a quick visit to the washroom while The Finn finished his beer, before leaving the lounge.


SU263 Moscow – London


I bother not to cover this last segment with Aeroflot, mainly since it was practically identical to the first segment from Rome. The flight could however best be described as a mediocre affair and the worst of my four Aeroflot flights. The A320 was one of the older examples in the fleet with worn out seats, dirty windows and stained carpets.

The meal served was perhaps something that would correspond to most people’s preconceived notions about Aeroflot. A bland and unidentifiable fish dish, served with rice and haricot verts. The female purser serving our section was your feared stereotypical babushka. A large, demeanour Russian woman who didn’t smile nor talk. She only conducted the in-flight service procedures in a near robot-like manner.

As for The Finn the lack of sleep from westbound travel put him in his notorious sleep-deprived grumpy state. ”-Jonas, please!”, The Finn yells after I tried to put my seat in slight recline. The highlight of this four hour flight was the approach to Heathrow which offered some extremely spectacular night time views over Central London. Both The Finn and I sat mesmerised with our faces glued to the window throughout the whole thirty minute approach.



The London Nightstop



Terminal 4 of London’s Heathrow Airport is by no means a pretty affair. The place could best be described as an utter and complete dump. It’s the terminal where all the weird-o carriers such as Arik Air or Kuwaiti Airways end up. For an alliance like Scary, oh sorry SkyTeam it’s the natural place to be. After all, they seem be taking in practically every low-grade airline out there, with Air Koryo and Iran Air already on the ”future-members-list”.

Passport control even at this late hour proves to me a major inconvenience. The EU lines stretched nearly a mile long, and getting through took nearly half an hour. Eventually we find ourselves wandering about the bowels of Heathrow trying to find our way to Heathrow Central. Along the way, The Finn stops by to fill up his Oyster Card which he claims to be ”-The new AMEX”.

A red double decker bus soon pulls by, and we hop on for the short ride along Bath Road. Our epic adventure has come to an end, and it’s time to go our separate paths. It has been a great pleasure and an honour to travel with The Finn. I couldn’t be more thankful for his kindness in admitting me to the lounges, and sacrificing his precious solitude to put out with me. ”-Well that’s a bling-bling looking hotel right there”, he says as the Radisson comes to view. I bid my farewells to The Finn before stepping off the bus. The man cracks a brief smile and mutters ”-Yeah you too, c’ya…”, before drifting in to his sleep deprived state of solitude. I step off the bus, and watch him disappear into the unknown darkness of London Suburbia.


Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel Heathrow


Lately I’ve grown very fond of the Carlson Rezidor Hotels Group, mainly for their generous rewards programme but also for providing consistently high quality accommodation at affordable prices. A friendly young gentleman takes care of the check-in formalities for me. I am pleasantly surprised to receive an upgrade to a King room and a complimentary full english breakfast, courtesy of my status with Club Carlson. I wish the gentleman a pleasant evening, and proceed to my room on the 3rd floor.

The decor of this property wasn’t the usual contemporary Scandinavian that you’d normally expect. This hotel was truly a quintessentially English affair with large wooden statues in the lobby, brilliant marble floors, and broadloom carpets in the corridors.




The room.




Some nice London artwork on the wall.




Generous reading materials provided.




Very comfortable pillows.








Bathroom and amenities.


I was very pleased with the comfort, cleanliness, and decor of the room. It had a very quintessentially English feel to it with the earthy fabrics, full marble bathroom, slippery bathtub, and faulty dimmer switch. With no time to waste I jumped in for a quick shower before tucking myself into bed and falling right asleep.




Tuesday September 25th 2012



I woke up at 7am the following morning feeling clean and more rested than ever. Reluctant to get out of bed, I spent the first hour of the morning watching the BBC Channel 4 news, before taking a shower followed by breakfast. An extensive breakfast buffet was served in The Oceanic Bar. The place had a chic and exclusive atmosphere to it, and I began feeling a bit out of place as I looked around. The breakfast guests this morning consisted mainly of sophisticated looking businessmen in suits, and wealthy looking families with kids, most of whom casting merely disturbed looks at me. The waiting staff placed me near an equally out of place looking Nigerian girl still wearing her pyjamas. She turned out to be polite and friendly, so we ended up exchanging a few words over breakfast.

The breakfast spread was extensive, but I settled for a traditional full English consisting of sunny side & scrambled eggs, baked beans, back bacon, blood sausage, bangers, hash browns, a grilled tomato, and mushrooms, topping it up with a generous helping of HP sauce. A pot of black tea and a some marmite soldiers are served on the side. It doesn’t get more proper than this.

After finishing breakfast at 9am, I return to my room to do some final packing before leaving the hotel half an hour later.


Check-In & Security at Heathrow


The local bus to the terminal leaves right in front of the hotel, and in no time I find myself once again wandering about the bowels of Heathrow, trying to figure out the way to Terminal 1. Eventually I manage to locate the terminal, and quickly make my way to the Premium Check-In.




The Lufthansa Premium Check-In at LHR T1.




The check-in counters.


”-Helloo, Sir. Trravel documents, pleease”, greets the friendly scottish lady behind the counter. My tiny shoulder bag is put on the belt and receives a BMI branded priority tag. Since I had checked in the previous night using Lufthansa’s excellent iPhone app, I decline the lady’s offer in printing me proper paper boarding passes.

With roughly two hours to spare before departure, I head for security. Interestingly enough Star Gold entitles you to use the FastTrack lane. Sadly however the queue turned out to be longer and slower moving than at the regular lanes. I have the loudmouthed, disorganised americans with oversized hand luggage to thank for that. After 10 minutes of queueing, I finally make it through.




The airside section of Heathrow’s Terminal 1.




The entrance to the Star Alliance Gold/Business Class Lounge


My initial impressions of Terminal 1 were positive, the place was bright, clean and offered a decent amount of shops and restaurants. I personally made my way to the Star Alliance Lounge which is the only lounge left for *Golds after BMI’s exit from Star Alliance. At the reception my iPhone BP is scanned and I’m granted access.






Two of the many seating areas.




One of two food and drinks sections.


The amount of criticism this lounge has received over the years doesn’t justify its actual standards. I personally found the lounge to be adequate enough in terms of seating and offerings. There were many seating areas available offering comfortable leather armchairs or sofas. The food offerings included a full english breakfast during the morning hours, which was later changed to a selection of hot snacks such as chicken satays and baked potatoes. Drink offerings included the usual soft drinks, beer, and wine, as well as a generous selection of spirits including Bailey’s.




Being full from breakfast, I settled for some Bailey’s, water and an espresso.


As the morning progressed, the lounge began crowding up as the US bound departures closed in. Once again the americans began invading the lounge (gaining access with their Red Carpet Club membership cards. Jesus!), taking up every inch of seating space by placing their oversized hand luggage on the couches, yapping loudly on their cellphones, and acting shallowly and overly polite towards the staff, to the extent of genuinely pissing me off. I eventually moved my stuff, and sat down at the quiet reception. You’d be amazed by the number of people trying to access this lounge using their credit cards…

Eventually my Lufthansa flight to Dusseldorf indicates boarding on the screen, and I schlepp over to the gate. What follows are three unspectacular Lufthansa intra-Europe Economy Class flights, and some generic off-hub Senator Lounges, I think we’ve seen enough of those already. I arrive back home at 11pm, just in time to get some decent sleep and make it to class the following day.



Epilogue



Well things didn’t really end so smoothly. My LHR-DUS flight got delayed by one hour due to a runway emergency at LHR. With some excessive running in Dusseldorf I make the connection to Hamburg. Sadly however we remain on the tarmac for one hour, until the captain declare the flight as cancelled. Apparently our A320 had gone kaput due to a faulty fuel pump. The ladies at the Senator Lounge re-book me to a later departure which also ends up getting delayed too, and I miss my connection to Arlanda.

This was actually a sigh of relief since mom refused to pick me up in Västerås anyway. I end up spending the night at a hotel in Hamburg. For some reason Lufthansa refuse to put me up at the Radisson Blu near the airport, and I’m left with taking the S-Bahn to this place:


Hotel Amedia Hamburg


In-spite of the somewhat cheesy name this hotel turned out to be just fine. What the name implies is that all media is free, i.e wifi, satellite channels and pornography. At the check-in, I receive my room key and a €20 voucher to use in the restaurant.




The room.






The bathroom.


The room is quite unspectacular, but clean and comfortable enough for my short 6 hour stay. I make it down to the restaurant where I feast on an incredibly tasteless tagliatelle with prawns, and a forrest berry pannacotta. If it wasn’t for the fact that the meal was free, I would’ve seriously complained. The service was quick, and I manage to finish the meal quickly enough to have some time over for sleep.



Wednesday September 26th 2012



The night was short, but I managed to get a solid 5 hours of sleep before forcing my way out of bed at 4am. Yes it was a ”-Bloody hell!” or ”-Jesus Christ!” wakeup, as The Finn would say. The morning rituals were quickly conducted, before picking dropping off the keycard at the reception and catching the first S-Bahn train straight to the airport.




The departures hall used by Lufthansa at Hamburg International.


On this wednesday morning the terminal was crowded, mostly with holiday makers traveling on the early morning charters. The Lufthansa concourse was empty, and I quickly made way to the check-in counters.


Check-In & Security at Hamburg International


A yawned ”-Good morning” is how I’m greeted by the woman behind the Business Class counter. Having already obtained a boarding pass the previous evening, I promptly hand it over for the woman to scan. Soon my booking appears on the computer, and the check-in lady instantly turns friendly. ”-Hi Sir. Do you have any bags to check-in?”. I put my undersized Samsonite on the belt, and it quickly gets labeled with a *Priority tag. ”-Would you like to have a seat more towards the front of the plane?”, she asks with a smile. I accept her kind offer, and she even took the step further by blocking my adjacent seat. ”-It’s a special service we give for golds”, she says.

Impressed by her level of proactive-ness, I wish her a pleasant morning and precede to security. To my surprise a FastTrack channel is available, and I quickly decide on using it. Once again however this turns out to be a mistake, as a seemingly disorganised man with an FTL tag slows the queue down by taking ages to re-arrange his liquids. ”-Why don’t people think in advance…”, I mumble in my thoughts, while gazing towards the regular lane which appeared to be moving faster.


Lufthansa Senator Lounge Hamburg


A half-asleep male lounge dragon scans my boarding pass, and lets me in without saying a word. The Finn as well as many others have praised this lounge for being better than the other off-hub Senator Lounges, mainly for offering an open-air terrace, which is a rare feature for lounges. Apart from the terrace (which by the way was closed) the place was just like any other bog-standard Senator Lounge. Sufficient but not extraordinary.




The main seating area. Wonder why Lufthansa have kept these old chairs.


Since I left the hotel too early for breakfast, I hit the spread and fetched myself a rather sufficient continental breakfast.




Breakfast of cold cuts, bread, yoghurt, coffee, and cereal. Perfect!


The light breakfast hit the spot perfectly, and since westbound jetlag have the tendency to reduce my appetite, I was feeling quite full already. Gradually the lounge began to fill up, mostly with businessmen. A quick glance at the clock reveals that boarding for the Stockholm flight is about to begin, so I quickly grab my bag and head to the gate.



LH2926 Hamburg – Stockholm


Departure: 6.55

Arrival: 8.30

Duration: 1h 30m

Date: September 26th 2012

Seat & Class: 5F Economy Class

Aircraft & Reg: Canadair Regional Jet 900, D-ACNJ



Originally, I intended not to cover this seemingly unspectacular EuroHop. Partly because we’ve seen too many of them on the forum (I count myself as one of the guilty here), but mainly because it was practically identical to my outbound flight.

On the bus to the aircraft, I was lucky to discover that this flight would be operated by one of the newer fleet examples of the CR9, and even better it had the new seats. So here follows a quick summary of the new NEK cabin on Lufthansa’s CRJ 900 aircraft.




Cabin overview.




Legroom.




The seat.


Overall impressions of the new cabin were positive. The seats themselves maintained a higher level of comfort than those found on the A319/320/321/B737 aircraft. This mainly due to the thicker cushions and improved lumbar support. The overall seat pitch have also improved compared to the old seats, this mainly due to Lufthansa keeping the same number of seats on the CR9.

Apart from that, the seat features on the CR9 are practically the same as on the mainline jets, and the seats are clad in the same plush, dark grey leather.




In-flight service consisted of the same yoghurt and muesli.




Descending into Arlanda after 60 minutes in the air.


The flight was mostly uneventful, and soon we descended through the stormy rainclouds. Moments later the wheels kiss the ground, and I am back on home soil after nine days abroad. I exit the plane and head for the baggage hall, where the SAS luggage monkeys once again make sure that all priority tagged luggage come out last. Worse is the fact that those bastards purposely left the bags out to soak in the rain, as mine was literally dripping when I picked it up. As luck would have it, the Swebus bound for Västerås sits right outside the arrivals hall, and I manage to arrive in town just in time to class. That’s what I call efficiency!



Conclusions



This sure has been one long journey, a fun one in fact. I really enjoyed my time with The Finn, the man could genuinely be described as an original character, and I certainly hope we will do more trips together in the future.

As for Lufthansa they delivered a solid, high qualitative, and consistent product as always. There’s not much to say about the flights other than most of them being near flawless in terms of service. I am however very impressed with the way Lufthansa dealt with my re-bookings and accommodation. No questions asked, just a new boarding pass straight to my hand. Big kudos for that!

As for Aeroflot I don’t think I would be flying them again anytime soon. While they managed to offer a fairly solid product, the overall impression of quality was lacking. While the seats and IFE were of great standard, the catering and service delivery was not. It is quite apparent that the inefficient drinks serving (or rationing) was the biggest flaw. If they are trying to re-create the sensation of being in a restaurant, they’ve certainly got it wrong.

As for the catering, it managed to keep an acceptable level of quality, however the selection and variation of the dishes was very poor and uninspiring. All in all, Aeroflot offer a decent Economy Class product on long haul flights, but it’s nowhere near as good as SWISS or Lufthansa.


Previous Reports



Feel free to have a look at my previous reports. The reports are categorised chronologically based on their year/date of publication.


2012

Scandinavian Dullness, And A Nice Radisson Blu (by LH4116 Oct 12 2012 in Trip Reports)

LOT Embraer E-175, ARN–WAW In Economy (pics) (by LH4116 Aug 26 2012 in Trip Reports)

Flying Intercontinental On A Beech + More, On TAP (by LH4116 Jul 18 2012 in Trip Reports)

SAS, Lounges & Lovely Bavaria: ARN-CPH-MUC (pics) (by LH4116 May 4 2012 in Trip Reports)

Mother Fokker! And The A.net Meet (pics) (by LH4116 Apr 4 2012 in Trip Reports)

SAS, Lounges, MD-87 & The Brussels Disaster (pics) (by LH4116 Mar 15 2012 in Trip Reports)

Ich Bin Ein Berliner & SAS: B736/MD-82, Y (pics) (by LH4116 Feb 24 2012 in Trip Reports)

Proper Short Haul – Lufthansa CPH-FRA-CPH Y (pics) (by LH4116 Feb 13 2012 in Trip Reports)

SAS At Their Very Finest! ZRH-ARN, Business (pics) (by lh4116 Feb 2 2012 in Trip Reports)

Swiss Flatbed Business Class: PVG-ZRH +More (pics) (by LH4116 Jan 23 2012 in Trip Reports)

Proper Long Haul – Swiss Made: ARN-PVG Y (pics) (by LH4116 Jan 10 2012 in Trip Reports)

2011

LH Italia, You Won’t Be Missed! ARN-MXP C (pics) (by LH4116 Oct 31 2011 in Trip Reports)

Parisian City Break à La Air France. ARN-CDG Y Rt (by LH4116 Aug 27 2011 in Trip Reports)

Long, Sleek And Still Blue. Finnair B757! (pics) (by LH4116 Aug 5 2011 in Trip Reports)

Off To Norway, On A Classic. ARN-BGO SAS Y (pics) (by LH4116 Jul 30 2011 in Trip Reports)

”Flying It Fake” On SAS, ARN-DLM Rt In ”C” (pics) (by LH4116 Jul 5 2011 in Trip Reports)

Norwegian ARN-GOT Inaugural Flights, Feb 17 (pics) (by LH4116 Feb 25 2011 in Trip Reports)

2010

TAP Portugal, And The Moroccan Travesty (pics) (by LH4116 Jul 15 2010 in Trip Reports)

Off To The Northern Skies, On SAS And X2000 (pics) (by LH4116 May 9 2010 in Trip Reports)

http://ww.airliners.net/aviation-forums/trip_reports/read.main/164070/

2009

KLM Y, ARN-AMS R/t + Wonderful Holland (pics) (by LH4116 Oct 30 2009 in Trip Reports)

Trip Report: Train to Gothenburg, 1st Class (pics) (by LH4116 Jul 10 2009 in Non Aviation)

I Give You, SAS At Its Very Best! (pics) (by LH4116 Apr 17 2009 in Trip Reports)


Comments are much appreciated!

”Wheels Up!”
//Jonas

Hi Jonas!

Great trip report and wonderful of you to show us your visit inside Tokyo! Thank you for the sushi recommendations! I only know Narita Airport and nothing outside of the airport! =] This trip report will prove quite helpful for my next flight to Japan... without connections!!!! haha!

Thank you as always for taking the time to make this trip report happen... and very glad to see you had some nice catering from NRT-SVO with SU... finally, huh?!!!

Thanks again and bon voyage,

AirAfreak

Great report, and fantastic photos! They are so crisp and clear, and capture every aspect of your trip. I'd love to visit Tokyo - its definitely on my short list!

Aeroflot looks pretty good, but the food on the flight back from Tokyo looks much better than the outbound.

Thanks for sharing!

Best,

Matthew

I lived just outside Tokyo for 4 years and Tokyo quickly became my favorite city in the whole world. Many of the places you visited brought back memories from looking at your pictures, especially Shinjuku, Shibuya and the Ginza. Tokyo is a fascinating city and I'm glad you had the chance to go.
Most places are cash only as you could see.
And many Japanese (and foreigners living there too) get along fine without cars. I sold mine before I moved there. Most places are within a 5 or 10 minute walk from a train station, and by train, you can get anywhere in Tokyo and in Japan.
Your pictures remind me of how much I loved living there. Thank you for posting

Hi Jonas

Well, I am very pleased that you decided to post this report.

Fantastic story of your recent travels to Japan. Your pics are gorgeous. So many highlights but I will call out:

1. The inflight cruise pics on the A330, particularly on the way home. Very cool.
2. The moody night shot in Tokyo with the lone lady walking down the laneway. Superb.

Great details too - as I said to the Finn, the the meals on SU looked a bit suspect and certainly if you are not a fan of fish, may be best to BYO "bring your own" snacks!

Your style of writing is engaging and yes, it's tongue in cheek at times, but that's what makes the narrative interesting. Thanks again - Palmjet

Very nice report Jonas. Look like you and The Finn had a nice trip. How come you didn't decide to do "mission 787" as well?

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): Fuel dump fares, what do we really know about them? Well for starters you have to be a complete maniac to in order to find them. And so was frankly the case for our fellow trip reporter, malt beverage connoisseur, Fedora spokesman, and friend FlyingFinn76. While spending most his days on the road, battling faulty computers, or cursing at an airline notoriously known for their sudden and unpredictable schedule changes, and allegedly having a metrosexual [former] CEO. His nights are either spent recovering in a sleep deprived coma state, working up the next story for entertaining his audience, or in this case practicing a certain black magic of airfare bargain hunting, commonly known as ”trick it”. The complex nature of these methods have yet only been mastered by a handful of skilled and devoted addicts/professionals, and the end results are simply staggering.

Ha, nice intro!

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): Blue skies soon appear from my window, and almost instantly the girls are up and running down the aisle. I'm pleasantly surprised when breakfast is presented to me.

ooh, I liked that cereal and youghurt. I had it on the LGW-FRA inagural

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): The service on Aeroflot was agonisingly slow, inefficient and disorganised. First a drinks round was made. This followed by the collection of trash. Then comes the meal, but no drinks follow. What on earth are they thinking? Are they trying to replicate a restaurant? By the time the meals are served, the drinks are already finished, and we’re left with nothing to wash down the food. This highly flawed service delivery process became evident on all four flights with Aeroflot.

Yes, a very annoying service concept. Did they not even have a bottle of water on the meal trolley?

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): We continue our conversation on the Commuter train bound for Tokyo, and he soon offers to invite me over to his home. ”-I’m actually free for the rest of the day, so I can take you on a tour around the city in my car, if you’d like?”. How could I refuse this kindness, which nearly brought a tear to my eye. We drop by his house to unload his suitcase, before firing up the car and hitting the empty afternoon streets of Tokyo.

Very lucky of you to get a free guided tour

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): ”-Bloody hell”, I grunt as I wake up late at noon. Half a day of sightseeing is already lost

Never heard of an alarm clock!? Essential with time zone travelling

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): The seats are hard and uncomfortable, but at least I have my exit row to be thankful for.

Did you not have any issues taking photos there. Did the FA not care?

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): Reluctant to get out of bed, I spent the first hour of the morning watching the BBC Channel 4 news

Ha, you mean BBC 1, or Channel 4. BBC 4 only runs in the evenings, and is not the channel to go for for the news! Channel 4 has nothing do to with the Beeb.

Aeroflot meals are a lot better than on US airlines long haul.

At least you get a proper starter instead of lettuce and a real cake instead of a cookie.

It seems that legroom is 32" and not 31" on LH.

I was in Rome in July many years ago. The heat was unbearable. Must be better end of September.

[Edited 2012-11-13 02:02:00]

Very interesting read there Jonas - In fact, not only did it take up my lunch half hour, it took up the best part of 45 minutes when I got home too!

And as usual some very good pics in there - not only of Tokyo, but the trip report type pics too - you'll have to give some some pointers!!

You're right about LHR T4. I visited there for the first time in many years back in August. Even despite the refurb, it still seemed to me like the weakest of the terminals at LHR. Amazing to think that almost the entire BA operation was housed there not so long ago.

T1 isn't too bad once past security, but is a bit worn out landside. Although as its due to be knocked down soon, I guess they don't see much point in doing too much work there.

Quoting LH4116 (Reply 1): We continue our conversation on the Commuter train bound for Tokyo, and he soon offers to invite me over to his home. ”-I’m actually free for the rest of the day, so I can take you on a tour around the city in my car, if you’d like?”. How could I refuse this kindness, which nearly brought a tear to my eye. We drop by his house to unload his suitcase, before firing up the car and hitting the empty afternoon streets of Tokyo.

Hmm going off with a complete stranger in an unknown city... you're a braver man than I am! Although that was very friendly of him.

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): The breakfast spread was extensive, but I settled for a traditional full English consisting of sunny side & scrambled eggs, baked beans, back bacon, blood sausage, bangers, hash browns, a grilled tomato, and mushrooms, topping it up with a generous helping of HP sauce. A pot of black tea and a some marmite soldiers are served on the side. It doesn’t get more proper than this.

Sounds good to me!

Hope to read more from you soon!

Hej Jonas

Great to see another installment online, I was always curious about your take on SU! I It seerms like you actually had a great time! SU looks great, especially the condition of the A330's.
It's always a nice step to get a proper meal on the shorter flights as well! Thanks for sharing the NRT pics! They look awesome!

Lufhtansa looks good as usual!

Greetings
Marc

WOW what a report and routing!

Just excelent! Nice to see more cracy people hunting for great fares here  

I just booked as well a trip to Tokyo, for Feburary and looking really forward to it, specially after your detaild report.

My routing will be

CCS-IAH-LAX-HNL (1,5 days layover) all UA
HNL-GUM using the island hopper with 5 stops than 1 night in GUM - UA
GUM-NRT (4 days in Tokyo layover) - UA
NRT-SJC - NH with the Dreamliner
SJC-IAH-CCS with UA

all togehter for cheaply 740 USD all in   nearly as good as your open jaw ticket!

looking forward for your next reports
Cheers
Avianca

pd: nice to see pictures from MUC my hometown airport

Love your writing but why most of your photo taken using such a bad distortion wide angle lens?
It was OK to start off with, but I start to feel uncomfortable watching those hugely distorted pictures!
Still, without a question, this is a great report to read. Thank you

Hello guys, thanks for your replies. I'm glad you enjoyed the report!

Quoting AirAfreak (Reply 3): Thank you as always for taking the time to make this trip report happen... and very glad to see you had some nice catering from NRT-SVO with SU... finally, huh?!!!

The ex NRT catering was indeed the best of all flights. Catering ex Rome was also very good, so I suppose the Moscow catered meals were the worst, especially the fish I had on the last segment to LHR.

Quoting 767747 (Reply 4): Aeroflot looks pretty good, but the food on the flight back from Tokyo looks much better than the outbound.

Hey Matt! Oh yes Aeroflot really managed to exceed my expectations on this trip!

Quoting triple7man (Reply 5): Most places are within a 5 or 10 minute walk from a train station, and by train, you can get anywhere in Tokyo and in Japan.

Hey there. Tokyo was indeed very easy to get around by foot. I actually had to do a bit of walking every morning since the nearest metro station supported by my tourist metro pass was in Akihabara which was a 15 minute walk.

Quoting triple7man (Reply 5): Your pictures remind me of how much I loved living there. Thank you for posting

Thanks. I actually remember your old reports from back when you lived there, especially the story with your cats. It was very moving, I must say  

Quoting palmjet (Reply 6): 1. The inflight cruise pics on the A330, particularly on the way home. Very cool.

Hi PJ, thanks for reading! Yes it's very important to pick the right side of the plane to get the perfect Brewster's angle to get those yummy blue skies. Right side on westbound, and left side on eastbound  

Quoting palmjet (Reply 6): 2. The moody night shot in Tokyo with the lone lady walking down the laneway. Superb.

Oh yes, I guess the moodiness of the picture sort of reflected my state of mind. I was feeling quite sad to be leaving Tokyo as it was my last evening there.

Quoting palmjet (Reply 6): Great details too - as I said to the Finn, the the meals on SU looked a bit suspect and certainly if you are not a fan of fish, may be best to BYO "bring your own" snacks!

Well I wouldn't say they only served fish. We were always given two meal options, one of them always being fish. Most of the times we were unlucky with being stuck with the fish since we were seated at the back. So if you don't like fish, pick a seat towards the front.  

Quoting gabrielchew (Reply 7): How come you didn't decide to do "mission 787" as well?

Hey Mr. Chew! Well those B787 tickets were rather expensive, so I saw no point in booking them when I have a B787 flight coming up (hopefully).

Quoting gabrielchew (Reply 7): ooh, I liked that cereal and youghurt. I had it on the LGW-FRA inagural

Indeed. I actually came to think of your LGW report when that breakfast was served  

Quoting gabrielchew (Reply 7): Yes, a very annoying service concept. Did they not even have a bottle of water on the meal trolley?

Nope, didn't see any bottle of water on the tray. They did have water on the rubbish cart though.

Quoting gabrielchew (Reply 7): Never heard of an alarm clock!? Essential with time zone travelling

I did in fact set my iPhone to 8am, and my in-room alarm clock. Sadly I must've hit the snooze button a few too many times, or accidentally turned it off (at least the iPhone, due to the stupid layout where swipe means off instead of snooze)

Quoting gabrielchew (Reply 7): Did you not have any issues taking photos there. Did the FA not care?

Not at all actually. The stewardess only smiled once she saw me pull out the camera  

Quoting gabrielchew (Reply 7): Ha, you mean BBC 1, or Channel 4. BBC 4 only runs in the evenings, and is not the channel to go for for the news! Channel 4 has nothing do to with the Beeb.

Ah yes, sorry for the mixup. Watched some weird-o ensemble British Hollywood TV movie on BBC 4 the night before. Apparently it was set in Britain, but starring actors such as Dustin Hoffman, Jack Black and Cameron Diaz. The morning after I did indeed watch the news on Channel 4.

Quoting lychemsa (Reply 8): It seems that legroom is 32" and not 31" on LH.

On Aeroflot the legroom was 32". Not sure about the rest of the LH long haul fleet, but on the A380 the legroom is 31".

Quoting jwhite9185 (Reply 9): Very interesting read there Jonas - In fact, not only did it take up my lunch half hour, it took up the best part of 45 minutes when I got home too!

Hi James. I'm glad you enjoyed reading my report!

Quoting jwhite9185 (Reply 9): Amazing to think that almost the entire BA operation was housed there not so long ago.

It is indeed quite interesting. Good at least that the current T5 manages to keep higher standards.

Quoting jwhite9185 (Reply 9): T1 isn't too bad once past security, but is a bit worn out landside. Although as its due to be knocked down soon, I guess they don't see much point in doing too much work there.

T1 was quite allright actually. I guess the bad layout of the gates was my biggest dislike about the terminal, e.g having to walk 15 minutes through corridors till you reach the gate.

Quoting jwhite9185 (Reply 9): Hmm going off with a complete stranger in an unknown city... you're a braver man than I am! Although that was very friendly of him.

It is Japan after all, the safest country on earth so one shouldn't worry too much.

Quoting MSS658 (Reply 10): It seerms like you actually had a great time! SU looks great, especially the condition of the A330's.

Hoi Marc! Yes the condition of all planes except the last A320 was immaculate.

Quoting MSS658 (Reply 10): It's always a nice step to get a proper meal on the shorter flights as well! Thanks for sharing the NRT pics! They look awesome!

Most EU airlines actually serve proper meals on flights to Moscow. BA also began their long haul service to Moscow, which offers an even better product than SU. So in all, I would say that the competition offers better meals (e.g LH, LX, BA, etc).

Quoting Avianca (Reply 11): My routing will be

My, that's a crazy and exotic routing. For that price it's certainly a bargain, and I hope it'll bring in some good miles. Thanks btw for reading my report. Hope it gave at least some inspiration for your trip!

Quoting celestar (Reply 12): Love your writing but why most of your photo taken using such a bad distortion wide angle lens? It was OK to start off with, but I start to feel uncomfortable watching those hugely distorted pictures!

Hey there, thanks for reading. I keep my wide-angle lens on since it's the perfect lens for traveling. The distortion isn't that bad and it isn't really visible on all pics, only the ones with the shortest focal length and when the camera is tilted. The lens is also super sharp and it renders colours perfectly. I think you should look around the forum a bit more and get concerned about those who clog their reports with blurry cell-phone camera pictures. I'd say that's a bigger issue than a little bit of distortion!

//Jonas

Hi Jonas !

Thanks for a very nice report with fantastic pictures !

Food actually looks very good on most of the Aeroflot flights but too bad you didn't think it tasted good.

Glad that you were able to take advantage of this great offer!

Very nice of FlyingFinn to invite you to all the lounges and have you tag a long quite a bit.

Quoting LH4116 (Reply 2): gaining access with their Red Carpet Club membership cards.

Red Carpet (United Club) card doesn't give you access to other lounges than United Club and Maple leaf lounges but a C or F boarding pass will give access. So the people you saw in there were actually F or C passengers.

Glad you had a great time in Rome before your trip! I LOVE Italy !

Japan is amazing and you should go back.

Looking forward to your next report !

The777Man

Jonas

Another awesome trip report you've got there! Makes me want to fly right away.
It's so cool that you combined a few European cities before heading East!

Seems like my favorite airline (LH) treated you well. So did Eurowings which have nice crew and aircraft imo.

Thanks for sharing this lovely trip report and keep them coming!

Cheers,

Photoshooter

Hi Jonas,

excellent report as usual - humourous, great pictures and a good story of a great trip at an amazing price!

Lufthansa food has always appeared to be hit and miss, it seems to me. On my only flight in recent years, it seems I missed.

Quoting LH4116 (Reply 1): Touchdown was as smooth and tender as a kiss on the cheek, shattering all my preconceived notions about the skills of female pilots.

Those Airbusses land themselves, don't you know  

Those photos of Rome are certainly worthy of more formal publication - have you tried sending them to Lonely Planet, or entering photo competitions?

After all the banter you and FF have on here and Facebook, you two seemed to get on very well   Always nice to meet and fly with other A.netters.

Quoting LH4116 (Reply 1): Four Days In Wonderland

You certainly lucked out on your private tour on arrival! And still you make Japan seem even more inviting - it's long been on my bucket list.

Aeroflot look to be certainly average in all ways. Certainly in food, staff, service, but then you paid a pittance. Did you get any Flying Blue miles for the trip?

Thanks again for such an entertaining report!

signol

Quoting LH4116 (Reply 13): My, that's a crazy and exotic routing. For that price it's certainly a bargain, and I hope it'll bring in some good miles. Thanks btw for reading my report. Hope it gave at least some inspiration for your trip!

yeah I am really looking forwar to it - the GUM - NRT is on b777 otherwise it would be all way from CCS upto NRT in a narrowbody  

it should give me around 20.000 status miles

Cheers
Aviaca

Hello Jonas,

what can I say? A great read! It's been fun to image you and P. going around the airports around the globe with you giving him a hard time...

On a more TR-related note, Aeroflot looked like a decent carrier. Far, far away from the horror stories my girlfriend's boss told me about his flights to Bangkok on the Il-96: people playing portable DVD players out loud, BYOB enforced from take off to landing, fist fights and all sort of disruptive behaviour.

Your pictures of Tokyo are a treat for the eye! I loved to see the districts I used to know, Asakusa above all. You'd have used one day to pay a visit to Nikko, I dearly recommend it should you ever find another fuel dump fare.

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): The place was packed with tourists, so please ignore the facepalming bloke spoiling my shot.

That's a great line! I've actually thought you put that guy in the picture on purpose...

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): Some old ruins which I can’t remember the name of.

I can excuse you only because you're a Swedish barbarian ! Those are the Roman fora, the pulsating brains of the Roman empire (with the Imperial fora not very far - I actually consider 'em as a whole). Plenty of politics happened there and loads of killings and other interesting stuff.

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): A roman classic: The Original Fiat 500.

Don't want to sound anal, but the 500 ain't Roman at all... it was made in Mirafiori, Turin. 

Hope to read from you soon!

Hey there, thanks again for your replies!

Quoting The777Man (Reply 14): Food actually looks very good on most of the Aeroflot flights but too bad you didn't think it tasted good.

Well the food was so-so. The meals ex Rome and Tokyo tasted great, but the others were not so nice. I suppose it all comes down to which catering facility is used.

Quoting The777Man (Reply 14): Red Carpet (United Club) card doesn't give you access to other lounges than United Club and Maple leaf lounges but a C or F boarding pass will give access. So the people you saw in there were actually F or C passengers.

Actually the RCC card does give international lounge access, and it's even stated in the Star Alliance conditions. Besides I saw a woman pull out the card and show it to the receptionist, mentioning the name of the card at least twice. She and her husband were both on Y tickets…

Quoting photoshooter (Reply 15): It's so cool that you combined a few European cities before heading East!

Thanks! Yes I quite liked that concept of travel too, quite a bit of contrast while I think of it now. I actually wanted to fit in a weekend in London as well, but that wasn't possible due to school the following day.

Quoting signol (Reply 16): Lufthansa food has always appeared to be hit and miss, it seems to me. On my only flight in recent years, it seems I missed.

Hey Signol! My past experiences of LH catering have always been positive, guess I've been lucky.

Quoting signol (Reply 16): Those Airbusses land themselves, don't you know

That's true, but it's mostly subject to the ILS system present at the airport. Usually auto-land is only supported by ILS CAT IIIB & IIIC.

Quoting signol (Reply 16): Did you get any Flying Blue miles for the trip?

I did indeed earn a modest 3025 miles. Have no idea what to do with them, but perhaps it's always good to keep a small stash for future accumulations.

Quoting signol (Reply 16): Those photos of Rome are certainly worthy of more formal publication - have you tried sending them to Lonely Planet, or entering photo competitions?

Hehe, never thought about that.

Quoting I39OO (Reply 18): On a more TR-related note, Aeroflot looked like a decent carrier. Far, far away from the horror stories my girlfriend's boss told me about his flights to Bangkok on the Il-96: people playing portable DVD players out loud, BYOB enforced from take off to landing, fist fights and all sort of disruptive behaviour.

Yeah that was the old Aeroflot, and those days are luckily over. Nowadays the BKK route is one of their top routes it seems, and it'll be the first one for their new B77W. Ironically enough I bet most a.netters would kill for a ride on the IL-96…

Quoting I39OO (Reply 18): You'd have used one day to pay a visit to Nikko, I dearly recommend it should you ever find another fuel dump fare.

Wow that place certainly looks amazing, will for sure pay a visit there next time I'm in Tokyo. I would however say it's more likely that I'll show up on a First Class award next time, or at least that's the plan  

Quoting I39OO (Reply 18): I can excuse you only because you're a Swedish barbarian !

Hehe, well I'm not much for history anyway. Although monuments are nice to look at  

//Jonas

After reading the Finn's report a little while ago, also very nice to read your side of the story.
A great report as always, with the usual 'lagom amount of high quality pictures'. I enjoyed reading it!

Quoting LH4116 (Reply 13): Thanks. I actually remember your old reports from back when you lived there, especially the story with your cats. It was very moving, I must say

Thank you. That was an answer to prayer to be able to bring my 2 cats with me to Japan. In case you don't know, KC died in June 2006. I had to give Simone away before moving to Thailand. She died in January 2012. I usually go back to Japan to visit once a year. And I hope to fly through Tokyo in a few weeks on the way to New York.

Hej Jonas!

Thanks for the nice story! A great read with your humor and many stunning pictures, just as you expect from you! You and the other A-netters was really lucky getting these cheap fares with SU. Even if they seem to lack in some ways they seem to a quit good carrier and I wouldn´t hesitate to try them in the future.

Tokyo seems super nice. It´s on my to visit list too... hope I can go there soon 

What a nice idea to spend a couple of days in Rome. That´s a lovely city and I visited for the first time a month before you and It was a very enjoyable trip.

Also nice to read about your flights on EW. I flew four flights with them in October and all was very enjoyable. Friendly crews and nice snacks. Transit in HAM was very convenient too.

Quoting LH4116 (Reply 1): Isn't she a thing of beauty? The CRJ-900 flying me to Hamburg.

Indeed is a beauty. I flew on the same A/C a couple of weeks after you!

Quoting LH4116 (Reply 1): This is very generous for a 90 minute flight.

Looks good. I was very happy with the service on EW

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): minutes late, and by making matters

That´s short. I´m glad you make it. I was a little nervous too when I had just some 40 min transfer time there in October but in the end it was no problem at all. Just ten min from leaving the plane with the bus to being at the next gate.

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): I receive some curious looks from the fellow passengers.

Oh I hate this, you never know what you fellow passenger really thinks!? "Maybe he have been sitting in a bar and lost the time" 

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): hew down the Corny

These Corny´s are quit good. They sell them at my local grocery store and I sometimes buy one. Didn´t know LH was serving them but they seem to serve all kind of things 

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): The room was small, simple, and clean. Good enough for my likings.

Not as small as my hotel room was when I was in Rome, that room was in a size like a large wardrobe!

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): A roman classic: The Original Fiat 500.

That´s a cutie!

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): One of the many seating areas in this lounge.

That looks nice.

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): Takeoff over the sea.

That looks to be a steep climb!

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): I ordered two drinks this time, to cope with the flawed serving procedures.

Good idea 

Quoting LH4116 (Reply 2): Keeping hydrated is crucial on these long haul flights, but sadly Aeroflot seems to be ignoring that

That something SU should change to a couple of drink rounds between the meals I guess it must be quit annoying for the crew to with pax running to the galleys and pressing the attendant button.

Quoting LH4116 (Reply 2): In the months prior to our trip, a major conflict had arisen between Air France – KLM and Aeroflot. AF-

Interesting, wonder if AF/KLM was right?

Pity about the delaying and cancellation in the end, put you otherwise seem to have a nice journey and LH took good care of you in HAM, just what you expect from them!

Greetings
Robert

The product on the A330 certainly looks nicer than the product on the Aeroflot B767. I flew CDG-SVO-PVG roundtrip a few summers ago, and pretty much all of the trip was very poor. Essentially no IFE for non-Russian speakers in the B767, a lengthy layover in the hot and seatless Terminal F, and the catering ex SVO was sub-par. I guess one of the redeeming features was the price, and the amount of Flying Blue miles I received.

Looks like they're cleaning up their act - even though the catering ex SVO looks similar to what I had. Tokyo looks amazing though!

Hi Jonas,

Great trip report as usual with many nice and high quality pictures  
Looks like you had a fantastic trip to Japan, beautiful pictures of that great country!
Lufthansa looks good as usual and Aeroflot better than I expected

cheers,

Brendan

Hej Jonas!

I finally got around reading this great report of yours. Seems like you had a great trip together with The Finn! LH seemed good as usual and Aeroflot longhaul didn't seem to bad, at least not considering the fare!

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): Entering a SkyTeam Lounge appeared to be a fairly complex affair. The Finn handed his Flying Blue Gold card to the agent who gave it a well educated look. She then ran behind the counter, made a phone call, signed some papers, made another phone call, had The Finn sign a paper, before finally granting us access. All this without ever bothering to take a proper glance at my boarding pass.

That does indeed sound like a 'complex affair'. I've never had to sign anything when entering a lounge!

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): Mandatory knee shot. A comfy 32 inches of legroom on this bird.

Looks nice for shorthaul economy.

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): I started off by watching Failure To Launch, starring the gorgeous Zooey Deschanel.

She's indeed quite a looker. Was the movie any good?

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): Ending the tour at Tokyo bay. That’s the Rainbow Bridge at sunset.

Brilliant photo!

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): Fantastic legroom at the exit row.

I'm flying SAS to NY and back in January, on my EWR-ARN leg I have reserved such a seat (on the A side), I hope it will be comfortable to sleep in since it's a night flight!

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): The starter dish consisted of what appeared to be some sort of batter fried eel, with glass noodles and cream cheese. Entree was a seafood pasta with squid and shrimp in a tomato sauce.

I would not have enjoyed that meal. Not my cup of tea, at all.

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): Terminal 4 of London’s Heathrow Airport is by no means a pretty affair. The place could best be described as an utter and complete dump.

I've never been to T4, but apparently it was far worse before the renovations a few years ago.

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): Apart from the terrace (which by the way was closed) the place was just like any other bog-standard Senator Lounge.

I'll be visiting my first Senator lounge in a couple of days, at a transit through FRA, I'll probably check out the new one in the A+ pier.

Martin

Hey guys, thanks for your replies! Sorry about my late re-reply.

Quoting roberts87 (Reply 20): A great report as always, with the usual 'lagom amount of high quality pictures'. I enjoyed reading it!

Hoi Robert. It was a great trip indeed, thanks for reading!  

Quoting Parton87 (Reply 22): Tokyo seems super nice. It´s on my to visit list too... hope I can go there soon

Tokyo is definitely on ma to-visit-again list, and I hugely recommend you paying a visit there!

Quoting Parton87 (Reply 22): Looks good. I was very happy with the service on EW

Good service indeed. A shame that they'll replace them with that awful "new" Germanwings. No more "Lufthansa" for me in the future  

Quoting Parton87 (Reply 22): They sell them at my local grocery store and I sometimes buy one. Didn´t know LH was serving them but they seem to serve all kind of things

Oh yes, I see them at Konsum pretty often too. Don't buy them very often though.

Quoting Parton87 (Reply 22): Interesting, wonder if AF/KLM was right?

I believe AF-KLM were right in the end.

Quoting adamspotter (Reply 24): Lufthansa looks good as usual and Aeroflot better than I expected

Hoi Brendan, thanks for reading! So far LH have not yet disappointed me, and I was actually quite pleased with SU.

Quoting deltamartin (Reply 25): That does indeed sound like a 'complex affair'. I've never had to sign anything when entering a lounge!

Hej Martin! I suppose SkyTeam have different billing procedures than *A. Just a guess though.

Quoting deltamartin (Reply 25): I would not have enjoyed that meal. Not my cup of tea, at all.

Well it's always nice to try new things  

Quoting deltamartin (Reply 25): I'll be visiting my first Senator lounge in a couple of days, at a transit through FRA, I'll probably check out the new one in the A+ pier.

Hope to hear your opinions on that! I will make my first visit to the A+ pier next month when I'm in Frankfurt. I made sure to book a late flight in order to maximise my time in the lounge  

//Jonas

Up front let me say, fantastic report Jonas. Great photos, very high quality, all of them, good style of writing and very entertaining. And the your style of writing is what really makes your reports so good, it shows your creativity. A thing I am lagging behind on, as I tend to let the photos do the talking in my reports.

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): As for The Finn himself, we would be sharing the Economy Class confines on all four Aeroflot segments, making it our 2nd joint trip together.

I told the Finn already in "the" Facebook group you two should to all your trips together. Your conversations are mostly ready to be inserted into some comedy movie. In a very positive way. Btw, when will you be rejoining the group? ^^

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): I stumble out to the arrivals hall, looking eagerly for a place to buy train tickets to town. I soon discover that the Kei’sei counter has everything to satisfy my public transport needs. ”-Cash payment only!”, says the ticket officer the moment he spots me pulling up the ’ole MasterCard. I sigh, ”-Oh well, there goes any hope for a plastic holiday”, I mutter in my thoughts. I later return with a 10 000 Yen bill which does the trick well.

Deja vu! Exactly what happened to me when doing the AZ fuel dump run in November. Where to go? What, only cash? Where to change money landside? Ah just the opposite side of the Keisei counter. Back with a 10k Yen note. Must have looked like the typical tourist for the Japanese employees there.

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): Day 2 – In Tokyo: ”-Bloody hell”, I grunt as I wake up late at noon. Half a day of sightseeing is already lost, but luckily it’s raining outside.

Happened to me on my first day there, too. After flying to SIN and back and after one nights slept to NRT and then to ITM and back I was soooooooooo tired on the first real day in Tokyo, I slept until 11AM or so. It was raining. So nothing really lost. So my holiday-part of the trip started in the afternoon. More in the upcoming report... ^^

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): Once again, flashing my Star Alliance Gold card to the bouncer grants me access to the Business Class check-in desks. The friendly girl lets me select the exit row window seat on the long haul segment, and I’m happy as a clam.

I am really wondering that this is working. Didn't they really look that at the card? Did they not realize that this is the wrong alliance? Or do they want to impress Gold members of other alliances?

Quoting LH4116 (Thread starter): The Finn flashes his gold card and joins the priority boarding lane, whereas I take the more humble approach

On my flights with roberts87 I have to say that he could always take me through priority boarding lanes with his gold card, me being his guest. I think there is also something written about that on the AF/KL FB website. It is working like on at the lounges, golds can take guests with them through priority lanes, too.

Hi Jonas !

just to say hi it is always fun to read your work ...
glad that you have a good time with FamousFinn and that is AF survived your evaluation ...

in anticipation for ET from my a.net favorite reporter ... stipica  

Quoting CARST (Reply 27): Up front let me say, fantastic report Jonas. Great photos, very high quality, all of them, good style of writing and very entertaining.

Hello Carsten, thanks for reading and I'm very glad to hear you enjoy my work  

Quoting CARST (Reply 27): Btw, when will you be rejoining the group? ^^

Hmm, not sure actually. Maybe in a few months or so.

Quoting CARST (Reply 27): Didn't they really look that at the card? Did they not realize that this is the wrong alliance? Or do they want to impress Gold members of other alliances?

Well usually the gate agents have no clue which cards entitle you or not, as long as it's a shiny gold plastic it'll go through. It's always worth a try. In the lounges however they are a bit more strict as they often times keep a chart available behind the desk that clearly specify which cards gain access and which don't.

Quoting CARST (Reply 27): It is working like on at the lounges, golds can take guests with them through priority lanes, too.

Well that's pretty standard for most airlines to allow golds to invite a companion to use the lounges + fasttrack.

Quoting stipica (Reply 28): just to say hi it is always fun to read your work ...

Hi Stipica, thanks for reading!  

//Jonas