MalboroLi From Italy, joined Oct 2008, 7 posts, RR: 0 Posted (2 years 4 months 1 week 6 days 17 hours ago) and read 14810 times:
Ok guys, this is my first TR here, so please be gentle and try to don’t be too much tough, I hope that you enjoy it!!!
First of all, let me introduce myself, I’m Italian guy that, for work, have to travel quite much all around Europe, and sometimes also in the rest of the world
This trip report begun in Istanbul (where I was, of course, for work ), when my boss called me and advised that, for a lack of people, I’ve to move, for 3 days, in Bogotá….just in the opposite side of the world
Of course I’m really a lucky guy…and my boss love me…so as postponed Christmas Gift he send me in Colombia from 30/12 to 03/01…another holiday at work…ok…let’s start
My first trip is composed by 4 flights…IST-FCO-VCE then VCE-FRA-BOG, the first 2 flights with AZ, then with LH.
From the beginning the flights was booked in J class, but, due to overbooking, I flown the FRA-BOG in F class…ok…maybe Santa Claus is real!!!
So...let’s stop talk and start with the route
The IST airport is impressive…really clean and quite big; on the other hand, the security is really strict; there are 2 controls, the first one on the main entrance on the airport, and the second one directly near the gate:
As you can easily imagine, almost all the airport is dedicated to TK flights (a great airline btw), and on the timetables there are only few flights other than red one
The AZ check-in desks are relegated on the corner of the airport, but the personnel are really polite, and in less than 5 minutes I got my boarding card (the flight are reported with 10 minutes of delay for late arrival):
The passport control is really easy-going, without any queue, and in a few seconds they stamp and give back your boarding card, always with a smile; it’s really a good surprise the IST airport!!!
Ok, I’ve enough time to go to take a coffee into the Biz Lounge; in IST, AZ is guested into the OW lounge, that is quite good; not so crowded, nice and clean:
With a great buffet…
And a good choice of drinks
And, of course…there are an open smoking area…ok…it’s not so healthy…but you know…with such nickname, I’ve to check and taste it, for sure
Ok, time to board! The flight is AZ 705 (Call Sign: I-BIXR), operated with A321, seat 1F.
Unfortunately (for AZ) the LF was not so high, we was like 100 passengers on board, of whom only 4 in J class.
The crew cabin was quite good (all Italian) and the service was nice and fast.
I’ve heard that all the A32x of AZ was re-configured with the new seats, and effectively I found a really nice and clean cabin; the seats is almost the same of the ex-Air One plane, with the middle seat blocked and with the central armrest slightly moved away, for a better comfort.
The plane have like 20years old, but with the new cabin layout, it seems brand new…
The pitch of row 1 is really unbeatable…you can stretch as you like
Meanwhile, the flight proceed quite good, without much turbulence, but for the first hour we seen only cloud…cloud…and cloud…
After half hour, the crew start to serve a little brunch, composed by salmon, rice cake, some vegetables, oil bread, some amaretto sweet and coffee and coke:
For a 2 hours of flight the brunch was quite good (but why plastic glass??? Argh!)…
Finally after about 1 hour and half we start to see some land…
I think that we are over Dinar’s mountain (but I’m not sure 100%, hehe)
Oh I almost forgot! On board you can found the Ulisse magazine (official magazine of AZ) and Griffair (duty-free magazine, although I don’t like to buy on board…the price is always too expensive..)
After almost 2 hour we start our descent over Rome…the last Italian sunset that I’ve seen for the year 2010
Soon we are landed!!! The A321 was parked at the remotes, and we was transferred to the main terminal with a bus…a last pic of our plane!!!
For the second flight FCO-VCE I slept for all the time, so I’m sorry but I don’t have any pic
Btw, it was operated with an MD80 plane, old but always nice! (ok ok…A32x are better, I know )
After an overnight in Venice, I was ready to leave again! The airport of VCE is not so big, but it’s one of the most beautiful apt that I’ve ever seen! I’m so sorry that I don’t have a pic of it in this TR, but it was really early morning, so all the pic taken inside was a completely mess!
The first part of the flight is a VCE-FRA LH 333 operated by a A321 (Call Sign: D-AISR) Seat 1A; our ETD was 06.40 and ETA 08.05 (departed and landed on perfect time).
The crew cabin was really polite, and the service was perfect.
The LF of this flight is quite impressive, fully booked in Y class, and 8 passengers in J; this time my seats was the 1A, but the sightseeing of Venice are really impressive, and I jumped from one side to other for take some pic
The seats are quite overused, but still good; it’s more or less the same of the AZ seats:
The pitch of the row 1 is superb!!! LH put the tray table in the front of the seats for gain some cm of space, good idea!
Venice at sunshine is always a superb show (sorry for bad quality of pic btw )
From the top, the Venecian citizen say that the city is like a “fish”, with some imagination
From this pic, you can see both the entrance into the laguna, the northern one is called “Lido” and the southern “Malamocco”
After some minutes of flight, the crew stat to serve the breakfast, nothing special or impressive…just a cold croissant, 2 small sandwich and some fruit…with coffee,for sure
After frew minutes, we are flying over the Alps…what a show!!!
And from the right view, you can see the first ray of sun comes from the clouds…
After a 40 min of flight, we start to descent over Frankfurt; in the past days there was a lot of problem here caused by snowfall, but now seems all ok, with the runway and taxiway free and clean:
We landed on time in FRA, and it’s just 8AM in the morning…so I start to walk around for the apt…it’s incredible, the busiest flight table that I’ve seen
After a 1 hour of shopping I decided to go into the lounge of LH in FRA, but at the entrance a polite attendant say to me “you have a big connection time, why you don’t try our FCT?” – “Sorry what is FCT?” – “You don’t know? It’s our first class terminal, just outside the airport!!!” – “Wow, you have a dedicated first terminal??? Great ”….so, with my trolley, and with -10 degrees, I decided to walk away and try it…and just after 5 minutes of walking…it’s appears to my eye!!!
Ok, let’s have a coffee break, and cya soon with the second part of this TR
Sorry for any mistake and for the bad quality of pic, but was taken mostly without flash and with high ISO
Stay tuned!
luv2fly From United States of America, joined May 2003, 11957 posts, RR: 51 Reply 2, posted (2 years 4 months 1 week 6 days 13 hours ago) and read 14115 times:
Very enjoyable read so far. Looking forward to the rest of your report.
reifel From Germany, joined Feb 2005, 1135 posts, RR: 1 Reply 5, posted (2 years 4 months 1 week 6 days 12 hours ago) and read 13788 times:
Very nice report so far and I'm curious to read the remaining part. Just a thought: Was there any reason why flying via Rome to VCE and overnight there? a flight from IST via FRA would have been way easier.
I guess Alitalia issued your onward boarding pass from Rome to Venice already in Istanbul, didn't they?
Did LH upgraded you into F-Class already in VCE? I'm surprised they let you use the FCT, a lot of airlines don't even allow the use of the business class lounge if one is upgraded from Economy Class to Business and has no status...
MalboroLi From Italy, joined Oct 2008, 7 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (2 years 4 months 1 week 6 days 11 hours ago) and read 13749 times:
Quoting SOBHI51 (Reply 1): Very nice so far, you are doing a great job
Quoting luv2fly (Reply 2): Very enjoyable read so far. Looking forward to the rest of your report.
tnx alot, it was my first TR, so I hope that you will enjoy it, as I do with all TR here
Quoting MSS658 (Reply 3): Nice trip reports, love the pics taken on the VCE-FRA leg. Was that on Lufthansa or Lufthansa Italia?
Tnx!
It was just LH, LHI don't fly from Venice, just from MXP to some destination
Quoting LH4116 (Reply 4): Great report! Very nice pics you took, what camera are you using?
To me it seems like you have a very nice Boss, to let you fly in J
It's 5D, but I'm just starting to learn how to use it
My boss hate me I guess, cos this is the 3rd New Year that I work without taking holidays
Quoting reifel (Reply 5): Very nice report so far and I'm curious to read the remaining part. Just a thought: Was there any reason why flying via Rome to VCE and overnight there? a flight from IST via FRA would have been way easier.
I guess Alitalia issued your onward boarding pass from Rome to Venice already in Istanbul, did't they?
Did LH upgraded you into F-Class already in VCE? I'm surprised they let you use the FCT, a lot of airlines don't even allow the use of the business class lounge if one is upgraded from Economy Class to Business and has no status...
Tnx!
It was 2 different ticket for the reason that I fly with some special fares (called seamen fare), so for my travel agent looks better to split my travel in 2 parts...and also because I was at home to change some clothes in my luggage
AZ give me the 2 boarding card directly in IST.
Yep they did in VCE, and they given me the boarding card there, so when I went to FCT they just checked my BC and allowed me to go in...don't know if I was lucky or not...certainly was a great experience
MalboroLi From Italy, joined Oct 2008, 7 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (2 years 4 months 1 week 6 days 10 hours ago) and read 13426 times:
Ok, second part of my first TR
So, only 5 minutes away from main terminal in FRA, there are the first class terminal
This terminal have 2 main entrance, on on the top floor (for the guys that have at least an A8 or Cayenne car ) and one from below, for the lucky guys that are in transit, and have a F ticket in their hands without know how they got it…
The below entrance is not attended, but you can just ring the bell, and a nice hostess will come to pick you up:
Just after the first –and polite- greetings, the hostess will escort to into the security area, where you get screened and cleared for the security; they also bring you your own passport, for the custom clearance, and they will give you back at the end of your (fantastic) journey into the FCT.
The hostess, just after the security check, have asked me if it was my first time there, and then show me all the terminal…ok…start from the front desk, where you can make check-in, just in case you didn’t do yet:
The first thing that shocked me a little was the timetable…there are only published the flights of the passenger that are inside the FCT, and the “gates” indicate the car that will bring you just below plane, trough the apron!
Ok guys! It’s just the 9AM and I don’t have got breakfast yet, so let’s see what the restaurant can do for me! The restaurant here is “a la carte”, or, if you prefer, you can choose from a 30meters-long buffet:
Of course, you can choose from a continental breakfast, European one, Italian style one…everything that you may desire, is here
As soon as I come near one table, one attendant “intercept” me…and ask me (in german…) if I need something; unfortunately he don’t speak English at all, but he his Argentinian, so we start to speak Spanish, and in a few (like only Italian and Argentinian can do) w became “friends” and he show me my own table:
Oh I just forgot to told you, that here (and only here) the wi-fi is free! It was incredible that into the Senator and Biz lounge of LH internet is not gratis…now even AZ offer free internet into their lounge!
Ok, ack to the breakfast! This time I decide to use the buffet…well in Italy is a common practice to have as breakfast just a coffee or cappuccino, but I cannot say no to all of this food
But, as Italian, I NEED an espresso, is compulsory!
Ok…now that the stomach is full, we can continue our trip to the FCT! I would like to beg you pardon again for the quality of the pic, but, as you can easily imagine, I cannot bother the other guests too much…this is the main bar, with a never-ending wine and drink list…
With a nice Christmas touch on the table
You can feel the Christmas almost everywhere there…
Ok, I’ve to do like 12 hours of flight…time to make a rest…in the cigar lounge
This is a small lounge, where you can found almost everything, including free cigars, wine and alcohol:
Oh well, we are in Germany…but seems that the Italian alcohol are really appreciated here
If someone want, of course there are 2 restroom, for a little nap!
And this is the main lounge; we was like 20 people in total (of whom 10 Italians…looks that we appreciate LH like LH appreciate our alcohol )
Each table have his own “culinary” decorations, as aperitif
And, as soon as you take a seats, a waiter comes to ask if you need something…”need something?” – “mmm…let me think, a Bloody Mary thanks! ”
Ok, I’ve rested enough!!! It’s just 1 hour ahead the flight, time to make a shower! A great and clean bathroom…
With a great product for any necessity that you might need…
After a quick shower…time to have a small lunch (yes I know, again, but take in mind that I’ve to “test” the FCT right?? ) Let’s start with an appetizer…
And then with the most strange plate that I’ve ever seen…not for the food, but for the name…if you ask it in Germany, you have to call it “wine schnitzel”, if you order in Italy, you have to order a “Milanese” and if you order in Argentina, you have to ask for a “Napolitana”…three cities for one plate
Ok, now it’s really late, time to take a flight!
Just the time to take my trolley, and the same gentle assistant pick me up from the table and advise me that my flight are waiting me (just me? – yes, you are the last passenger – ouch!)
At this point, through an elevator, she bring me down to the level 0, where the police have already my passport, and, after a quick check, greetings me and wish me a good flight! Thanks, the first polite “bobby” that I’ve ever seen
Just after that, I was introduced to my “personal” driver, that collect my own luggage, and put all inside this really great “S-Series”
Looks like brand new from inside!
The driver advise me that the plane is parked into a remote area, so we have to drive for 5 minutes more…not a problem, so I’ve time to take some nice shots from inside the car!
And after 5 minutes and 00 seconds, we are just below to this beautiful A340-600, ready to leave for the South America!
Ok boys, that’s enough for the second part…soon I will post the last one, with the flight to BOG (in F) and with the return (unfortunately in J )
Hope you enjoy it!!!
Happy new year to all
luv2fly From United States of America, joined May 2003, 11957 posts, RR: 51 Reply 10, posted (2 years 4 months 1 week 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 12674 times:
burj From United States of America, joined Nov 2007, 838 posts, RR: 4 Reply 11, posted (2 years 4 months 1 week 6 days 2 hours ago) and read 12426 times:
MalboroLi From Italy, joined Oct 2008, 7 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (2 years 4 months 1 week 5 days 13 hours ago) and read 11516 times:
Ok, let’s start with the third and last part of this TR
I would like to beg you pardon, but I don’t take so much pic there, I was waked up since 3AM, so I slept for almost all the voyage (and in F, you can sleep really good )
This flight was a FRA-BOG LH 542 operated by a A461 (Call Sign: D-AIHQ) Seat 1A; our ETD was 13.30 and ETA 19.25 (departed on time, but landed with 15min of delay).
The crew cabin was really great; a perfect service for all the whole flight; I was attended by a C/A that was Italian, so it was really nice to chat a little bit with her about the flight, service, and so on; she was really great, also because during the last hour of flight we incurred in an medical emergency with one pax, and she take care of him till our landing (anyhow the pilot didn’t diverted the flight). The only thing was that the announcement in Spanish was full of grammatical error, in fact after the first 1 or 2 P.A. announcement, they stopped completely to make it, for avoid the laughing of the pax…
The LF of this flight is quite impressive, fully booked in Y and J class and 4/8 pax on F.
As soon as we went under the plane, the driver bring my luggage on board and introduce me the cabin attendant and all the crew; the F configuration on the 346 is 1-2-1 for 2 raw, much better than the 747 where are a 2-2 configuration, so you can have much privacy there; also the central overhead bins are missing, so the impression is of a much larger cabin:
After some minutes of waiting, the captain informed us that we are waiting some pax in transit…and they let us boarding from the front door..what a mess!
Meanwhile, the F/A start to serve a juice with some nuts:
Followed by a champagne…you know, it helps for a better sleeping!
The cabin from this view looks really big and impressive…this should be the “open bar” that unfortunately will never be made for all the flight:
After few minutes, we start to move, and in 4 minutes we are on the runway 18:
Some friends call jokingly the A340 “marcione” because they say that it’s quite slow…and effectively we took a long time to climb and reach FL380
After a while, the F/A start to serve the menu and wine list, with a refreshing towel; they ask at each pax when they prefer to eat, and I choose to eat as soon as, so I can try rest a little bit more
And after the towel, we start with a South African red wine…
…and some strange appetizer made with sorbetto and salmon…strange but tasty
So the F/A will ask me if she can prepare the table for the lunch…also the butter have wrote on tp F.C… what a VIP service!
The service start with some caviar and some unidentified fish cake, tasty but too much spicy…
Followed by a cesar salad (already dressed )
And with the best plate at all…a soup (quite hard to eat during a flight, but really tasty, the best flight plate at all )
The main course is composed by a veal with potato, good enough to finish all and ask for a bis
And for finish a strawberry dessert, I’m full like an egg!
Time to sleep! The biggest problem of the old LH F seat I guess that is the IFE..is really small, and if you are in a sleep position, it’s really hard to see something on the video!
I was waked up by some turbulence, and the F/A ask me if I would like to eat something more for the second service, but I was quite full, and there are just 1 hour to our landing time, so I jumped it…but I take the last pic of this cabin meanwhile there are the last ray of light outside…
And with the F class is all! Hope you enjoy it as much as I appreciated the service of LH…it was really an enjoyable flight!
Rogerbcn From Andorra, joined Sep 2006, 1132 posts, RR: 19 Reply 13, posted (2 years 4 months 1 week 5 days 13 hours ago) and read 11473 times:
Hola MalboroLi!
Excellent TR.
I read it all and it seems you had a very nice flight to BOG, especially the last part with unexpected upgrade to F.
The small screens in F seem to be the only down point of it all, but for sure service: food and the kindness of the FA made up for it. I am flying LH F next summer to EZE and expect to find such a good service and enjoy myself in the FCT in FRA.
Welcome to the forum and keep posting TRs, how was the return in C? Could you adapt to it after such a great service?
Salut!
Roger
"At reise er at leve" H.C. Andersen (Travelling is Living)
767747 From United States of America, joined Jan 2005, 1750 posts, RR: 26 Reply 16, posted (2 years 4 months 1 week 5 days 6 hours ago) and read 10872 times:
Wow, really impressive views from all your flights! I'm really amazed by how good the food looks on the Alitalia flight for such a short flight. I always really enjoy the Lufthansa logo on those wine glasses ... very classy!
I also enjoy flying on the A340 ... Really nice aircraft in my mind!
I read it all and it seems you had a very nice flight to BOG, especially the last part with unexpected upgrade to F.
The small screens in F seem to be the only down point of it all, but for sure service: food and the kindness of the FA made up for it. I am flying LH F next summer to EZE and expect to find such a good service and enjoy myself in the FCT in FRA.
Welcome to the forum and keep posting TRs, how was the return in C? Could you adapt to it after such a great service?
Salut!
Roger
Hola Roger, q tal???
It was a great service, right
I've to go to BsAs on 21st of Jan (and of course I hope to travel again in F, but it's just a mere hope )
The C service, honestly, was really poor...If you want take a look at the pic, I can show, but the seats was really uncomfortable (a lie-flat...much lie and less flat...) and the food was tasteless....btw, sure it was better then Y, jeje
Quoting MSS658 (Reply 14): Interesting second part of your trip report, enjoyed reading/looking at it.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 15): Definitely a great flying start here, MarlboroLi!
Tnx, I hope you liked it, it was my first TR here, so be polite
Quoting 767747 (Reply 16): Wow, really impressive views from all your flights! I'm really amazed by how good the food looks on the Alitalia flight for such a short flight. I always really enjoy the Lufthansa logo on those wine glasses ... very classy!
I also enjoy flying on the A340 ... Really nice aircraft in my mind!
Thanks for sharing!
Matthew (767747)
Really...it's incredible how AZ is growing up during this 2 years with the new management...I don't say that only cos I'm Italian, but I've seen so much improvement, from the seats to the food...hope that AZ will fly at the highest level soon
I've made some pic into the new AZ J Class on long-haul plane A330-200, if I've time I will post it, so u can take a look
gabrielchew From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2005, 2512 posts, RR: 13 Reply 21, posted (1 year 10 months 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 6165 times:
Quoting MalboroLi (Thread starter): Finally after about 1 hour and half we start to see some land…
Some of your mountain shots of the Alps are amazing!
The FCT in FRA looks great. I'll have to try and arrange a visit at some stage! Great report! I'm on the FRA-BOG flight in October, although I'm going to be in Y
CoachClass From United States of America, joined Jan 2010, 356 posts, RR: 0 Reply 22, posted (1 year 10 months 4 days 15 hours ago) and read 6051 times:
While coach class is my lot in life, oh, to be able to experience international First Class with a world class airline...
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