Introduction
Seattle to Frankfurt
Frankfurt Fun Times
Lufthansa First Class Terminal
Frankfurt to Newark
Newark to Seattle
Conclusion
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Lufthansa – LH402
Frankfurt to Newark (FRA-EWR)
1320-1545
Boeing 747-8i (D-ABYA)
First Class – Seat 1K

Boarding: 1248 (Door 4/Gate Z69)
Push Back: 1338
Take off Roll: 1348 (Runway 25C)
Top of Descent: 1525
Touch Down: 1614 (Runway 22L)
Shut Down: 1622 (Gate 62)

After hopping into the Mini Van to be taken to the gate, myself and the other two passengers in the van enjoyed our quick little drive towards A/Z69. Technically my gate was door 4, however I am not quite sure exactly if it was A or Z that the plane actually arrived from. All I know is that when I arrived at the gate, I was standing on the ramp just outside the circle of safety. From the mini van I stopped to take more photos (was already taking them inside the plane and had missed out on seeing the Retro 748) of the plane we were flying. This was my first time onboard a 747-8i as a passenger, and I was about to step foot on the first commercially delivered 747-8i to an airline.

As we got in the lift that took us up to the boarding jetbridges, we stepped off into a maze of people. However the driver who was our escort just pushed his way through, and ran interference for us. We essentially pushed our way through the entire crowd of people and the next thing I know, I am standing at door L1 and turning left into First Class. I was now here. This was not my first time making that turn. The last time was back in 2007 on my first solo trip to the USA. I had paid to upgrade to Business on Air New Zealand and although I couldn’t get the nose for the main part of the journey from LAX to AKL, I did manage it from AKL to home. This time though I was going to be in Row 1 and there was going to be a lot less people up there. Score!

I took a number of photos and tried not to bump into anyone while I was doing it. When I did sit down a glass of sparkling water and macadamia nuts were placed at my seat. I wasn’t sure if they were meant for me, because I had not spoken to anyone by that stage, so I was astounded at the fact that they had read my mind. That is what I was going to ask for, the crew had the best mind reading skills (or so I thought). I was shown where my personal locker was and I took the time to get myself sorted, dropping the camera bag at the back of the cabin. I took my seat and stashed the rest of my gear and got myself situated.

The crew introduced themselves to me and I relaxed as best as I could. I was excited and that meant I didn’t need caffeine or anything as I was already buzzing. We waited a while once the doors closed for the cargo doors to be shut and then we had to wait for another aircraft to clear the taxiway before we could push. When we finally did, it meant that my journey was about to truly begin. It was around this time that the safety video played and unlike on Condor, this one plays part of the way through in German then repeated it in English. By then we were on the taxiway heading for departure. The crew got us situated correctly with the seatbelts in place (the sash belts had to go on as well) and we waited our turn to depart behind another Lufthansa 747. Behind us were two more 747s as well. Score!

It was around that time that the battery in my camera finally died after 2 days (was waiting for that) and since I was strapped in, I couldn’t reach my other one. From then it was just time to enjoy the view as we climbed out. The ride out was pretty bumpy and I wasn’t sure if that was just because you could feel it more in the nose. I can tell you that sitting about the nose wheel gear set up means that you hear extra noises that just truly do not sound normal. We climbed out and once the dings went off to signal the seatbelt sign had been turned off there was a mad dash in F to the bathrooms. I managed to squeeze my way past someone else discussing pyjamas and relieve myself quickly. I returned to my seat and got myself sorted for the upcoming meal. I was going to enjoy this!

Before the meal service started we got all the good stuff brought to us. Amenity kits (no rimowa… *sad face*), pyjamas, slippers, menus. All the stuff that I would be stashing away later (including the safety card). I took it all in while perusing the menu. I could see caviar would be on the menu and this was going to be my first time trying it for real. There was a total of 8 courses on offer with an Amuse Bouche, Caviar, Starter, Salad, Soup, Main, Cheese and then Dessert. If you count cofffee and chocolates that is 9. A LOT of food. But there was one thing on that menu I was really hoping would be there. Aspargus. The famous german white aspargus. I was going to have that no matter what.

The service for drinks etc was kind of slow, but it turned out to be a pretty full cabin, 7 of 8 people. The sad thing is that as people were not really eating and getting ready to sleep, I was just going to be enjoying this flight. This flight really isn’t a busienss flight as you arrive into Newark at the end of the work day. It is a daylight flight going over as well, so I was determined to soak it all in and stay up. Why sleep and miss something when I can soak it all in, then sleep on my connection (though being United, that was doubtful).

When the menu orders were taken, I put in my preference for the aspargus and said that I would be awake for the 2nd service (though doubtful I would have space to try anything). Once everything started it was a slow affair for the first couple of courses but then it hit the right pace. I saw a few people just have cheese, one person didn’t eat at all, me I just soaked it up. The best part of this flight was going to be the indulge, because they don’t come along all that often. I have flown Qantas, Emirates and Cathay first, this would just add another experience to them all.

The meal came out with caviar after the amuse bouche (you can find a copy of the menu in the AR report, but I will update that when I get a chance so there is one here too). This was my first time really trying it and it was presented so nicely. I screwed up the photo of the cart service so that was just dumb, but I did try it with everything. I have to say I am not a fan, maybe I didn’t do it right, but it just didn’t do anything for me. The rest of the meal was amazing. The salad and starters were tasty and then the main was what I was waiting for. I didn’t really want the whole thing by that stage as I was slowly filling up but I downed that asparagus, with a little bit of the ham and hollandaise, not much. I didn’t have much cheese and I gave a little break so I could stretch and use that bathroom before dessert. When dessert rolled around, Kira (the english speaking crew member working first) asked me which one I wanted. I wasn’t sure and said “whichever you think”. She replied with “How about both?” Who am I to say no to that!

I had both desserts with coffee and by this time my movie had finished (Ex Machina) and I was watching a tv show to fill the gap. With Lunch out of the way (is lunch the right meal… I don’t know) I settled in with some more coffee to work and get some of the trip report out of the way. A couple of coffees later I was up to date and decided to settle in to a few movies on a nicely outstretched bed. YAY!

I let the ladies in charge of first change my seat into a bed and I ducked out to the bathroom, when I came back it had all been fixed and I settled down in a slightly modified bed mode (head elevated). I didn’t want to sleep on this daylight flight as if I stayed awake I could keep myself going and crash out when I finally reached Seattle around my bed time. The bumpy flight helped to ensure I didn’t really try and sleep all that much. The flight had been bumpy from the start and with so much bumping, lying down to sleep was not really going to happen.

While I watched my movie, I ended up with another coffee (somehow) and I also wondered if they had any cookies (hey… you know my weaknesses… stop judging). It seemed to be the one thing the FCT was missing and I was hoping they had something with some crunch. The flight attendant on duty (it was Kira at the time) said she would see what she could find as I don’t think it was a standard F item. I sipped on my coffee and low and behold a few minutes later a plate of wrapped cookies arrived at my seat. I am not sure where she got them, but damn they were delicious. I will deny any knowledge of half the supplied cookies landing up in my suitcase.

By the time my movie was finishing up, the cabin was starting to wake up from all their sleeping. I think I was the only one up front who did not go to sleep at all. This was something that confused the hell out of me as if I was heading just to EWR, I wouldn’t want to be waking up around 2pm local and then getting in at 4pm local to then head to bed a few hours later. That doesn’t make any sense to me. As the cabin slowly started to strip down their bedding and the crew put it all away, people started getting ready for the 2nd meal service. I was really not at all that hungry at this stage and thankfully Lufthansa probably knows this. The 2nd meal service is more of a light meal service with a salad cart buffet followed with a piece of cake or fruit for dessert. For me this was perfect but since I just wasn’t hungry at all, I got just a small amount of vegies (I was dreaming more vegies I swear). The salad was fresh and tasty and hit the spot for something that just should top me off.

We started a very long gradual descent over New England and it was still bumpy. I don’t think there was a moment on this flight where there was not a whole lot of bumps for anything more than say 10 minutes. Crazy! We descended with fantastic views of New York City on the wrong side of the plane to me. That was just not fair. The touch down at Newark was a sad moment, it meant that this dream flight was over and now I had to contend with US Immigration and the worst part. Transiting Newark.

This flight of just 8 hours in length had been something I had dreamt of for quite some time. I wanted to ensure that this flight was everything that I could want and more. If it could have continued on forever I would have loved that. The crew looking after F (insert name & Kira) were two fantastic ladies who could not do more to look after me. Even though we had an almost full cabin, they were fantastic and helpful and amazingly kind. They were the epitome of their job imo. As we pulled up to the gate and the seat belt sign came off, I grabbed my stuff and lined up to get off the plane. I said my final goodbyes to the ladies and resounded to make sure that they would get the credit that they deserve for being such an amazing crew.

I stepped off the flight into the terminal at Newark and knew that this part of the adventure was going to be interesting.