Lufthansa JNB-Frankfurt Review
Paul‘s Flight Report
Flight: LH573
JNB - FRA / Boeing 747-800
Flight Time: 10 hours 10 minutes
Business Class
General Impression: 
Before the Flight :
Check-in Process:
Security Control :
Lounge:
Information:
Boarding @ Gate:
Staff @ these points:
Boarding in Cabin:
Welcome Drinks:
Punctuality: , 3 min delay
, 3 min delay
During the Flight :
Food presentation: 
Food quality:
Drinks:
Service Procedure:
Amenity Kit:
Entertainment System:
Seat Quality:
Legroom:
Lavatories:
Cleanliness:
General Atmosphere:
Announcement Pilots:
Announcement Cabin:
Cabin Crew:
After the Flight :
De-Boarding:
Baggage Delivery: in Transit
—-
= bad, a lot of work needs to be done
= poor, you will be busy with corrections
= good & normal, nothing special
= high level, but the icing on the cake is missing
= topnotch, leave me here!
= Half a Point/sheep
—-
On the Ground:
As we arrived from our domestic flight 6 hours prior departure, we had plenty of time in Johannesburg to recheck our bags.
We went to the Lufthansa check-in around 4 hours 15 minutes prior our departure and by big surprise the check-in was already open and in full swing.
Thanks to our Gold Status we were allowed to check in at the First class counter. There was no queue at all. The agent was super friendly and motivated and he kept chit-chattting all the
time. Great customer service.
There was only a short queue at the security checkpoint even they had only one lane open. The agent was super arrogant, harsh and rude to the customers. He commanded them around and did send
personal items like wallet, passport etc with other items from other customers. You had no chance to control your most valuable things and when asking why he got very rude and loud that it
wouldn't be our business.
As I wanted to complain and asked for the supervisor no one answered any more questions.
Emigration was no problem at all and there was no queue. Agent was friendly and efficient.
As Business Class lounge, Lufthansa has contracted the Aspire Lounge by Swissport.
Staff was super friendly and very attentive. They offered great customer service.
They had a full manned bar as well as a big buffet with hot, cold and snack items.
Boarding started at the indicated time. The aircraft we flew on was a Boeing 747-800 and they used two adjacent gates. It was still a little hectic but I think that is normal for Africa.
No boarding announcements were made. One of the agents just went through the waiting area and screamed the group number they were currently boarding. Priority boarding was strictly conducted
and the agent even sent people back which came up with the wrong group number.
Agents were friendly and efficient.
At the aircraft door we were greeted by a charming crew member directing us our way to our seat.
Sitting in the upper deck is still something very special and climbing up the stairs of a 747-800 a great feeling. I know, I know only an aviation geeks like us can write something like this.
The seats were already equipped with a fluffy pillow and a nice blanket and to my surprise a small mattress was available too.
The headphones, as well as a bottle of water and the amenity kit were prepared and hidden in a compartment.
On the ground welcome drinks were served and the menu was distributed. Also new for me was that they distributed sleeping shirts in business.
The crew was very friendly, helpful and attentive.
Inflight:
The Lufthansa business class isn't the newest product on the market anymore. Never the less the seats are comfortable and offer some sort of privacy thanks to the reversed herringbone layout.
Lufthansa's Boeing 747-800 has a total of 32 seats of business class in the upper deck. The rest of the seats is on the main deck.
The seats are configured in a 2/2 configuration and all seats are fully lie flat. An old but solid product and okay if you travel as a couple or with friends.
For alone traveling customers we would recommend to reserve the center seats on the main deck as these have all aisle access. As said, there is no privacy with these seats.
After take off the welcoming and lovely cabin crew started with the inflight service.
Unfortunately the service seemed very hectic and chaotic.
First, they came along to take the orders for a drink/cocktail before the meal.
Then they started immediately with the full service.
The tray table was covered with a tablecloth and they brought a fullsize tray with the a first course and the main course and some bread and butter. They offered different drinks and we
decided to taste some red wine. The meals are still covered due to covid but that is no issue.
Afterwards the crew offered cheese and/or dessert. With every course we were asked for additional drinks. To round everything up we ended the meal with a coffee and a cognac.
The food was okay but nothing really out of the ordinary.
The flight attendants took their time to chat and interact with the passengers. It was great to see the interaction as well as the passion of the crew for what they do. The entire crew in
Business delivered a great customer service.
Bathrooms were checked throughout the flight and always refilled and very clean.
The amenity kit is OK and offers the regular content. (socks, toothbrush, earplugs and some lipbalm and cream).
Lufthansa has picked up the reusable aspect of the amenity kits, today's kit can be used / re-used again as a pencil case.
The inflight entertainment is good but the screens have a very bad resolution. You can clearly see that this IFE isn't the newest one anymore.
The aircraft would have been equipped with wifi as well as a GSM connection.
As we prefer to enjoy the flight and service and appreciate the offline time we hardly never buy the access package.
Prices for wifi are okay. Lufthansa and it's provider are offering 3 different packages ranging from 7€ for a chat function only to 29€ for the big thing. But.... after a certain consumption
of data, speed is limited to 64kbps.
In between the two services, the crew never passed actively with drinks through the cabin. You had to go to the galley (what I did) so I could stretch my legs or push the call button.
Around 1,5 hours prior landing a continental breakfast was served.
A full size tray was handed out and it consisted of:
Cold choice: some cheese, Birchermüesli, croissant and bread as well as butter.
Hot Choice: some cheese, scrambled eggs, croissant and bread as well as butter.
Drinks were offered actively with the meal and a top up was offered when the crew cleared the trays.
Size wise it was a good continental breakfast. So early in the morning we would have preferred fruits over cheese.
For a flight of more than 10 hours the food served had more the style of a premium economy than a business class product. You can feel the cut backs of the service.
Announcements from the cabin crew were a simple disaster and way not standard. And in short she didn't say more than: "On behalf of the Cabin Crew welcome on board" and "on behalf of the cabin crew goodbye".
All in all a good flight with Lufthansa.
A very charming and hearty cabin crew. They did an excellent job and super customer service.
Product wise an okay experience. Old hardware and the cut backs in service don't make it any better.
Never the less we will again choose Lufthansa for future travels and can recommend them in Business Class on longhaul flights.
Notes:
- Paul the Sheep does not get any benefits from the Hotels/Airlines etc.
- Paul will always pay for the services in order to be able to rate freely and truly about the experiences.
-If you are interested in more details, please send me a private message and I will be happy to share.