Image – Hooked On Points

Hello everyone,

This is the 1st leg of a RTW trip done by my wife and I. OLCI was done and we got to the airport on time despite the horrible weather and nearly 20cm of snow having already fallen by 3pm. Lufthansa handles the check-in for Austrian. We approached the lane to the Business Class check-in and a Lufthansa dragon lady stopped me and asked if I completed online check in already?? I said yes and I was directed to the economy line – um ok? There was no line up there and was immediately processed by the check-in agent. Here is how the conversation went:

Agent: Sir, you are travelling in Business Class?
Me: Yes
Agent: So, why are you in the Economy line?
Me: Because the lady said to come to this line.
Agent (horrified look): Which one?! Can you point to her?
Me: Um, I don’t remember. Doesn’t matter since there is no line.
Agent: Well, here are your boarding passes. Just make sure that when you board at the gate, you go through to the Business Class line.
(Laughter from both of us)

Boarding passes in hand, we headed to security and was greeted by a looong line up. My ever vigilant mother-in-law, who was there to wish us off, quickly pointed out the Priority lane for Amex Plat card holders (I assume it’s for First/Biz class too) – so I flashed the card to the security dragon and off we went. Long walk over to the Maple Leaf International Lounge which was decent and had a fair selection of food and drinks. After an hour there, we sauntered into the Plaza Premium lounge used my Amex Plat card and pretty much ran out after 15 minutes. Very small lounge with a decent spread for food/drinks. It was only when we got to the gate that I realized I forgot to take pictures of the check-in area and lounges … sorry folks! 😦

Seat Screen – the resolution was REALLY crisp and the pic is not doing it any justice. 🙂

You read my mind, Austrian. Don’t mind if I do.

Amenity Kit – very underwhelming

Blanket

Breakfast Menu

Food & Beverage Menu

Pictures during taxi

LOT 787 – didn’t notice any battery fires 🙂

Jet Airways A330

AC B777

Emirates Whale Jet – economy done, F done and waiting for opportunity to do J someday

Turkish B777

KLM B747

Hainan Airlines A340 – took this flight last year to Beijing in J. Angled lie-flat product and decent amenity kit. Service was poor and cabin was far from clean. How they are a Skytrax 5 star airline boggles my mind.

British B777

Time for the de-icing

Up, up and away!

Meal service started and I kicked it off with an Austrian beer and a coke.

The appetizer was done via cart service and I went with the Shrimp and the Carrot soup which were both good.

Then, for some unknown reason, I did not receive the main for 30 minutes. The purser came by to ask what dessert I wanted but I told him I didn’t even get my main. After a mad dash back to the galley, the issue was resolved and I had Roasted Lamb Loin which was overcooked. Sad to say that the 30 minute wait was not worth it. ><

For dessert, I went with the Strudel which was good.

At this point, I was presented with the Coffee menu which I was eagerly waiting for. I am not the biggest coffee person aficionado but when I am offered 12 different types of fresh made coffee at 35000 feet, how can I refuse? 😀

Guess which one I went with? 🙂

By the time everything was cleared away, 2 hours had passed and I put the seat into bed mode and conked off for 3 hours. I was woken up by the crew for the start of the breakfast service. I went with the mushroom omelette. The sad part is that I could not finish the meal as my body clock was completely thrown off. Even 2 cups of strong coffee could not shake me out of my zombie state. I selected the cearel, toast and jams as accompaniments but had to push everything away after a few bites of the omelette.