Lufthansa vs. other carriers

I generally fly Lufthansa to EU and I'm happiest with them. I generally prefer EU airlines because on US airlines now they charge for alcoholic beverages and drinking plenty of wine to hydrate my body is more important to me than legroom. However price and convenience of times and connections should be your determining factor.

Delta has a good Economy Plus seat that does not cost much extra. A friend flew to Paris recently that way for $80 each way and said it was well worth it.

Lufthansa might not have extra leg room, but the service is far and above that of United. My girlfriend flew Lufthansa for the first time this fall to German with me. We came back on United. She really noticed the difference. If you can do without the extra leg room, fly Lufthansa.

BTW, United uses the last concourse on the south end of Termainal 2 in Munich. It's a loooong hike (almost ½ mi) from your gate to Immigration/Customs in the middle of the terminal.

My husband and I just returned last week flying Lufthansa from Munich to NY. Going over we were booked on United. Quite a difference in service but not in leg room. The food on Lufthansa was really good! The attendants came through the cabin frequently with water, juice, soda, etc., to keep passengers hydrated. Absolutely, fly Lufthansa!

Lufthansa is perfectly acceptable. A cruise thru www.seatguru.com shows most carriers flying A-330 aircraft and economy seat pitch of 31 to 32 inches is standard on Lufthansa, Swiss, SAS, Delta with 8 across seating. Delta does have economy comfort with a 35 inch pitch for a bit more money. SAS has some economy plus seats with 7 across seats and 38 inch pitch, but quite a bit more money than standard economy. SAS is pretty good, but requires connections out of Copenhagen or Stockholm. They do have deals on occasion. I've had pleasant flights on all these carriers.

I prefer Lufthansa and KLM.

Charlie,

I've always found that the service and comfort on Lufthansa flights has been good. The seat pitch in Economy has been about the same as Air Canada and other carriers, so no difference there.

I've found over the last few years that it's been worthwhile to pay extra for Economy Comfort (where available), as the extra bit of legroom really helps (especially towards the end of the flight). It would be great to try Business Class one of these days, but I'll have to win the Lottery first.

Happy travels!

Lufthansa is always our favorite to fly. I read recently that they will be adding their equivalent of economy plus starting in spring 2014.
We have been lucky enough to have caught sales on their Business Class before...what a huge difference!

Well, Charlie, you've gotten a variety of contradictory answers; and, for what it's worth, here's another negative. On our Lufthansa SFO to FRA flight a couple of years ago, the seat in front of me was broken. It meant that when the occupant reclined, he was practically in my lap. I'm 5'1", and I found the space painfully tight. The attendants were neither helpful, nor gracious. They turned off the cabin lights, but would not deal with the drunken group several rows behind us, whose raucous laughing and loud voices kept us awake throughout the flight. The food was predictably bad; but on the return flight, it was downright nasty. I've had bad experiences on other airlines, as well as some good ones on LH; so I think it's just a matter of luck. We have begun to pay for the economy plus type seats for the transatlantic portions of our trips, when it's an option. The less crowded space and bringing our our food when possible do a lot to mitigate the awfulness of intercontinental travel.

I think they all are about the same and the marginal difference is the crew you draw. Historically Lufthansa followed by British Air have always been our airlines of choice. A few years ago BA fell off the list with the change in pricing policy for reserve seats. Two years ago our return flight on Lufthansa in economy was absolutely awful much to our surprise. Similar to Rosalyn's experience. I swear the seats were closer than before, services and food was marginal - well below previous standards. The United flight going over was slightly better. Then this past spring we were forced to take Alitalia to Rome. Given the reputation of Alitalia I was expecting a horrible flight but it was one of the better flights that we have had in a long time. Food and service very good. So I think it is just the luck of the draw as to whether it is a good flight or not. However, if you can purchase some type of economy plus seating, do it.

seatguru.com will provide seat pitch and width for you to compare.

Leg room is often based on both airline and airframe. Check possible flights against seatguru.com before selecting seats. Seat guru will also tell you about other issues (seat doesn't recline, close to toilets, underseat obstruction, etc.).

I like Lufthansa well enough, but it's true that some of their planes seem pretty tight.

We do carry-on only and Lufthansa has some of the strictest limits (as I recall 8 kg. or just under 18 lbs.). I don't mind; in fact I prefer traveling as light as possible.

I also like the carryon weight limit on Lufthansa (my carryon weighs only about 12#, so no problem). It should keep the rolling monoliths out of the overhead compartment, thus making it "more likely" that I can get my minimal sized one in.

I say "should" because it doesn't always. On a recent trip back from Munich we changed flights in Düsseldorf, and someone came on, apparently from another airline that didn't limit the size, because he had the biggest roll-aboard I think I have ever seen and had manged to get on with it. Not only didn't it fit in the bin front-to-back, it almost didn't fit in sideways. He had to force the bin closed; when we got to Chicago, the bin wouldn't open. I left with him standing by his seat looking for a flight attendant.

Thanks to all for your advice and comments.

When we get to booking we'll compare all the variables and go with what we think is best- taking into account your experiences as well, of course.

Lufthansa code shares with United and so you will find a number of Lufthansa flights from the US to Europe that use United on one leg or another; but to ensure you get the seat choice you may have to book through United. We travel to Germany from Texas about 3 times a year and my preference is United and they do have economy plus seats which are worth every extra cent for my six foot 225 pounds. As for overall service I haven't found an airline that is better than Lufthansa while United can be sort of hit and miss (really good to just passable).