Lufthansa Economy Airbus A380-800 - LH573

Route

LH573,  Johannesburg  to Frankfurt, 09 October 2012.

Duration

10 hours 45 min

On time departure and arrival

Departed and arrived on time.

Ground crew and check-in

We were able to check in online 23 hours before the flight.
We dropped off our luggage at the Lufthansa check-in counters.
Passports and visa's are checked before you can proceed to the check-in counters.
Ground staff was friendly and very helpful.

Boarding procedure

Priority boarding for first and business class passengers, families with small children and assisted passengers. Boarding cards were manually scanned by the ground crew.
We boarded via a mobile bridge.

Luggage allowance

Hand luggage - One carry on bag 8kg max
Checked luggage - One bag not exceeding 23kg , Lufthansa make use of the Piece concept for luggage

Seating

Number of seats - 420 in economy
Emergency exit row seats cannot be book online, they are allocated when checking in at the counters.
Seat pitch - 78.74 cm (31")
Seat width - 43.18 cm (17")
Recline at 113 degrees

View more information at  Lufthansa A380 seatmap or Seatguru A380 Economy seat information

We sat in row 73 against the bulkhead. These seat have normal recline, the toilets are behind them and this can be a nuisance.
The overhead locker space was adequate for the middle rows, but the ones for seats H-K had newspaper and magazines stored in them so they have limited space. See attached photo.
The armrests in the middle fold away completely.

Amenities

Small cushion and blanket. Headsets were handed out after boarding and collected just before landing.

Entertainment

German and English newspapers were available upon boarding. In-flight magazine available in seat pocket.
Personal touchscreen monitor with remote control. The selection of movies was a bit limited in my opinion, but still enough to keep you entertained on a 10 hour flight.
Lufthansa magazine available in seat pocket

In-flight communication

None. No in-flight wi-fi available yet.

Meals and refreshments

Dinner
The in-flight service started as soon as we reached cruising altitude.
We were served a hot dinner. There was a choice between a chicken dish and a pasta dish.
The food was tasted good.
On the tray - Salad, bread bun, dessert, butter, salt, pepper, sugar cheese, cutlery, wet wipe and serviette. Cup for Coffee.
Any special meals must be pre-ordered when you make your reservation.
Coffee, tea, beer, wine and other beverages were served before our meal as well as afterwards.

Breakfast
A hot breakfast was served around 2 hours before landing. Breakfast consisted of an egg dish with some mushrooms and potatoes on the side.
On the tray - Fruit salad, bread bun, butter, jam, salt, pepper, sugar, cutlery, wet wipe and serviette.
I feel its a bit to early to eat breakfast ( around 03:30 in the morning) and it was not that good. Next time I'll pass on breakfast and rather get some more sleep in.

Toilets

The toilets were kept clean, and there are more than enough toilets on the A380.
Basin to wash hands and brush teeth.

In-flight shopping

Available. Shopping magazine in seat pocket

Travelling with Children

Milk and baby food can be warmed up by the cabin crew
Read more on Lufthansa - Travelling with children

Crew

I found the crew competent and friendly. Instructions were given in German and English.

Disembarking

Business class disembarked first. We had an aircraft bridge to the terminal building at Frankfurt airport.

Overall opinion

What I liked
The A380 still feels like a new plane. The seats are very comfortable and the service is good.
The plane was quiet with not too many rattles and noise.
Even though the A380 is very big, you never feel crowded, I think the configuration was well thought through.

Not so good
If you sit in the back of the plane it can take a while to get out of the plane, take this in consideration if you have a tight schedule for your connecting flight.
I would like to see more entertainment options and in-flight wi-fi.



Seats with cusion and blanket



Limited over head locker space in row 73 H- K

Legroom

Inside the cabin

Dinner

Dinner option 2

Fascilities

Breakfast








 











South African Airways Economy Airbus A340-600

Route

SA261,  Frankfurt to Johannesburg, 01 October 2012.

Duration

10 hours 45 min.

On time departure and arrival

Departed on time.
Arrived about 20 minutes early.

Ground crew and check-in

We were able to check in online 24 hours before departure.
We arrived by long distance train but could not drop off our luggage at the AlRail Terminal at Frankfurt airport. We needed to drop our luggage at the SAA counters.
Our printed online boarding passes served as boarding tickets.
Ground staff was friendly and helpful.

Boarding procedure

Business class passengers and selected Frequent Flyers (Voyager Gold, Platinum, and Lifetime members, Star Alliance Gold) have priority boarding.
The crew asked passengers to board by row number, but most passengers ignored it. Boarding was a bit disorganised.
The electronic boarding gates, where you scan the barcode on your ticket to open the gate, were not in use
We boarded via a mobile bridge.

Luggage allowance

Hand luggage - One carry on bag 8kg max
Checked luggage - One bag not exceeding 23kg. SAA is now using the Piece Concept for checked luggage.

Seating

Number of seats - 275 recliner seats. Seats against the bulkhead  has the same recline as standard seats.
We were not sure about the bulkhead seats, as there are conflicting information available. We sat in the  row 71,  and I checked the recline of seats in row 74 and they had normal recline.

View more information at  Seatguru and SAA

There were adequate locker space in row 71 D - G

Amenities

We did not get any amenity bags ( with socks, slumber shades etc), although we did get amenity bags on previous SA261 flights. 
Small pillow and blanket
Stereo headset

Entertainment

Personal touchscreen monitor with remote control. The entertainment system did not function. SAA needs to attend to this issue, this is not the first time on this route that the entertainment system did not work.
In-flight magazine available in seat pocket.

In-flight communication

Satellite phone

Meals and refreshments

Dinner
A choice of Pork with vegetables or  Chicken with pasta was offered.
On the tray - Salad, whole-wheat bun, dessert, chocolate, butter, cheese, crackers, cutlery, wet wipe and serviette.
Cup for coffee/tea
I had the pork and it was very tasty and the meat was tender. My travel partner had the delicious chicken and pasta.

Breakfast

Hot breakfast was served.  We were not very hungry and skipped breakfast.


Refreshments

Drinks and alcoholic beverages were served before and after meals. Coffee/tea was only served after meals. Water was available in small bottles and were served at regular intervals.

Toilets

The toilets were kept clean. 
Soap were provided.
Paper towels and tissues
Basin to wash hands and brush teeth

In-flight shopping

Available.

Travelling with Children

Some of the toilets have diaper boards. Baby bassinets must be pre booked.
Meal request for children must be made at time of reservation
Milk and baby food can be warmed up by the cabin crew
Read more on South African Airways - Travelling with Infants

Crew

I found the crew competent and friendly.

Disembarking

Business class disembarked first. We took a short bus ride to the terminal building.

Overall opinion

What I liked
The seats were comfortable with enough leg room. The recline was adequate for economy seats. I never felt the reclined seat in front of me was too close.
Water in bottles that you can keep with you during the flight.
Milk were served from a jug, so you can add enough in your coffee or tea.
The food was enough and tasty.
The plane was quiet with not too many rattles and noise

Not so good
The Entertainment system not functioning.




Economy Seats




Cabin



Legroom, cushion and blanket



Basin




Dinner




Dinner