Whats the first thing that comes to your mind when you think Germany? German engineering! Everything that’s German has got to be high quality right? Well when I stepped in my Lufthansa flight from Miami to Chennai via Frankfurt I was in for a not so gentle awakening. Having heard that Lufthansa had once been rated one of the best airlines to fly in, I ignored the fact that the fare was - well - what you would expect of a world class airline - for the sheer experience. As I walked through the gate and into the aircraft I was greeted by a stoic faced flight attendant who brusquely pointed me to my seat. Brushing it off as a relatively minor incident I continued on to my seat. Well first off - having flown several lower grade airlines I was in for my first disappointment - where was the German state-of-the-art that I was looking for? This 747-400 aircraft had to be at least 10 years old! Nevertheless, unwilling to accept that maybe I hadnt done my homework, I sat on my seat determined to enjoy the much touted Lufthansa service. (and in this case lack of it). Lufthansa’s flight attendants on the flight from Miami to Frankfurt were downright rude! I remember asking for a cup of coffee from one of these flight attendants - and waiting about 10 minutes before the same flight attendant walked past me like nothing happened! When I pressed the call button again, she re-appeared visibly annoyed - and told me if I needed coffee I would have to walk to where the trays were and get it myself! Whoa. And the in flight entertainment. The inflight catalog boasted of some of the latest Hollywood fare so I thought at the very least I would get to see something interesting! But no - my hopes were dashed again! The newest movies were only for flights on some of the more priority routes (and I was beginning to realize this was obviously not one of them) and some were for the benefit of first class passengers only. For us lesser mortals - the movie Tuxedo by Jackie Chan. And for half the movie I had to contend with watching a flight attendant and a drunk Russian man go at it because his seat was uncomfortable - and they chose the aisle directly in front of me to sort out their differences. Hmm. Well 5 hours and 2 cognacs later - I reconciled myself to the fact that this was the way the rest of my trip was going to be.

So a few months later and almost a couple thousand dollars poorer here I am - getting ready to give you the 30 second review on flying Lufthansa. Those lovely flight attendants you might have seen in the Lufthansa commercials serving your every need and bustling back and forth at your beck and call - are merely paid actors! But reality is a little icier - dont expect peaches and cream! If you’re lucky you’ll get by with some good cognac(pun intended). The food is palatable but in no way world class. As for the seats - it should suffice to say that you’re probably better off on an aisle seat. And the service - for passengers to Chennai, this is probably the best route in terms of the flying time if you’re willing to endure a little ’’Wilkommen without a smile’’!!!

No. of times flown on this Airlines:	Between 4 - 6
Class flown most frequently:	Economy Class