Charlotte / Douglas International

I went into the US Airways Club at the B Terminal and my LH Senator card and my ticket were checked by the agent working at the reception desk. At this time there was also a representative of Lufthansa sitting at the desk. She did not seem to be very busy, since she was reading in a magazine.

I took a seat in the rear part of the lounge offering some nice views of the tarmac the lading and starting of planes, among these the Munich bound flight of Lufthansa. I read a bit in a book and worked on the trip report among other things. I did not get drink vouchers at the lounge desk, but did not ask, since I did not want to drink anything alcoholic. However I got a few glasses of Tonic Water. Time passed quickly and a few minutes before boarding time I left the lounge and headed for the gate area.

The agents were collecting the green I-94 form from the people holding non-US passports. An announcement was made that everybody who had not visited the desk at the gate area to get the okay stamp could not board the plane. At this time Envoy as well as elite members were called to board the plane. This caused a bit of a disturbance of the usual boarding process …

24 February 2009
CLT - FRA
[Charlotte Douglas Airport - Frankfurt]
US 704 (US Airways); Airbus A 330 (N274AY)
Gate D3
20:15 – 10:50 [effective 20:05– 10:49]
Economy Class
Seat 11 C

I boarded the plane and was greeted by a female flight attendant. I took my seat and soon discovered that this was the same plane I had on my flight from Frankfurt to Charlotte back on Friday (I could not see the registration while boarding the plane) due to the malfunction of the tray table at my seat and the worn out remote control for the AVOD.

The plane filled with passengers, but the load was much lower than on Friday but not as low as on my flight Philadelphia to Munich back in January. I would rate the load with 75 to 80%. This time the seat next to me remained empty.

We pushed back ahead of schedule at 20:08. The safety demonstration was done while we pushed back. Again the safety demonstration was done in English and German. This time the German announcement was not very good to understand like many of the following German announcements during the flight.

The inflight entertainment system was not yet started as we boarded, which means that the overhead lights were not working, too. So it was after the lights were dimmed impossible to read.

We taxied for the runway, where we had to queue before it finally was our turn around 20:35 and the captain powered the engines and soon later we climbed into the dark sky above Charlotte.

After the light for the electronic devices were switched off the cabin crew unfastened and soon later the in flight entertainment system was started which means the overhead lights were working. An announcement was also made that service would begin in 20 minutes with a dinner and beverage service. The question this time was beef or pasta.

In the time between the announcement and the start of the service the headphones were sold for

Meal service started around 21:00. I opted for the pasta. The pasta was okay, however the sauce was not very good and the vegetable had not taste at all. Beverage service took some time as a few passengers bought alcoholic drinks and paid in Euros, while the crew had give the change in US Dollar and therefore recalculate. I opted for tonic water without ice. Meanwhile the AVOD system was also started.
Trays were collected app. 35 minutes later and again another beverage round followed a few minutes later.

I took my laptop out of the overhead bin compartment and continued the work I had started in the lounge and changed into the middle seat since there was no one in front of me and the guy in the seat in front of me had reclined the seat. I typed a bit, but became really tired after an hour or so and decided to take a nap. Having two seats for me, I though about rising the armrest, but the guy behind me was already fell asleep and used the armrest for his leg – though only the part at my backseat. Since he was really tall, I decided against raising it and it was not a problem. I was tired and so sleeping was not that difficult. I woke up several times, but was able to fell asleep again.

Around 09:00 German time the lights were switched on and ten minutes later the breakfast service started. Like on the flight from Philadelphia to Munich, a Danish was offered and like on this flight I skipped it and only opted for a glass of Sparkling water.

The in-flight entertainment system was turned off 30 minutes prior to landing, while the crew began to prepare the cabin for landing and asking passengers for the last possible change to buy duty free items. They have announced this several times during the flight.

The crew in general was less attentive than the one on my other flights of US Airways in the last two month. They did not smile, they were just working and as a fellow flyertalker had pointed out, they are there primary for your safety, not to service you. It looked several times, if they became annoyed by a passenger who used the call button several times.

We touched down in Frankfurt at 10:35 and taxied for our gate C 9, where we arrived after a long taxiing at 10:49. This time, Economy Passengers were not hold back and it was even possible to disembark before some passengers in Envoy Class had all their belongings. I noticed a passengers looking for a trolley in the overhead compartment behind his seat and he was unable to reach it due to the Economy Class Passengers. I stopped, so he was able to snag it and got a very bad comment form a fellow passenger about this.

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