Chicago O'Hare

I returned my rental car and the Hertz shuttle dropped me off right in front of the Lufthansa Check in Counters. The Economy Counters were busy but there were no lines at Business Class and First Class counters. I used the First Class Check in this was the one dedicated for passengers flying in First Class or holding Star Gold Status. The agent checked me in and printed the boarding passes for my flights to Düsseldorf and on to Milan. I could use the priority security check lane, though the agent at the entrance had to verify that I was eligible as I was traveling in Economy Class – but holding Star Gold Status.

My ID was checked against my boarding pass and off I was to the security checkpoint. The line was empty and with no passenger ahead of me, I passed the security checkpoint quickly. This time there was no need for a pad down by the security officer, the nudeoscope did not show any potential areas of my body which could not be scanned or showed potential risks. I decided to do some lounge hopping and first visited the United Club close to my gate B 16. This United Club is small but the nicest of all clubs at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.

I spend some time in this lounge, reading in the FT and the Chicago Tribune before I decided to visit the other United Club in the B concourse. The lounge was less busy than during my visit the week before. This time I had not difficulties to connect to the internet. I checked mails and surfed the web, performed my duties as moderator on Flyertalk. As boarding time approached I walked slowly over to the gate B 16 where the flight to Düsseldorf was scheduled to depart. But the plane was not yet there and an announcement was made that boarding would be slightly delayed, so I decided to visit the United Club next to our gate again, which became busier, but the most people remained in the upper part while the lower level with the bar was surprisingly still not very busy.

Finally our plane was pulled over and the crew could board the plane. It would be another 20 minutes before we were finally able to board at 17:35, the time we should already had been pushed back.

Boarding was announced first for passengers traveling with small children and for passengers who need assistance, followed by passengers in First and Business Class. I noticed that some passengers in First Class were brought onboard the plane ahead of families. There was no announcement made for passengers with Senator or Star Gold Status.

05 July 2013
ORD – DUS
[Chicago O’Hare – Düsseldorf International]
LH 437 (Lufthansa); Airbus A340-300 (D-AIGV / ‘Dinslaken’)
Gate B 16
17:35 – 08:50 [effective 18:12 – 09:06]
Economy Class
Seat 12 C

An ID check was done before boarding the plane using two jetbridges. I had a seat in the small front cabin at the aisle in the middle block. The first row has only three seats while the second has four seats offering both aisle seats slightly more legroom. At the time of booking the seats at the exit row were already taken. So this was the best I could get. 21 G has the advantage of offerings its own built in monitor while the monitors or the other seats are somehow awkward located.

I had noticed that the plane was full but still had some open seats. The middle seats were taken by a couple. He told me he had a knee surgery and need to get up frequently during the flight. They had requested a seat in the first row but were unable to get one. The flight attendant offered them the row behind but he wanted to stretch his leg and so I decided to give up my seat 21 G and move on room back giving the passengers the possibility not only to get easily out of the seat but also to stretch his leg while sitting in the seat.

The captain came over the intercom announcing the flight time and excused for the delay. He hoped to reduce our delay while crossing the Atlantic.
The safety video was shown while we were still at the gate. Finally we were pushed back at 18:12 and taxied to the runway 28R. We had to queue for take off and finally at the captain powered the four engines and we climbed into the sky above Chicago.

Our plane for the flight to Düsseldorf was D-AIGV, an Airbus A340-313X named after the city of Dinslaken, which is round about 50 km north of Düsseldorf. It was powered by four CFM56-5C4 engines offering a thrust of 34000 lbf. The plane was delivered new to Lufthansa on February 25, 2000 and configured with 8 seats in First Class, 36 seats in Business Class and 197 seats in Economy Class. The first class seats are flat beds offering a seat pitch of 85 inch and a seat width of 21 inch. These seats are older than the one in the Airbus A380 or Boing 747-8. The 36 Business Class seats are the well-known angle flat seats, which will be changed to the new seats in the next couple of years. They offer a seat pitch of 57 to 60 inch and a seat width of 19.7 inch. Economy Class has a seat pitch of 32 inch and seat width of 17.5 inch. All seats offer an in-seat monitor with audio-video on demand. Some have already the touch screens of the Rave entertainment system. In seat power is only available in First and Business Class, not in Economy Class. The boxes of the entertainment system are located under the window seats and the seats at the aisle of the middle section.

Once in the air the purser announced the service for this flight. It was first an aperitif service followed by a hot meal and a digestive. Before we land in Düsseldorf, a snack would be offered. Approximately after 12 minutes the crew went to their stations, closed the curtain to avoid anyone from the unwashed hoi polloi in Economy could spot the luxury in Business Class.

First a beverage service was done, which came along with a small pack of pretzel like salty bits. I only opted for a sparkling water. Soon later a hot towel service was offered. The trash from the first beverage service was collected with the meanwhile cold towel a few minutes later.

It took only a short wait before the meals service started. The offering was announced using the intercom and the choice was – chicken or pasta. The first was just announced as pasta without mentioned the side dishes, the pasta came with a cream sauce Alfredo style. I skipped dinner like I do on nearly all my flights in Economy Class. As usual a beverage service was done with the meal service. I opted for a glass of white wine and a glass of water.

I had already started my laptop. Working with the nearer seat pitch was a bit difficult but not impossible. Given the short flight time, upgrading to Business Class seems to be wasted money or award miles – it was less than eight hours in flight.

Refills of wine and water were also offered followed by an offer for tea or coffee. Since I did not have a tray with a cup, the flight attendant decided to get me a proper cup from Business Class along with the chocolate served with coffee in Business Class. I do not think this was due to my status, as there was no status recognition on this flight. Not that I need this, but I have never experience this on my flights to Düsseldorf on longhaul routes.

The crew did a few beverage rounds during the night.

We flew south of Greenland on 38000 feet with a few times over 600 mph due to strong tailwinds. The screen showed an arrival in Düsseldorf at 09:05 which means we nearly made up for our delay out of Chicago. But there was still ATC in Düsseldorf and depending on the flight path into Düsseldorf we had to pass Düsseldorf and make a U turn approaching Düsseldorf from the East.

Lights were turned on at 90 minutes prior to our expected arrival into Düsseldorf and first a hot towel service was done. Later a snack box was offered with fruits, a cereal bar and a muffin. I skipped the offer like I did for the dinner after we left Chicago. I only had a coffee and water.

Refills of coffee, tea or water were this time not offered – instead quite quickly the trash was collected. The crew made the impression of a lack of coordinating the meal service.

We touched down at 09:01 and taxied to our gate, where we arrived at 09:06.

Due to the seat in the first part of the Economy Class Cabin I was able to deplane quickly and in the terminal as the US are considered as safe without need to take the stairs up. The lines at custom were quite short. I made a quick visit in the Senator Lounge to freshen up before I picked up my rental car.

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