Lufthansa

[LadyCG]

Anyone here flown short-haul with Lufthansa recently?

We're flying to Munich next week. Am I right in thinking drinks and snacks are free?

And are they a good airline?

TIA.

[TonyV]

Bepends on what tickets you have bought LCG but yes a good airline, flown with them lots of times.

[DTCwordfan]

How's your German?

[LadyCG]

Carp, DT. I don't speak a word!

[LadyCG]

And is it a free bar, Tony?

[TonyV]

LCG don't worry think cabin crew will understand English

[Buenchico]

Staff shortages are causing problems with Lufthansa's catering at the moment. Quote:
"Unfortunately, personnel shortages at our catering service provider are currently restricting the loading of our domestic German and European flights. Therefore Lufthansa cannot provide the usual choice of drinks and meals on these flights. In particular, this affects the catering loading of Economy Class on flights between 60 and 180 minutes. Longer European or long-haul flights are not affected. The flights of our partners and Lufthansa Cityline are also not affected. We apologize for any inconvenience".

Source:
https://www.lufthansa.com/de/en/flight-information

Here's what the service is meant to be like though:
https://www.lufthansa.com/de/en/menus-on-short-and-medium-haul-flights

[TonyV]

As I said depends on your ticket, if you are not sure you could always buy some of your favourite tipple in duty free.

[Buenchico]

Skytrax rates Lufthansa as '5 star'. That puts them in the same league as world-class airlines, such as Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific. However the recent reviews show that catering is, as my quote above indicates, a major problem at the moment.

Quote 1 (posted today):
"Manchester to Bucharest via Frankfurt. After taking off we were advised that due a problem that morning they were unable to supply catering services. On entering the aircraft a Stewardess handed each passenger a small cereal bar. We were offered water, juice or cola. OK, it was a fairy short flight. Inconvenient not been able to have a coffee but at least we had a drink. We only had one hour in Frankfurt to get to a different terminal and just enough time to make the connection. After take off we were advised that due to an ongoing situation they were unable to offer their usual catering. We were all given a cheese sandwich and water, juice of cola. Having returned home I find that this situation has been ongoing for some time and would like to know why we were not advised of this sooner. We would then have been able to make prior arrangements to ensure that we had food and drinks which were acceptable to us. The Crew were all very good, pleasant and efficient. However, they should not have been put in the situation of having to explain the airlines catering problem with the passengers. We should have all been advised!"

Quote 2 (posted two days ago):
"Frankfurt to Sevilla. The catering was limited but the cabin crew managed to provide drinks. Although no alcoholic beverages were available. As a snack we got a small bag of chips".

https://www.airlinequality.com/airline-reviews/lufthansa/

[LadyCG]

We're just trying to figure how much cash to take with us for 4 nights and the flights each way.

Drinks at the airport are taken care of as we've booked one of the lounges.

[TonyV]

LCG if you are flying club or business your drinks will be free, at least they used to be.

[Buenchico]

^^^ . . . if they've actually got any on the aircraft, Tony!
(See quotes above)

[TonyV]

LCG if you know how much flights are, they are already booked? As for cash take as much as you want to spend or load a free debit card with some cash.

[TonyV]

Yes I know Chris lol

[Buenchico]

Who takes cash these days, anyway? Just use your debit cards.

[Cloverjo]

You’re not allowed to drink your duty free booze on board any flight,are you?

[TonyV]

Cloverjo depends if anyone spots you.

[LadyCG]

For some strange reason major Credit cards aren't widely accepted in Munich. We have a preloadable Revolut Card which saved us a fortune in other countries as they don't charge any commision. However, as I've been given to understand, most restaurants, bars and establishments in Munich prefer cash.

Flights, hotel, airport transfers and even our trips are all paid for so it's literally just spending money we need. Munich isn't cheap, according to reports.

I'm guessing anywhere between £500 - £1k spending money for 4 nights.

[Cloverjo]

I suppose it would be fairly easy to buy the booze, go through security, go to the loo and pour the drink into an empty water bottle. Then you don’t have to hide too much on the plane.

[Buenchico]

You can't take liquids through security, Clover. (Other than in very small containers).

Once through security, any booze purchased before a flight to Munich would be 'duty paid', rather than 'duty free'. There's nothing in law to prevent the consumption of such booze on an aircraft although, of course, each airline is free to make their own rules.

[jno]

used to be the same all over Germany, LadyCG, and may still be. Germans tend to use their own bank cards or cash rather than Visa, Mastercard etc. We were once holidaying in Bavaria and had to drive into Austria for dinner every night because they took our Visa card and the Germans didn't.
https://www.german-way.com/germanys-cash-culture-geld-stinkt-nicht/