Germany

Quote: Canyonero

That is pretty convenient, but it is also 12 hours in a sardine tin. And I can't really recommend Lufthansa anymore either. The golden days of airtravel seem to be over.

In economy.

If you can afford business or 1st class, it varies between luxurious and sybaritic. We've been talking about this in various threads here and there.

Quote: Canyonero

Concerning the Reichstag, you may notice the word "Reich" from "Third Reich" in there. This sounded very weird to me at first, because the only connotations for that word (as a noun) are Nazis and the "Kaiserzeit" at the end of the 19th century. I would have expected them to change the name when they put the parliament back in there. Now I have gotten used to it...

I thought "reich" generally meant rich, but has a lot of other similar uses. When used in the "third reich" I thought it meant an age or prosperity or something like that.

Trivia time! What were the first and second reichs?

Quote: Nareed

Really, Wizard, did you fly on Condor? How was it?

Quite nice. I must confess that when I saw that business class didn't cost that much more than economy I splurged for it. It is hard to complain about any international business class but they really took care of you in Condor business. It was hard to believe the food was airplane food. I'm not a wine expert but normally airplanes give you cheap stuff but they had some very nice bottles on Condor. A flight attendant complimented my Ampel Man t-shirt. Oh, and you know how sometimes they pass out magazines. They had the German edition of Playboy as one option. You would never see that on a domestic flight here.

My only complaints were I had to take an economy airline called Air Berlin from Berlin (Tegel) to Frankfurt. They don't work as in the US where you can just check in whenever you want there but you have to wait for your flight to be called. There were signs above the check in area showing what flight they were checking in for. Then you go through a door right by the check in and you're practically by the gate. Actually the gate leads to a bus that takes you to the plane. Pretty efficient, I must say, but then again, it is Germany, so what do you expect.

The gate in Frakfurt was a bit hard to find and really far from where I came in from Tegel. Do not dally if you ever have to make a connection in Frankfurt. That is a huge airport.

Quote: Wizard

I thought "reich" generally meant rich, but has a lot of other similar uses. When used in the "third reich" I thought it meant an age or prosperity or something like that.

You are correct, the verb "reich" means rich, but the noun means empire.

Quote: Wizard

Trivia time! What were the first and second reichs?

Trivia, eh? Spoiler tags then...

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Oh, and you know how sometimes they pass out magazines. They had the German edition of Playboy as one option. You would never see that on a domestic flight here.

I knew you'd mention this. I knew it.

BTW, it's almost the same comment as in the aviation blogs "They'd never do that it in the US," or a variant thereof.

Big Question: did you "read" it?

Quote: Wizard

Quite nice. I must confess that when I saw that business class didn't cost that much more than economy I splurged for it. It is hard to complain about any international business class but they really took care of you in Condor business. It was hard to believe the food was airplane food. I'm not a wine expert but normally airplanes give you cheap stuff but they had some very nice bottles on Condor.

The standard for business class, not to mention 1st, on most airlines is restaurant-quality food (assuming a good restaurant) and top shelf wine and spirits. airlines that boast higher quality, and one assumes higher prices, will boast of some renowned chef or an association with some restaurant with a good Michelin Guide rating.

Quote:

My only complaints were I had to take an economy airline called Air Berlin from Berlin (Tegel) to Frankfurt.

Most flights to Germany seem to head to Frankfurt and Munich rather than Berlin. This seems odd until you recall most flights to the US from Europe head to NYC, Houston, LA, and so on, with rather few to Washington.

Quote: Nareed

Most flights to Germany seem to head to Frankfurt and Munich rather than Berlin. This seems odd until you recall most flights to the US from Europe head to NYC, Houston, LA, and so on, with rather few to Washington.

Plus, until 25 years ago, West-Berlin was an enclave with nowhere to go by land, and few connections east (cold war). So traditionally it was a regional airport.

Also, you may not have heard about the new Berlin airport desaster. And I shouldn't bring it up lest I destroy the myth of German efficiency. Well, just this little nugget:

Nine years and 4.5 billion Euros into construction engineers are calculating whether demolishing everything and starting from scratch might by cheaper than trying to fix things. The new, big, international Berlin airport was supposed to open in 2011.

Quote: Nareed

I knew you'd mention this. I knew it.

You know me too well. However, I think almost any heterosexual American man would be taken aback by this. Here it is still considered a guilty pleasure to enjoy Playboy and it would almost never be done in the company of decent women. That is almost certainly why the magazine going to do away with nudity, for the perceived respectability.

Since the magazine was in German I was forced to just look at the pictures, as discretely as I possibly could.

Quote:

The standard for business class, not to mention 1st, on most airlines is restaurant-quality food (assuming a good restaurant) and top shelf wine and spirits. airlines that boast higher quality, and one assumes higher prices, will boast of some renowned chef or an association with some restaurant with a good Michelin Guide rating.

I've flown business on American and United and didn't think the food or wine was on the same level as Condor. The amount of space I had was much less too. My advice -- when flying internationally, all other things being equal, don't choose an American-owned airline.

Quote:

Most flights to Germany seem to head to Frankfurt and Munich rather than Berlin.

I've not seen many flying into Munich, but have never been there so don't claim to be an expert. Frankfurt has a nice central location in Germany going for it. With all the banks there, I imagine their airport is used a lot relative to the population of the city.

Quote: Canyonero

Nine years and 4.5 billion Euros into construction engineers are calculating whether demolishing everything and starting from scratch might by cheaper than trying to fix things. The new, big, international Berlin airport was supposed to open in 2011.

Nice to know it isn't just us that run horribly over-budget and behind schedule on huge government projects.

Quote: Wizard

You know me too well. However, I think almost any heterosexual American man would be taken aback by this.

If by taken aback you mean pleasantly shocked, I would agree ;)

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Since the magazine was in German I was forced to just look at the pictures, as discretely as I possibly could.

You realize that's the first time ever a man has ever admitted not "reading" Playboy for the articles? ;)

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I've flown business on American and United and didn't think the food or wine was on the same level as Condor. The amount of space I had was much less too. My advice -- when flying internationally, all other things being equal, don't choose an American-owned airline.

American recently revamped its 777 fleet with a very nice setup. Their 767s were very outdated. I suppose the new 787s will also be nicely appointed. I'm not sure what United's been doing. Delta tends to receive low marks for failing at a score of little details.

And in no case does any of this imply anything about the quality of the food.

Them too, overall the European and especially the Asian airlines are known for their top-notch service.

Quote: Wizard

Personally, if we must spend taxpayer money on huge projects, I'd rather see it going to rail travel. It is so nice in Europe to easily travel by train anywhere at cheap prices.

I always hear stories of how you at one time could travel from NYC to Chicago on just streetcar networks, city to city. I think the problem is in Europe people more live in cities and not suburbs. Every time I think of travel by rail the issue is the stops are nowhere near where I need to be when I get there so not worth it. Uber may change that a little, but for me anyways it has just not made as much sense. Might make more in the northeast corridor.

Posts about the Las Vegas airport have been split off.