1.To utilise miles accrued on bmi Diamond Club. BD and LH are Star Alliance members, so miles can be redeemed on each other (and other airlines beside, of course)
2.The LH First Class product is unique in the ground services offered, specifically the First Class terminal, restricted for use only by First Class pax and HON Circle members of LHs frequent flyer scheme (ultra-high status akin to V50, perhaps)
3.The UK APD tax is now so ridiculously high for premium cabins, plus the fuel surcharge, that for two people, like us, the cost saving can total 200 just for starting your longhaul trip in another country. The taxes on this flight were 77 each, less than the APD element alone if we had started our trip in London.
We booked two one-way reward tickets in first, from Frankfurt (FRA) to Mexico City (MEX). These cost 45k miles each plus 77 in taxes. When redeeming on Star Alliance carriers, it is only 1.5 times economy fare for business, and 2 times economy for first (except for SQ I believe).
To begin our trip we flew from LHR to FRA with BA. This was on a separate ticket, so even though there was a 3 hour connection and FRA is supposed to be quite good for connections, it was still a bit of a worry. Luckily our flight left only slightly late, perhaps 30 mins, and amazingly our bags came through very quickly in FRA.
We transferred to Terminal 1 easily by tram link and began hunting for LH desks. I knew that they would arrange transport to the First Class Terminal (FCT) but we needed to find appropriate LH people first. We walked around a bit and located a massive LH checkin area. There were rows of desks for economy and business, one desk for first, and a separate area over to the side labelled Priority Checkin for first. They checked us, sliding the boarding passes into cardboard red holders and affixing large priority tags on our cases. The cases were then removed by an assistant as there was no conveyor belt in this area. There were seats to wait for the chauffeur who arrived to transport us with a couple of others to the FCT.
As you enter the FCT, I think there were checkin facilities to the right for those who go there directly from outside the airport. We were met by a representative who guided us. We walked straight on where there were two security channels, loads of staff and no queues whatsoever (a bit like London City Airport, but with better decorations!).
Once through our rep gave us a brief overview of the facilities and then left us to our own devices. She took our passports and boarding cards and said she would return half an hour before departure to collect us the passports would be handed to Border Police who wait at the exit of the FCT.
We went for some food first. There was an excellent buffet selection with a variety of hot and cold dishes, desserts, appetisers. Some items on the menu, such as Steak and Salad, were prepared fresh on ordering. When Odeta asked for champagne, she was given a long list of options and chose the Bollinger. I had a beer. Classy!
I wanted to have a shower to freshen up after the connecting flight, so headed down to the showers and was led to a vacant bathroom. This was huge and stylish. Mood music played gently in the background and the light level could be set as desired. The bathroom had a WC, large mirrors, a hair dryer, and a great rainfall shower.
Suitably refreshed, I returned to find Odeta still sipping champagne. Leaving the dining area, we took a seat facing out to the aircraft, and it wasnt long before we were collected by the rep and taken down to the exit area. We were handed our passports by the border police, and after a short wait we got in a Merc people carrier and were driven across the apron towards our plane. It was quite surreal to stop and wait for a large jet to trundle by at one stage. We reached our 747, left the car and walked toward the large airbridge structure, which we entered, and then climbed steps to take us up to the plane door.
Onboard, we were directed upstairs. The cabin has four rows of four seats, set out 2-2. We were on the left side, in the third row, the exit row you might say, although all rows have huge amounts of space in front of them. The seat was like a big old fashioned arm chair style seat, with electric controls which could take it right back to horizontal (I think i dont think I actually did this at any point).
The flight was 12 hours and i cant remember every detail of every aspect. I could summarise by saying the service was efficient, perhaps not overly friendly, but certainly left the impression that the crew were experienced and a generally reliable bunch.
The drink was more than acceptable. The champagne on board was Piper Cuvee Rare, which went down very easily, and in large quantities.
The food was, as far as I recall, good. It was more than a month ago and I cannot remember the details. There was definitely caviar at the beginning of the first meal which was very pleasant.
The IFE worked well. It was touchscreen AVOD and worked flawlessly throughout the 12 hour flight. I watched a couple of movies in between sleep and food. It could perhaps do with having a bigger screen.
There were no pyjamas, but they did hand out a Van Laack rugby shirt which was gratefully received. There were male and female varieties (very similar as far as I can tell). The amenity kits, dare I mention them, also came in boy/girl versions. Mine contained Clarins Men moisture gel amongst several other useful and quality items. Odeta had a hairbrush/mirror accessory which she declared marvellous.
I seem to recall our arrival into MEX was efficient enough, immigration and baggage did not take long and we had soon located an authorised taxi which sped off at an alarming rate to our hotel, the Sheraton Centro Historico. I recommend this hotel, by the way. Our $200 rate gave us a 560 sq ft corner room with wall to ceiling windows looking over the park, free high speed internet access, superb buffet breakfast included and it was all booked directly on Starwoods website. Great location too.
