TRIP REPORT: Lufthansa, Belgrade – Tokyo via Frankfurt

There was a dog near the queue, which brought a little bit of a positive atmosphere. 🙂

After checking in, I went to the airport security and I don’t know if it’s just me, but the security area still looks unfinished (as far as I know it is), and quite unpleasant :/ . Feel free to tell me in the comments your opinion on it (since this was my first time ever flying out of BEG, I don’t know how it looked before Vinci took over). The security and passport control were fast and efficient. Though, a man working at the security was a bit grumpy, but I still didn’t allow that to ruin my mood. I also forgot to mention that my luggage was checked all the way to Tokyo.

I would love for that departure board to be operational again one day

After passing the security, and that duty-free construction maze (which was honestly quite a unique experience), I went to my gate and waited for boarding to start. What was also surprising for me was that we were boarding in groups. I didn’t know that airlines do that since I only flew once before in my life and it was with Ryanair. Boarding started about half an hour before the scheduled time of departure, and it was smooth. After a pushback, and a short taxi to the runway, we departed right on time at 06:45 am. You’ll see a little surprise about this aircraft after we land, here is a little sneak peek. 🙂

Look at that golden sunrise takeoff.

Cabin crew started “breakfast” service, 10 minutes after takeoff. They first handed us a bottle of water, and then a few minutes later they gave us a little chocolate bar. They actually skipped me, as I was trying to sleep. Since I couldn’t, I asked them after the service if they had any chocolate bars left, and the flight attendant was so lovely that she gave me three pieces instead of one. 🙂

There were also usb-a and usb-c slots available.

The rest of the flight was uneventful, though the landing was a bit hard due to winds in

Frankfurt. We arrived around 10 minutes ahead of schedule.

Approaching Frankfurt Airport

There’s that little surprise I was talking about earlier, I didn’t even know that Lufthansa had that plane

Five hours might seem like a lot for transfer, but considering the size and what the airport has to offer, it actually flew by. I ate some German pretzels and spent a little bit of time at McDonald’s, which was conveniently located near my gate. The rest of the transfer time was spent only on planespotting. Mostly 747s, since FRA is the kingdom of 747s (or should I say queendom), and also some other rare birds, like the A340’s. 🙂

After some great planespotting, it was time to go back to my gate and board the plane. There were options to upgrade to higher classes right before boarding, but the fares were unbelievably high in my opinion. €420 economy to premium economy, €1150 economy to business, and €850 premium economy to business class. Pushback started about 20 minutes after the scheduled time, and after 15 minutes of taxiing, we took off.

Twenty minutes after take off, the cabin crew handed out menu cards and headphones. Ten minutes after that, they started lunch service with mini crackers. After another ten minutes, they gave us our meals, though I noticed that they started serving a small number of passengers first. I assume that those people pre-ordered their meals online since Lufthansa offered that option. Forgot to mention, there was also a pillow and a blanket on every seat.

I chose beef-gyu with apple soy sauce. (I forgot to take off the foil for the photo) 🙁

The meal was very tasty, I was surprised at how good it was. After finishing our meals, the crew handed us a 0.5l bottle of water for the night. The flight was generally smooth, except for little turbulence above Kazakhstan. Snacks and chocolate bars were available at any time at the galley.

Since the flight departed on February 9th in Europe, because of the time difference, we were flying above China on February 10th. Which was actually the date of the Chinese New Year, and I remember even seeing fireworks at about 7 am. Really once in a lifetime experience.

Beijing Capital International Airport

About an hour after the spectacular fireworks, the crew started breakfast service with hot towels. It felt so luxurious even though it was not a real towel, but still. Half an hour after the hot towel refreshment, breakfast was served. One option was available this time (scrambled eggs with chives and spinach, fruit yogurt and a little chocolate bar). The breakfast, however, was slightly less tasty than the lunch was. The eggs were runny and felt like they’d been undercooked. Except for that, the rest of the breakfast was good.

I wanted to share with you how fast we were flying after we left mainland China. Those tailwinds around Japan and China are crazy. Also, I need to say that there is something wrong with Lufthansa’s IFE. The left earpiece didn’t work when I tried to watch something on my IFE. Then I asked the crew if they could give me another pair of headphones, because I thought that they were not working. After they handed me another pair, I plugged them again, and still, the left earpiece didn’t work. I also tried IFE on the seat next to me, since it was not occupied the entire flight, and both headphones had issues with those two IFE screens.

About 45 minutes after breakfast we started descending towards Haneda Airport, and soon enough we landed. The views during landing were amazing, and so were the views during taxiing.

Landing and taxiing at Haneda Airport

HND Airport, Terminal 3

. JAT crew on duty in Japan. 🙂

Conclusion: I didn’t have many expectations, since a lot of people only had bad words about Lufthansa lately, and I was honestly positively surprised. Their crew is absolutely fantastic, they’re very positive and polite. I was also impressed by the legroom, I am 184 cm tall, and had plenty of space. The seats were big, and very comfortable. It wasn’t flawless, there was an issue with the IFE, and the breakfast also had one flaw. But considering the price and that you have 2 pieces of checked luggage plus cabin luggage, I think that they’re okay. Turkish Airlines also offers two pieces of checked luggage for about the same price, so they are probably a better option, but I wanted to fly on a 747. It’s up to you to decide between “lux” flying or flying on a unique aircraft. Air France doesn’t even offer any checked luggage for a much bigger price. I also chose LH, since it flies to HND which is much closer to the city (I randomly booked a hotel and had a direct metro line from the airport to the hotel xD).

Thank you for reading this trip report, I hope you’ve enjoyed. 🙂

I also wanted to share how a Japanese passport stamp (or rather a sticker) looks like