Lufthansa 1st class to Sweden: The planning & changes – Part 1
Lufthansa 1st class to Sweden: Outbound from South Bend – Part 2
Lufthansa 1st class to Sweden: The Westin Chicago & UBER Black & SUV – Part 3
Lufthansa 1st class to Sweden: Outbound from Chicago & United Global 1st lounge Chicago O’Hare International Airport – Part 4
Lufthansa 1st class to Sweden: The brand new and amazing Boeing 747-8 & 1st class seating & experience – Part 5
Lufthansa 1st class to Sweden: The 1st class terminal in Frankfurt – Part 6
Lufthansa 1st class to Sweden: A Porsche ride & domestic business class – Part 7
Lufthansa 1st class to Sweden: Outbound from Gothenburg Sweden & business class to Munich Germany- Part 8
Lufthansa 1st class to Sweden: A Mercedes ride and the 1st class lounge in Munich – Part 9
Lufthansa 1st class to Sweden: The Airbus A330 & 1st class experience – Part 10
Lufthansa 1st class to Sweden: An overnight in Toronto Canada at the SPG Four Points by Sheraton – Part 11
Lufthansa 1st class to Sweden: The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge- Part 12
Lufthansa 1st class to Sweden: United business class back to Chicago & South Bend Indiana – Part 13
Lufthansa 1st class to Sweden: Final thoughts & Delta comparison – Part 14

I can emphatically state that flying with United 100% lived up to my expectations. That is, my expectations were ridiculously low and United met those very low expectations. After all, with my first interactions out of SBN to start this journey they attempted to charge me for more than 1 bag on a 1st class ticket. But on to this trip.

Boarding began with a bit of a wait in the jet bridge because the aircraft did not have any power. It was raining so I guess that could have been it!

Then a bit of a tour of the 737’s business class seats. They were OK but dated. Not an ample amount of leg room, but then again most domestic Delta birds have similar space in business.

One thing I really disliked was the IFE box RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of where my feet go. What brilliant engineer thought this one up, I ask you?

Speaking of IFE, it was less than impressive. It came and went and had lots of hiccups. I mean, if you are going to take my foot room then you should at least work, right? Delta can learn from the tilt screen idea as the new Delta 737-900’s we know have fixed screens in the seat backs.

There were power ports so that was nice to see.

We were served a warm scone. Nice to see but it was extremely dry.

The flight was uneventful and the service really was fine to good even. The FA was kind and helpful. However once landing not so much.

We first went to the UA 1st class lounge to see if there were less bugs than our last visit on the way out. We were told to go away as Lufthansa does not pay United for return trips, even when connecting to another Star Alliance flight, and so we would have to leave and try the business class lounge. We did that but they said NO, but could sell us a visit for $35. Really – we were flying 1st class! No thanks we went to the Skyclub. Thanks for another #FAIL United!

Then we boarded our ERJ ride back to South Bend and a nice view of airport.

Then another neat view of downtown and Soldier Field as well.

The ERJ was as beat up as the one we were on outbound from SBN but at least they did not try to up-sell EC seats again!

Finally we made it back to South Bend and the ONLY thing that we saw on the luggage belt was the Lufthansa ducks!

I then had to turn to the United SBN folks – JOY – and guess what, United had NO IDEA where any of my bags were. The last scan they said was in Gothenburg! Really? I saw them digitally in YYZ that morning. They said they would start a ticket and deliver them when found. After a day and a worthless tweet to United they still had no idea where my bags were. It took two days for my bags to show up. Thanks United!

That just about wraps up this trip. In the final post I will share how I paid for the trip, some good things that happened and some comparisons with Delta. – René

Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer.

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