TRIP REPORT | Lufthansa Economy Class A380 [upper deck] SFO-FRA + A321 FRA-OSL | LH455 & LH862

Join me on this trip from San Francisco (CA, United States) to Oslo (Norway) via Frankfurt (Germany) with Lufthansa in Economy Class. This is my return trip to Norway after an amazing week on the West Coast, and just like on the outbound trip, I flew the Lufthansa A380 in Economy Class. This time, however, I sat in the upper deck, and while the seats and food are the same as in the lower deck, the upper deck cabin does offer that significant extra: first of all, the configuration is 2-4-2 (instead of 3-4-3 in the lower deck), which is ideal for couples and makes for easier aisle access, if you choose a window seat. Furthermore, the upper deck cabin on Lufthansa's A380 is small and consists of just 35 seats, which creates a private and intimate atmosphere - it certainly didn't feel like being onboard a plane with 500+ passengers. There was also a dedicated steward serving the upper deck Economy cabin, making for a more personalized service. In addition, there are side bins next to the window seats which are very ideal for storing items, and can only be found on the upper deck. Though an extra surcharge must be paid to reserve this kind of seat, I can definitely recommend doing so, if you happen to be flying on Lufthansa's A380. Speaking about the flight: we took of from runway 28R after quite a long taxi, after which we made a right turn and enjoyed some spectatular views of the San Francisco Bay area. We then climbed to our cruising altitude and were served drinks and crackers, followed by a hot towel and then lunch - I chose the chicken which was reasonably tasty. Because they still had some food left, the steward was able to serve me a second meal - kudos for that! This time I had the pasta which was also quite tasty, needless to say I felt quite full after eating two meals! We flew over Canada and were treated to a nice sunset, before the night fell. Breakfast was served about 1.5 hours before landing as we were flying over Scotland, after which the captain made a short announcement and we started our descent. We landed on runway 25L on time, and had to go through customs and security before making our way to our connecting flight. The last leg of the trip which was from Frankfurt to Oslo was mostly uneventful, though the good weather conditions en route made for a smooth flight. The flight was originally supposed to be operated by an A320neo, but got changed to an A321 on short notice - I must say I was quite happy to be flying on one of the less common -100 series. I hope you will enjoy the video, as always feel free to leave a comment and don't forget to like and subscribe if you enjoyed it!

Date: Sunday, April 1, 2018


Some details about the flights:

LH455 SFO-FRA
Aircraft info:
*Type: Airbus A380-841
*Registration: D-AIMC
*Construction number: 044
*First flight: February 15, 2010
*Delivered: August 20, 2010
*Aircraft name: Peking / 北京
*My seat: 98K (upper deck)

Flight info:
*Scheduled departure time: 15:00
*Scheduled arrival time: 10:55 (CEST, UTC +2, arrives the following day)
*Scheduled flight time: 10h 55m
*Punctuality: on-time
*Cruising altitudes: 33000 feet, 35000 feet, 37000 feet, 38000 feet, 39000 feet


LH862 FRA-OSL
Aircraft info:
*Type: Airbus A321-131
*Registration: D-AIRP
*Construction number: 564
*First flight: November 24, 1995
*Delivered: January 31, 1996
*Aircraft name: Lüneburg
*My seat: 11F

Flight info:
*Scheduled departure time: 13:15
*Scheduled arrival time: 15:10
*Scheduled flight time: 1h 55m
*Punctuality: on-time
*Cruising altitude: 32000 feet