Review #50
| Departure planned (actual) | 25.09. 19:30 (20:17) |
| Arrival planned (actual) | 26.09. 11:20 (11:50) |
| Flighttime planned (actual) | 10:50 (10:33) |
| Delay | 47 minutes at departure 30 minutes at arrival |
| Aircraft type (call sign) | A330-900 neo (D-ARND) |
| Class | Business |
| Seat | 6 A |
Content
Arrival
As you know, there are several ways to get to Frankfurt Airport. You can, of course, travel by car, take the ICE direct to the airport or use local public transport.
Departure Airport
Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport currently has two terminals, with a third under construction and being prepared for opening. Once that happens, Terminal 2 will probably be closed for a period of time for a general overhaul. You could do the same with T1, couldn’t you? What are you thinking about that?
As the country’s largest airport, it currently handles around 70 million passengers a year and is home to Lufthansas main hub.
Check-in
Condor has its own, relatively large check-in area at Frankfurt Airport in Terminal 1, Section C. This is a far cry from its big competitor Lufthansa, which is mainly located in 1A and B. There are several self-bag drop counters, some for Economy Class and a few for Business Class. But when we had a quick look, there wasn’t much going on. However, as we were only travelling with hand luggage, we were able to simply check in online and download our boarding pass via the app.
Security check
You can go through the security check in any of the terminal areas in Frankfurt and I decided to use the one in section 1A as you can leave all liquids and laptops in your suitcase or bag, which of course speeds up the actual process considerably. It wasn’t particularly busy here either, so I was through pretty quickly and on my way to the lounge.
Lounge
Condor has no lounges of its own, so it comes as no surprise that you can use the Lufthansa lounges operated by the top dog in Frankfurt. But you can only enter the Business Class lounges, not the Senator lounges, not even with the appropriate Miles & More status, as Condor is not part of the Miles & More programme, nor is it a member of the Star Alliance – in fact, it does not belong to any alliance at all.
In any case, there are two business class lounges in Frankfurt’s Terminal 1B, one floor up at each concourses end. This means that as soon as you come out of passport control, you go left or right, depending on which gate you need to go to. This flight was handeled at gate B48, so I went left to the lounge. At the end of September 2024, Oktoberfest Special was still on offer, with a selection of typical Bavarian dishes.
Boarding
And of course, after the lounge is before boarding, so I went to the gate just before boarding started. It was quite interesting to see that Condor is running a more or less aggressive upgrade promotion right before boarding.
Which means that at the check-in counter, here at the gate and also on the plane you have the opportunity to be upgraded to Condor Business Class for (I think it was 300 Euros p.p. / one way). On the one hand this is a very fair price, but on the other hand it reduces the value of the ticket a bit, doesn’t it? What do you think and have you ever used these gate or check-in upgrades? If so, on what route and at what price? Feel free to share in the comments!
For us, boarding started on time and as Condor does not have status guests, the boarding process in Group 1 started directly with the Business Class guests. After the gate we walked down a short corridor, at the end of which we boarded via two jetways. Business Class passengers could use the first and Economy Class passengers the second. This meant that fortunately not all Economy Class passengers had to go through the Business Class cabin and the Premium Class passengers could relax in their seats and settle in.
Welcome
I was greeted warmly at the door and shown to my seat. And as soon as I sat down, I was handed a refreshing towel.
Start & Routing
We took off for Bangkok about three-quarters of an hour late due to a delayed crew, and then headed straight for the west runway. You can see the approximate route in the picture below this text.
source: flightradar24
Cabin & seat
Condor divides this new aircraft into three classes, although the actual product in Economy and Premium Economy does not differ directly in terms of seating, only in terms of seat pitch. In both classes there is a 2 – 4 – 2 configuration, but at the rear of the aircraft the seats taper down to a 2 – 3 – 2 configuration in Economy Class.
The situation is quite different in the eight rows of Business Class, where the first row has what Condor calls the Prime Suite. This is the normal seat with a little more room and a real ottoman for your feet across the full width of the seat. There is always a surcharge for this seat.
Condor’s Business Class seats are arranged in a 1 – 2 – 1 configuration. They alternate between being closer to the aisle and closer to the window. In the middle they also alternate between being next to each other or next to the aisle. You can imagine it a bit like Thai Airways Business Class on their 777-300 ER.
Quelle: aeroLOPA
Seat
My seat on this flight is 6A, which is a true window seat with the stowage area separating it from the aisle. A blanket, pillow, mattress topper and slippers are already on your seat when you arrive. The latter even come in a striped Condor design.
The table is angled under the TV and releases at the touch of a button. The button was a little hard to press, but the system is extremely practical as you can pull the table all the way in and then push it back out again.
There are six different buttons built into the side console to adjust the seat to your preferred position. There are 3 preset positions and 3 buttons to adjust the seat individually.
A reading light, a set of noise-cancelling headphones, a bottle of water and the amenity kit can be found at the seat. As with many other Business Class products, the new A330-900 neo features a three-point seat belt, which must be fully fastened for take-off and landing. During the flight, however, you can remove the upper body belt and use only the lap belt.
Your footrest is located under the front seat shelf and there is storage space underneath for shoes or similar items. The side console at head height provides another small stowage area. The side of the storage area has a number of charging options.
Bed
For the first time in Condor Business Class, the seat can be converted into a fully flat bed at the touch of a button. On the older aircraft, it was always just an inclined lie-flat so this is the first time Condor has done that and it doesn’t disappoint. As for the bed, you simply place the mattress topper on your seat and will certainly be helped if you ask. However, I didn´t ask and therefor wasn´t helped.
Entertainment
Personally, I really liked the in-flight entertainment on my flight. It was very easy to use via the touchscreen and had everything I needed in terms of films, series, moving maps, etc. The only thing I would have liked to see was a few more videos about Condor itself, which were available on Lufthansa, Thai or Turkish. However, the screen can also be controlled via a small mobile control unit located in the side console next to the storage area.
By the way, I found Condor’s safety video really unsuitable. Please take a look at the YouTube review. It looks so childish and may be okay in keeping with Condor’s old product as a family holiday airline, but it doesn’t do justice to the new product.
Amenities
Condor offers its Business Class passengers a four-part series of gifts – which I think is great – I got a very useful thermal bag! But I’m a little ambivalent about the amenity kit itself.
I don’t have a problem with the contents, but the paper wrapping in which the actual items are stored destroys the value of this product a little. It’s a good idea from an environmental point of view – don’t get me wrong, but flying business class I expect something of a higher quality.
Food, drinks & snacks
Unfortunately, the service on this Condor flight really took forever. The net flight time was 10.5 hours, and as the first service is only completed after three hours, then something has gone very wrong with the process. By the time breakfast is served again, the potential sleeping time left is less than six hours. By far too little time for such a long flight.
Dinner
About an hour after take-off, we started service with warm mixed nuts and the cocktail service, followed by the starter. This was served on a tray with all the side dishes and also the cheese course. I found this rather odd and also a little impractical. The cheese is actually part of the dessert and if I want to eat it after the main course, I have a rather big problem storing everything on the table.
In addition, the starter, salad and bread choices were so large that I could have eaten all of it and been completely satisfied – and yes, that’s complaining on a high level, but still. There is simply no need for that much food.
There are 3 choices for the main course, and there is no alternative for dessert. Both courses were very tasty and certainly everything has been eaten 😉
Breakfast
90 minutes before landing, it was time for breakfast, and looking at the menu, the only hot dishes on offer were waffles and a hard-boiled egg. At least the latter was ok, but unfortunately the waffles were a complete failure – they were somehow completely soggy. As well as the standard croissant, there was also a small selection of rolls. Besides that there was no choice and everything came on one tray, regardless of whether individual guests might have not wanted certain parts of the breakfast.
Washrooms
Condor offers its Business Class passengers three lavatories on this A330-900. One at the front by the cockpit and two at the rear of the cabin, one on the right and one on the left. The rooms were nice and spacious and there was face cream and moisturiser, which is more or less standard in business class lavatories these days.
For a closer look at the toilets, check out our YouTube video.
Condor Service
I have to say I was a little disappointed with the service – it wasn’t particularly unfriendly, but certainly not warm as well. Service was also a bit slow, which really minimized the amount of sleep I got. Interestingly, the smiles got bigger as the crew realized I was taking photos and videos.
Arrival airport
I arrived at the new satellite terminal at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. Here, the train takes you to the main terminal in less than five minutes, where you can also use the express immigration lane thanks to your business class ticket. This really speeds up the process to less than five minutes, so you can collect your luggage and get into the city to explore it. But even without Fast Track, 95% of the time immigration takes no more than 10 minutes. Trust us.
Points
We award this Condor flight DE 2362 from Frankfurt to Bangkok 7 out of a possible 10 points.
We deduct one point for the armrest by the seat that can not be lowered, which can really result in restricting you in case you are tall. We also deduct one point for the somewhat lacklustre service and another for the uneven quality of the food. Apart from that, Condor Business Class is a great product and the aircraft was very quiet, new and efficient in terms of fuel consumption. This doesn’t benefit us as passengers that much, but the environment even more so, and if the airline passes on the reduced kerosene consumption in the form of lower fares, even better!
Recommendation
We can definitely recommend Condor Business Class. But it also depends a bit on how and with whom you are traveling.
If you are traveling as a couple, it would be cool if you could sit together and book the middle seats. When traveling alone or on business, we recommend the aisle or window seats (again, we mean the aisle-window seat, not the window seat) because of the extra space.
Airline Homepage
Conclusion
So let’s start with the hard product, the seat. It’s really good, but it has one major drawback if you’re like me and sit by the window. Unfortunately, unlike the armrest on the Lufthansa A350, the left armrest cannot be lowered. This can be a little restrictive. However, it is great that the table can be adjusted so flexibly and the quality of the main course was really good. In terms of service, it could have been better, but I’ll spoil it for you – I’ll be flying this product again and it was a bit better.
Our stay at Phang Nga Bay
We chose Phang Nga Bay for this stay and selected hotels on Koh Yao Yai and Koh Yao Noi. The return flight was also with Condor, just like this outward flight. The hotels we chose were Anantara Koh Yao Yai Resorts & Villas, Cape Kudu on Koh Yao Noi and TreeHouse Villas, also on Koh Yao Noi. We also stayed at the Hyatt Regency Phuket.
As always, it remains exciting. So stay tuned!
YouTube Review
Check out the review that accompanies the article on YouTube, because there’s even more to discover in this video 😉
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