I landed at 5:15am on my Condor flight from Cape Town. We were one of the first aircraft into Frankfurt, which was quite cool. As we pulled into the gate, I saw multiple other widebodies from the rest of the world populating the surrounding gates as well. Upon leaving the aircraft and walking up the…
Continue reading: Review: Frankfurt Airport New VIP Services Lounge
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@stvr, is that another word term a paid advertisement :p
I personally like these posts. It's very informative, especially for some who might find it useful in the future.
Wood work is great But the people who can afford this should be TAXed to dearth !!!!
Have a Nice (Fr.) Day .
Bernie 2020
That looks really nice, and 300ish EUR isnt that expensive for avoiding the nonsense that is airports these days. I find it funny that they call out that for those entitled to LH F terminal they will drive you there...if one has access to the LH F terminal I don't see much need for the VIP services.
How much did you pay for that lounge access? Or were you comped? I bet it wasn't included in your Condor ticket. Disclosure, please.
I'm so confused- who / how do you get access to this lounge? Is it paid, invite-only, or part of a network/program, etc?
Normally I observe these things and understand that some of us pay more or are entitled to more based on mileage status.
In this case I find it objectionable. I frequent FRA quite a bit and sometimes the lines for passport control after a transatlantic flight are too long. How in the world can they justify having an Officer on duty all day for a miniscule number of passengers?
Beautiful pictures. Terrible writing. I stopped reading after first four or five paragraphs. And enough with the winking faces 😉
Why do people ask questions which are answered in the article? Do you just skip through the writing and look only at the pics? Bizarre.
Interesting to see that FRA has joined the ranks of airports offering these special VIP services. The decor......well, a little kitchy for my taste. We have enjoyed these services at SIN's Changi Airport and London's Heathrow many times - makes travel enjoyable again.
The rate sheet says showers are included in all of the packages... Not sure why you'd have to "negotiate" its use.
@Nick - Ah, right. I didn't think about that. >_<
Still, it seems silly to provide all the F&B (not to mention all the other services) but not a shower, even for comped access.
@Nick @Tennen I mention in the second paragraph of the post that Frankfurt Airport set my up in the lounge before my interview, which was 4 hours after my arrival at the airport. They didn't ask for anything in return, and certainly not a blazing review of the service. I think it's good to know the airport takes care of its business guests, don't you?
Daniel you can't please everyone you know. Keep up the great work.
Some of you are miserable auld gits.
I have been using the VIP Lounge for years. Its AWESOME but expensive. Very very friendly service!! Its fantastic especially when you have a tight connection in FRA. The absolute best thing is when we travel with our Lab they let her come into the lounge.
The line about having "accessed arranged" is far from full disclosure IMO. How hard is it to say "arranged access and covered the cost?"
Surprisingly interesting review – thanks Daniel. €510 for two passengers originating in FRA for a four hour stint is not completely outrageous, for a special occasion or something like that, and of course there will be those who would be happy to pay that cost in any case. Nice service!
No no no, you reviewed something you didn't pay for. If you don't know that that's a flagrant violation of journalistic ethics then you may need a refresher.
@Rose why? who said you have to report/review only the things you paid for? so that you are not biased? I find that just to be the opposite. if you are out $400 you set yourself up for down experience.
Great pics Daniel, more of them please.
@Daniel - the issue of your questionable disclosures has come up before. "Frankfurt Airport had kindly arranged access for me..." and "Frankfurt Airport set my up..." do not clearly state that you received the services for free. The proper way to disclose items received for free is in a very direct manner, preferably at the very top of the article, right under the byline. This removes any doubt for the reader.
I don't necessarily agree that you can't review something you get comped, but as a general rule you need to have a pretty established reputation as a reviewer before you do so. If you want to see disclosure is done, look at Ben's credit card disclosures, or for a specific look at disclosing services received for free, go to the CrankyFlier website and check out the "Ethics" tab. I believe Brett's policy is the gold standard for disclosure in aviation blogs. Admittedly, Brett (and Ben) have been doing this a lot longer than you have, but it never hurts to get it right early on.
And while we're on that, your writing style has a few issues, the biggest of which is the overblown use of superlatives (which, in turn, makes your pieces read like advertisements rather than actual reviews, adding to readers' questioning your ethics.) Too many things are "stunning" and "perfection". And the "(e)verything was as fresh as it gets" description for the food is just lazy writing. Cured meats and cheeses can't be as "fresh as they get", since they are by definition not "fresh" but aged. And fruit is only "as fresh as it gets" if you literally pick it off the tree or vine and eat it immediately.
That said, there's a lot of interesting material here (and frankly, most of those rooms look hideously kitschy) and your photos are pretty good.
@Rose Daniel is a blogger not a journalist, there's a difference
Also, where I live, journalists regularly provide newspaper reviews of flights, accommodation, etc & declare that fact in each review. Here's an example (look towards the bottom of the review)
http://www.traveller.com.au/flight-test-singapore-airlines-economy-class-brisbane-to-singapore-gumpxu
I did understand that this was comped but it's not real clear, based on commenters being confused by the wording.
I don't understand why it just doesn't say straight up that this was free and covered by a certain company. This is basically trying to hide the facts.
Excuse me, but even as a non native English speaker (born and raised in Germany, living in Germany and Mexico), Daniel's statement was clear enough for me to understand immediately that Fraport services were free for him.
As it often happens in these times, the personal requirements for "political correctness" can be by far exeggerated by some people...