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Part 3: Frankfurt Airport American Admiral's Club / Lufthansa First Class Terminal
The gate agent was pretty nice in giving instructions on getting to the Admiral's Club in Terminal C one level up. Since it was landside, I could access it without having to clear through security and I have a membership there still (for another half year). I made a quick stop inside and it is very spacious. There was a bathroom for men, one for women and two shower facilities. The first lounge room was a telephone free zone that could hold about forty passengers. The second room was where the bar was kept with snacks/drinks and a few tables to sit/dine. The last room was open and lead to a business center alcove with 2 computers. I tried to access the wifi but it required a card. I asked the receptionist/agent for one and I could not get it to work. I chatted with here for a bit and she is returning soon after 22 years with the company. She was born in Peru but married a German and has two sisters living in the US. She will be able to keep her employee travel benefits after retirement.
View of the AA Check-In counter
E
Entrance
This dude was dead tired
Lounge Area
The amount of frequencies at the FRA airport for American has dropped dramatically. The ORD flight is no longer operating and the Boeing 777 out of DFW is now a Boeing 767. The Admiral's Club will close in March and the premium passengers will be using the Japan Airlines lounge after the closure. She was very sad that a lot of her colleagues will lose their jobs after the club has been open 22 years in March. I bid her farewell and I told her I was heading towards the Lufthansa First Class Lounge.
First Class Terminal
The backdoor way to the Terminal
Private Check-In Area
Front Waiting Area
I had the instructions printed out ahead of time on how to find the lounge coming from the main airport. The lounge is intended for passengers originating from Frankfurt traveling on Lufthansa group flights all over the world. The walk took about five minutes and I arrived at the back entrance on the ground floor of the lounge. I buzzed the bell and was told someone would come down to fetch me. Another passenger came up and is traveling to Denver. The Personal Assistant came down to open the door for us and took our passports/boarding cards. I snapped a few quick photos before going through security with only one passenger ahead of me. It was a very civilized process (no screaming or yelling from TSA agents that I have grown accustomed to thus far) and it did not take long.
The lounge is very nice and has a lot of great amenities… two day rooms for resting/sleep (I occupied one for quite a while), 4 laptop computer stations/rooms (internet was very slow), 4 bath/shower rooms, other stand-alone shower rooms, three restrooms (male, female, and disabled), cigar room, a bar area, a restaurant/buffet set up and several comfortable chairs for lounging around on. Wifi required asking for 2 hour block of T-mobile access cards and I had to get more after my time expired. The restaurant had both a site down/order your food of the menu option along with a buffet spread of various hot options and desserts. The overall lounge/terminal is very nice and classy making Lufthansa having one of the best ground services (wish Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific would do more for ground services).
The Personal Assistant came back to give me my boarding passes, told me my Passport was held hostage (they were holding it for me until departure time), and told me that my checked baggage was accounted for. By that time, it was about 11AM and I signed up to take a bath. The wait time took about 45 minutes and I surfed on the internet, ate some food/dessert, used the computer work station, checked email, and played Scrabble until she told me that it was my turn. I took about 90 minutes to use the bathroom. They had soaps, bathrobe, a rubber ducky, shampoos, tooth brush/paste, shaving kit and plenty of towels. I filled the bathtub up with water, salts, and foam soap and soaked in there for a good hour. I used a towel as a pillow to rest my head on the rim of the bathtub. It was very peaceful and relaxing to soak up the heat and surfing the internet on my iPod at the same time. By the time I got really wrinkled, I unplugged the tub and hopped in the shower to actually clean myself. Afterwards, I slipped into the bathroom and got my shaving done/get ready for the rest of the day and the next flight.
When I was finished, a new attendant was there and he was not as nice as the other lady before him. He asked me if I needed him to wake me up but I told him that I was not going to sleep much. I then went back to the day room I kept on reserve and dropped my bags in there before heading back to the buffet area to pick up more food to eat. I asked for another couple of wifi cards and a Diet Coke from the bar before settling down to eat, finishing up my episode of Family Guy, and caught up on blogging/posting. After that, I walked around a bit to snap more pictures and relocated to the main lounge to do my surfing, ate more food (the stir fry is darn good!) and relax. Then it was finally my time to go on my next flight via a chauffeured Porsche.
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