Short Flights with Good Views: Review of Lufthansa A321-200 Economy Flights BUD-MUC and MUC-ZAG
The Lufthansa A321-200 which took me from Budapest to Munich and then from Munich to Zagreb. Photo by: Evan Berman
After my time in Budapest, I headed to Munich for the Starkbierfest. To get there, the only non-stop was on Lufthansa and since award availability is good for last minute Lufthansa Group bookings, I redeemed 6,500 United Miles and $35. After the brief but incredible time in Munich, it was off to Split, Croatia with a stop in the capital city, Zagreb. Once again, I transferred Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to United to book, this time at the price of 6,000 United Miles and $48.80.
Both flights were approximately 1 hour long and with no meal service, I spent most of my time enjoying the beautiful scenery below, especially of the Alps as we flew from Munich to Zagreb. In all, Lufthansa Economy is perfectly acceptable, though not worth the $170-$200 per flight that was being charged. Thankfully, I made use of my points to make these flights much cheaper!
These flight reviews are part of the Eastern European Experience. For more information on the trip, follow these links:
Flight: United Economy Class B737-800 CHS-ORD-SEA
Centurion Lounge, The Club SEA, and United Club: SEA Lounges
Flight: Turkish Airlines Business Class B787-9 SEA-IST
Istanbul Airport’s Famous Turkish Airlines Business Class Lounge and IGA Pop Up Lounge
Flight: Turkish Airlines Business Class B737 MAX 8 IST-BUD
Hotel: Ramada by Wyndham Budapest City Center
SkyCourt Lounge, Plaza Premium SkyCourt, and Platinum Lounge (Schengen): BUD Lounges
Flight: Lufthansa Economy Class A321-200 BUD-MUC and MUC-ZAG (This Article)
24 Hours in Munich
Starkbierfest Munich
Hotel: H+ Munchen (Wyndham)
Lufthansa Business Class Lounge MUC
Flight: Croatian Airlines Economy Class Dash 8 and ATR 72-600 (Twin-Prop Plane) ZAG-SPU-ZAG-SJJ-ZAG-BEG
2 Days in Split, Croatia, the Beauty of the Adriatic
Delicious Food in Split
Hotel Vestibul Palace in Split, Croatia, a Small Luxury Hotel of the World (Hyatt)
Primeclass Lounge ZAG
6 Hours in Zagreb
Wine Tasting and Learning about Croatian Feelings
2 Days in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Restaurants in Sarajevo
Hotel Aziza Sarajevo (AABooking)
Business Lounge SJJ
Air Serbia Premium Lounge and Business Club: BEG Lounges
Flight: Swiss Airlines Economy Class Embraer E190-E2 and A220-300 BEG-ZRH-LJU
2 Amazing Days in Ljubljana, Slovenia
Food Scene in Ljubljana
Day Trip around Slovenia: Postojna Cave, Predjama Castle, Bled Castle, and Lake Bled
Hotel Emonec Ljubljana, Slovenia (Rocketmiles)
Flight: Air Serbia Economy Class ATR 72-600 and A319-100 LJU-BEG-SKP
1.5 Days in Belgrade, Serbia
Restaurants in Belgrade
Hotel: Hyatt Regency Belgrade (Hyatt)
3 Hours in Skopje, North Macedonia
Primeclass Lounge SKP
Flight: Wizz Air Economy Class A321-200 SKP-MXP
14 Hours in Milan and Monza, Italy
Hotel de la Ville Monza, Italy, a Small Luxury Hotel of the World (Hyatt)
Sala Montale and Emirates Lounge MXP
Flight: Emirates First Class A380-800 MXP-JFK
Conclusion
BUD-MUC:
Flight Info:
Route: BUD-MUC (Budapest, Hungary’s Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport to Munich, Germany’s Franz Josef Strauss Munich International Airport)
Date: Saturday, March 18, 2023
Flight: LH 1677 (Lufthansa)
Plane: Airbus A321-200
Seat: 11F (Economy Window, Exit Row)
Upgrades: N/A, no Star Alliance Status
Est. Departure: 1:20pm local time (8:20am EDT)
Taxiing: 1:10pm local time (8:10am EDT)
Takeoff: 1:17pm local time (8:17am EDT)
Gate: A5 (Main Terminal, Schengen Zone)
Est. Arrival: 2:35pm local time (9:35am EDT)
Touchdown: 2:18pm local time (9:18am EDT)
Arrived at Gate: 2:24pm local time (9:24am EDT)
Gate: Bus stand (Terminal 2)
Pricing:
Flight: I booked a non-stop one-way flight from Budapest to Munich for 6,500 United Mileage Plus Miles and $35. The timing allowed me to arrive in the early afternoon, with time to relax and explore before heading to the beer hall for merriment!
Earnings: 175 AmEx Membership Rewards Points (5x on Flights using the AmEx Platinum Card)
Booking:
I booked using United miles after searching for flights on Google Flights and finding them expensive. United’s economy intra-Europe awards are the cheapest mileage-wise and in terms of taxes and fees. For reference, Air Canada would have offered the ticket for 10,000 miles and likely $85-$100 in taxes and fees, while Avianca LifeMiles would have been 7,500 miles and $85 or so in taxes and fees.
Economy fares in Europe can be expensive, so this is a great way to save– especially since awards guarantee you a free checked bag while some cash fares would add that on top of the price of the ticket. The Lufthansa Group in particular (Austrian Airlines, Swiss Airlines, Lufthansa, and Brussels Airlines) is great about releasing all seats for sale to partner awards as the departure time nears. It is a decent strategy to wait until the last minute to book awards within Europe if you are somewhat flexible on time!
The cash price of the award was $202, so I redeemed my Chase points (transferred to United) for $2.57 cents per point! (202-35)/6,500*100= 2.567
Lounges:
I arrived to the airport early and was able to visit all 3 Schengen Zone lounges (SkyCourt Lounge, Plaza Premium SkyCourt, and Platinum Lounge Schengen) prior to departure. My favorite by far was the Platinum Lounge and I would recommend you visit this lounge if you travel through BUD. For more information on the lounges including a full review of each, check out the previous article in this series, the Lounges at BUD.
Recap:
The flight was overall quite uneventful. Unlike the majority of the flights on this trip, we did not fly over the Alps affording breathtaking views. Instead, I had to suffer with the terrible sights of German hillside views! One advantage of this is that the flight was much smoother than others which have to deal with the flight paths and weather patterns being adjusted for these giant mountains. That said, I’d trade turbulence to get those views!
The A321-200 we flew has a setup of 3-3 seats in Business and 3-3 in Economy. The only difference (excluding the bulkhead row 1 which has significantly more legroom and is the best row on the plane) is that the middle seat in Business Class is blocked off– otherwise the seats on European carriers (excluding Turkish and Aeroflot) are the same as in economy when flying a narrowbody plane, with better meals and service.
Meals:
As with most domestic US flights and intra-EU flights, there was no meal service in Economy. We did; however, receive a Lufthansa-branded chocolate and quality bottle of water.
Sleep:
I did not sleep at all on this short daytime flight.
Experience:
This short daytime flight was quite easy. The flight was about half-full, so there was plenty of room to get comfortable even in economy on a narrow-body plane. Despite taking off 3 minutes behind schedule (which seems like an eternity for a German airline), we touched down 17 minutes early, after a quick 1 hour and 1 minute flight. After eating in the lounges prior to the flight, I was not concerned that the only food we received was a small chocolate. Pretty soon I would be tasting authentic Bavarian food!
Customs:
As this was an intra-Schengen flight, there were no customs. Much like with a domestic US flight, I got off the plane and headed to the baggage claim. As is common outside of the US, we landed at a bus gate. Business Class passengers took the first bus, then the economy passengers filled up and departed on the next one. After a 3 minute drive to the terminal, we headed up to the Terminal 2 departures area where I exited the secure zone and waited only 5 minutes for my bag to arrive.
Bags and Arrival:
From there, I headed to the U-bahn (metro) station and was extremely disappointed when the train left 1 minute behind schedule!
Fortunately, the train ride in was quite smooth and easy, although I was disappointed that there were no electrical outlets to charge my phone– 38 minutes later I got off the train and walked the 7 minutes to my hotel.
MUC-ZAG:
After a wonderful time at the Starkbierfest in Munich, it was all too quickly time to continue on with the trip. The next destination would be Split, Croatia, and I once again flew a Lufthansa A321-200 in Economy to Zagreb, before continuing on to Split with fellow Star Alliance member Croatia Airlines. This was another short flight and a perfectly pleasant experience.
Flight Info:
Route: MUC-ZAG (Munich, Germany’s Franz Josef Strauss Munich International Airport to Zagreb, Croatia’s Zagreb Franjo Tuđman Airport)
Date: Sunday, March 19, 2023
Flight: LH 1726 (Lufthansa)
Plane: Airbus A321-200
Seat: 8A (Main Cabin Window)
Upgrades: N/A, no Star Alliance Status
Est. Departure: 12:05pm local time (7:05am EDT)
Taxiing: 12:09pm local time (7:09am EDT)
Takeoff: 12:26pm local time (7:26am EDT)
Gate: H30 (Terminal 2, Schengen Zone)
Est. Arrival: 1:10pm local time (8:10am EDT)
Touchdown: 1:11pm local time (8:11am EDT)
Arrived at Gate: 1:17pm local time (8:17am EDT)
Gate: 17 (Main Terminal, International Departures)
Pricing:
While I did not screenshot the cash price for this particular flight, once again this short flight was surprisingly expensive, at $170 for a flight of less than 1 hour. As such, it was cheaper to book this flight and the subsequent Croatia Airlines ZAG-SPU (Split, Croatia) flight separately ($71.47). I transferred 6,000 Ultimate Rewards Points from Chase to United and paid $48.80. With a price of $170, this was an easy way to get 2.02 cents per point! (170-48.8)/6,000*100= 2.02.
Booking:
I transfered Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to United in order to book this award. The total required was 6,000 miles and I already had over 5,000. Chase requires a minimum transfer of 1,000 points, so I transferred that amount. Instantly, I received 2 emails– the first informing me of my transfer request and the second confirming that the transfer was completed. I then was able to purchase the award using my AmEx Platinum Card to pay for the $48.80 in taxes and fees. United is a great program (you won’t hear me say positive things about them frequently! 😉 ) for booking Economy awards within Europe as the partner award rates are low at between 5,000 and 9,000 miles and United does not pass along the high fuel surcharges that the Lufthansa Group airlines have, unlike Turkish, ANA, and others.
Lounges:
I visited the Lufthansa Business Lounge located near G28 in the Schengen Terminal 2. As a reminder, your AmEx Platinum gives access to most Lufthansa Business Lounges when flying on certain Lufthansa group airlines (Lufthansa, Swiss, or Austrian, but not Brussels Airlines or Croatia Airlines). If you are flying in Business or First Class on one of the above airlines, you have access to the Senator Lounges.
These lounges, in keeping with their German ownership, are always quiet and have muted tones. These Lufthansa Lounges are the most “Business” Business Class Lounges I have visited. The food was decent and I loved pouring a Späten beer from the tap! The water was very tasty and it was clear it was being purified.
A full review of this lounge will expand on access, food, and drinks.
Recap:
It took 45 minutes to get from my hotel to the airport via Uber as many roads were closed off near where I was staying and traffic was bad. That said, despite arriving at the airport just 55 minutes in advance, I was able to drop off my checked bag and get through security in under 7 minutes! After a brief stop in the Lufthansa Business Class Lounge, we boarded through a proper jet bridge this time, and I was ready for my short flight of just under 1 hour.
Boarding started at 11:50am and was complete at 12:01pm– quite efficient! This flight was once again sparsely populated which undoubtedly helped. There were some clouds in Munich but it was otherwise a bright sunny day and the views of the Alps were spectacular. I was glued to the window for almost the entire flight! I had seen the Rockies during my United flight from Chicago to Seattle earlier this trip, but those did not compare to the majesty of the Austrian, Italian, and Slovenian Alps, the last of which I would see much more of later in this trip. It was certainly a different experience when I later arrived in Split and had views of the Adriatic Sea from the main square!
This was an Airbus A321-200 as was the previous flight. The layout was again 3-3 in Business Class (with the middle seats marked off) and 3-3 in Economy Class. I am not generally too nit-picky, particularly when flying in Economy Class, but the “cleaning” that the crew did was not great as there were several hairs protruding out of the seat back table in front of me. That’s just one reason why I try to wash my hands as much as possible when travelling as the cleaning and disinfecting measures are generally lackluster.
Meals:
This flight was even shorter than the above BUD-MUC flight also on Lufthansa yet we received double the food! I jest of course, as the additional snack item was a small package of gummy sheep(?). We once again got a small chocolate with the Lufthansa branding. This flight was kept cooler as the chocolate did not melt quickly as with the previous one! I received a small cup of water, with no refills, which was disappointing considering I was eating sweets and would have loved to take away some of the lingering sweetness after eating.
Sleep:
I was enthralled with the views of the Alps and did not have time to sleep on this short flight!
Experience:
As mentioned above, I was glad to have a window seat for the terrific views the entire flight. From the flat countryside near Munich to the Alps, to the water and plant life as we approached Zagreb, there was something for everyone!
As you might expect with only 55 minutes in the air, the flight went by quickly and soon we were touching down in Croatia. Thanks to booking the next flight separately and the automated baggage service in Munich (I could not explain to anyone that I had a connecting flight and ask for my bag to be checked all the way through), I was unable to check my luggage all the way through to Split (as I should have been able to do considering Croatia Airlines is not only a Star Alliance member like Lufthansa, but both belong to the Lufthansa Group!). That being said, I had to pass through immigration and customs anyway as I was going to be taking a domestic flight to Split and thus was officially entering Croatia.
I did not have luck this time with my bag coming out last so it was a rush to check in my bag (at 40 minutes prior to departure, just 10 minutes before the cutoff for domestic flights!). Security was empty and I got through in 3 minutes. From there it was off to the domestic departures, on the lower level of the airport, beneath international departures.
As I reached my gate, I immediately scanned my boarding pass and walked out to where our Bombardier Q400 twin prop jet, the first of several twin props on this trip, was awaiting to take me to Split!
Recap:
Much like in the US, Economy flights on European carriers (excluding Turkish Airlines) are not much to write home about. Lufthansa Group prices were extremely high for these flights so I used credit card points effectively to get over 2 cents per point flying from Budapest to Munich and Munich to Zagreb. In general, I prefer to fly economy class on the following airlines when in Europe:
- Turkish Airlines– the food is spectacular and they use quite a few wide body planes on relatively short flights
- Air France– the food was also quite good on my recent A350-900 Economy flight from Paris-CDG to Boston
Next up: the recap of my terrific experience with the Starkbierfest in Munich and the W+ Wyndham Hotel Munich before a recap of the MUC Lufthansa Lounge and the flight review of the Croatia Airlines Bombardier Q400 Twin Prop flight from Zagreb to Split.
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