Condor A330neo Business Class, Frankfurt (FRA) to New York (JFK): Bottom Line Review

My family and I recently flew Condor business class from Frankfurt (FRA) to New York (JFK). We booked our tickets via Alaska Atmos Rewards for 55,000 points plus taxex and fees (about $192 per passenger departing Germany). Condor’s seat and seating layout really match my preferences, so I would be glad to have the in-flight experience again. On the contrary, Condor’s ground game was the most disorganized, unintuitive mess of a check-in experience that I’ve ever seen for a business class flight. Combined with Frankfurt exhibiting the polar opposite of my typical experiences with German efficiency, it made for a haphazard airport experience that I wouldn’t love to soon repeat.

Condor Business Class Bottom Line Review

Condor’s fully flat seat is spacious, with one of the widest footwells I’ve seen in this style seat. The thick mattress topper is just what my recent SAS flight was missing, and it made the seat far more comfortable when reclined. Further, the seating layout is great for family travelers since middle rows alternate between seats being separated by their tables or being directly next to each other (which I always prefer when traveling with the kids so that I can easily reach over and help when necessary). The in-flight entertainment selection might have been the broadest I’ve seen of any airline but Emirates, and the in-flight service was on par with what you’d expect.

The ground game in Frankfurt stood in stark contrast and would be enough to prevent me from recommending it to someone who was likely to be flustered by a low-cost-carrier-like check-in experience.

We arrived at Frankfurt airport about 2 hours and 15 minutes before our flight. We had taken an Uber from our hotel, looking to save time. I’m not sure that taking an Uber saved time, as the Uber drop-off point is at the far right side of Terminal 1, and the Condor check-in area is at the far left side, so it was still a bit of a hike across the terminal.

But the length of the hike was no match for the length of the lines once we arrived at the Condor check-in area. I have never in my life seen a business class line so long, and the entire hall was mobbed full of people waiting in lines to check in, with very little organization to any of it. If you’ve ever wondered why they have those rope barriers at check-in areas, it is to avoid this.

They also had some express bag drop stations, but I had difficulty with online check-in. I had booked via Alaska Atmos, and during the booking process, I had inadvertently entered the wrong Alaska frequent flyer number for one son and no frequent flyer number for my mother-in-law. As a result, Condor assigned them both Alaska loyalty accounts under the number 999999999 (I’m not sure the exact number of nines, but you get the idea). The problem was that the system wouldn’t let me finalize check-in for either of them; I got an error saying that two passengers in the booking have the same frequent flyer number. Worse yet, I couldn’t enter a different number in the box. And while there was a drop-down menu to enter another frequent flyer program, it wouldn’t actually let me select another program. So I thought we needed assistance, and we were in the huge line.

Eventually, I got the online check-in system to work. I had to enter check-in and click on each passenger’s name without clicking the continue button at the bottom and select the changes I wanted to make (like choosing “No frequent flyer program”). Even though the drop-down didn’t seem to update to reflect my “No frequent flyer program” choice, if I went back first, it saved the new selection, and then I could go forward (though I still had to enter some phone numbers and email addresses). Suffice it to say that the system was not straightforward, but it might have been if I had simply entered frequent flyer numbers for everyone at the start. Once I got us checked in, it was a gamble: stay in the long line, or hope that we could do self-drop with our bags.

Luckily, baggage self-drop worked, but even that wasn’t intuitive. The first set of machines gave us an error, but then I found a nearby employee who pointed us to the far end of the express baggage drop, where there was a special line just for US departures. That wasn’t intuitive; there was no signage where you enter the check-in area, and we never would have found it otherwise. The entire area seemed like chaos.

The chaos continued at security: We went to the “B” security checkpoint (since we were departing from the B-gates). My family and I separated here as I was picking something up from an airport shop landside before heading through. The line was outrageous, extending far into the terminal. Eventually, they closed the “B” security checkpoint because it was “too full”, sending the huge mass of us in line to the “A” checkpoint. I took off quickly and I was among the first to reach the “A” checkpoint, but that also moved slowly.

After security was passport control. By the time I got through passport control, the flight was 8 minutes from boarding, and it was a long walk to the “B” gates.

Meanwhile, the rest of my family had made it through the “B” checkpoint and passport control less than 10 minutes before departure. We had been counting on breakfast in the Lufthansa business class lounge. My family ran to the lounge to grab some fruit for the kids to eat and then to the gate, arriving after boarding began. I arrived as they were wrapping up boarding group 3. We really had to hustle despite flying in business class and arriving really early.

Once on board, I found the in-flight service to be friendly, but notably different in some subtle ways. For instance, when the starter was served, I was asked whether I would also like the cheese rather than the cheese being automatically served with it (and I was asked whether my son wanted nuts rather than them being automatically served). In theory, I don’t mind that, and it probably cuts down on food waste, but it felt a little more geared toward giving you the opportunity to turn things down than giving you the opportunity to have them. That’s not really a complaint necessarily, just a difference I noticed.

Overall, I’d certainly fly Condor again (and since they often have 4 seats available in business class and are a solid deal booking via Alaska, particularly with a free stopover on a one-way award, I’m sure that I will). And I’d prefer Condor over flying the major US airlines or even some other European airlines. But in some ways, it does feel a bit different from flying other carriers in business class, none so much as the chaotic airport check-in experience. I’d much rather fly them on the way to Europe in the future, though if I include a stopover, I’ll have to leave with plenty of time to get through the process at the airport.

• How we found it: I used Award Tool to search for availability, and Condor was pretty widely available through Alaska.
• How we booked it: We used 55,000 Alaska Atmos Rewards (what were Mileage Plan miles at the time) + ~$192 per passenger in taxes & fees (Germany departure taxes are higher than most in Europe; this route costs far less in the opposite direction).
• Cash Price: From $1,500 to $2,000+ per person one-way most of the time, with round-trip fares departing Europe starting at $2,500 to $3,000 per person. Any way you slice it,  business class is a great deal with miles.
• Route: Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) to New York, NY (JFK)
• Ground Service:
  • Check-in: Abysmal. Condor had the longest lines and most disorganized check-in experience I’ve seen in a while. This part of the experience felt very much like flying a low-cost carrier.
  • Departure Lounges: Condor passengers have access to Lufthansa Business Class lounges (not Senator lounges). Unfortunately, between the disorganized check-in experience and the long security lines, I didn’t get a chance to visit the lounge prior to departure.

• Business Class Seat:
  • Comfort: Good. The seat itself is spacious and feels premium. It does lack some padding; thankfully, Condor provides a mattress pad that makes it far more comfortable.
  • Storage Space: Limited at the seat. There weren’t many places to stash things apart from the side table (which, in fairness, was pretty wide). While the footwell is very large, the space underneath it only seemed to accommodate one shoe (and I don’t have big feet).
  • In-flight Entertainment (IFE): Excellent. Condor had an impressively wide array of movie options, from classics (Casablanca, Gone with the Wind) to more obscure cult hits (Best in Show, Magnolia) to full movie series (all the Harry Potter films, all the Ocean’s 11 films) to behind-the-scenes documentary-style shorts about airline operations.
• Food and Beverage: Pleasantly surprising. The smoked duck breast with beetroot salad from the starter was the highlight for me, but the smoked trout with crème fraiche, trout caviar, and blini was also tasty (despite the fact that I don’t particularly care for fish). Main course options included goose breast, cod fillet, or Italian goat cheese tortelli. Snack options before landing included a German-style cheesy noodles, which I enjoyed as much as some I had in the Christmas markets.
• Service: Fine. The purser was particularly animated and friendly. One slightly odd thing: when starters were served, we were each asked whether we wanted the cheese plate meant to accompany the starter (it wasn’t put on our tray until we confirmed that we wanted it). I’m all for reducing waste, but it felt more like a cost-savings measure to serve fewer plates of cheese (which probably wasn’t the goal, it just felt, well, cheesy).
• Cabin Ambiance/Temperature Control: Warmer than I’d like, but others on the plane didn’t seem to mind. I also would have preferred the lights kept on during the daytime flight, but I can understand how some folks might want rest, so after meals were served, lights were turned down and windows were shut.
• Internet: Terrible. I paid 20 Eur for full-flight access and it worked very poorly. I had trouble staying connected and difficulty doing anything while connected. I thought it was odd when I noticed in the in-flight entertainment system that they provided an email address for Wi-Fi refund requests….until I paid for the WiFi and tried to use it. It did work for flashes, but I wouldn’t count on a productive 8 hours.
• Amenity Kit: The kit itself is presented in a bag that says it is produced of recycled polyester, though it felt more like a thick paper bag. It contained the usual stuff. Alongside the amenity kit, Condor provides a travel bag. It looks like there are 3 different styles of that bag distributed; on our flight, it was a “beach bag” (the thick plastic type you put stuff in and roll down and clip to keep water out of the bag). I think it’ll be useful.
• Would I choose to fly it again? Yes, I would. The price is right, the food is good, and the seat was comfortable with the mattress pad. I particularly liked the seating layout for family travel. This isn’t among the flashiest business class experiences, but I would be happy to fly this, particularly in the opposite direction, where I’d appreciate the time to sleep.

Condor A330neo Business Class Pros and Cons

Pros

• Comfortable seat (with the mattress pad)
• Large footwell
• Great price via Alaska from the East Coast
• Tasty catering
• Great in-flight entertainment
• Nice seating layout for those traveling with young kids since every other middle row in business class features seats that put you very close to your seatmate. Note that this might be a “con” for a solo traveler who gets stuck in a middle seat as there would be little privacy.

Cons

• Totally disorganized check-in experience in Frankfurt
• Service felt a little less polished

Condor A330neo Business Class Image Gallery

Condor Business Class Middle Seat

Condor Business Class Window Seat

Business Class Inflight Entertainment System

Business Class Food and Beverage Menu

Business Class Food

Business Class Amenity Kit

Wifi Pricing

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