REVIEW: I TOOK A LUFTHANSA FLIGHT THAT WAS ACTUALLY A BUS

With a family holiday to Cantabria in Northern Spain planned, I scouted out the best options to get there, both with consideration of price, but also convenience. I ended up booking to travel with Lufthansa from Nuremberg with a stop in Munich. The itinerary meant that I didn’t actually fly with Lufthansa once.

Booking the journey with Lufthansa

I started looking to book flights to Cantabria around the start of the year but then put the task to one side until April. When I picked it up again, non-stop flights from Frankfurt had noticeably ticked up in price.

I started to look for cheaper alternatives and quickly stumbled upon an ex-Nuremberg itinerary. I could have picked to depart at 05:15 or a more respectable time for a roughly similar price. I chose the 05:15 departure without a thought about the early start. Why? It meant that we would fly on a wet-leased Airbus A220-300 from airBaltic . The other interesting part of the itinerary was that the “flight” from Nuremberg to Munich, despite having a Lufthansa flight number, was actually a bus journey.

Booking an Economy Light fare for two adults with the routing NUE-MUC-BIO-FRA set me back €221 per person ($244).

An early start in Nuremberg

As I mentioned, we were departing Nuremberg Airport at 05:15. The fact that this was a bus departure made the early hour a little more manageable. We arrived at the airport at roughly 04:45, as we didn’t have to be at the gate by a certain time or even pass security.

The bus arrived at around 05:00 and started loading people on. Suitcases went below, and names were checked against a PDF on the driver’s iPad and highlighted to ensure attendance. I'm unsure if you would be able to skiplag this segment, but didn't want to risk it.

There was some confusion on board the bus when it came to seating. The seats onboard did seem to have obscure numbering. My Lufthansa App boarding pass indicated that I should sit in 80E and 80G, while my Apple Wallet boarding passes suggested Seat 1&2.

I found that 80E and G were the front seats behind the driver, and sat there. I got the impression that seats were automatically allocated front to back corresponding to the check-in order. Some confusion arose when some people didn’t realize the seating system and just sat wherever.

Unlike a flight where you have to be onboard so many minutes before departure and cannot board after the doors are closed, things were more relaxed here. The driver closed the doors a minute early and got ready to drive off, but reopened them for a late arrival who was banging on the side of the vehicle.

"Flying" along the Autobahn to Munich

There’s nothing super special to report about the journey in itself. I noticed that there was a fridge with free water at the front, though I didn’t partake as I had plenty on me.

I was impressed with the driver’s navigation. We took what seemed like a strange detour, down a single-track road through the countryside towards the start of the drive. It transpired that the Autobahn (interstate) had been reduced to just one lane as the police dealt with an incident, and the detour brought us to the front of the half-hour tailback!

While scheduled to take 02h15 minutes, the 170km (106 miles) journey took almost exactly two hours. The best part was that the bus dropped us right outside the terminal. Despite the delay, we arrived at the airport 15 minutes ahead of schedule and proceeded straight inside where we then cleared security and headed for the satellite Schengen lounge for a spot of breakfast.

2024-09-11T20:18:40Z dg43tfdfdgfd