- Juniper & Co, London City
- Air Dolomiti LCY-FRA
- Lufthansa Senator Lounge A50, Frankfurt
- Discover Airlines FRA-PMI
- Melia Palma Bay
Towards the end of last year, Lufthansa rolled out a unique challenge for members who had just achieved Senator status: fly as few as seven segments and earn up to 100,000 miles. The reward was simply too generous to ignore, and since I hadn’t flown Star Alliance in ages, it was the perfect chance to put this newly minted Gold card to the test. Let’s go!
Ideally, I wanted to knock out all seven segments in one three- or four-day run, but after quite a bit of research, that turned out to be inefficient and not cost-effective. In the end, I split it across two weekends. Total ticket cost came to about £360. The routing was as follows:
- Air Dolomiti LCY-FRA
- Discover Airlines FRA-PMI
- Swiss PMI-ZRH
- Brussels Airlines ZRH-BRU
- Lufthansa City Airlines LHR-MUC
- Lufthansa MUC-LIN
- ITA Airways LIN-LCY
Along the way, I not only flew seven different airlines but also sampled airport lounges and hotels. Today I’ll just write about the first day’s two segments.
The biggest advantage of departing from London City is convenience and comfort. Even though I live quite far away, it’s only about an hour on the Tube at a leisurely pace, and it’s cheap. The downside is the complete lack of airport lounges, but luckily my HSBC credit card comes with a full Priority Pass. I headed to the Juniper & Co bar for breakfast, and didn’t even use up the £18 allowance.
I could have also popped into the nearby convenience store Soul & Grain to grab more snacks and drinks, but I couldn’t be bothered. For three days and two nights I was travelling very light with just a backpack, and there wouldn’t have been space for much more anyway.
The first segment was operated by Air Dolomiti – from the name you can tell it’s an Italian airline. After being gradually absorbed by Lufthansa, its operations are now fully centred on Germany, although the cabin crew on this flight still seemed to be Italian.
Lufthansa’s stinginess is evident as early as seat selection. As a Senator member, If you buy the cheapest Economy Light fare, you can’t select a seat for free at all, not even at check-in. In my personal experience, I was able to change the assigned seat for free on the first Air Dolomiti leg, but on all other flights I had to pay to change seats. That was genuinely shocking.
The one small consolation is that their algorithm tends to assign better seats to Senator members, usually aisle or window seats in the front rows or at emergency exits. If the load isn’t too high, it even tries to leave the adjacent seat empty. When I was prompted to change seats during boarding, I briefly thought I’d struck lucky and got an upgrade on my very first flight – turned out I was just moved two rows forward.
Arrival in Frankfurt. As its home base, Lufthansa has an astonishing ten business class lounges here. While I’m not a fan of Lufthansa overall, one thing they absolutely deserve credit for is the creation of the Senator Lounge, a concept exclusively for (Star Alliance) Gold members, offering even better treatment than business class passengers.
After clearing immigration, there’s a Business Lounge (I think A26), but since I had plenty of time, there was no question I’d head to the A50 Senator Lounge, about a seven- or eight-minute walk.
A few casual snaps:
It’s not exactly stunning, but it’s very spacious and bright. Perhaps I caught it in the off-season, as it wasn’t crowded at all.
The zoning is excellent, with dedicated rooms and sofa beds for resting. In terms of hardware alone, I’d say it easily beats British Airways’ First Class lounges at Heathrow T5.
Food was fairly average, with limited hot options. The German staples, sausages with sauerkraut, were decent enough.
One odd thing: the entire lounge had no flight information screens whatsoever. After eating and drinking my fill, it was time for the second leg. Discover Airlines is Lufthansa’s younger subsidiary, mainly serving leisure routes to Southern Europe, the Caribbean, and similar destinations.
Load factor was high, full of Germans heading to Spain for some winter sun. I was assigned a front-row window seat, perfect for catching up on some sleep.
Arrival in Palma de Mallorca marked the end of day one of the challenge. Mallorca is a popular holiday destination, but much quieter in winter, with very reasonable hotel prices. I initially had my eye on an Iberostar near the airport (half-board for just over €70), but later realised that transport-wise, Meliá Palma Bay was far more convenient, which I ended up choosing. An 20%-off voucher + 10% app discount + 3,000 points brought the price down to €91 for a The Level Sea View room.
The A1 airport bus costs €5 and and it’s just one stop to right in front of the hotel. Services run roughly every 15 minutes.
It was a corner room, spacious, with simple décor that really suited my taste.
Access to the third-floor The Level lounge was included, and the design was very nice.
Breakfast didn’t have a huge variety, but it was very refined and well executed.
From 5pm to 8pm is the evening happy hour. Hot food was limited to three types of fried croquettes, accompanied by ham, fruit, salads, and of course local Cava and other alcoholic drinks. Based on my past experience with The Level, having any hot food at all is already a “pleasant surprise”, and it’s enough to make do as a light dinner.
The Level rooms include one complimentary spa visit, valid for 90 minutes. I’d originally planned to go the next morning, but it doesn’t open until noon, so I went that evening instead (it closes at 7:30 pm).
Facilities include a pool, a water massage jet, cold plunge, warm plunge, sauna, and steam room, with a guide suggesting the recommended order of use. The facilities were genuinely good, especially the water jet, which had extremely strong water pressure (it almost knocked me out!). Given the limited space, it’s understandable that it’s not free for all guests.
Because it’s some distance from the city centre, Meliá might not suit every traveller. But for people like us who are doing mileage runs without being too pressed for time, the value for money is excellent, and it allows for a bit of indulgence along the way.
And that wraps up day one of the 100K challenge, more to follow!
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