On an outbound trip to Europe, I used an airline I didn't know much about: Discover Airlines. It is a low-cost wing of Lufthansa. However, I found the name confusing. That's because there is/was Eurowings, Eurowings-Discover, and just plain Discover. Discover operates some routes to Frankfurt, Germany from a few North American airports, presumably keeping full-service Lufthansa from doing so and better distributing resources.
I used miles from my United (UAL) account to get this ticket and UAL is a partner of Lufthansa. I actually changed a ticket on Lufthansa from a major South Florida airport to Tampa to get onto this flight, saving 16,000 miles (not dollars) in the process. I hadn't planned on a way to get to Tampa, so I took the cheap "thrill seeker" route: the once daily Amtrak service from South Florida to Tampa, and then the airport express bus to TPA. This all made for an eyebrow raising experience that one could only look at with a sense of humor.
Discover uses the simpler Airbus 330, and this route was operated with the more basic 200 series of this aircraft. The plane was well maintained, looking clean inside and out, but its most apparent aspect was its below par leg room ... and I'm not tall. For a tall person, the flight could be challenging.
There is the in-seat entertainment, including the fun - to me - flight map. Two meals were served - one after take-off, prior to crossing the pond which is mostly during the night, and a small breakfast item prior to landing. I can't remember the food all that well, which means it was okay. What I do remember is that there were very good cookies available in the galleys. I helped myself to a few ... or more than a few!
The cabin staff was effective and surprisingly younger than on Lufthansa flights ... and most were blonde. I'm just stating a fact and alluding to this outfit's Teutonic roots. There wasn't much in the way of smiling or emotiveness, but I have no complaints. The aircraft was clean and everything worked, given that the 200 is the oldest variant of the Airbus 330. The flight was mostly calm and unremarkable, with a take-off that gave views of Tampa Bay before turning east and views of Frankfurt's business district on approach to FRA.
So far, I'd almost give them a 4, but the legroom precludes that. Then, it's even less likely it's 4 stars for things that happened on the ground at check-in. I think it reflects more on the airline than on Tampa Airport, which is mostly a well-liked airport. First, I needed to pay for a checked bag. Two younger counter employees seemed disinterested and told me I'd go over to an adjacent line to process the bag check. Why couldn't they do it since they checked me in? I asked if they had the feature to swipe the credit card the way you see it done when you pay for luggage at the last minute. They told me they did, but not for "this" transaction. I then went to the other line and an employee - foreign and with a slight accent - took the bag and, to process payment, got on the phone with a payment center and began reading them the information on the credit card. This is not normal. I'm glad I handed this person the card I use the least. Fortunately, this employee didn't have to provide the 3- or 4-digit CVV code. I also told this employee to keep it down (in terms of the volume) and this person, as well as the other 2 employees, seemed a little perturbed at me that I would ask this. I'm sorry but this shouldn't be happening this far into the New Millennium.
We got through this transaction and I started heading to TSA and to the gate. I looked back at the conveyor for the luggage and saw that the bag was just stuck where two segments came together, and that the metallic "rollers" just kept rolling and rolling. I brought it up to the first two agents and they nudged the bag so it could keep going forward. I waited until the bag got beyond that black curtain. I wonder what would have happened had I walked away without giving this backward glance at the bag and seeing that it was stuck.
I kept walking thinking if this was a preview of things to come. It wasn't. Everything else went smoothly enough. The cookies also alleviated some of this pain ... as did the view of Tampa Bay and its causeways!
Again, it can be confusing. Eurowings is well known and it's a decent low-cost European carrier with point-to-point routes and pricing. What has happened is that 2021's Eurowings-Discover was rebranded in 2023 as Discover Airlines and connects some North American cities, mostly in touristy Sunbelt destinations, to the big Frankfurt, Germany hub on the cheap. I would use them for this latter purpose if the price was right or the number of miles needed was low, which was the case for this journey.
Despite all the unnecessary drama and indifference during the check-in process, I'll still go with 3 stars for Discover, and it's the operation of the flight that is the determinant. read more