This month, I flew for the first time on Condor Airlines. The tag line for Condor is “Born to Fly.” After my 10-hour non-stop flight from Vancouver to Frankfurt, I was pretty sure I wasn’t born to fly.

It’s been a couple of years since I’ve flown internationally. On this flight, I spent 15 hours sitting on four airplanes, and if I add the 10 hours of layovers, 2 hours of delayed flights, and the 2-hour drive to daughter’s home, I traveled a total of 29 hours. It showed in the bags under my eyes, and the fact I could barely stand up straight. My knees felt like they needed a shot of WD-40.

This flight was my first experience with Condor Airlines, a German airline. For Alaskans traveling to Europe, it’s a cheaper flight and a convenient direct flight from Anchorage to Frankfurt. Because of the timing and dates, I flew a direct flight from Vancouver, Canada to Frankfurt.

Here’s my evaluation of flying in economy class on Condor.

I found making reservations with Condor Airlines a little tricky. Because it is a German-based airline, the English explanations are a bit confusing and lacking.

When you make your reservations in economy class, you can choose your seat assignments for a fee. Otherwise, the airline assigns your seats. And of course, the seat prices are more if you want Xlarge seats (exit row seats). If you are flying from the US and want to choose your place in economy class, it costs $40, and $120 for an Xlarge (exit row).

Truthfully, economy seats on international flights are always tight on legroom. The seats on Condor were pretty standard in this respect. On our return trip, we did upgrade to exit row seats, and it made a world of difference. But it came at a cost.

When we stepped on the flight, I was pleasantly surprised to find a bottle of water in each seat. The boarding times on the big planes are long, so having water readily available was great.

On long-haul international flights airlines typically feed you a hot meal at the beginning of the flight, and a snack at the end. Condor followed this same policy. When I made my reservations, I had the choice of a free meal or paying $22 extra for a premium meal. I decided to try the free dinner. Well, sometimes you get what you pay for. The meal consisted of baked ziti, which had about two tablespoons of sauce and a sprinkle of cheese on the pasta. Then there was a pasta salad comprised of elbow macaroni with lots of mayonnaise. A roll, two slices of black bread, cream cheese, butter, and a small dessert made up the rest of the meal. I felt like I was carb-loading before a marathon.

On a 10-hour flight, you need something to fill up the time. So I turned to the inflight entertainment. The website had said there would be a limited selection of free movies. Yes, I’d say two movies rates as a limited selection, particularly since they were both kid movies. But, again for the added price of $13, you can have access to all the entertainment. If you need headphones, it’s an additional $5. There was a great selection of movies, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

The flight attendants on the flight were terrific. They were helpful, smiled, and did all they could to accommodate the passengers’ needs.

Overall, I’d rate my experience with Condor as good. But I’m not sure after I added on the “extras” if I saved much money. But there is something nice about having that direct flight to Frankfurt, and not having to put up with several stops in between.

As an aside, I did make a great discovery on this flight. I invested in some knee-high compression socks from Duluth Trading Company. They have the look and feel of regular socks rather than compression stockings. My ankles did not swell at all on this long flight and felt great afterward. I’m sure there are other brands around, but I just happened to find this pair at Duluth, and I highly recommend them for long-haul flights.

Too bad there isn’t a whole-body version of compression socks to help you survive long flights!