Lufthansa A350 Allegris First Class: Very Impressive, Minus The Details

I should probably read the whole review before commenting, but "the double suite in the center might just be the best first class hard product in the world" sounds so strange when there are products out there with separate beds and seats. To me, AF new F looks so much better than LH Allegris F.

But now I'll continue reading and perhaps this will become clear to me 🙂

@ Daniel from Finland -- So I love the new La Premiere product, but broadly speaking, I'm not necessarily the biggest fan of the separate seat and bed concept, because it limits the size of the bed. Just look at Etihad's A380 first class, where you get a huge suite, but the actual bed is... not particularly spacious.

The size of the Lufthansa Allegris first class bed in the double suite is simply unbelievable, and it's long overdue that an airline introduce a bed of this size.

Appreciate the first impressions! How familiar did the crew seem to be with the product?

@ SSG -- They seemed to be pretty familiar with the product, so I didn't find that to be an issue.

Why anyone would fly La Premier Inn when they can fly Allegris is beyond me.

Items that I want to put away somewhere at some point during the flight include my wallet, passport, glasses, eyeshades, a book and my phone and laptop. And I need them to be within easy reach. Is the side storage large enough to store a book? Where do I put my laptop? Sounds like incredibly poor planning. And, apparently, nowhere to fit my carry-on. I can't help but laugh.

If F is not full, can you ask at the check-in desk to have the middle seat (at no charge)? Or on board?

And yeah, now that I have read the whole review, the middle seat bed looks impressively wide for one person. But I still have a hard time believing that Allegris, as a whole, would be a better hard product than the AF new F.

Okay, fair enough! And yeah, I did think of Etihad F as I saw the pic earlier today. That bunk bed looks narrow and hard. The LH mattress looks thick and qualitative.

@ Daniel from Finland -- I don't know where you'd place a laptop, short of just putting it on the ottoman or next to you on the seat. The small storage compartment to the side of the seat might be big enough for a small book, but that's it.

If the cabin isn't full, you couldn't assign the middle suite at the airport. However, anecdotal reports suggest that crews will typically allow passengers to use the middle seat if unoccupied, once onboard.

@ Daniel from Finland -- Yeah, Lufthansa does have very good bedding, and I'm happy they fitted that appropriately to the new double suite. Air France also has great bedding...

Can one even really get the whole first class experience on such a short flight?

Come to think of it, maybe it would have been better for LH to simply offer three wide seats/beds instead of two regular and one super-wide. That way, they might have been able to offer the widest F out there?

@ Simone -- Not if wanting to arrive well rested. :p However, the meal service is basically the same as on any other Lufthansa long haul flight, so for review purposes, yes, I'd say it's the full experience.

I fly 6-8 (long haul) round trips in J a year and 1-2 round trips in F most years. I’m not loyal to any airline, prioritise comfort and schedule and pay for my flights - except if it’s on the LH group. The only time I’ll ever fly them is if I get award tickets matching my schedule. They are at the bottom of the pack and I give them as little of my money as possible. And I’m saying this as someone who lives in Europe in an LH group hub.

What an incredibly poorly designed product. Brand new F in 2025 and no where to place a laptop or a book. Unbelievable…

@Ben Wouldn't it be really awkward to do "whatever" in there with the two giant big holes in the doors? Ha ha.

And that must be an amazing hard product for it to be considered one of the best in the world, even though it lacks windows. Thanks for the great review!

@ Daniel from Finland -- Yeah, that's what I was thinking. They could've really offered an industry leading product if they just added extra width to all three seats.

@Ben
Where does Lufthansa's new Allegris first class center suite stands in comparison to Emirates new first class installed on a few 777-300ERs? Compare only the hard products.

@ Nasir -- In terms of bed comfort and tech, I'd say Lufthansa wins by a long shot (partly because the "Game Changer" is nearly a decade old, so no bluetooth audio, etc.). In terms of privacy, virtual windows, and air nozzles, Emirates wins. Of course when factoring in the overall soft product, Emirates has a big advantage.

@ Sonofdad -- Thank you! And yes, I wasn't suggesting *that*... :p

"I wouldn’t consider this to be the world’s first class seat" -- I think you a word there.

"Let’s be clear — this seat is not quite twice as wide as two individual seats." How about some numbers? It's 35" vs 49" so not even 50% wider. Still have to read reviews from multiple sites to get the full picture, but I appreciate your thoughts on the storage situation and light pollution. Even if it's a bit late for those issues to be fixed.

Ben is it a typo when you say “while the double suite in the center might just be the best first class hard product in the world.” Given it has no storage, no windows, is inadequate for two people that it was ‘designed for’

I really respect your reviews but scratching my head a bit on this hyperbole vs la premier etc

@ AS is S tier -- Thank you, I added the "best" word into that sentence. I'm curious, where do you get the 35" vs. 49" numbers, because the difference felt like a lot a bit than that (while still not being twice as wide)? And that refers to the actual seating surface width, or the entire suite?

@Ben
QR, SIA and CX are designing new first class suites. Let's hope they come up with something revolutionary and game changing. Who among the three do you think will introduce the best hard product?

@ vandhk -- I said "might just be," because I think it depends on what you're looking for. Purely in terms of size, the bed is incomparable, in a different league than what you'll find on any airline in first class. For those who value bed comfort more than anything else, I think that's a major benefit.

@ Nasir -- It's the thing I'm most looking forward to about the 777Xs! If Cathay Pacific actually follows through on its Halo Suite concept, then I think that will be pretty hard to beat:
https://onemileatatime.com/news/new-cathay-pacific-first-class/

I remain a bit skeptical, because I question the economics of that. But if the product is anything like that... wow!

In terms of the hard product alone, LH's take on new first class on an A350 looks more appealing to me than JAL's. But JAL offers six seats, with each one being more or less the same. So, given the response to LH Allegris first class this far, I wonder if they will modify what they roll out on the newer aircraft.

Out of curiosity, given the cabin is significantly smaller than other LH first cabins, was it staffed differently?

Ben, how's the center seat in bed mode? I have read a review by another blogger saying that there's a gap between the two "beds" and it's noticeable and uncomfortable while sleeping. Thanks!

@ Jb -- Yeah, there was just one flight attendant (rather than two in the eight seat cabins), plus the purser was roaming around. The other passenger didn't seem to partake in much of the service, so service was quite personalized.

If the cabin actually had four guests and all of them wanted to eat, having one flight attendant for four passengers is challenging, since they have to work both the aisle and the galley.

@ CXTraveller -- There's a slight gap, but I didn't find it to be at all uncomfortable. For example, I think Singapore's A380 Suites double bed is super uncomfortable if you try to sleep in the middle. But I didn't find that to be the case here.

You write that you pay close attention to details, yet every single post on this blog is riddled with multiple spelling mistakes...

I take that as proof that the material is not AI produced, and those mistakes don't bother me at all.

@ LX_Flyer -- Please read the sentence again. I wrote "when it comes to airlines and hotels, I have an obsessive attention to detail." That doesn't apply to all aspects of my life in the same way.

As I mentioned in the sentence after that, it's because I'm very passionate about the airline and hotel passenger experience. I'm not as passionate about grammar.

You're absolutely right that I have typos, and I apologize for that. I publish close to a dozen posts a day on average, and typically over 10,000 words per day. I often write while super jet lagged or exhausted (half of my content in the past days has been written between 12AM and 5AM, when I haven't been able to sleep).

There are only so many hours in the day, and I tend to think my time is better spent covering as many things as possible, rather than doubling the amount of time that I spend writing each post, so that there aren't typos here and there. Believe it or not, I proofread every post. But obviously I'm just not a good editor in that way, and it's not a strength of mine.

I understand if you feel differently, but hopefully you can see why I take that approach...

Maybe it will come in the main review, but I was hoping you would have tried to sit side to side with your dad to get a feel of how tight (or not) it is to sit with someone else, especially given the lack of armrest in the middle. But yeah overall that does seem like an absurd product. They should have simply marketed this as First Plus or whatever to sell to single passengers, instead of trying to market it to couples.

@ Clem -- Yeah, there are lots of other details I wanted to cover, but when my preview post was over 2,000 words, I figured I had to stop at some point. :p

It was actually quite comfortable to sit next to one another. The lack of an armrest isn't ideal, but it's fun for just casually hanging out. Our arms weren't rubbing up against one another, so I felt like we had sufficient space.

Look, I like this post. Heck, I even like your website. I just wish you didn’t use this language style. Anyone else agree?

All agreed on the storage flaws and well as the fact this can’t really be sold to two passengers. Not sure how the ticketing would work if they sold it to a couple for 1.5 the F price l, given each passenger still needs their own ticket and you can’t put two passengers onto one ticket.

Perhaps they should just limit any cohabitation to other F passengers who already have their own seat, but that limits the max capacity to 3 passengers anyway. If they had adopted a different design for those middle seats, they could have easily made them separable (and therefore more profitable?).

Keep up the nice work.

@ Alexf1 -- The current ticketing doesn't exactly work seamlessly, since you have to call to reserve the suite. There's no reason that Lufthansa couldn't make the double suite a separate fare class, so that it could easily be booked online by one or two people (with pricing varying based on the number of people).

LOL, everything you write is perfect then? I don't have an issue with it, I spot very very few typos here.

Couples on La Premiere actually sit together, dine together or face to face, and sleep next to each other with both of them having aisle access and their own tvs?

It kind of feels like you were both over and underwhelmed at the same time.

Doesn’t La Premiere only have one FA for 4 passengers?

Passenger's weight might play a role.

@Ben, are there any lockers like in some of the old F cabins?

@ hbilbao -- There aren't, beyond the crew and bedding storage area.

@ Aaron -- It does, and if the cabin is full and everyone chooses to eat, service can be a bit slow as a result.

@ Aaron -- Yes, I think that's a fair summary. But given the state of Lufthansa's old first class, I'd say my impression was more positive than negative.

Thanks for the answer! I'm surprised, I really thought it would be a tight fit although it also really depends on the passenger size I guess - always hard to get a sense of space from empty seat pictures. Looking forward to the full review!

My take on these so called ‘double beds’ which only have access to one side is simply this ….
Great for one person, ridiculous sales gimmick for two. They simply cannot be taken seriously by discerning travellers.

Japan Airlines blowing them out of the water again.

I guess if Etihad can do it with The Residence, it should be possible?

Honestly it sounds like for two ppl in a center suite qatars biz set up is preferable to the center suite on LH first.

*That* might be the only thing that could convince me to pay for two full F fares for the middle suite. 😀

I'll say it again - the F middle suite should be available for nearly the same price, regardless of whether it's 1 person or 2.

My takeaway after reading earlier teasers, other bloggers and Ben's preview here is: I'm not curious. There are too many caveats for me to jump through the hoops required to book F TransAtlantic (not to mention positioning from home at YYZ to a city where this product is offered) and then be annoyed when I want my laptop and I have to pack and change just to gain access to it.

I'm 65, so "German Engineering" means something to me and it prompted me to buy nothing but German cars for decades. Now, it means Berlin airport, displays that don't work in Daimler-Benz's most expensive models and LH F design failures.

It's ironic that "zeitgeist" is a German word, because Lexus, ANA and JAL have currently captured it.

Soft pass on LH F.

Having to put a carry on bag in J as a paying F customer is extremely poor design. It's not the biggest deal ever, but it's definitely annoying.

I agree. Looks solid and I wouldn't avoid it of course, but it doesn't look so amazing that I feel I have to try their new J or F cabins out. OS's J seat seems much better designed and no extra fees to get a seat, and with their generally superior service...

@Ben it sounds like the window business suites have more storage than first class.

Ben, what carry on do you use?

Most people visiting this blog must be well aware of the F business models of the other two big European carriers: BA with plentiful availability on most routes, and making it a solid experience, but a priced and serviced as a smaller step above business class. AF successfully creating the most aspirational F experience in Europe.

The issue here is that, as a frequent flyer, I will happily upgrade to BA F when it’s reasonable, and aspirationally, I genuinely want to and intend to try La Premiere soon. But your review of Allegris honestly makes me think, why bother? I can’t say I would make any special effort to try this.

Of the many design flaws listed, I think F passengers having to store carry-ons in J is actually the most severe - this is going to be a constant annoyance for so many people. The lack of accessible storage in-seat sounds nearly as bad as the dreaded “old” BA club seats… how is it possible not to have accessible storage at your seat for a laptop, in first class, in 2025?

The centre suite bed sounds excellent but with all these basic flaws, not special enough to ever make me fly LH.

The window seats look like the current Swiss F window seats down to the wardrobe inside the door (except no holes in the door on Swiss). What is the difference?

Was the seat you were originally assigned to really inoperable as they claimed or was there someone occupying it?

I had the same me approach to Lufthansa for about 10 years now.
I feel ripped off to the extreme on anything other than economy. If I get a decently priced (shortish) economy flight, I’m absolutely fine it’s them. Anything above that always leave me with a bitter aftertaste.

Yeah, not gonna lie, I have my Ben article bingo card and "Heck," is there, as is "ugh" 🙂
So is the gratuitous use of quotation marks around things that don't need them.
"Big Three"
Consumers
As follows
BINGO!

Your posts are always higher quality than Gary's talk about spelling and grammar Oy!

you are making such a fuss over this Lufthansa first class seat.. etc. ANA has the same seat and TV..... and the CURRENT Swiss first class is also very similar

Its only because LH current first class is so horrible....

The seat/bed. I got the numbers from another site, BT. They reported on the press release from February 28, 2023. "The double suite will feature two seats with a width of 60cm each (or 120cm together) that can recline into a double bed." That's actually 47" and change but I guess the gap between the seats makes it roughly 49 inches for the bed. I don't see the specs in the media kit now, but it seems about right. Even judging from your 'double suite monitor' picture, the screen should be 43" diagonal or ~40" wide including bezels. Nine inches or so more for the bed looks accurate. The entire suite is a bit wider, especially on the seat side as the wardrobe takes up some space.

@ FED Up -- This is not the same (or even similar) to the first class seat on ANA or SWISS (well, until SWISS introduces its new first class). Yes, they're all first class suites with doors, but these aren't otherwise the same seating platforms.

@ Boardingareaflukie -- No one occupied the seat, so it really did seem to be inoperable.

@ CXP -- Maybe it looks that way, but it's not the same. The wardrobe is even completely different in terms of how it opens up. Keep in mind that SWISS will soon be rolling out this same first class seats, so the airline wouldn't roll out a new first class seat that's identical to the old one.

@ Cedric -- I have a Briggs & Riley bag, which I wrote about here:
https://onemileatatime.com/insights/best-carry-on-bags/

I'm looking for a new bag, but that's my current one...

@ InceptionCat -- Hah, in some ways that's true, yes.

"Heck" is such a weird thing for someone Ben's age to say, especially since he doesn't seem to be a holy roller.

@ brianna hoffner @ How Dare You -- Point taken!

I can't help but wonder what you mean

American mattress widths: Full 54", Queen 60", King 72" to 76". When was the last time you checked in to a hotel with "Full" size double beds? Right, I didn't think so.

FYI this crewing strategy is new and was communicated to LH crew only recently. Originally Allegris F was staffed by 2 crew, but unfortunately this has now changed. The galley is difficult to manage compared to the older birds.

Ok good to know. I would be VERY curious to see if a Rimowa carry on would work better. Germany loves their rimowa. Was the length the problem? Thickness?

@ Cedric -- The bag length was the issue (so it's the width of the storage space, since you place your bag sideways). I think one of the smaller Rimowas that you'll typically find in Germany would fit. However, given that the US is Lufthansa's biggest long haul market, I think the bigger Rimowas wouldn't fit. For example, Ford has a smaller and larger Rimowa carry-on, and I don't think the latter would fit.

How would that make the 777 look? They’re going to put 4x standard seats in there no? No double. You know LH penchant for consistency. All 777 F and all 350 F window seats consistent.

I agree with Kerry’s sentiment. Why bother? I would rather be on an older LH 747-800 in first and always on AF in first.

Ben, on Monday 14JUL I was to fly from SFO to DFW on AA, on aircraft N146AA. It hadn't been flying the day before, and only came from maintenance an hour late to operate hour flight, which then diverted back to SFO due to pressurisation issues.

I've been following the plane ever since and it sure isn't a lucky one. It's now been two weeks and it has not been able to operate a single flight on schedule, mostly not operating at all and whenever they manage to get it up in the air, it is hours and hours late. What is wrong here?

Even after a several-day (maintenance?) break in Pittsburgh the plane just breaks down time and time again. Right now, it landed in Charlotte with an 8+ hour delay but was not able to get right up in the air for the next flight, so something is wrong again.

Anyone who writes knows that it's really difficult to proof read their own text. You need someone else to catch your typos:-(

100% on point.

And honestly there's really no excuse for this many issues with how long it took them to bring the seat to market.

Ironically, the I've flown the Business Suites in the bulkhead row of Allegris and they seem to have fewer tradeoffs than the First class suites. The door is solid / plastic - not felt and doesn't have weird handle holes, there is plentiful storage in the seat area (including a cupboard that fits a backpack / purse sized item) and you can have your rollerboard directly above you.

I had the same thought. I had plenty of space to stow everything I wanted access to during the flight when I recently experienced the Allegris Business Suites.