This spring, Lufthansa launched its new Allegris first class, initially available on select Munich-based Airbus A350-900s. I’ve had the chance to fly the product, and it’s no doubt a massive improvement over Lufthansa’s old first class. However, there are also some quirks.
Continue reading: Lufthansa Flight Attendants Criticize New First Class: “No Trace Of Premium”
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Yeah, I‘m really afraid they destroy their product, I prefer old seat with outstanding Service and Menu over bling bling cabin, where even staff feels unhappy.
I believe La Première is going up to two CC. I believe there's some flexibility involved, with the second CC helping in J when there's not much work in F, but for the meal times, there should be two CC. Although I'm not sure whether this is implemented already or just planned.
Swiss should have kept first (could have kept their existing layout and added doors) and LH should have mirrored the US3 and dropped it over time. And of course instead of Allegris they should have installed something like what AA and UA are rolling out now (Adient Ascent).
While LH 2-2-2 business never made any sense, I personally always liked the Swiss 1-2-2-ish cabin. Not private but accomplished many of the goals of Allegris - space for couples/families to travel together, throne and non-throne space for solo travelers, middle seats all with direct aisle access, a nice mini-cabin… I’ll miss it. Not everything has to be a mini-suite with a door!
Since you started explaining to us the details of this product, I confess I’ve been nothing but confused. Not your fault, turns out it really is just silly. This is like the Dentist Office Class on Singapore A380s which one can’t help but feel wasn’t live-tested.
I understand your sentiments, but this is nowhere close to being a 'bling bling cabin'. In true LH 'style' it's simply.....a boring boring cabin.
Agree except for the „LH should have dropped 1st“.
They have the numbers, if they see the demand, they shall offer it. 1st class terminal Frankfurt is a unique.
Agree except for the „LH should have dropped 1st“.
They have the numbers, if they see the demand, they shall offer it. 1st class terminal Frankfurt is a unique.
Ugh no, the LX 2-2-1 was terrible when travelling alone. Either exposed to aisle and constantly bumped or very squished near window with barely any storage space. About 20% of seats were ok. Throne seats are terrible for anyone over 6 feet, unless its your first ever C flight. Glad it will be gone, even if Allegris is extremely inconsistent, the number of seats with some space increases.
Lufthansa is not a premium airline, no matter how much it strains itself to try and prove that it is. The service is mediocre, as is the food. The premium offering is wildly inconsistent. The Senator Lounges are at best, institutional chic. Swiss's existing First Class cabin is plush, yes, but that can't be said for its Business Class on the A330-300 and A340-300s, which are ancient at this point, with boxy, hard seats, no privacy, and absolutely nothing premium to speak of in terms of food and amenities. The coming Swiss Senses product hold a lot of promise, but across the brands, Lufthansa is a run of the mill airline, and doesn't add up to anything more. Even United took less time to roll out Polaris.
Samo is correct - La Première staffing during mealtimes usually goes up to two, often the chief purser or someone from J helping (tend to be trained for LaP as well).
The lack of storage for service items is not just a Lufthansa design issue, it is an A350-1000 issue. The airframe is a good deal smaller than the 777-300ER, and once the airlines squeeze in seats to make it comparable you clearly feel the smaller cabin space. The A350 is a nice plane to fly, but it is just too small for what airlines is trying to do in terms of passenger capacity.
How many FA does Etihad have in A380 first? Almost feels like too many (not a bad thing!). I know it’s a much larger cabin but they seem to have it figured out
There is absolutely nothing to attract the discerning F cabin passenger to this unfortunate mistake. LH, have scored a very expensive own goal with this attempt to upgrade the cabin.
The flight attendants want to "serve" 2 passengers each??? Unless you had the Rolling Stones asking for... stuff... this is akin to "give me a cozy job, pay me lots of € and let the world burn"
The point is two cabin crew can do more than twice the work of one by specialising when there are many different tasks to do. For example, if all four first class passengers want to eat at once after take off (a common occurrence), one crew member has to do all the cooking and plating whilst also doing drinks refills, responding to call bells etc. High chance of messing up a meal. The service one cabin crew member provides to a cabin of four is massively different than a cabin of two, whilst the difference in service between two cabin crew members serving four or eight is arguably less.
Your attitude is precisely why no US airline will ever have a proper premium product, by the way.
Although I see AF crews pitching in to help in Le Premiere. The purser will often help during meal times etc. Should be no different for LH.
How did this Allegris concept ever get off the ground? Someone (s) failing upwards? Did any employee provide any objection to it while it was in the planning phase? What happened to those objections?
did I miss the link to who made these comments?
who would have thought that a labor group would have thought the product is inferior because it isn't staffed the way they think it should be?
Your assessment and theirs (whoever they are) may be true but...
Spot on Tom, well articulated …. anyone who possesses a modicum of knowledge about F&J World Class airline cabins, would never choose a U.S. carrier over the better alternatives.
Just read Ben’s reviews for Proof, if proof was ever needed.
Tim, after decades of flying in both F&J on the World’s best airlines, I can attest to the fact that in my experience every word is very likely to be true.
I can think of no reason why one would choose to spend one’s own ‘hard earned’ on a LH, F or J seat, unless the only alternative was a U.S. carrier.
I'm not doubting it is true.
the point is that there should be a source for it, not galley hearsay.
and since AA is the only US carrier that still has a first class international product, as lame duck, as it may be, they aren't an option.
LH didn't want to be left out in Europe and there is no doubt that Allegris is a massive miss on so many levels. The implication is the cost to provide it for years to come and the lack of competitiveness LH will have. The irony might be that other LH Group carriers might do better w/ it than flagship LH
Or the deal is significantly better than otherwise available. Not exactly what an airline wants to hear, that their product is only competitive if it has a low yield.
A trip I'm taking in December had swiss as a consideration as it was almost £1k cheaper than any other airline in J (except Egypt air (they're on my personal no fly list)) and it's good value at 65% the price of QR, BA, Etihad or EK.
Just my two pence worth.
1. What makes an experience or product 'premium' can differ vastly from individual to individual.
2. One FA for 4 pax is reasonable (LH has 2 for 8 F seats on the 747) but you also have to factor in the pilots who the F crew also tend to look after on the A350. There can be 2, 3 or even 4 pilots depending on route length and some pilots are quite easy to look after, others are like an extra F passenger.
3. Overall seat count is not a good indication of what a good crewing number of FA's should be. Generally, if the overall seat count has reduced but the number of premium seats has increased you need MORE not LESS FA's or at the very least maintain existing numbers.
The middle seat concept is Spohr-nicated. After the "this is different" effect wears off, its problematic functionality will set in. In the end, one must ask what drove this initiative. It's hard to believe it came from a deep understanding of the customer. And, in a way, it seems emblematic of how Lufthansa is in a broader sense.
Rain, it will be interesting to read if the savings you make by not choosing one of the alternative carriers you mentioned, actually equates to better value for money in the long run. Please keep us posted, thank you.
Duck, are you forgetting one very important factor with your crew numbers synopsis? …. True First Class service requires at the very least, one ‘galley-slave’ and one ‘slop-jockey’. The ‘galley-slave’ prepares the individual meals while the ‘slop-jockey’ delivers the meals to the customer. Much like in most half decent restaurants actually. Having two ‘slop-jockeys’ for four or more F passengers is definitely not overkill. Those numbers actually set the World Class Airlines well apart from the rest of the pretenders.
Lav, you might not rate LH as a “Premium airline”, however, the fact remains that according to the 2025 World (customer survey) Ranking's, they were rated a wapping 35 places higher than the top ranked U.S. ‘premium’ airline. Just saying, please do not shoot this messenger, ask Mr Google …. 🙂
Those rankings are funny things, it's not an apples-to-apples comparison. I would have given an Y-only flight on Jet2 a much higher ranking than KLM's premium European offering. I think Lufthansa are pretty good at what they do, but, unlike LH management, I don't see top-notch onboard meals or mind-blowing lounges as part of what they do
I don't disagree at all Aero.
For a world class product you would definitely want two. Or at least two during the busy times/meal services.
100%. Lufthansa has long been at best indifferent to their clients. I met a man at the Lanserhof Sylt, who despite being very German, readily stated that he'd rather fly easyJet than Lufthansa premium because he was tired of being charged more for the same level of service.
You are correct. Flew MUC to ORD, in July, I was in 1K, another in 1A, double was empty. Had 2 F/A's plus Purser was constantly checking on us. With 1 F/A in 1st; I also forsee a decline in quality of service.
did I miss the link to who made this decision to cut staff?
who would have thought that a management bean counter would have thought they could skimp on staffing and continue to purport that the product is superior?
Your assessment and theirs (whoever they are) may be true but...
JustinB, I have been winding up my brain cell to try to remember our last EY, A380 flight.
We occupied 1&2 H and I can remember at least three very charming FA’s. The Residence was not occupied and the walls cocoon one nicely against the cabin traffic, etc. I am sorry that I cannot be more helpful.
Afterthought …. I would fly with them again in the blink of an eye, but SQ serves us better for most of our Far East flights (nonstop). That said we are booked on AF for our next trip.
I'm going on Ba one way and QR on the way back soo...
By the time I knew exactly when I would be free I'd decided to just enjoy myself!
Quite so Throw, however, I do note that SkyTrax, Forbes and CN all mostly align in their ratings. From my experience of EK, SQ, EY, QR and yes, BA …. I would find it very hard to disagree with Ben, Sam Chui and the aforementioned publications.
Rain, that is very interesting. Would you be willing to share the route, cabin class and aircraft type with us please?
You see, I have flown QR in F on the A380. I found the openness of the cabin to be …. shall we say, less than cosy. I was the only European in the cabin and the woman folk looked less than happy to see the ‘whitey from Blighty’ in their midst …. especially at meal times.
The BA, A380’s I’ve flown were quite open too, however, not as much as QR. It will be interesting to read your experiences too.
Samo, from my experience of other F cabins on the best airlines, I would find it difficult to believe that AF will not have at least two and more likely three FA’s in attendance during critical times. If there is only one, at a push two, F passengers on a particular flight, then I suspect that one FA could easily cope.
lol Tim. “Galley hearsay”
Sounds like the captain of a frigate headed for Terra Australis Incognita upon hearing officers discuss dissension amidst the crew.
“Pay no heed to the Jack Tar scuttlebutt!”
The LH First Class cabin was designed for a different scenario, which is not playing out here.
I was never too impressed with Lufthansa's J class service. Lufthansa's First Class service has always been top notch. I have flown Lufthansa First 5 times, Emirates First 5 times, and while the Emirates crew were always "good", 4/5 of the LH crew were what Ben would call "superstars". Makes sense they are pissed, they take pride in their work
First class tickets easily cost 10k EUR+ for a return trip. Having 1:2 crew passenger ratio is not unreasonable at that price at all.
Given the price LH charges and the service expectations of passengers for that price, it’s a bit unreasonable to expect 1 person to do all of that efficiently while keeping passengers happy. Not to say the meals are like Michelin star level, but their preparation and presentation is involved enough to make a dedicated person necessary. It’s not as simple to say that 4 passengers means half as much work as 8, especially when it comes to meals.
At the very least they should have a floating FA who is tasked to help in the F cabin at meal times like it seems AF does.
Im not sure how its an A350-1000 issue or (in this case an A359 issue) Having flown on QR, SQ's and JL's equipment a handful of times (and the first two airlines on ULH routes ) the size of the plane has never been an issue in regards to feeling the smaller cabin space. It's an ergonomics and design issue on LH's part. LH clearly missed the mark here.They over designed a cabin, and are trying to over utilize space, and the aircraft can't accommodate this product for an optimal experience how its designed now. I don't don't see many complaints from premium passengers on QR, DL, JL, SQ, DL, heck EVEN AI, and TY for that matter.
Its amazing how everyone saw the issues with the 3.5 seat cabin...except for whatever dolts are running LH. I mean they only had 6 years to think about this and recognize how dumb this cabin configuration was so its not like this was rushed and yet here we are. The points made by the FAs about sleeping/movies have consistently been made by pretty much everyone who looked at the design for 2 seconds.
It will be interesting to see what LH does here, I don't agree theres not much they can do now - when you screw up in business the worst thing to do is double down on stupid and stick with bad decisions. For one the current LX F seats are pretty decent, and they have more than 3 of them to sell, pumping the breaks on that rollout and getting someone competent to come up with a new F seat would make more sense.
If you fly JAL, you'll see the same thing, for them particularly in Y, that there is not the same space and the service is impacted by it.
That’s what I was thinking. For sure 3, but may be 4 although if the residence is occupied one would be dedicated there. The FA the last few years have been absolutely outstanding.
My last three EY F flights had the residence occupied… seems they have dialed in the upgrade cost and people are willing to pay. Still haven’t splurged on it, but maybe one day.
I flew JL in F and I didn't feel a lack of space or the crew being impacted by it, or in any of the airlines I flew the a350 in for that matter. I am not someone who travels a lot, but I am someone who travels bi-monthly and predominantly on ULH routes. I tend to heavily shop duty free especially if a Hermes store is involved. I always ask cabin crew if they can store my goods with them (often on an A350) and they always say sure or certainly. Not once have I had them ask me to say "you're gonna have to gate check your carry on" and place it in the overhead. I tell them beforehand, I don't want to ruin the packaging and the stuff inside is precious so I would appreciate it if they can store it. IF they had troubles keeping service items they'd be telling me to take a hike.
This is pertinent to LH because it is solely a design flaw.
By your rationale, it would be an even more chronic problem on the Boeing 787, or the A330 as those aircraft are narrower. From lived experience and learned, I haven't heard of it being an issue.
If you don't like an aircraft just state the fact you don't like the aircraft. But don't make it a definitive fact.
Justin, I have mulled over the idea of the Residence many, many times but cannot imagine it working for my wife and I. Now, if the ‘sitting room’ sofa converted into a single bed, that would be a different proposition. However, I don’t think that it would get over the TV challenge …. there being only one I seem to remember? (Someone correct me if I’m wrong).
Slop-jockey - priceless
In the US flight attendants are adamant about not being called waitresses
As a Purser for a US carrier, I agree with LH crew assessment (I also am a private passenger in First Class on several airlines using mileage opportunities). An important question is: what other duties would this F/C crew member have to attend to? For example, the forward crew members in the US must feed the pilots (sometimes 3 times on a 12+ hour flight) and supervise lavatory breaks that include going into the flight deck when a pilot comes out, blocking the front of the plane from passenger access, and standing in a stationary position for minutes at a time "blocking". On flights over 8 hours, a 3rd pilot is present; over 12, a 4th -- and if training is occurring there can be a 5th pilots rotating between a cabin seat and the flight deck. On USA business class services, this aspect greatly affects service levels since the busiest traffic coincides with prime service times. This factor must be included in the assessment of any airline's premium staffing ratio.