I can't even begin to say how much we enjoyed our Lufthansa first class flight. There's something so special about sitting in the nose of the 747, and I think the pandemic's impact on travel makes me savor experiences like this even more than ever before. How I booked our Lufthansa first class tickets If…
Continue reading: Review: Lufthansa First Class Boeing 747-8
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Hmm Caviar, Le Prairie cream that's what I wanted to read no boring travel etiquettes or gossip filling articles...
Love it thanks, Ben. Now I can confirm that I was right with the picture on the weekly review that made me wait for this review.
Nice review and can’t look forward to enjoy Lufthansa First again!
Small correction: the power outlets actually support both 110V and 230V without the need for an adapter (auto-sensing), which makes life so much easier
This is one of the last "famous" first class products I have yet to try, it does look lovely despite the lack of privacy. How were the main dishes? Based on your other comments it looks like the food may not exactly be the best?
Fine, dependable and comfortable is how I define Lufthansa F. I fly regularly between ORD and FRA for work. While I don’t consider the product memorable, I also can’t find fault with it - which is fine by me. I’m not really that impressed by the bling that other airlines pack into their F products. Incidentally I also like SQ Suites and ANA’s new F product. Again - none of them are especially memorable, but perfectly comfortable and functional. These are two attributes I value most.
We flew business with Lufthansa from Munich to sfo last week. While it wasn’t the 747, nor first, it was an awesome experience. The service was over the top and simply wonderful. They run a good shop.
The no rose champagne thing seems to be route specific. SFO-FRA a couple months ago was told 'not avail on this particular route.'
Wish LH would up the game of the mains and starters quality, BA for example does a better job there, but it is...reliable
I was worried I’d missed my chance at LH First, with all the pandemic changes. I had plans for 2020, but didn’t we all have cancellations? So here’s to a future trip! Thanks for a wonderful report - and I’m glad to see wines in F are so much better than in business.
My wife and I flew last week from fra to sfo also in seats 1a & 1k. Food and service was very good. Seat 1k video was not working except for map. Made for a very long day! Fra 1st class terminal was the highlight. Would I do it again “no”.
@ GW -- Both west coast routes (LAX & SFO) are rather tough. I'd say SFO is marginally easier, but you'll usually find a lot more availability out of ORD, followed by EWR. LAX, SFO, and MIA, are all tricky. I'd just recommend monitoring first class availability in the couple of weeks leading up to the flight, and hope that a majority of the seats are unsold.
I have to laugh at "shoehorns" being given out as amenities. Like is there some giant warehouse full of them from decades ago and they're just trying to use them up before abandoning this silly, wasteful trinket as an amenity?
Flew this last month on same route and they only had 1 bottle of the Alexandra loaded. Many of the good wines were also not available. Seems like they are cutting corners there.
What a deal with the 20% AMEX transfer at 84K. When I flew Lufthansa First FRA-ORD on September 3 in 1A. Same champagne. Different amenity kit Porsche. The pajamas were van laack brown color.
What hotel are you staying at in Paris ? Cant wait for that.
Great review! Hoping to snag F space soon for our trip next month. If not, we will be on the upper deck in business. Is it awkward "buddy" dining with others in the cabin?
I recently flew Lufthansa first class from Frankfurt to Johannesburg on their 747-8. Ground service was incredible but inflight service was forgettable. I always feel that LH cabin crew pay a lot more attention to their German speaking passengers compared to their non German speaking passengers. Especially in business and first. I was seated in 1 A and waited almost until departure for a glass of welcome champagne. Service throughout the flight was lacking. My breakfast service was an afterthought and I had to repeatedly ask for a coffee. All this time flight attendants were chatting away with other German passengers. They accidentally threw away my slippers during the breakfast service- I requested another pair and my request was just brushed off saying ‘ its not an option’. I realize that crew can be a hit or miss but with LH its definitely more a miss for me.
I flew BA first back to Europe - a completely different story. Flight Attendants were warm, friendly and attentive. The new BA first cabin is also a lot cozier and more modern than the dated LH first cabin. LH first way overrated in my opinion.
How did you get from FRA to Paris. Flying Singapore to FRA in 2022 and want to get straight to Paris. Train? FRA to CDG flying? Love the reviews.
"The other benefit is that if you’re in Lufthansa first class and you don’t arrive at a gate, you’re driven to the terminal separate from other passengers."
This alone might be worth the 100K miles to a number of readers here 🙂
Ben, do you (or anyone else) happen to know where I could find the music Lufthansa plays when watching the map on the entertainment screen? It was probably the highlight of my flights on Lufthansa.
Nice review.
"Pillow is well padded without being too chick" - meant to say something else?
Ben - what is the best method of monitoring this? I'd use LifeMiles. Check everyday starting 30 days out? It seems that this out of reach for most of us unless we have the luxury of last minute travel.
Awesome to live vicariously again through your excellent reviews! I have not flown a lot of international first class, but I have done the Lufthansa first on the 747 too. I know there is a focus now on having private first class suites, etc. but I actually enjoy being able to SEE other people flying with you and really enjoy that aspect of Lufthansa. Call me old-fashioned I guess. Glad to see these things returning...
I am really impressed with Lufthansa's offering. It is almost back to normal 100% while most European and US airlines continue to offer a sub-par product in premium cabin. Can't wait to read about the rest of your experience!
@ Colin -- We may have similar tastes... is this the music you're referring to?
https://onemileatatime.com/so-i-think-weve-found-lufthansas-awesome-onboard-music-track/
@ KM -- Great question! In this case it wasn't, based on where the other passengers were seated. If the cabin were full, it might be a bit awkward, since you're basically looking directly at some other passengers, though at a distance. Then again, I guess that's no different than British Airways' old business class. 😉
@ Steve -- You could pay for an ExpertFlyer subscription, though alternatively go to Google Flights and just see how many seats are still being sold in first class on a particular flight. It should be pretty easy to figure out, given that there are at most eight seats. Then within 15 days just keep an eye on award availability (personally I use Air Canada's website most often).
@ JK -- I flew as part of the same award ticket. Personally I'd probably fly, but if you wanted to spend some time in Frankfurt, the train wouldn't be a bad option either.
Dying with laughter thinking about your dad wearing Lufthansa pajamas out in public as casualwear
Can't wait to book it again soon! (but only ex-FRA for the FCT and the duck haha)
Great review! Miss it!
Do you find the early takeoff time annoying? I prefer transatlantic take offs after 7/8pm and that’s from ord. Although flew to Munich in 2019 on LH F and it was still pretty good at 350pm. I guess it depends on what responsibilities you have on the other end.
Our experience in Lufthansa business class is the same as yours! we were ignored, and one flight attendant was actually very rude to my partner (he's English) when he requested a coffee.
Lucky reviews, among the best things out there for travel/airplanes. Good job.
Ben, what are the routes that have the best availability for LH F departing Germany? Thanks!
Flew twice eastbound transatlantic in 1A and have to say that I didn’t really love it. Not sure if it was headwinds but it was more noisy, with a sense of more vibration bumps than usual hitting the nose.
Nobody in Europe needs air nozzles, and it is besides some others one of the most annoying thing for Europeans with US carriers, cold planes and constant cold airflow, touche...
I flew this route last night and the cabin service was impeccable. Everyone in the cabin seemed to get the same amount of attention. Regarding the seat, my only small gripe is the sluggish entertainment remote control and the screen size/distance relation makes for a smallish video size. The scrambled eggs were tasteless and scrambled dry. I will give them a miss on my return flight in 2 weeks
Reading this just about killed me. I’m flying Boston to Frankfurt on Lufthansa in a couple of weeks, …in economy restricted. Going with a tour company, and that’s how they booked me. There are no upgrades allowed on that fare, which I’d planned to purchase. I also have a five hour layover in Frankfurt. I’m just hoping I can purchase lounge access. Wish me luck!
Curious about the use of stairs on arrival at the gate. Suspect this may be Covid related such that they want to ensure everyone has the necessary certs before entering the terminal. At Frankfurt (from memory) when you arrive, you enter the transit area (ie where the duty free and cafes are) where there are departing passengers and staff as well.
Wonder if Lufthansa are still deemed to have a Skytrax 5'star award; for it's 'imaginary' Business Class. A Business Class that still hasn't been properly introduced. Embarrassingly dishonest, for both Skytrax and LH.
Seems a little odd that they offer fresh orange juice when departing from Germany, but not on a flight departing from, of all places, Florida.
Before the Pandemic we flew First Class Lufthansa from Munich to Shanghai (starting in London) and returning into Frankfurt. Like the writer on the outward journey I had seat 1A after another passenger offered his seat to me to sit nearer to my husband in 2A. A very generous offer and much appreciated. This was our first time in First Class and being up front in the 747 was very special.
I too have experience the rude German attitude of the crew once on a long haul flight and stopped flying them long haul ever since. The maximum I’d give LH is a euro (short sector) flight while I’ve since given my long haul business to BA; the BA crew, more often than not, have the professionalism, consistency and can-do attitude that I have yet to see LH crew master. On a side note: I’ve see the same can-do and friendliness and professionalism from VS and KL too long haul. Sorry LH but you’re not in the same league.
Availability and price in North America comes nowhere close to Europe. Just last week in Amsterdam a half liter of fresh squeezed OJ cost 2 euro whereas in America at my local grocery store, same machine, cost $5 for .2L...
Lucky- you and I are so much alike when it comes to the 747-800 and the service one gets in first class. The difference between us is that I'm not generous as you about sharing my flying secrets!
Lucky- you and I are so much alike when it comes to the 747-800 and the service one gets in first class. The difference between us is that I'm not as generous as you about sharing my flying secrets!
Outdated.
Lot's of modern business class cabins look more premium than this non-sense.
This is a great song, Ben. Am a fan of this one for sure. I'm not convinced it is the same one I remember hearing when watching the inflight map for hours though!
I've flown this several times as well, and enjoyed it. But by today's standards, this is an outdated product & experience. Good service and food, but Lufthansa is 10+ years behind on the hard product in F (and don't get me started on their pathetic business class). I'd rather use my Star Alliance rewards on ANA F class any day.
Its the worst on European Airlines. Hot sweaty and BO. Gross. Why would anyone pay for that when you can have a cool and fresh cabin
@ Spartone -- A combination of things. He started by using italki, then he enrolled in Goethe-Institut while we were in Berlin last year, and nowadays we just practice daily. We talk in German to one another, and he talks in German with my parents.
Ben, agreed with the above, in addition, LH tends to have excellent availability out of MEX as well as YYZ
I think Lufthansa's First Class cabin is one of the classiest in the skies. It certainly looks much nicer than any Business Cabin out there. ME3 First Class looks way too gaudy for my taste.
Functional but immemorable is how I would define Lufthansa's product. I have no complaints with it, but I also don't get excited about it. It, I think, reflects the German stereotype of functionality over passion very well. I am glad their cars as not as boring as Lufthansa's First product.
Observing your breakfast menu, I can't help wondering whether all Pax on board managed to use the toilet inside the 10-15 minutes left till touch down.
The carpet looks filthy and the wine selection could be improved, I. È. No Italian wine.
I read your article for the first time yesterday and loved it. What a great flight. The in flight menus sound lovely and the fold down bed sounds awesome. My parents and I flew to Italy last month for a three week cruise with our favorite cruise company, Viking Ocean cruises, for our second Viking cruise since getting vaccinated for COVID, and Lufthansa has you wear your mask the whole time, except when eating, and you have to wear it while asleep as well, but the food was excellent. We even had ice cream on our outbound flight from Athens.
Yes, for studying German, the Goethe-Institut is prolly the most effective route - German is not an easy language yet German is logical (for example the letters always retain their pronunciation unlike English)
thank for this post on catering for the short-haul flight within Europe; I appreciate your candour on the highs and lows of flights. This short-haul flights suggests that Lufthansa is penny-wise yet dollar poor..
Lucky, how strict was Lufthansa about keeping your mask on if not actively eating or drinking?
I love everything about Lufthansa first class except the temperature of the cabin which I find stifling.
Way too hot.
I’ve travelled on LH in first and couldn’t be happier. It’s a remarkable experience.