Which Routes Feature Lufthansa First Class?

Lufthansa offers one of the best first class products across the Atlantic, and for that matter, it’s one of the best first class products between the United States and Europe that’s bookable with miles.

With the winter airline schedule officially kicking in as of the end of October, I wanted to recap which Lufthansa planes feature first class, which routes they fly, what to expect from the experience, and how to redeem miles for the product. There are a lot of seasonal changes coming to the aircraft and routes featuring first class, so let’s go over all those details.

Lufthansa planes with a first class cabin

For the winter 2024-2025 season, you can expect first class to be available on three aircraft — the Boeing 747-8, Airbus A340-600, and Airbus A380. Specifically:

• Lufthansa has 19 Boeing 747-8s, which fly from Frankfurt to key, high yield, and high capacity markets; these will stay in Lufthansa’s fleet for years to come, and they’ll even be reconfigured with new cabins
• Lufthansa has brought back 10 Airbus A340-600s, which fly from Frankfurt to key destinations where there’s demand for first class; expect these planes to only remain in Lufthansa’s fleet temporarily
• Lufthansa has brought back eight Airbus A380s, which fly from Munich to key destinations where there’s significant premium cabin demand (though three aren’t currently flying); these planes have been brought back long term, and will even be reconfigured with new cabins

Lufthansa routes operated by Boeing 747-8s

For the winter 2024-2025 season, Lufthansa will operate Boeing 747-8s with first class exclusively out of Frankfurt. You can expect these planes to operate from Frankfurt to the following destinations:

• Bangalore (BLR) — through January 19, 2025
• Buenos Aires (EZE) — on an ongoing basis
• Johannesburg (JNB) — on an ongoing basis
• Los Angeles (LAX) — on an ongoing basis
• Mexico City (MEX) — on an ongoing basis
• Miami (MIA) — on an ongoing basis, but swapped to 747-400 January 31 through February 28, 2025
• Newark (EWR) — on an ongoing basis
• San Francisco (SFO) — on an ongoing basis
• Sao Paulo (GRU) — on an ongoing basis
• Shanghai (PVG) — on an ongoing basis
• Singapore (SIN) — on an ongoing basis
• Tokyo (HND) — on an ongoing basis

Lufthansa routes operated by Airbus A340-600s

For the winter 2024-2025 season, Lufthansa will operate Airbus A340-600s with first class out of Frankfurt. You can expect these planes to operate from Frankfurt to the following destination:

• Boston (BOS) — on an ongoing basis
• Chicago (ORD) — on an ongoing basis
• Delhi (DEL) — as of March 1, 2025
• Denver (DEN) — on an ongoing basis
• Hong Kong (HKG) — on an ongoing basis
• New York (JFK) — on an ongoing basis
• Riyadh (RUH) and Dammam (DMM) — through February 17, 2025

Lufthansa routes operated by Airbus A380

For the winter 2024-2025 season, Lufthansa will operate Airbus A380s with first class out of Munich. You can expect these planes to operate from Munich to the following destinations:

• Bangkok (BKK) — on an ongoing basis
• Delhi (DEL) — on an ongoing basis
• Los Angeles (LAX) — on an ongoing basis, but swapped to A350 January 7 through February 28, 2025

What about Lufthansa’s new first class product?

Lufthansa is in the process of (slowly) rolling out its new Allegris passenger experience, including all new first and business class seats.

Lufthansa’s new Allegris business class debuted in May 2024, and is currently available on newly delivered Airbus A350-900s based in Munich. As of 2025, it should also be available on select newly delivered Boeing 787-9s based in Frankfurt. I’ve reviewed Lufthansa’s Allegris A350 business class, and it’s a huge improvement over the old product.

Lufthansa’s new Allegris first class is expected to launch in the near future. The airline has just taken delivery of its very first Airbus A350-900 with the new first class, and in the coming months, the airline should take delivery of a couple more of those.

Initially Lufthansa won’t sell the new first class product until the fleet is beefed up a bit, but that should change soon. As of now, we don’t yet know which routes this plane will operate, but I’d expect it to debut during the winter season.

What to expect from Lufthansa first class

Lufthansa offers a solid first class experience on its Boeing 747-8. When departing Frankfurt, the awesome experience starts on the ground, as you can use Lufthansa’s incredible First Class Terminal.

While there, don’t forget to pick up your duck, since that’s always a fun feature of Lufthansa first class.

From there you’ll be driven across the apron to your plane, which sure is a treat.

Lufthansa’s 747-8 first class cabin features a total of eight seats, spread across three rows. There are three rows of single seats on each side, and then in the third row there’s a pair of seats in the middle. With so many airlines retiring the 747, it’s such a treat to be able to sit in the nose of the queen of the skies!

Lufthansa’s inflight catering in first class is generally great as well, with a caviar service to start, along with a variety of appetizers, main courses, and desserts.

While Lufthansa’s inflight entertainment selection is just okay, the airline does have inflight Wi-Fi, and first class passengers even receive a voucher for complimentary access.

I’ve found service in Lufthansa first class to be pretty consistently excellent, and to strike the right balance between being professional and personable.

Lufthansa’s A340-600 first class and Airbus A380 first class also consists of eight seats, but the seats are instead spread across two rows in a 1-2-1 configuration. The Lufthansa First Class Lounge Munich is also pretty awesome, and in many ways I prefer it to the Frankfurt lounge.

How to redeem miles for Lufthansa first class

You can redeem miles from all kinds of Star Alliance airlines for travel in Lufthansa first class. I’d note that generally Lufthansa makes first class award seats available to members of partner airline frequent flyer programs at most 15 days before departure (and lately even closer to departure than that).

The good news is that Lufthansa pretty reliably opens up these seats as the departure date approaches, assuming there are empty seats (this might not be 15 days out, but rather more often than not will be in the days leading up to departure).

So, what are the best programs for booking Lufthansa first class? Here are some popular options that partner with transferable points currencies, with pricing listed for one-way travel between the United States and Europe:

• The Air Canada Aeroplan program charges 100,000 points (for up to 6,000 miles of travel)
• The avianca lifemiles program charges 130,000 miles
• The United MileagePlus program charges at least 140,000 miles

None of those programs have carrier imposed surcharges on these awards, which is why I’m highlighting them.

Bottom line

Lufthansa offers a solid first class product on a subset of its long haul fleet. For the winter 2024-2025 schedule, you can expect to find first class on Boeing 747-8s and Airbus A340-600s based in Frankfurt, and on Airbus A380s based in Munich.

In the coming months, we should see the introduction of Lufthansa’s new first class product on select newly delivered Airbus A350-900s based in Munich. Then again, it’s likely that there won’t be many opportunities to redeem miles for it, given how small the cabin is.

Hopefully the above is a useful summary of which routes you’ll find these planes on, what to expect, and how to redeem miles for the experience.

Any other questions about Lufthansa first class that I missed?