The old Lufthansa business class on their iconic 747-400 is the first business class I can remember flying. I was 13 years old at the time, flying with my father and 10 year old brother between Frankfurt and New York. Good times…
When I had the chance to try this long awaited cabin improvement, although it’s not exactly new anymore, I was thrilled to experience what Lufthansa had to offer.
Lufthansa Flight 639
Dubai (DXB) to Munich (MUC)
23 December 2015
Depart: 9:40AM
Arrive: 1:30PM
Duration: 6hr50min
Aircraft: Airbus A340-600
Seat: 11K (Business Class)
Airport
Lufthansa operates out of Terminal 2 at DXB, and I arrived around 7:40am for my 9:20am flight.
After clearing security and visiting the Senator lounge (I know, I was surprised Lufthansa had their own lounge in Dubai too), I hurried to the gate to be the first to board so that I could record the cabin while it was in its best condition.
Boarding
I was quick to board, which allowed me to snap these awesome pictures with no one else in sight!
The business class cabin itself is in a not-too-groundbreaking 2-2-2 configuration. However, the business class cabin was only about 50% full so while three of six seats in my row (row 11) were taken, no one was seated next to me – SCORE! If traveling with someone you know, this configuration shouldn’t be a problem, but I’m excited to see what Lufthansa can do for their even newer business class on the 777X.
As soon as I sat down, the flight attendant serving my aisle came by and welcomed me onboard, asking what he could get me to drink. I asked for the magic OJ from my outbound flight, but apparently it was not available. Sadly, I had to settle for normal OJ or champagne 😉
Waiting at my seat was an amenity kit, a colorful pillow and a blanket. I appreciated the quality of the blanket, and ended up wrapping my legs in it for most of the flight. The Reisenthel amenity kit was also great, and contained an eye mask, socks, a toothbrush and toothpaste, lip balm and body lotion.
The headphones are Lufthansa branded Bose QC3s, which are connected and stored in a small compartment to the right of the seat, in my case. After trying the QC3s on this flight I decided to replace my “old” QC25s with a pair of these – they were that good!
Kudos to Lufthansa for providing business class passengers with amazing audio.
The seat was comfortable with ample legroom. I was impressed by the amount of storage areas on this seat, which I can’t say for all other seats in a similar 2-2-2 layout. There was a large storage area by the footrest containing the amenity kit and a water bottle.
The menu indicated that I’d be served a small snack after takeoff, and a hot meal before landing. This was the first time I’d seen a meal service in that order, and I know Ben was new to the idea until recently as well.
Boarding took quite a while. Then, without much warning, we began pushback and the safety video started to play.
The sun was shining as we taxied across the airport toward the runway. There’s nowhere like Dubai if you’re an A380 fan! The city stretches around the airport, so regardless of the side you’re seated on, you’ll have some spectacular views when departing to the northwest.
After takeoff, we turned right and flew up the UAE coast toward northern Oman and then Iran.
Soon the FA serving my aisle came by to offer hot towels and beverages in preparation for the meal service.
I took the opportunity to browse the entertainment system, which was the same as on my outbound flight. A little note to future LH flyers: the remote is touchscreen, even though it doesn’t look like it. That took me a good 10 minutes to figure out!
Since I had already exhausted all but one episode of Parks and Recreation on my previous flight, I decided to get some work done, but not before listening to the Tim Ferriss podcast for a while (I highly recommend it), and watching the last episode of course.
Before I knew it breakfast the snack was served. It was basic, but tasty, consisting of a few sandwiches, with some fresh fruit, vegetables and passionfruit juice.
Service from the male flight attendant serving my aisle was extraordinary throughout the flight. He saw me recording and helped me out, joking with me and clearly making an effort to pamper me (and everyone around me).
After the meal we spoke for a while, and I’m devastated I didn’t get his name because he was truly the best flight attendant I’ve ever had (to date).
Since this was a six and a half hour daytime flight, I worked by preparing a few college essays (aka was “forcefully” fed champagne and chocolate by the FA who insisted I have more because “oh no what a tragedy it would be to throw away such good champagne”) all the way to Munich. Anyone who is familiar with my videos knows how much good service can impact my perception of a flight and this was an A+.
In the end, a genuine smile and concern go a long way for me.
Lufthansa has Wi-Fi available for purchase for as little as €12 for 24 hours. The speeds are usually good and great for working…
I tried reclining the seat even though I had no plans on sleeping. The foot space was larger than I’d expected, and I suddenly wished my flight had been a 12 hour redeye because the bed was temping me to doze off. There was also quite good privacy when reclined.
About two hours from Munich the real lunch service began. For the appetizer I chose the Arabic Mezze, which was rather soggy, but tasted good.
For the main course I choose the rubber chicken tandoori. This course was a little disappointing.
Lastly, “my” FA served me all the desserts so I could get them on camera – they were all pretty yummy.
Although the appetizer was fine and the dessert was enjoyable, the food ended up being the only disappointing aspect of this flight.
Soon enough we began our descent and I was bummed to say goodbye to the crew.
The sun followed us the entire way from Dubai, and we touched down at MUC a couple of minutes ahead of schedule.
I asked if I could get a photo with the entire crew after landing, to which they gladly agreed.
After that, I left the beautiful A340-600 and made my way toward immigration and the lounge, where I showered and enjoyed a few Christmas snacks.
Here’s my video review of the flight:
Bottom Line
I’m not sure whether or not my experience with the food was out of the ordinary, but it ended up being the only aspect of the product that wasn’t incredible. As I said, the service blew me away, as did the headphones, Wi-Fi-pricing and the overall comfort of the seat.
I look forward to seeing Lufthansa introduce their new business class in a few years. Hopefully, we see direct aisle access from every seat this time around. Until then, I would recommend you try Lufthansa if you want a fantastic soft product and a good, fully flat seat, especially if you’re flying together with someone else. I’m really excited to try their new A350, which is being delivered later in the year.
Have you flown Lufthansa product business class? If so, was your experience similar or different to mine? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
This is sooooooo ridiculous... all your comments picking on the kid is so hilarious... I hope he is laughing in all of your faces next time your stuck in the middle seat... So now young people get judged for flying in premium cabins LOLOLOLOLOL... Now I am more inclined to post my premium class experiences just to see the trolls inthe comments... oh and btw explat as a 21 year old #bagithaters
@Daniel keep...
This is sooooooo ridiculous... all your comments picking on the kid is so hilarious... I hope he is laughing in all of your faces next time your stuck in the middle seat... So now young people get judged for flying in premium cabins LOLOLOLOLOL... Now I am more inclined to post my premium class experiences just to see the trolls inthe comments... oh and btw explat as a 21 year old #bagithaters
@Daniel keep the reviews coming! You're doing great... no I swear i wasnt stocking all of your reviews
Lol seriously!? I've had the displeasure of having to fly Lufthansa quite frequently since before I can even remember (including the Frankfurt-Dubai flight) and tbh it always sucked-both first and business class. The food, the entertainment, the business class seats-even the Frankfurt lounge! Service was hit or miss really like maybe a step above British airways on average. Oh and they lost our luggage for good one time and another time our flight landed 3...
Lol seriously!? I've had the displeasure of having to fly Lufthansa quite frequently since before I can even remember (including the Frankfurt-Dubai flight) and tbh it always sucked-both first and business class. The food, the entertainment, the business class seats-even the Frankfurt lounge! Service was hit or miss really like maybe a step above British airways on average. Oh and they lost our luggage for good one time and another time our flight landed 3 hours late so we had to miss our connecting flight(both Lufthansa) and had to wait 12 hours & go find a hotel (probably should have been complimentary). Anyway stopped flying Lufthansa a few years ago because Qatar (airways) finally has a direct flight to my hometown. Thank god! Qatar actually has appetizing food in my opinion! Better than Emirates even. Virgin is literally the only major European airline I feel comfortable with. Especially now that I'm traveling on my own (yes, I know, I'm even younger than the contributor so how dare I complain at all). Maybe I'm just too picky. Sorry for the rant. At least it's better than delta.
I have to say that as a fellow millennial of this author that from his point of view the service met or exceeded his expectations. Its his opinion, respect it.
I will also add, that having amateur contributors only hurts the reputability and brand equity of this form, so OMAT should carefully consider and review the articles before they are posted.
On that note, I don't qualify Jacquart Brut or Duval Leroy Brut (both...
I have to say that as a fellow millennial of this author that from his point of view the service met or exceeded his expectations. Its his opinion, respect it.
I will also add, that having amateur contributors only hurts the reputability and brand equity of this form, so OMAT should carefully consider and review the articles before they are posted.
On that note, I don't qualify Jacquart Brut or Duval Leroy Brut (both LH often poured in C cabin) champagnes are 'fine.'
After reading this post, I now have questioned the legitimacy and accuracy of this forum. It seemed like that because the contributor is gay, good looking, caucasian that it would help OMAT reach a bigger audience.
Great review, thanks for sharing your flight.
Alan, check a map. Part of Oman is indeed north of the UAE. It is very common for European bound flights to initially head North East along the coast before turning North West and travelling over Iran.
Okay kids... let's quit the bullying.
Daniel's whining about not being able to cut in line at the SAS counters even though it was his own damn fault really showed his colors as a primadonna with milk stains under his nose. And, the fact that he posts a review from a flight nine months ago sends a huge hit to his credibility - it's as if I were to review my Etihad flight from November...
Okay kids... let's quit the bullying.
Daniel's whining about not being able to cut in line at the SAS counters even though it was his own damn fault really showed his colors as a primadonna with milk stains under his nose. And, the fact that he posts a review from a flight nine months ago sends a huge hit to his credibility - it's as if I were to review my Etihad flight from November and tell folks that they can get free chauffeur service even though they booked on AAdvantage miles.
HOWEVER, attacking him for HIS review of LH is unfair. Nobody pounces on Ben when he gushes about his flights on the German Stork. At the end of the day, it's Daniel's opinion. I've flown C and F on LH and have had mediocre service from crews who concentrate on pure German efficiency. On the flip side, my wife flew LH on the SEA-FRA-LUZ sectors and she had a fabulous experience.
As for the boy's writing style, cut him some slack. At least he's brave enough to put himself out for our collective attacks which I'm sure many of you would be running to your attorneys right about now.
As for you, Daniel, you do have a lot to learn about this business and life in general. But, I believe you CAN and WILL achieve great things with experience and a huge dose of humility.
@ Alex Chara
You do realize a large chunk of the people who post comments - even the negative ones - are also business and first class travelers? So the theory of people being bitter and jealous doesn't really apply. It's an outdated counterargument that became passe in 2013.
@ Elijah
Stop trying to get into Daniel's pants.
@Alex Chara Great post.
@Alex Chara, you put my thoughts in words. Thanks!
The information about the takeoff direction and countries is incorrect. Oman in South of DXB and MUC is NW. It looks like the takeoff direction was inland so a right turn would take you up the Gulf and possibly over Iran but would not go anywhere near Oman.
The only reason I'm commenting is that I'm sick of this overentitled, pompous and irritating kid continuing to clog up my RSS feed. At least the other trip reports say something other than, “Wow, (blank) is amazing!” every time.
Daniel, one request for future articles. Lucky and the rest of the crew is usually good about telling us how they book each flight (miles? cash?). Would you considerate including that in future reports? Helps understand how we can also experience ourselves.
Cheers
Jee-whiz, stop reviewing the reviewer! Who are half you people - English teachers or something? The guys doing something right as he's got half you lot reading his material and going to the lengths of posting comments about it!
Daniel I've read a handful of your reviews and I think they're great. Look forward to reading about more of your travels.
Eh, the article itself isn't bad, it isn't good. It's perfectly cromulent.
The real issue is, why are we getting a nine month old trip report the airline no longer offers?
Daniel,
I think that your review is good. It is true that you still have some things to improve, but who else doesn't?? And for the bitter people with their bitter comments you could stop reading Daniel's post if they annoy you so much. I share Samantha's opinion, you should try to find your own style, do not try to copy anybody style.
Luis
Good work mate. Piss off all ye bitter and twisted old queens
Daniel, I think your review very favorable, given their poor product.
Yes, LH crews are great, their really doing their best under difficult circumstances, dictated by management. The "new" business class seat is outright poor, very tight for the feet and rather short. Food is always on the cheap end (chicken breast ...)
love the pics of and with crew.
thanks for the post.
@Fabio - nothing wrong with personalized clothing.
@Daniel
Interesting take on the review. Continue writing. Take some courses on writing to make the reviews concise and crisp. I recommend to dig deep and find your own style. You do not have to follow Ben/Lucky's writing style. The article feels as if you are copying or imitating his early works. With practice and training, you will improve (and probably surpass the level of writing on this blog).
The name of "the guy" is on his jacket, just magnify the original picture
I think Daniel does a nice job. I did think it was a bit of an own goal to start with the "way back in time" intro which turned out to be er... 2010? But his video reports are good and he is not cynical. I get bored by a lot of the samey reviews on here (never Tiffany who I think is the best thing about this site) so I'm pleased to see Daniel. Whatever happened to the other reviewers btw?
Wow, I agree everyone - this blog has reached new lows- but it has NOTHING to do with the posts (Daniel, your blog posts are amazing, informative, well written and you take great photos) - it has to do with the low quality, jealous & bitter commenters who are dissatisfied with their own life, their own 'lack of business class experiences' - so they feel the need to read in envy rather than celebrate a...
Wow, I agree everyone - this blog has reached new lows- but it has NOTHING to do with the posts (Daniel, your blog posts are amazing, informative, well written and you take great photos) - it has to do with the low quality, jealous & bitter commenters who are dissatisfied with their own life, their own 'lack of business class experiences' - so they feel the need to read in envy rather than celebrate a 19 year old who isn't on a street corner smoking drugs, who isn't sitting on a computer game - but a 19 year old who is doing SOMETHING with his life - more than some of the 50+ year old bitter commenters will have ever have done.
It just proves how unfortunately, in this world - other people's success makes many people jealous. Well, I was always brought up to admire those doing well, and when others go low we, go high. Daniel, you're doing great. And, I loved this Lufthansa trip report. Keep doing what you're doing.
- Alex
Why was this review uploaded so long after the flight was taken? Lufthansa cancelled their MUC to DXB service months ago!
For a day flight with the seat beside you empty, I can understand why this review is positive. Try a night flight with somebody beside you. With the very low seat shell it is impossible to vault over a sleeping seat mate. If you choose the angled together middle seats you can expect...
Why was this review uploaded so long after the flight was taken? Lufthansa cancelled their MUC to DXB service months ago!
For a day flight with the seat beside you empty, I can understand why this review is positive. Try a night flight with somebody beside you. With the very low seat shell it is impossible to vault over a sleeping seat mate. If you choose the angled together middle seats you can expect to be kicked all night if your seat mate is a restless sleeper.
While the audio quality may have been good, the audio jacks are in incredibly awkward places if you wish to use your own headphones instead.
Maybe the FA fancied you
Hard to understand why so many people on here feel the need to be so nasty. If you are not interested in a particular post, you don't have to read it. And if you don't like the site, you have the option to go elsewhere.
As for Daniel, the guy is 19. Give him a break.
I can't understand how this guy is still posting on this blog, boring reports and it feels like it was written by a 12 year old, it's really disappointing to find this kind of content here.
Nice report. The main problem with this and similar sectors is the outrageous fares ALL airlines charge for J. Sometimes it's available as a promo on Sky Team but otherwise it's necessary to pay through the nose . On Lufthansa at those times I would have chosen economy : 6 hour day flight is well within tolerance. But it's rare to see much discounting in J, even on Egyptair. They all charge far more for...
Nice report. The main problem with this and similar sectors is the outrageous fares ALL airlines charge for J. Sometimes it's available as a promo on Sky Team but otherwise it's necessary to pay through the nose . On Lufthansa at those times I would have chosen economy : 6 hour day flight is well within tolerance. But it's rare to see much discounting in J, even on Egyptair. They all charge far more for 4-6 hours to the ME than they do for 8 hours plus to other destinations.
"the same kid cut who whined about not being able to cut the line."
I must have missed the post that happened in, can anyone explain?
Thanks for an interesting report, Daniel, looks like you had a great flight! Keep up the good work :)
@Jerry Datansa; why don't you just stop reading his articles then, if you get that annoyed by them?
I'm amazed by the number of readers of this blog who clearly spend a good amount of time reading stuff they evidently don't like or appreciate......
I agree with many of the comments here. This contributor is inexperienced and brings the quality of this site down, unless his reports are clearly marked as some child's first flying experiences.
That said, LH has one of the worst lie-flat business hard products in Europe (bar BA). The rave about it in this report can only come from inexperience.
I checked out when i saw this was the same kid cut who whined about not being able to cut the line.
Appreciate the effort but comes across as amateur diva. Beautiful menu cover. beautiful ribbon, cute salt pepper shakers, 'yummy' food, mind blowing service, 9/10 rating? Really? Dont see how this fits with any of the other legit OMAAT reviews.
Lufthansa operates from Terminal 1 ( Concourse C airside) previously.
Now it operates from terminal 1 (Concourse D)
Lufthansa never operated from Terminal 2
Am I the only one this entitled kid annoys? It's seriously irritating to read posts from this immature brat.
Great review! I flew with them recently on FRA-NRT and I agree with you that the food was a disaster, for both the appetizer and the main! On the other hand, the blanket provided was one of the best quality I've had on Business Class. Service was good and loved the Bose headphone as well.
Lufthansa does not and has never operated from Terminal 2 in Dubai.
Nice report, thanks! Be aware that you had the bulkhead row which has much wider foot space in bed mode. Normal seats are much tighter, unfortunately.
@Tiffany - seems like it, I never looked at Hyatt's conversion rate thought it was 1:1.25, I wont be transferring at the actual rate of 1:0.5.
Well !! I now I have 50,000 Hyatt points fresh in my account and feeling a little heartbreak, lol . I guess it's good for some who are better off having AA Miles than UR points.
@ Mileage Man -- Oh no! At least Hyatt awards are a good use of UR!
Why am I not surprised that an 18-year old who likes to cut to the front of airport check-in lines would ask an entire crew for a "group photo" when they have more important things to do? And why are trip reports from 9 months ago just now getting posted?
@Lucky/Daniel/Tiffany/Daniel/ANYONE!!! - HUGE OPPORTUNITY to convert Chase UR points to American Airlines miles via Hyatt Gold Passport program with 25% bonus as well. Log into Hyatt account and check out the offer valid till Oct 14th, 2016.
@ Mileage Man -- Travis and I are looking at it now...seems it's basically 2 UR to 1 AA then? Or was it displaying something else?
When reading this I was thinking to myself..."how old is this blogger? 18?"
Turns out I was only a year off.
This guy (Daniel) comes across very earnest and it's just great. Thanks for the report!!
The photo of Daniel with the LH crew made me smile.
My first flight ever was in Lufthansa's "Senator Class" from Frankfurt to Idlewild aboard a Lockheed Constellation. I was five months old and my family was making the big move from Copenhagen to San Francisco. I obviously cannot speak of the quality of the champagne or whether or not the caviar had a mother-of-pearl spoon; but, that flight did provide me with my most...
The photo of Daniel with the LH crew made me smile.
My first flight ever was in Lufthansa's "Senator Class" from Frankfurt to Idlewild aboard a Lockheed Constellation. I was five months old and my family was making the big move from Copenhagen to San Francisco. I obviously cannot speak of the quality of the champagne or whether or not the caviar had a mother-of-pearl spoon; but, that flight did provide me with my most cherished posession: a black & white photo of me being held by a stewardess as the captain pinned my Lufthansa wings (which I still have) onto my onesie.
Thanks to all for tolerating my sentimentality.
I like the picture showing the Christmas decoration. Shouldn't OMAT disclose such a time discrepancy between when the flight was taken and when it is posted? 9 months seems to be a long time...