Lufthansa has been in the process of refreshing their longhaul first & business class cabins since 2011. That means for almost five years we’ve been playing a guessing game as to whether we’ll get Lufthansa’s new first or business class cabins on a given flight.
In June Lufthansa announced that they completed overhauling their first class cabins. In a way it was bittersweet, because for many of us who have been involved in the miles & points world for a while, Lufthansa’s old first class was an especially memorable redemption. And at the time, award space on Lufthansa was almost unlimited.
Lufthansa’s old first class
Still, it’s exciting the first class retrofit project is complete, so now yo know you’ll get Lufthansa’s new first class no matter which plane or route you fly.
Lufthansa’s new first class
The good news is that just yesterday Lufthansa announced that they’ve also completed their business class retrofit project. All Lufthansa A330s, A340s, A380s, and 747-8s now feature Lufthansa’s new business class product. As part of this retrofit, Lufthansa installed roughly 7,000 new business class seats.
Lufthansa’s new business class
Lufthansa’s new business class
The one catch is that the 747-400 reconfiguration process isn’t quite complete, as a few of the planes still feature Lufthansa’s old business class product. A couple of 747-400s will soon be retired (and therefore won’t get the new product), while a few others should still be reconfigured in the coming weeks.
Lufthansa’s old business class
Lufthansa is pretty good about releasing business class award availability, so you can now be guaranteed the new business class product as long as you avoid the 747-400.
The funny thing is that as Lufthansa’s business class product is already sort of outdated. While most “top” airlines are aiming for direct aisle access from every business class seat (often using reverse herringbone seats), Lufthansa just installed a product which has six business class seats per row, and isn’t especially private.
Lufthansa’s new business class
Regardless, it’s a huge improvement over the old product!
Bottom line
It’s great that Lufthansa will finally have some consistency in their fleet, aside from the 747-400, which they’re still working on. For years, you wouldn’t know for sure if you were booking Lufthansa’s new or old business class product for most of their fleet. So while Lufthansa’s new business class isn’t an amazing product, it’s a perfectly pleasant way to fly across the Atlantic, and is now available on more planes than ever before.
What has been your experience with Lufthansa’s new business class?
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