Sometimes I wonder if Lufthansa is actually trolling the public. As most OMAAT readers are probably aware, the carrier is known for its Allegris business class having five different seating options (I think it was initially seven, but maybe they realized that sounded like too many).
Well, Lufthansa is adding a new seating concept, including the new “First Row Seat” and “Back Seat.” The idea behind this arguably isn’t actually that unreasonable, but the way this is being marketed is downright strange.
In this post:
Lufthansa’s new First Row Seat & Back Seat basics
Lufthansa Group has announced how its member airlines (Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, etc.) are expanding seating options with the First Row Seat and Back Seat concept… this is an “enhancement,” naturally! Let me just share the announcement in full:
Effective July 22, 2026, the airlines of the Lufthansa Group will introduce two new seat categories on short- and medium-haul flights: the First Row Seat in Business Class and the Back Seat in Economy Class.
The enhancement further harmonizes the Lufthansa Group’s continental seat portfolio and adds two seating options.
The new chargeable seat categories at-a-glance:
First Row Seat (Business Class):
- Seat located in the first row of the aircraft
- Offers the exclusivity of the front row and the convenience of quicker boarding and deboarding
- Remains available at no charge for HON Circle Members and Senators
Back Seat (Economy Class):
- Seats located in the last four or more rows of the Economy Class cabin (depending on aircraft type)
- The most affordable advanced seat reservation option in Economy Class – priced below the Classic Seat
- Remains available free of charge for HON Circle Members and Senators* and customers traveling on an Economy Flex fare
What’s Lufthansa’s intention with this seating change?
So, what’s actually going on with Lufthansa’s new branded First Row Seat and Back Seat concepts?
- Previously, Lufthansa Group saved the front row of business class for Miles & More HON Circle and Senator members, while now others can pay extra for those seats as well; people will have mixed feelings about that, depending on whether or not they have status
- Previously, all Classic Seat options in economy cost the same, while now you have Back Seat, where the cost to assign seats in the back is lower than other seats; that means there’s now four categories of economy seat assignments
In theory, the concept of dynamic pricing for seat assignments isn’t unreasonable. For airlines that charge for seat assignments, it’s not unusual to see variable pricing depending on the specific product. A seat toward the front costs more than a seat toward the back, an aisle or window seat costs more than a middle seat, etc.
The thing is, it’s odd to specifically market a seat as Back Seat, and then ask people to pay for that. Some might wonder why people would want to assign seats in the back of the plane, assuming they don’t get free seat assignments. I assume this is for people who value being guaranteed seats together, but want the lowest cost possible.
Also, how much do you want to bet that the old Classic Seat cost will become the new Back Seat cost, and then the Classic Seat cost will be increased, if that hasn’t been done already?
To me, this is just such typical Lufthansa Group over engineering, and not seeing the forest from the trees. “The enhancement our customers really want is to be able to pay to select a seat at the back of the plane, let’s even market it as such!”
Bottom line
Lufthansa is promoting an “enhancement,” whereby it’s introducing the First Row Seat and Back Seat concept, for short and medium haul flights.
The First Row Seat allows business class passengers to pay to assign seats in the first row, rather than saving them for elite members. Meanwhile the Back Seat concept allows economy passengers to assign seats in the very back of the cabin for less than the cost of regular economy seats.
In theory, it’s reasonable to have variable pricing to assign seats within a cabin. But to somehow market something as Back Seat and then promote it as an enhancement seems mighty strange to me.
What do you make of the Lufthansa Back Seat concept?
Defense of preferring the back: as long as you're not in the last boarding group, you'll have plenty of bin space. Also, since the back is (usually) undesirable by most, your odds increase on having an empty seat next to you. ALSO, if you're traveling with young kids, it's a huge benefit to be next to the bathrooms.
I mean... it's kind of hilarious. Someone in some department needed to justify their own existence, so they came up with this "idea". Next quarter, it'll be something else - a "pane e coperto" charge in business class. You know, for bread and napkins.
Branding and PR lapse, SQ call them normal seats and the front seats as forward zone, LH instead give it a negative name of back seat
Ben, I am a huge fan, and I think you are missing the point here. This is clearly a way to reduce the number of ‘free’ seats available to golds and senators - reading the small print, it seems like they will no longer be able to assign any standard seat in advance free-of-charge. In order to do this, they first create the new category (‘back row’), and then the next step will be to...
Ben, I am a huge fan, and I think you are missing the point here. This is clearly a way to reduce the number of ‘free’ seats available to golds and senators - reading the small print, it seems like they will no longer be able to assign any standard seat in advance free-of-charge. In order to do this, they first create the new category (‘back row’), and then the next step will be to restrict the free seat assignments (presumably with little-to-no fanfare about that!) to that lowest category. Yet another downgrade to the loyalty offering… I hope I am wrong, but bitter experience with Lufthansa Group has made cynicism a necessity!
“Pay to sit in back of plane” is a true clickbait headline, or the author does not understand very simple concepts. What LH is saying here is that they now offer cheaper option to make a seat reservation, if you are willing to sit in the back of the plane.
If you look at KLM for example, this is what they have been doing all along: Economy seats are all priced differently depending on...
“Pay to sit in back of plane” is a true clickbait headline, or the author does not understand very simple concepts. What LH is saying here is that they now offer cheaper option to make a seat reservation, if you are willing to sit in the back of the plane.
If you look at KLM for example, this is what they have been doing all along: Economy seats are all priced differently depending on their location in the cabin with the back rows being the cheapest (so where is the outcry that KLM charges you to sit in the back of the plane?).
Not sure about the ridiculous marketing myself, but “pay to sit in back of plane“ is definitely NOT what this is about.
LH is a zero star airline, worse than most Ultra Low Cost Carriers ... they now even beat Ryanair on the race to the bottom.
At first glance, I thought for sure this post had something to do with Seat Back entertainment. I guess that is too much to expect of LH?
Their (roast) goose is cooked!
The marketing really does write itself
"
Why pay more for a quiet seat when you can have the full sensory experience?
Front-row seats get you off the plane first. Back Seat gets you the rich, complex bouquet of recycled air and whatever the last guy had for lunch. Plus free shoulder surfing with every bathroom queue.
"
To be honest, I'm guessing the internal discussion and logic was essentially:
- Of all the seats in Economy, there is massive drop off in monetizing seat assignments for the last 4 rows
- By offering lower pricing on the last 4 rows, maybe they can marginally collect some seat assignment dollars beyond current state (predominantly from customers wanting to sit together as you suggest)
So I don't think they're intentionally trying to...
To be honest, I'm guessing the internal discussion and logic was essentially:
- Of all the seats in Economy, there is massive drop off in monetizing seat assignments for the last 4 rows
- By offering lower pricing on the last 4 rows, maybe they can marginally collect some seat assignment dollars beyond current state (predominantly from customers wanting to sit together as you suggest)
So I don't think they're intentionally trying to do the typical - make this the base price so we can increase everything else (though that may end up being the effect). This is very much in line with their Allegris philosophy of trying to monetize every marginal possible dollar but they are missing the fact that they may be adding so much complexity and over engineering the solution, that it actually diminishes interest in paying for any sort of seat assignment.
I think they'd be better served by investing the corporate dollars into more sophisticated demand pricing tools and improving their web experience (they could collect more dollars if they had a better website and workflows for buying and upgrading seats for example on an existing reservation for example).
Yesterday, There was a huge and very impressive Lufthansa party for its employees at MUC, celebrating its 100 years.
Only problem: 4.000 tickets for 48.000 employees. Those who didn’t win the internal lottery were not amused - especially when they were offered to visit Frankfurts Hangar one in their own dime.
Lufthansa…what can I say
It's mostly tone-deaf because LH is still dealing with pilot and crew strikes during this anniversary. What you could say is 'how fortunate for those who got to attend.' Or, contrast this with KLM, which hosted multiple events for staff and gifting each of them a limited edition Delft Blue house. Yet, even LH's approach is far better than the so-called 'kick-in-the-nuts' that Qantas did to their staff during its 100th anniversary (hosted an exclusive...
It's mostly tone-deaf because LH is still dealing with pilot and crew strikes during this anniversary. What you could say is 'how fortunate for those who got to attend.' Or, contrast this with KLM, which hosted multiple events for staff and gifting each of them a limited edition Delft Blue house. Yet, even LH's approach is far better than the so-called 'kick-in-the-nuts' that Qantas did to their staff during its 100th anniversary (hosted an exclusive star-studded gala while cutting 6K jobs).
The next step is pay to use the restroom. Bring your quarters.
Frank, it’s €1 for #1, €2 for #2. Thank goodness the EU has a €2 coin!
At many airports, Lufthansa will board/disembark planes from the front and back simultaneously, so an economy seat at the back has some advantage over an economy seat in the middle of the plane (assuming that the seats at the back can still recline).
The airline assumes if they put a price on it, people will see value. Sort of like the guy who puts his broken crap on the driveway with a sign that says "FREE" and it sits for weeks before he replaces the sign with "For Sale - $200" and it disappears the next day.
In all honesty, for any flight in Europe business class offers zero value. Same seats, mostly poor extra benefits (my last biz class flight on Brussels Airlines to Tel Aviv quite a while ago had really poor catering etc.)... No idea why anyone in his/her right mind would spend an extra cent on Business Class in Europe ever.
Depends on the price. Yes, most of the time it's unreasonably expensive but if the cost is 100-150€ on top of Y fare, the ground services and extra space on board can be worth it. Depends on the circumstances.
I do it about a third of the time, it's either to get the extra miles for requalifying where I have status or for the baggage and lounge access where I don't. 5-6 hours at ZRH/AMS/CDG/IST is a very long time but still not quite long enough to leave the airport and I don't want to worry about my consumption of €8 coffees and/or needing to carry my hand luggage to the toilet.
Is it April’s fools already? *checks calendar* oh, it is not…
Is it April’s fools already? *checks calendar* oh, it is not…
United really needs to bully LH into giving their elites free seat assignments. After all, they have a JV that arguably benefits LH more
Same re: Air Canada
Seating is not a *A benefit, unfortunately, so I don't see why LH should give UA elites anything.
Business class has the black seat for an unreasonable extra fee . If you mistake the back seat for the black seat you will have an issue to resolve .
I couldn't care less whether I'm in row 14 or 27, they're more or less equal at that point, so if it's possible to have ASR at a lower cost by sitting there, why not. In fact, last rows will often let you board/disembark faster than being somewhere in the middle of the aircraft and far from both doors.
Does LH ever deboard through back doors?
Yes, if the plane is on a remote stand this happens, especially for the larger A321s
"deboarding" is both an improper term and an Americanism. Surprised to see it in a LH press release
At this point in time, LH should just shut up with ideas.
Just put some damm USB-C or powerports....
APPLAUSE
They forgot to mention quick and easy access to the toilets as one of the benefits.
And quick an easy access to the odors, and constant company from all the people lining up.
I usually care more about having a window seat than if I set in the front or the back, so generally this is useful. Also it sounds like it is free with status (compared to other seats that now cost money if not booking flex).
Not sure if you understand the concept.
Economy classic includes seat assignment.
Economy basic does not.
that s history...you have to pay now also for seat assignment if you book economy classic
They really should've gone with "Economy Minus"
That'd be too much honesty for any airline out there.
I wouldnt be surprised if someone at the LH marketing team actually does that thinking its a good idea.
I guess. There are people that just want the cheapest fare and do not care where they sit.
LH is a weird company. Crazy.
But these people will just wait for the system to auto-asign them a seat during check-in for free.
So I really don't see the value of sitting in the back, except I you have a bladder problem.
@Dave_Midnight - Faster boarding / deplaning at select stations is also a benefit.