Lufthansa is in the process of rolling out its new long haul cabin concept, known as Allegris. This includes a new business class product (being installed on newly delivered Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s), as well as a new first class product (being installed on newly delivered Airbus A350s).
Lufthansa’s rollout of its new premium cabins has been rather challenging, to put it mildly. The airline announced these products in 2017, and the first plane started flying with new cabins around seven years later. Specifically, Lufthansa Allegris business class debuted as of May 2024, on newly delivered aircraft, which fly specific routes.
Several weeks ago, Lufthansa took delivery of its very first jet featuring the new Allegris first class cabins. Up until now, the airline hasn’t actually been selling that cabin, though. That has finally changed, so we now have lots of interesting details, including how Lufthansa will price its strange first class “double suite.”
In this post:
Basics of the new Lufthansa Allegris first class
To start with the basics, Lufthansa’s new Allegris first class is found on select Airbus A350-900s. For the first time, Lufthansa is introducing suites in first class, offering ceiling-high walls and closable doors. The cabin consists of just three suites, with one being a double suite.
The two window seats are pretty typical of what you’d expect from a first class suite, with features like a large dining table and buddy seat, large entertainment screens, bluetooth connectivity, a personal wardrobe, individual temperature controls, and more.
On top of that, there’s a double suite in the middle of the cabin, marketed as “Suite Plus.” It has all the same amenities as the other suites, except it consists of two seats right next to one another (almost like a loveseat), and can be converted into a double bed. Furthermore, the seat has a 42″ television.
Lufthansa Allegris first class on sale as of late March 2025
Several weeks ago, Lufthansa took delivery of its first A350 featuring the new Allegris first class product. Initially, the airline isn’t actually selling this cabin, since Allegris is still technically in an introductory phase, meaning aircraft swaps can happen.
However, Lufthansa has now finally started selling its Allegris first class. Specifically, for flights as of March 30, 2025, Lufthansa has scheduled an Allegris A350 to fly between Munich (MUC) and Chicago (ORD), and first class is now on sale for the following frequency:
LH434 Munich to Chicago departing 3:50PM arriving 6:15PM
LH435 Chicago to Munich departing 9:25PM arriving 12:55PM (+1 day)
I was curious to see how this would work in practice, so now we know:
- Lufthansa is selling at most three first class seats in the cabin, so the maximum inventory you’ll see for this plane is “F3” (presumably if two people book together and select the double suite, one additional seat could be made available)
- Lufthansa has two first class fare classes — “F” is the more expensive fare class and “A” is the cheaper fare class — and all the Allegris A350 flights I’m seeing just have “F” inventory loaded as of now, and not “A” inventory
So you can expect that flights in the new Allegris first class will be more expensive most of the time, given the massive reduction in inventory. Historically Lufthansa has had eight first class seats per aircraft, so this represents a 63% reduction in capacity.
How Lufthansa is charging for the Allegris double suite
Many of us have been curious how Lufthansa would go about assigning that awkward double suite in the center of the cabin, so now we have all the details. As you’d expect, first class passengers can assign one of the window seats — 1A or 1K — at no extra cost.
First class passengers can also pay extra to reserve the center double suite, even if traveling alone. The cost to assign that suite ranges from €1,900 to €2,900, depending on the length of the flight. On the Chicago route, the cost is €2,400.
Note that this price premium only applies if you’re a single traveler. If you’re traveling with someone and want to assign the suite together, you should just book two seats, and then you can contact Lufthansa to book the double suite at no extra cost.
My take on Lufthansa’s Allegris first class strategy
As before, I’m skeptical about Lufthansa’s new first class product. While the window seats look perfectly nice, the double suite in the center makes no sense whatsoever.
Sure, the concept of having a space for two people to fly together sounds great, but it doesn’t look spacious at all, and offers limited flexibility in terms of one person being able to sleep while the other person stays up. There’s not even an armrest between the two seats.
Furthermore, the upsell for this center suite is beyond ridiculous. Paying €1,900 to €2,900 for the privilege of having a bit more space and not even having a window is something that I don’t see many people (even the super rich) doing. It’s just not worth it.
So I’m curious how this all works out. If I were traveling with someone, I’d still rather have two window seats rather than one double suite. I’d be willing to bet good money that that center suite will most often just have someone upgraded to it for free, since I imagine the cabin will almost always be sold out.
Anyway, we’ll have to wait until closer to the first class to see if Lufthansa ever releases award availability in this first class (in the rare situation where it’s empty), and/or if discounted “A” first class fares are at least made available.
Bottom line
Lufthansa has now put an Allegris first class route on sale for the first time, as the airline plans to offer this product as of late March 2025, between Munich and Chicago. We now have a sense of what pricing will look like, including for the odd double suite.
Lufthansa is selling at most three seats in the cabin, and on top of that, is generally only selling fares in the very highest fare bucket. For single travelers looking to book the double suite, the airline is charging anywhere from €1,900 to €2,900 for that, on top of the ticket cost.
Personally I don’t see this double suite concept ending very well, though I’m happy to at least see this cabin finally on sale…
What do you make of the introduction of Lufthansa’s new Allegris first class?
Once sufficient feedback from paying customers is gathered, we will be able to determine its success. In my opinion, while the design is commendable, the layout appears suboptimal and 3 seats in F is just not enough. For instance, Japan Airlines' new First Class on the A350-1000 offers suites that are comparable in size to Lufthansa's middle seats, and Qantas' new First Class provides even more space. A more effective approach might have been to...
Once sufficient feedback from paying customers is gathered, we will be able to determine its success. In my opinion, while the design is commendable, the layout appears suboptimal and 3 seats in F is just not enough. For instance, Japan Airlines' new First Class on the A350-1000 offers suites that are comparable in size to Lufthansa's middle seats, and Qantas' new First Class provides even more space. A more effective approach might have been to implement a 1-1-1 configuration with six suites across two rows. I think they will regret this concept at some point.
After reading about this ‘double-dutch’ concept one wonders how some people have the nerve to criticise BA.
The fee to reserve the middle seat for a single person is targeting solo travelers who appreciate space. No everyone cares for a window seat Ben .
The possibility of booking it as two seat is just an option , and yes, they will upgrade frequent flyers who booked first and nobody reserved the he middle seat .
Lufthansa is definitely looking sale this seats for cash. Given the reduction in inventory .
Jetset I think you are onto something. If LH let me bring my wife along for a reasonable charge when paying cash (or better yet using M&M points) I'd be thrilled.
Whether they offer a discount or not they're going to have to do some work on their booking engine. I'm sure the way the system works right now is there is a basket of seats and you can only book as many as are...
Jetset I think you are onto something. If LH let me bring my wife along for a reasonable charge when paying cash (or better yet using M&M points) I'd be thrilled.
Whether they offer a discount or not they're going to have to do some work on their booking engine. I'm sure the way the system works right now is there is a basket of seats and you can only book as many as are in the basket. If the window seats are already sold I doubt the current software has the ability to recognize that the middle seat is special and if someone searches for two seats allow a purchase (at full price no less) whereas if the search is for one person it will sell the seat, but not allow a seat assignment (since an uncharge would otherwise would be due).
The software people are going to have fun working this out.
Agreed. If they let you book a "companion fare" then that might be attractive for couples, and generate some revenue for LH. For example, if the standard F fare is $9,000, but you can add a companion and share the middle suite for, say, an additional $4,000, then my wife and I might go for that, as it's nice to share the F experience together sometimes, and we don't mind sitting right next to each...
Agreed. If they let you book a "companion fare" then that might be attractive for couples, and generate some revenue for LH. For example, if the standard F fare is $9,000, but you can add a companion and share the middle suite for, say, an additional $4,000, then my wife and I might go for that, as it's nice to share the F experience together sometimes, and we don't mind sitting right next to each other.
But if I paid two lots of $9,000 and ended up stuck together in that suite, I'd be very pissed off.
I wonder if LH will ever force two passengers traveling together on one reservation from the window to the middle?
Imagine two of you booked on one reservation locator. You each choose window seats but LH CoC says seats are not guaranteed. So they move you both to the middle.
You're still in FC but clearly the middle seat isn't as good as the windows because LH will let a single passenger buy both...
I wonder if LH will ever force two passengers traveling together on one reservation from the window to the middle?
Imagine two of you booked on one reservation locator. You each choose window seats but LH CoC says seats are not guaranteed. So they move you both to the middle.
You're still in FC but clearly the middle seat isn't as good as the windows because LH will let a single passenger buy both seats for an additional charge which is a fraction of the fare (even accounting for the meal and any checked baggage costs). So you don't get what you bargained for even though LH says you are.
My advice would be anyone traveling with a companion should reserve each passenger on separate records and not include any information that would allow LH to infer you knew each other.
So, the year is 2025 and LH wants customers to call a number to assign seats. I’m curious to see how this will play out.
I disagree with all the haters, mostly.
I do think there are definitely better first class seats, but
1. As someone who likes his partner, I would much prefer to fly this vs most/any other first class where you're basically separate even if you can see each other. Flying as a couple can actually be nice and a more shared experience vs two people watching separate shows and dining at separate tables and sitting...
I disagree with all the haters, mostly.
I do think there are definitely better first class seats, but
1. As someone who likes his partner, I would much prefer to fly this vs most/any other first class where you're basically separate even if you can see each other. Flying as a couple can actually be nice and a more shared experience vs two people watching separate shows and dining at separate tables and sitting in separate chairs. Main downside is probably when one person wants to sleep before the other.
2. Don't overestimate the rich. We idolize the wealthy, but most of us either got lucky or have drive or are very smart in one area - but still make decisions just as dumb and uninformed as the slightly above average person. Tons will see the extra fee and say 'oh wow, nice, of course I want the best!' Price signals quality. How many people have paid 10,000% markups on super expensive HDMI cables before it was understood that those were basically setting cash on fire?
Jerry, I dare you to try it! As long as you book the fully refundable fare there’s no risk. I wonder if you’d be reassigned to a window once those are canceled ?
What happens when the cabin is at F1, and 1A and 1L have both been selected? Do you automatically get the middle seat solo for free or do you still have to pay the premium to sit there?
I guess you won't get a seat assigned until check-in.
If you'd get the middle seat assigned for free in advance, there is an obvious loophole to force it assignment: book two first class tickets and choose window seats,, book the third, get the center seat for free, cancel the first two tickets.
Could we call this german stupidity or stubbornness? why not go the Qantas way and set up a spacious 6 suits cabin in a 1x1x1 layout, or even just 3 suites and call it a day. I'd dare to say this will bring many issues and will be quickly reversed.
havent seen a single positive comment on this setup. things are going great!!!!!
This is laughably silly. Yes, there may be people who will pay for these seats, but in terms of return on investment will this three-pax micro-cabin be a better earner than the two rows of biz seats that could have been installed in the space? Or even four conventional F seats?
LH has really lost the plot. It's all quite sad.
Hello Ben,
I am booked in business class on LH435 ORD to MUC a few weeks from now. When I booked back in June of course it was showing the old business class on the seatmap. However in late October, we got an email from LH saying that our flight was going to be operated with Allegris and we updated our seat assignments on the new seatmap. But then about a week ago, we...
Hello Ben,
I am booked in business class on LH435 ORD to MUC a few weeks from now. When I booked back in June of course it was showing the old business class on the seatmap. However in late October, we got an email from LH saying that our flight was going to be operated with Allegris and we updated our seat assignments on the new seatmap. But then about a week ago, we got another email from LH stating that our seat category was no longer available due to an aircraft swap. Sure enough, it now shows the old seatmap again.
I knew when I booked that I was rolling the dice on getting Allegris or not. But given that we know LH435 will have Allegris at least by late March as you mentioned in this post, is there any chance of another swap back to an Allegris A359 before my flight a couple weeks from now? Or should I just expect to be out of luck already?
And just in case any Lufthansa folks are reading this:
I know aircraft swaps are probably unavoidable when introducing a new product. But sending an email to your customer specifically hyping Allegris on your upcoming flight only to later yank the rug out from under you is kind of irritating.
This is so funny. You are supposed to book two regular seats, call up LH and ask them to sqeeze you in the middle suite at no extra charge. How nice of them! Who is going to do this? I just hope they don't upgrade couples into the middle suite, that would piss me off to no end.
@Lucky If two are travelling up front, why wouldn't you just not not reserve seats? Then you have a 2/3 chance of getting a window AND the middle. Wouldn't this be the ideal for two travelling together?
So I've been searching for a great flight experience to italy in June. For the past 5 years, my husband and I have flown La Premiere across the pond. We LOVE La Premiere, but now the price out of LAX is getting so high we're looking at $50k RT. So I booked Swiss 1st SFO-ZRH-FLR outbound and the new Allegris Lufthansa on the return. My husband has some cognitive issues, so the idea of our...
So I've been searching for a great flight experience to italy in June. For the past 5 years, my husband and I have flown La Premiere across the pond. We LOVE La Premiere, but now the price out of LAX is getting so high we're looking at $50k RT. So I booked Swiss 1st SFO-ZRH-FLR outbound and the new Allegris Lufthansa on the return. My husband has some cognitive issues, so the idea of our being together in the suite plus was appealing, but after 12 days traveling, we may not want to be so close;) So I booked 1A and the Suite+ for an additional $2700. I have to be able to see him if he needs my help, and choosing 2 window seats with the Suite+ in between would not allow that. However, all of this is less than La Premiere from LAX, and we will experience two new 1st class products.
This feels like the worst solution from a pricing / revenue realization standpoint.
Who in their right mind would pay for two regular priced First class seats, and choose to squeeze into a single suite?? You'd always rather book the window seats or get op-up'd to the middle seat (as a single passenger).
And you won't find a ton of passengers willing to pay a steep premium on top of already shelling out for...
This feels like the worst solution from a pricing / revenue realization standpoint.
Who in their right mind would pay for two regular priced First class seats, and choose to squeeze into a single suite?? You'd always rather book the window seats or get op-up'd to the middle seat (as a single passenger).
And you won't find a ton of passengers willing to pay a steep premium on top of already shelling out for First class just to have a slightly larger suite.
So they'll likely find themselves almost never realizing that premium seat fee, nor getting 4 person occupancy in First class.
What they could have done is charged that fee to allow a second person to sit in the center (I still don't think this would happen frequently because it's a suboptimal setup as Ben pointed out), which at least has a better chance of being selected as it essentially allows a First class experience at a discount (recognizing the sub-optimal setup).
I am not saying this was smart because this whole Allegris thing (including all the different business seats) just seems clunky, but here is my guess on their thought process with F. They wanted wanted suites with doors and ceiling height walls, but they couldn't fit 4 across with that configuration. So instead of of just doing three larger suites across, like Emirates, they made the middle one larger and figured they may be able...
I am not saying this was smart because this whole Allegris thing (including all the different business seats) just seems clunky, but here is my guess on their thought process with F. They wanted wanted suites with doors and ceiling height walls, but they couldn't fit 4 across with that configuration. So instead of of just doing three larger suites across, like Emirates, they made the middle one larger and figured they may be able to sometimes squeeze 4 passengers in there or get someone to pay extra for the larger suite. As you say it probably won't happen often, but even if it does 10% of the time they are getting more revenue out of the cabin then they would have at 3 across.
I do not understand the hiding away behind doors. You better believe if I were travelling in FC, I would want to be a snob and turn up my nose at the other plebes who are not and show off...
This whole setup just boggles my mind. When I first skimmed this, I thought the upcharge was the cost to add a second person, and was like "that's not a deal to squeeze in there." But no. If I were two people paying full price I would absolutely grab both window seats (if available).
Another terribly thought out, terribly executed concept by LH. Hopefully they continue to struggle with the rollout as I anticipate this will likely mark the end of LH F partner redemptions.
Sadly I fear you are right. Time to splash out some Aeroplan points while I can.
What I *genuinely* don't understand is how LH distributed the A350's width so badly. It seems like the middle suite is roughly as wide as all 3 seats in JAL's F on their A350-1000 - only that the window seats are much narrower.
If they are set on 3-across, they should have definitely distributed the width of seats more like JAL has.
LH has lost the plot.
They'd have to pay me to sit in that awful cell ! No way !
This is a huge fail by LH. Let me get this right?...
1) You are travelling as 2 people. You pay 2 full fares but get much less than 2 full seats and have to climb over each other. No one will go for this.
2) You are travelling alone and have to pay an additional €5000 eur return to sit in the bigger seat... That is often similar to the cost of a...
This is a huge fail by LH. Let me get this right?...
1) You are travelling as 2 people. You pay 2 full fares but get much less than 2 full seats and have to climb over each other. No one will go for this.
2) You are travelling alone and have to pay an additional €5000 eur return to sit in the bigger seat... That is often similar to the cost of a well priced additional ticket. I don't think many people will do this.
Admittedly this is just my thoughts bt I feel confident that this is going to be a massive failure for LH. They will just end up giving them free to HONs and will essentially lose the revenue they could have got from a 4th seat.