To kick off our ski trip in the French Alps, we flew Lufthansa first class from Boston to Munich. In the last installment I reviewed the Lufthansa Lounge Boston. In this post I wanted to take a look at the most exclusive part of this lounge, which is the section for first class passengers.
There’s such a difference between first and business class in the air, so it’s also really nice when airlines differentiate the ground product for first class passengers, as it doesn’t happen all too often, especially at outstations. As far as I know, the Lufthansa Lounge Boston is one of only a couple of outstation lounges that Lufthansa has with a separate first class section (the only other one I know of is in New York, at JFK Airport).
Lufthansa First Class Lounge Boston access requirements
The Lufthansa First Class Lounge Boston is open exclusively to first class passengers on Lufthansa and SWISS, as well as HON Circle members traveling on Lufthansa or SWISS. Since Lufthansa and SWISS both have first class cabins with eight seats, there generally won’t be more than 16 first class passengers per day. On top of that, you have HON Circle members, and any potential guests in a lower cabin.
Note that this section of the lounge is located within the main part of the lounge. When you enter the Lufthansa Lounge Boston and are checked in, an employee will escort you to the first class section, if you’re eligible.
Lufthansa First Class Lounge Boston layout & seating
The Lufthansa First Class Lounge Boston is an intimate space, with seating for 18 people (and if there were actually 18 people in this space, it would feel very tight).
The lounge includes four dining tables, with two seats each.
Then the lounge has three chairs with ottomans.
There are two additional seating areas, with the one on one side featuring five seats, and the one on the other side featuring three seats.
The lounge has excellent apron and runway views, so if you’re an avgeek, you’ll certainly enjoy that (though hopefully you have nicer weather than we had).
This is a lovely space. The only thing to note is that at least during our visit, it was frankly awkwardly quiet in here. There’s no background music and you could quite literally hear a pin drop, so you’ll probably feel uncomfortable if you have to make a phone call, or something.
Lufthansa First Class Lounge Boston food & drinks
While you of course have access to the standard Lufthansa Lounge Boston buffet, those in the first class section also have access to a more premium wine list, as well as a la carte dining.
Upon our arrival in the lounge, we each ordered a glass of champagne, which was Nicolas Feuillatte Brut. That’s not exactly the most exciting champagne for first class, but is still perfectly nice.
Since we had several hours at the lounge and had eaten very little that day (we arrived same day from Miami), we decided to have a meal in the lounge.
To start, I ordered the creamy baked potato soup with crème fraîche, while Ford ordered the winter greens with chives, walnuts, red onions, goat cheese, and a red pepper vinaigrette.
For our main courses, I had the roasted broccoli manicotti, which was a stuffed manicotti pasta with parmesan, lemon roasted broccolini, pine nuts, and pesto oil, while Ford had the braised beef and polenta, with slow cooked beef shoulder, rosemary polenta cake, baby carrots, and garlic spinach.
I’d say the food was pretty good, but not amazing. I can’t imagine that there’s actually a proper full kitchen connected to the lounge, so my guess is that most of this food is just reheated, as you’d find on a plane. I’d say the food was a bit better than you’d typically find onboard a flight, while not quite top restaurant quality.
Ultimately this is a significant improvement over what you’ll find in the business class portion of the lounge, though, and it’s especially useful for those looking to maximize sleep on the short overnight flight.
Lufthansa First Class Lounge Boston service
The first class section of the lounge has a dedicated server. During our visit we were being served by Maria (originally from Brazil), who was so incredibly friendly (and chatty). She’s obviously someone who takes pride in her job, and treats each person as if they’re a guest in her home. She’s such a good vibe, so you’re in for a treat if she’s taking care of you.
Lufthansa First Class Lounge Boston boarding
One other awesome feature of the Lufthansa Lounge Boston is that you can board the plane directly from the lounge, assuming you’re departing from gate E10. Around 30 minutes before departure, all the first class passengers were fetched by this hilarious lady who escorted everyone to the plane.
I think she could most accurately be described as a bossy babushka, but in the best and most charming way possible. This lounge is full of characters.
I wish more airlines had ground experiences like this
While international first class is typically great, there are two main areas where I find airlines most consistently fall short when it comes to differentiation:
- Often there’s not a separate ground experience for first class passengers, in stark contrast to the onboard experience
- Boarding is generally a pain point of the travel experience, as you could go to the gate as a first class passenger, only to end up finding boarding delayed, or having to navigate around hundreds of people
These are of course both very minor things, but the point is that airlines invest a lot of money in their first class products.
The Lufthansa ground experience in Boston solves both of those problems. Not only is it nice to have a dedicated first class section, but it’s also nice to be able to board directly from the lounge, and to even then be escorted to the plane.
One thing that always surprises me is Emirates’ first class ground experience at outstations. Emirates operates more outstation lounges than any other global airline, as the company obviously wants to control the passenger experience as much as possible. Emirates also has first class more consistently than any other airline in the world.
Yet for whatever reason, Emirates does nothing to differentiate the first class ground experience at outstations for first class passengers vs. business class passengers.
Bottom line
Lufthansa has a nicely differentiated ground experience for first class passengers at Boston Airport. The airline has a separate first class lounge with a la carte dining and attentive service, and also lets you board directly from the lounge. While it’s hardly among the best first class lounges in the world, it’s a really nice effort, and significantly better than most of Lufthansa’s other outstation lounges.
What do you make of the Lufthansa First Class Lounge Boston?
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