Trip Report: Boston to Frankfurt in Lufthansa First Class

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My friend, Ryan from MA, recently took a trip to Italy and Taiwan during which he flew Lufthansa First Class, Asiana First Class, Thai First Class, ANA First Class and entered some of the world’s nicest lounges. I’ve asked him to do a series of trip reports, so we can all be inspired by some of the otherwise out-of-reach experiences miles can afford us. This is the first trip report on Lufthansa First Class.

This was my first segment on a crazy eleven-segment trip that I just completed with my wife. The purpose of the trip was to see Rome–my stopover–and Taipei–my destination. But I figured if I was going to spend 140k United miles per person, I might as well enjoy the time in the air as much as the time on the ground.

I had originally booked this honeymoon trip back in October 2012, and then I started to tinker. I was told by United that I had made some 35 changes to this routing, which I don’t recommend, but I sure learned a lot about United award booking.

How was the flight? How was the food? How was the bed?

On the day of the flight, we arrived at Boston Logan around 3 PM, only an hour and forty minutes before departure. Boston Logan is great because it has a number of direct flights to Europe and because it’s a smaller airport, so getting through check-in and security is a breeze.

We quickly went through security and arrived at the Lufthansa Lounge.

As you can see from the pictures, this lounge is just okay. It’s way better than a standard United Club lounge since it had hot food out including dumplings, and it was a fine place to wait for boarding. But after going to the Lufthansa First Class Terminal and Thai First Class Lounge later in the trip, this lounge paled by comparison.

Regardless, this lounge was clean, had simple things to eat if hungry, and an espresso machine which I always enjoy. We waited for our flight and names to be called to be led to the gate for boarding.

For First Class passengers, Lufthansa usually will personally notify you of boarding in the lounge and help you to the plane. Sometimes it seems they’re cutting it close, and they might forget you. Don’t worry; they’re definitely on top of taking care of their First Class passengers.

For First Class, Lufthansa has pre-boarding, so we walked past everyone waiting in line and took our seats.

Lufthansa 423
Boston (BOS) – Frankfurt (FRA)
Depart: 4:40 PM on Sunday, June 23
Arrive: 5:45 AM on Monday, June 24
Duration: 7 hr5min
Aircraft: A340-300
Seat: 1G, 1K (First Class)

Once we arrived I took some pictures of my seat. Our plane still had the old first class seats. (For information on whether your plane has the new or old product, see this page.)

While I would have preferred the new product, I find the old seats to be comfortable and roomy.

Before takeoff, I took a quick look at the business class cabin. This plane also featured the old business class product, which I have not flown. (Here’s a page to see whether your flight has the new business class product.)

Lufthansa First Class on the A340 is configured in two rows of 1-2-1 for eight total seats. My wife and I had the aisle between us which wasn’t ideal, but we still could talk to each other. I would definitely recommend that if you are traveling with someone, you try to get the middle two seats. We weren’t able to do that since we had made the change to First Class just a few days before departure, and there was no empty pair of middle seats left.

Once seated, we were warmly welcomed by a flight attendant. I find that Lufthansa’s cabin crew is very professional and proper. Our attendant was very warm and excited to hear we were going to Rome. She was very attentive, so I never felt during the flight that I was looking around for help.

Later on, the chief attendant, Anna, came and knelt next to us and thanked us for flying with Lufthansa. That was a nice touch. We received the customary macadamia nuts and champagne from her. I was hungry, so I ate my wife’s portion as well.

After the pre-departure snack and beverage, amenity kits were distributed.

One of my favorite things about first class is the amenity kit. Many of these kits have really high-end lotions and toiletries.

I don’t know much about the name brands, but my wife assures me that this was high-end. Lufthansa gave a blue male kit to me and a female red kit to my wife. For me, I save these amenity kits to give to people when I come back home.

After checking out my amenity kit, I pulled out the LCD Screen. This is probably the worst part of Lufthansa’s old First Class product. You can buy bigger screens at the Dollar Tree. There was a decent selection of movies and TV shows–not as good as Thai Airways for instance–but plenty to keep me entertained.

Shortly after takeoff, the meal service began. For my wife and me, the most important part of premium class flying is the food. We’re all about the food whether in the air or on land. In general Lufthansa food has been average for me, but this trip’s food was amazing. They’ve really upgraded their food!

The first time I flew Lufthansa, the only food that stood out for me was the pretzel roll, so I made sure to ask for that from the bread basket to start. The pretzel roll was delicious!

I also enjoyed the place setting. The silverware was elegant, and they even put a rose next to your seat.

We ordered all of the appetizers, so that we could test them all out. Other than the caviar, there was nothing too memorable in the lot.

The caviar was, of course, a special treat for my wife and me. It’s interesting and different. I’m hardly a connoisseur, and I would never think to order it on the ground, but I was in Lufthansa First Class, and I could, so I thought “Why not?”

For the main course, I had the Miso Sea Bass. This is not only the best dish I’ve ever had on a plane, it was probably one of the best fish dishes I’ve ever had period. It blew my mind how buttery and perfect it was.

My wife and I always order different dishes to sample more flavors. She ordered the Braised Lamb Shanks. They were also really tasty and tender. I know a lot of people think Lufthansa’s food lags the rest of its First Class product. I’ve even seen people make fun of Lufthansa’s food for “trying too hard,” but they really stepped up their game and impressed me on this flight. I would give the entrees a 10 out of 10.

For dessert, I went with the Berry Shortcake, which was delicious, but I could only manage to eat half of it after all that I’d already eaten.

After a great meal, I decided to try to get some sleep on the short flight. One of the attendants asked if she could make my bed, and I thanked her as I went to change into Lufthansa’s blue pajamas.

Lufthansa First Class features a fully flat bed. They put a bed liner on top of the flattened seat to give more comfort. The duvet is a great thickness to keep you warm without being overly suffocating. The pillow isn’t quite the size you have on your bed at home, but it’s comfortable for the size of Lufthansa’s bed.

These seats, both in seat and bed more, aren’t very private (as you can tell by the sleeping gentleman in my photo above), but when you lie down there is a small privacy divider. The bed is very roomy by comparison to other airlines’ First Class beds. It’s long enough that even tall guys like Scott could sleep stretched out. And very importantly, the shoulder space is great too. I’ve been in some airplane beds where I feel like I have to sleep sideways because of their width, and this is definitely not one of those.

I’m sure everyone reading this has taken a long flight in the back of the plane before, and many people have taken one on a lie flat bed too. If you haven’t I really feel once you go lie flat you never go back. It’s one of those things that if you never experienced, you wouldn’t think it was a big deal. But once you have experienced one, it feels like the only way to fly.

Unfortunately I always expect to sleep more than I really do. The bed is comfortable, but you’re in a room full of strangers with a loud hum around you from the engines. That combined with the 7hr5min flight time and arrival before midnight Boston time limited me to just three hours of sleep on this flight.

I tried to maximize my sleep by skipping breakfast. I didn’t want to fill up on the plane anyway because we would land in Frankfurt and go to the Lufthansa First Class Terminal where we were sure to eat some amazing food.

Our flight touched down smoothly right on time, and we were the first ones off–which I love! We breezed through customs on the way to the First Class Terminal.

Recap

For the best flight experience from Boston to Europe, I don’t think you can beat Lufthansa First Class. It’s a short flight, and our plane had the old First Class, but it was still a truly great flight. From the comfortable bedding to the fantastic service to the best Sea Bass I’ve ever had in the air or on land, this was a trip to remember that was only possible because of miles.

Bonus

If you really want Lufthansa’s new First Class product, it flies widely to the United States including from Boston to Munich. You might run into me on it next week!