Lufthansa First Class B747 Seattle to Frankfurt
Flying Lufthansa First Class to Europe – Introduction
Lufthansa 491
Seattle (SEA) – Frankfurt (FRA)
Boeing 747-400
25 June 2015
Here are my initial thoughts of flying Lufthansa First Class.
The Lufthansa personal assistant fetched the four of us from the lounge about five minutes before scheduled boarding time and we gathered around the main gate podium for another five minutes before they scanned our boarding passes and guided us onto the upper deck of the Boeing 747-400.
There was already a queue of disabled passengers waiting, however we were guided right past them and I was actually the first person on the plane from all of the passengers. Boarding was done through door 2L and I immediately proceeded to the upper deck, where I was presented with a stunning and gorgeous Lufthansa First Class cabin.
I took the opportunity to take plenty of pictures of the cabin before the remaining passengers made it to the upper deck. I think that this configuration of Lufthansa First Class is just stunning, the separate seat and bed combination make it look downright beautiful. The cabin consists of a total of eight seats/beds spread across four rows with 2 seat/bed combos in each row. The bed is located on the window side and the seat is on the aisle, so technically all seats are aisle seats.
The overhead bins are ancient, though, and nothing fits in them, therefore there is a storage compartment located under the bed.
I couldn’t resist not to have the flight attendant take a picture of me.
After taking dozens of pictures of the cabin, I finally sat down and was offered champagne and macadamia nuts. There were two flight attendants working First Class and there was one main one and the other one which wasn’t involved as much. I was also offered a Bogner Amenity Kit, a pyjama, and slippers.
The crew shared my excitement and said something along the lines of “Enjoy this configuration since it will be gone”. I, of course, knew about this and told them that currently only six B744’s have this configuration (D-ABVH, D-ABVK, D-ABVL, D-ABVM, D-ABVN, D-ABVS) and they seemed to be impressed that I knew my facts. It is kind of sad that Lufthansa is removing this configuration since it really is a special one as you have a seat and a bed.
The IFE screen is large enough to comfortably watch movies from. The only downside to the screen is that it doesn’t swivel, so if you want to watch a movie from the bed, you can’t see the screen very well. Lufthansa’s IFE choices aren’t the best and therefore I only had the airshow on for the entire duration of the flight.
As of recently, Lufthansa finally has proper champagne flutes; before they used to serve champagne in regular wine glasses.
I was in seat 82C and therefore had a very nice view of the large Lufthansa First Class sign located in front of seat 81H.
At the end of the bed, was a blanket. However, I didn’t make use of it since the duvet was way too warm.
As the check-in agent mentioned, the cabin was just half full and therefore everyone had a row to themselves.
The Lufthansa signature rose was nicely mounted next to the IFE screen.
Legroom was virtually infinite.
The seat controls are located next to the drink tray and let you adjust the footrest, backrest, and lower back support of the seat. It is worth noting that the seat does not go fully flat since you have a bed. The seat does recline a lot, just not fully flat.
It was another hot and beautiful day in Seattle, around 25 degrees C.
Once we reached 10k feet, the IFE screens turned on and I immediately selected the airshow.
We departed from Runway 34R and therefore it wasn’t necessary to make any turns and instead we were able to fly right into Canadian airspace.
What’s up with the newspapers? All three of the other passengers were older German males and they all sort of had the same schedule – read newspapers, eat, sleep, etc. all at the same time.
It sure is awesome to have four windows all to yourself.
The purser came by and introduced herself once we reached our cruising altitude, she also made sure that we were comfortable and told us that she was always available should we need her. She actually frequently passed through the cabin to ensure we were comfortable and happy with the service. All of the crew was phenomenal and couldn’t have been nicer, as every five minutes went by, one of the flight attendants checked up on every passenger and refilled glasses.
Menus were distributed by the lead flight attendant and she also informed us that they have a special champagne to taste. I rarely drink alcohol and if I do it’s only in First Class on international airlines since they have the best selection of wine and champagne. Above all, I love champagne and therefore I tried all of the different champagne they had. All of which were excellent.
A wine list was also distributed which contained white wine, red wine, champagne, spirits, and other alcoholic beverages. The very last page of the wine list features the non-alcoholic drinks.
The first (and best) champagne was Pommery Brut Apanage Prestige which retails for ~$100 USD. It was excellent and my favourite kind of champagne, brut.
The second flight attendant brought all of the passengers a hot towel on a plate which also featured a rose pedal from Lufthansa’s signature roses.
The used hot towels were collected about five minutes later and the amuse bouche was brought, it consisted of asparagus in a sauce.
I decided to put up the footrest and I was actually surprised at how far up it goes, it basically aligns itself to the seat.
While waiting for the appetisers, I decided to explore some of the functions of my seat. Under the left armrest, is the IFE/remote control that controls the IFE, lights, FA call button, etc.
There is also a place to store a water bottle while you are sleeping, so the FAs distribute water bottles as someone goes to sleep.
Under the right armrest, you will find the tray table and magazines along with the safety card of the aircraft.
The overhead bins are super small and therefore you can’t really store much in the bins so there is an additional storage compartment located under the bed which slides out.
Under the left armrest, you will also find the power port, ethernet port, and USB port. The life vest is also located there.
Along with the amenity kit, came slippers and a pyjama top and bottom.
The amenity kit was Bogner and contained all of the necessary essentials such as a toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, earplugs, socks, eye mask, lotion, etc.
The lavatory was very clean and had more care items such as mouthwash, shaving cream, razors, lotion, etc.
Not surprisingly, Lufthansa’s signature rose was also there.
After a quick trip to the lavatory, I noticed even more champagne and water waiting at my seat, how awesome is that?! I didn’t even have to ask for more, Lufthansa just knows that I love champagne way too much 🙂 .
The lead flight attendant began to set up the table for dinner. Firstly she covered it with a white linen napkin, then placed some salt/pepper shakers, butter, vinaigrette, and a choice of bread. There were ten or so different types of bread, ranging from very black to very white. Firstly, I opted for garlic bread which tasted crunchy and fresh.
Soon after distributing the bread, the FA rolled around the caviar and appetiser cart. The first course of the five course dinner is Lufthansa’s Caviar with the traditional Garnishes.
The caviar was served with a lime and also some egg whites, yolk, and sour cream.
The lime is nicely contained inside of the yellow ‘packaging’ and you are able to squeeze it so the juice nicely pours over the caviar.
Not surprisingly, the caviar was excellent and apparently most of the passengers didn’t have any, so the FA asked me if I would like more. I ended up having two servings of caviar along with champagne.
By now, my bed was cluttered in amenities, menus, magazines, personal stuff, etc. I had way too much clutter on my bed from all of the Lufthansa accessories.
The second course was a choice of four appetisers. The choices were:
- Seared Pacific Diver Scallops
- Farmers Charcuterie Sopresetta and Rosa Salami, Bresaola
- Marinated Feta Cheese with Sweet Peppers
- Seasonal fresh salad shaved Fennel, Pine Nuts, roasted Red Tomato and Parmesan Cheese presented with Dressing
I decided to go with 2, 3, and 4. I don’t like scallops, therefore the remaining options seemed perfectly fine for me. All three were fresh and delicious. The salad came with a choice of passion fruit dressing or a more traditional vinegar-based dressing. I went with the passion fruit dressing which really made the salad taste much better.
I finished the appetisers in about fifteen minutes and was ready for the main course. All of the appetisers were delicious and freshly prepared. I especially enjoyed the feta cheese and salad with passion fruit dressing. The salami was perfectly edible and tasted fine.
There were four choices for the third (main) course of the dinner:
- Ranch Filet, braised Pork Belly, green Lentils and Sunburst Squash, Pecan and Cotija Gremolata enhanced by Burgundy Sauce
- Pier 39 San Francisco Cioppino Lobster, Shrimp and Scallop with Cioppino Sauce, Julienne Vegetable Mix and Saffron Rice
- Artichoke Ravioli and sautéed Spinach accompanied by grilled Trumpet Mushrooms
- Herb roasted Chicken Breast with Baby Carrot and Brussel Sprouts, Quinoa and Barley
While all of the four choices sounded perfectly fine to me, the first one was out of the question since I don’t like pork, then the second one out because I hate seafood, the third one was pasta and the fourth one was chicken.
So technically, once again, I had a choice of chicken or pasta. I decided for the herb roasted chicken which was excellent.
I asked for some Tea which was brought to me with milk and sugar.
The fourth course of the meal was a cheese plate which I skipped, which left me with the fifth course, the dessert:
- Warm Apple Crumble with Vanilla Ice Cream
- Hazelnut Pot du Crème
The cheese was as follows:
- Marco Polo, Beecher’s Flagship Reserve, Montchevre Garlic and Herb Goat Cheese, Coulommier and Cave Aged Blue Cheese served with Fig Chutney
For dessert, I went with the ice cream and apple crumble which was hands down my favourite part of the meal, along with the caviar.
After the long (and delicious) five course meal was complete, I changed into my pyjamas in the lavatory and decided to sleep. When I came out of the lavatory the cabin was entirely darkened and my table had been cleared. Excellent service by Lufthansa, I was in the lavatory for maybe two minutes and they clear the table, darken the cabin, and bring me a bottle of water.
I should note that the bed is downright comfortable and it is about two metres in length, so just about anyone in the world will comfortably fit. I slept for about three hours and woke up as we were over Iceland, the bed is super comfortable and I’m sure that I would’ve been able to sleep much better had it been nighttime. The thing that sucks about the Seattle-Frankfurt flight is that it leaves at 14:00 Seattle time and arrives before midnight Seattle time in Frankfurt, therefore it is super hard to actually sleep.
I requested some tea with lemon when I woke up.
I had an intense want for iced coffee (now I know this isn’t an Austrian flight) and I decided to ask the FA if she can make iced coffee. She said she’d never done it before but was willing to try. So she made an espresso and poured it over a glass of ice, she also added some liquor. It wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever had but it was definitely enough to satisfy my need of iced coffee.
Then later I requested some more tea, and this time I guess I’ve bothered the flight attendants way too much so instead of bringing me cups of tea, she also brought a teapot full of tea. They were super nice about it and I even chatted with them about Lufthansa and how much I love the company and overall. She was glad that people *still* love Lufthansa after the recent changes to the service, Miles & More, etc.
Since I still had a couple of hours until Frankfurt, I decided to see what the IFE had to offer. None of the movies or TV shows were of any interest to me, so instead I put on the headphones and listened to Lufthansa’s relaxing signature music. I also browsed the CD section and they had some more modern music which I ended up listening to.
There is also a nice reading light located above the bed.
About two hours before landing, the breakfast service began with a hot towel.
I opened my window and lay there in my bed and kind of looked out the window at the beautiful views and sort of just laughed to myself about the whole situation. I just simply love miles and points and travelling around the world, whether it is to new places or to ones that I’ve been to millions of times – there’s always something new to be discovered.
As soon as I opened the window shades, a glass of fresh orange juice was brought to me.
The view outside was just downright gorgeous.
The breakfast setup was equally nice as the dinner setup with a selection of bread and jams. I opted for the darker breads this time along with some jam and Nutella.
I wasn’t too hungry and therefore I decided to just have some fruit, bread, and salmon for breakfast.
The breakfast menu was as follows:
- Fresh Orange Juice
- Fresh Fruit
- Yogurt with dried Fruits, Cornflakes, Muesli and Milk
- Smoked Salmon, Cure Ham, Genoa Salami, Turkey Breast, Cherry Tomatoes and Cornichon, Emmental, Brie and Cheddar Cheese
- Scrambled Eggs freshly prepared upon your Request with Bacon or Chives
I wasn’t particularly hungry and therefore didn’t eat much, but the other choices sounded good. I probably would’ve had the yogurt with fruits but I was just too full from the dinner.
The flight attendant recommended that for the ‘grand finish’, I have some champagne before we land. This time she brought me the other champagne which was Louis Roederer, Brut – 2007, it wasn’t as good as the other champagne. I also tried a few different champagnes they had and the Pommery was the best.
I took a few pictures of the remaining seat accessories. I should note that the Bose noise-cancelling headphones were excellent, I don’t think I’ve ever used better headphones before. They completely cancelled out the noise from the cabin.
We began our initial descend when we entered German airspace and the captain made an announcement thanking everyone for flying Lufthansa and that we should be on the ground shortly.
During the initial descend, the purser and flight attendants once again came by and thanked us for flying Lufthansa, wished us a safe onward journey, and told us they would be looking forward to seeing us again.
The crew was excellent and at they were constantly asking us if we needed anything throughout the flight and made sure everything was as perfect as it could be. I will definitely miss them as they were one of the best crews that I’ve ever experienced with Lufthansa.
We landed right on schedule on one of the main runways and spent the next few minutes taxiing to the gate. Sadly we didn’t arrive at a remote stand.
The purser made sure we were among the first passengers to exit the plane and she kind of blocked the other business class passengers from getting off before we did.
All in all, it was by far one of the best Lufthansa flights I’ve ever been on due to a combination of the cabin layout (the seat and bed), the great food, the excellent service, and overall a pleasant atmosphere. This is why I fly with Lufthansa and why I love them so much, great attention to detail at every step of the journey.
I’m quite sad that Lufthansa is discontinuing the best configuration of their First Class product since it is really a special one, I mean who doesn’t love a seat and a bed. The good thing is that all aircraft now feature Lufthansa’s new First Class and therefore you are guaranteed to have the current seat if you have a First Class ticket.
The entire flight went by super quickly and we were in Europe before I could try the last champagne 🙂 . Once we landed, I said goodbye to the crew and thanked them for the excellent service, and I was off to the Lufthansa First Class Terminal!
