I am addicted to redeeming points to fly in a premium cabin. I will easily spend hours upon hours searching for a redemption opportunity. One time I even went as far as to double my travel time just to fly business class. For me it’s as much a part of the experience as the rest of my trip is and I always get soo excited to try a new business class cabin. I may or may not have a bucket list of my all the first class and business class cabins I want to try (I’m also addicted to making lists #sorrynotsorry). I have now flown Lufthansa business class three times and have enjoyed my experience each time. It’s a solid business class product and I’m excited to share my Lufthansa Airlines Business Class review with you.
How I booked Lufthansa business class
The most recent time I booked my business class ticket I didn’t book it until less than 24 hours before the flight. I don’t usually wait until that close to a departure date to book but I was reallyyyy hoping that a first class seat on another Lufthansa flight would open up. Sadly, this wasn’t the case and I had to get back home to Boston so I didn’t have any flexibility to look at a different departure date.
Once I cut my losses and accepted that the first class ticket wasn’t going to become available, I thankfully was able to find a last minute redemption option for business class.
To redeem this flight I used Avianca LifeMiles for 63,000 points and $177. I transferred the miles 1:1 from Capital One that I had accrued using the Venture X card (one of my favorite travel credit cards. If you do decide to apply for one, I’d be grateful if you used my referral link)
As a heads up, the LifeMiles website isn’t the greatest website and I’ve definitely had a fair amount of issues with it. I recommend downloading their app. It’s not perfect but I’ve found less problems using it than the website.
Here’s a sample search from their app:
Other ways to book Lufthansa Business Class
Of course, LifeMiles isn’t the only way to book Lufthansa Business Class. You can also book directly through Lufthansa’s loyalty program, Miles & More. However, that requires you to have Miles & More points as it isn’t a transfer partner for Chase, CapitalOne, Amex, etc.
You can also book it through Aeroplan which I did last year for 70,000 points and $157 or through United which I also did last year.
Lufthansa Business Class Lounges
Another one of my favorite parts about having a business class ticket is lounge access. I’ve tried two of Lufthana’s business class lounges: one in the Frankfurt airport and one in Boston Logan International Airport.
Frankfurt Airport
This Lufthansa business lounge is pretty good though it can get fairly crowded. There’s nothing that is particularly a stand out at the lounge. They have comfortable seating, a decent selection of food, coffee, and plenty of wine and beer. In fact, when we arrived at the lounge at 7 am there was already alcohol on ice waiting to go (I ignored that and made a beeline straight for the coffee machine). While it’s not my favorite business class lounge I’ve ever been in, it’s still a great place to wait for your flight and grab a few snacks if you’re hungry.
Boston Logan International Airport
I really enjoyed this Lufthansa lounge. I got to experience it the first time I ever flew Lufthansa business class on my way from Boston to Frankfurt. I thought they had a great selection of food and it was a really nice lounge overall.
My favorite part was definitely the ability to board directly from the lounge onto the plane. In fact, when it was time to board we tried to exit the lounge to go find our gate (as one normally does) and they stopped us and were basically like “where are you going?”. They then explained the exclusive boarding directly from the lounge. I will say that was my first and only time having a boarding experience like that. I could seriously get used to it.
Lufthansa Business Class review
My most recent flight was a daytime flight from FRA to BOS that was about 9 hours in flying time. I don’t usually fly daytime flights but I was a big fan. I had enough time to take a nap, enjoy the meal service, and watch a few movies. I felt like I got to thoroughly enjoy business class this time around.
Boarding experience
As I mentioned, one of the times I boarded directly from the lounge which made the boarding experience seamless and this last time we were the first group called onto the airplane so another easy boarding experience.
As we boarded there was already a water bottle waiting for us at our seats which is one of my favorite parts because I am always thirsty the moment I sit down and I like not having to ask for water constantly.
We were also offered a welcome drink which was a choice among orange juice, sparkling wine, or water. Since it was still early, I went for the orange juice. My fiancé, Eric, was adamant that sparkling wine is part of the business class experience no matter the time and went that route.
What I also love about Lufthansa Business Class is that someone will come and greet you personally and ask you if you have any questions about how to use your seat controls or anything else. I like this personal touch a lot.
Layout of the cabin
This most recent flight was a 2-2-2 cabin configuration and I have also flown in a 2-2 cabin. What this means is the seats are in pairs which is great if you’re traveling with someone but maybe not ideal if you’re traveling alone as this doesn’t allow that much privacy with your neighbor. Another downside is that the passenger seated in the window seat doesn’t have direct aisle access so you’ll have to potentially ask the person sitting in the aisle seat to get out (especially if they’ve made their seat into a bed).
As I usually travel with Eric, I am perfectly fine with these cabin layouts but can see why this would be less than ideal for some.
Of course, the layout of the cabin will depend on what aircraft type you’re flying on. If you want to check the layout of your cabin prior to booking, I recommend checking out SeatGuru.
Seats
I think the seats in Lufthansa business class are comfortable. They are completely lie-flat which is ideal for long-haul flights. Another aspect I really like about them is the flexibility with the seat controls, you can adjust the firmness of your chair and just about everything else. It’s nice that you can tweak it and really customize it to your preferences.
There’s also decent storage at the seat with little features such as a holder for your glasses (this is so helpful for me!) and a coat hanger.
Amenity Kit
The amenity kit on my last flight wasn’t anything special but had everything we needed. It was a pouch that contained fairly standard items: lip balm, eye mask, socks, dental kit, etc. I’ve definitely seen better amenity kits in other business class cabins.
The first time we flew with them they gave us a reusable tote bag which I thought was a great touch, especially because it folds up really small. I actually keep it in my travel bag because it definitely comes in handy to have a tote on trips.
In flight entertainment
Lufthansa has a great selection of movies (326 on my last flight) in various languages and their entertainment system as a whole has everything you need. On my most recent flight I watched the new Little Mermaid (so cute btw, if you haven’t seen it) and The Devil Wears Prada because why not?
Their noise canceling headphones are pretty solid – perhaps not the most comfortable ones I’ve tried but they definitely do the trick. I’m always grateful to have noise canceling headphones when flying in business class. I always think to myself that I need to invest in some for my day to day life and then never actually get around to doing so.
Food and drinks
For this section I’ll stick to reviewing the food and drink on my latest flight in Lufthansa business class which was just a few days ago since it’s fresh in my mind.
Is Lufthansa business class vegetarian friendly?
Yes…theoretically. The other two times I flew them I had zero issues with needing to book a special meal ahead of time as they always had a vegetarian option on the menu. This time, however, when they came around for our order, my fiancé, Eric, was told they had run out of the polenta (the only vegetarian option). I was surprised as I had just ordered the polenta and we were in the middle of the cabin so only a handful of people had ordered before our row. As we were seated in the middle two seats of the 2-2-2 configuration we had different flight attendants so we asked his flight attendant to double check with mine and sure enough, no more polenta.
When Eric told the flight attendant that he was a vegetarian so the other two mains wouldn’t work for him she basically told him he should have requested his meal ahead of time and offered no other solutions. We couldn’t have pre ordered our meal because we booked the flight less than 24 hours in advance and you have to pre order at least 24 hours before your flight.
We both were fairly frustrated by this situation because none of the other fellow passengers eating any other option off the menu had to special order their meal in advance. The vegetarian dish was simply one of the three options on the menu and wasn’t marked as a vegetarian option or a special meal.
I think this sheds light on a bigger issue which is that people always assume only vegetarians will order the meat-free dish so they tend to have fewer of them in comparison to the meat dishes. And then of course, someone who eats meat sees the meat-free dish and goes “ooh, that sounds good” and proceeds to order it. It’s admittedly frustrating and one of the many challenges vegetarians face.
We decided to share my polenta as a solution and half way through eating it the main flight attendant (the one who greeted us upon boarding), walked by and saw that Eric had no main dish. He quickly went to premium economy and found a vegan option and brought that to us even though we insisted that we were okay splitting the dish. We really appreciated him looking for a solution and making sure that Eric had a main dish. The vegan option was pretty tasty too!
All in all, the lesson learned is that I need to pre order meals if I want to ensure there will be a vegetarian option. I had stopped pre ordering meals a couple of years back when most airlines started offering a vegetarian option as a normal part of their meal service.
Before Meal Service
We got a nice hot towel and I wiped my hands my face as well. It felt so refreshing. They then brought out a tablecloth for our tray table. I always love the tablecloth in business class. It instantly elevates my meal.
The meal began with a drink service. I chose a champagne that was fairly full bodied and that was served with a bowl of nuts.
Starter
One of my favorite parts of the meal service is the bread basket where you get to choose some bread to go with your starter. There’s usually an assortment that includes rye bread, pretzel bread, and more.
For my starter I had carrots with yuzu mayonnaise, quinoa, and green asparagus. It was pretty solid. I especially loved the dollops of the mayo and it seems like there was another sauce that I couldn’t quite identify that had a great flavor. This was served with a fresh leaf salad that was just okay. I didn’t end up eating much of it.
Eric’s starter unfortunately arrived frozen solid. Thankfully after we got the attention of a flight attendant they quickly brought him a new one.
I also got a chardonnay that was pretty good.
Main Course
For the main course I had the sautéed polenta with chanterelles and mushrooms with cherry tomatoes and a gouda cheese sauce. This was actually really tasty and I was somewhat sad I had told my fiancé that I would split it with him since they ran out of vegetarian options (just kidding. I love the man…plus it was a fairly big portion). We finished every bite.
Dessert
By the time we finished our meals and asked for dessert they had already ran out of the chocolate cake which I found a little surprising. Why not have enough for all the passengers in the cabin? I decided to go for the cheese plate which was delicious and paired that with a 10 year tawny port.
Secondary meal service
The second meal we got was a vegetable ravioli which was pretty solid, nothing too spectacular. Thankfully they had enough of this dish so we didn’t have to share. Although I’ll admit, at this point I was still pretty full.
Overall thoughts
I think Lufthana’s vegetarian food is fairly good with some dishes better than others. For example, I really loved the polenta dish and would 100% eat that again. What I found to be disappointing on my last flight was that they simply did not have enough food as they ran out of both the dessert and the vegetarian entree. Like I mentioned earlier, I didn’t have this same issue on either of the two previous flights.
Service
Lufthansa definitely has great service. The cabin crew is generally attentive and personable. As mentioned earlier, I like that someone comes and greets you individually at the beginning of the flight. I think that adds a really nice personal touch.
During the meal service, they checked in multiple times to see if we needed more drinks and were prompt in bringing out the different courses.
Overall, their service is one of my favorite parts about flying Lufthansa business class.
Do I recommend Lufthansa Business Class?
Absolutely. I think Lufthana’s Business Class is a really great, reliable product and I’ve enjoyed it the three times I’ve flown it. They have great service, pretty good food, and comfortable seats. The only downside is the configuration of the cabin which doesn’t provide much privacy with your neighbor and may mean that you don’t have direct aisle access. Perfect for those traveling together but may not be ideal for a solo traveler.
I can’t wait to try their first class. It’s been on my bucket list for awhile and I’m hoping to make it happen soon!
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