Trip Report: Lufthansa B747-8 First Class Experience + First Class Terminal

Sam Chui·February 14, 2022

Background

I need to go to the U.S. to see my parents for the Chinese New Year. Lufthansa is deploying its B747-400 on Dubai to Frankfurt route so after weighing all flight options, I decided to fly Lufthansa because of the B747. The second sector from Frankfurt to Los Angeles is operated by B747-8, so I get both -400 and -8 on one single itinerary which is fantastic for a 747 fan!

I used 75,000 Aegean Miles (Star Alliance Partner) for a mixed Business/First Class redemption.

From Dubai to Frankfurt only Business Class is available. From Frankfurt to Los Angeles, I traveled in Lufthansa First Class. This is a pretty reasonable redemption but the tax and surcharge are very high at 588 euros.

Aegean used to sell miles around euro 0.125 per mile during promotion (50% off) so 75,000 miles equate to 937.50 euros.

You can view my Lufthansa B747-400 Business Class from Dubai to Frankfurt in the report below:

Trip Report: Lufthansa B747-400 Business Class Dubai to Frankfurt

Video of my Lufthansa B747-400 flight from Dubai to Frankfurt

Lufthansa First Class Lounge at Frankfurt

After landing early in Frankfurt around 6 am from Dubai, I have 4.5 hours in transit. Initially, I went to the Senator Lounge as the First Class Lounge is closed in the airside. The receptionist strongly suggested me I should go out to the landside and enjoy the First Class terminal. I think she was right and followed her recommendation.

Fortunately, there was no queue at the immigration. After I showed my vaccainted paper, I was on the street at Frankfurt Airport within 5 minutes. The Lufthansa First Class Terminal is just a short 5 minute walk from Terminal 1.

I was the first passenger to arrive at the Lufthansa First Class Terminal just before 7am. The lounge seating area, restaurant, and bar is all empty. I am glad the First Class Terminal is open again as it was closed during my stop in Frankfurt in July 2020.

There is also a bath inside the toilet which makes it resemble a hotel bathroom. I took a quick shower to refresh after an overnight flight.

The breakfast is a combination of a la carte and buffet with hot food and cold cuts, fruit, muesli, and German bakery items. The omelette I ordered was amazing, very rich and moist. I re-charged my energy in the breakfast room. Please refer to my video to see full food offering at Lufthansa First Class Terminal.

There is 2 individual day room for naps. During my stay, they were both available. I slept an hour and felt refreshed.

I also received a famous Lufthansa lounge duck when the lounge attendant saw me taking pictures of all the duck collections!

Porsche Ride to B747-8

The greatest feature of Lufthansa First Class Terminal is you get to chauffeur in one of the posh Porsche or Mercedes to your next flight. In my case, a blue Panamera was assigned to take me to my next flight, B747-8 to Los Angeles.

You can imagine the joy of this Avgeek when I discovered that my flight is operated by the Lufthansa retro livery B747-8, registration D-ABYT.

a man wearing a face mask and holding a camera and standing in front of a plane

A small note on Lufthansa First Class Ground Service

I was able to use the First Class terminal to have the full ground experience. If I had only stayed in the airside, I'd missed out on such unique transfer service. This is where Air France La Premiere's ground service shines. No matter you're transiting at the airside or from the landside, it delivers a consistent ground experience with limo and escort into and out of the La Premiere lounge.

Onboard the B747-8 First Class

Once onboard, I received a great welcome by F/A Marcel. He reminded me that he had actually flown with me as a passenger a few years ago on an Etihad flight to Frankfurt. I felt special because I am flying with someone that I knew from the past travel!

a man wearing a mask and gloves holding a rose

a person pouring champagne into a glass on an airplane

a bowl of food and a glass of champagne on a table

There are just 8 seats in the nose area of the B747. Best seat is 1A and 1K as you're in the most forward part of the plane. Seat 2A and 2K also has good privacy as the console table is in the middle separating them. There is a privacy screen that you can raise it if you want extra privacy.

a room with tvs and seats in an airplane

I love the Lufthansa First Class slipper, it is by far the widest, most comfortable onboard slipper I've ever tried. The amenity kit is a German brand called Sinn with a watch rest holder on top. There's also the usual vanLaack pajamas.

We pushed back on time and the Captain actually came down to greet all First Class passengers (7 of us). He told us due to the strong headwind, (over 200 knots) the flying time will be over 11 hours to Los Angeles today. Our routing is over North Atlantic via Iceland, Greenland, Canada Western part of USA.

I can clearly see Frankfurt now is the capital of Boeing 747 passenger model. Lufthansa B747-8 flies to LA, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, Newark, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Johannesburg, Shanghai regularly.

an airplane on the runway — our takeoff was on runway 25C. We flew over runway 18 threshold while an Air Canada B787 hold below us.

Watch the full video of the B747-8 takeoff.

After takeoff, drinks, appetizers and lunch were offered. It is on-demand dining.

a glass of orange liquid next to a rubber duck on a table

Lufthansa crew set up an open bar in First Class. It is in the middle of the cabin.

I started with traditional caviar with a shot of vodka. Then move on to a trio of appetizers and ordered grill sea bass as my main course.

a man sitting in a chair with a tray of food and a glass of champagne

There is free Wi-Fi onboard for First Class on Lufthansa. I think the limit was 200Mb.

It was a total day flight. We flew over the Greenland but the light was weak as it is still in the middle of winter.

a plane wing with two engines above the snow covered mountains

Video

a bed in a plane — The bedding is very comfortable with a double pillow set up by Marcel. Once the privacy screen is raised, it is extra cozy sleeping at the nose of the B747.

Well, all you do flying first class is Eat, Sleep and Fly

I slept well over 6 hours and woke up when we're near Salt Lake City, on the way to LA.

a plate of food with a piece of meat and vegetables — A beautiful German beef tenderloin dish with fried Brussel sprouts.

The rest of the flight was spent enjoying the clear view into Los Angeles. Our B747 flew over Utah, the Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas.

Approach on runway 24R with downtown L.A. in background

Conclusion

I had an excellent Lufthansa first class flight even during the pandemic. It seems there was almost no cutback. The only downside is the IFE which is slightly dated. I'd rate Lufthansa one of my top 5 First Class airlines among Air France La Premiere, ANA, Singapore Airlines and Emirates.

What I really like about Lufthansa First Class is the award seat availability is consistent and predictable. It is usually open during the last 7-14 days so one can monitor the flight load (using Expertflyer) and make a reasonable redemption using miles to fly in Lufthansa First Class. I have no trouble using purchased Lifemiles and Aegean miles to redeem on Lufthansa First Class repeatedly.