Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 Business Class

[Claude]

Oneway business-class fares from the West Coast to Cape Town, South Africa (CPT), can easily approach $7,000, so I was very fortunate to find saver-award availability on Lufthansa and South African that got me from Seattle (SEA) to Cape Town just about as efficiently as possible, given that United's Newark (EWR)-Cape Town nonstop had yet to launch.

I also had an opportunity to experience both Lufthansa 747 variants, sitting in the nose on the Boeing 747-400 for this first leg from Seattle to Frankfurt (FRA), and on the upper deck of the much newer 747-8 for the flight to Johannesburg (JNB).

Since I was connecting from Fairbanks (FAI) on Alaska Airlines and a bit short on time, I began my SEA adventure airside. I had to make my way from the North Satellite terminal to the South Satellite terminal, but the train was fairly easy to navigate, and there wasn't any need to pass through security again.

After what seemed like an especially long wait at the gate, boarding was finally called at 1:25 p.m., just 25 minutes before our scheduled departure. Despite the delay, Lufthansa managed to board an entire 747-400 in just 20 minutes, getting us off the gate just two minutes behind.

I was immediately jealous of the passengers in 4A and 4K. None of Lufthansa's business seats offer much storage, but neither of my neighbors had a seatmate on this flight, so they ended up with far more space than I had in 4D.

The seat controls were fairly intuitive, but my massage function appeared to be stuck. As a result, my seat continuously inflated and deflated a little throughout the flight. It was also quite firm in bed mode, making it hard to get comfortable at first.

My unusual standalone seat seemed to be a curiosity to other passengers, and I almost felt like I was on display. As we deplaned, another flyer remarked that I'd slept for much of the flight, so I was clearly within view during the journey to Frankfurt.

That last package seemed like the best pick. Though expensive, it seemed more reasonable given the duration of the flight. The performance was a bit lacking, though, and I wasn't able to do much more than send emails and texts.

Another half hour passed, and it was time for dessert. I went with the cheese plate, a cup of ice cream and a glass of scotch. The flight attendant asked if I wanted any crackers with my cheese, and I said yes, but then he walked away to grab some and never returned.

The crew seemed friendly, but they weren't fantastic about providing attentive service. For example, my garbage was only collected when I asked, and several items were overlooked. It was also challenging to get their attention at times -- both flight attendants had to walk past my seat to serve the cabin, but they seemed to be masters at averting my politely beckoning gaze. It also took several minutes for someone to respond to the call button, which isn't ideal, especially in a premium cabin.

As much as I liked having a guaranteed solo seat without anyone next to me, Lufthansa's business-class product just felt so dated. The food and service were a letdown, too, the inflight entertainment system was tricky to use, and the Wi-Fi didn't work nearly as well as I would have liked.

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!

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

Lufthansa has its own lounge in Dubai but it was rather small and basic. It resembles other Senator Lounge offerings on Lufthansa network. There is also a business class section inside the lounge. It gets crowded in the evening as both Lufthansa and Swiss flights are using the same lounge.

I have the only solo seat in the entire business class cabin. The solo seat 4D, is in the middle of the 747 nose area. The seat is rather exposed without much privacy but I can get in and out easily. It was an overnight flight so most of the flight was in darkness.

I'd say the Business Class experience was quite average as the window and middle seats do not have direct aisle access. The IFE is quite dated on the B747-400 and given the exit date of 2025, I am not sure if Lufthansa will refresh the cabin. But to be able to fly on the B747 again is still worth the ticket!

This is just the first part of my journey to the U.S. on Lufthansa. Next week, I will share my report of the Lufthansa First Class Terminal and onboard Lufthansa B747-8 First Class from Frankfurt to Los Angeles.

Thanks, Sam. Was able to snag 4D on a JFK-FRA flight early next year. While it might be exposed, it seems that not having to crawl over anyone (or be crawled over) is worth it. I do wish Lufthansa would catch up to the rest of the better airlines with a 1-2-1 configuration, but price all the way onwards to Nairobi was more than fair.

I thank Sam for informing and updating us on the aviation industry very interesting to watch his videos and photographs on the various airlines as he travels to also sample on what the air birds have to offer keep it up we are watching

Their approach begins with reviewing suggestions annually from trade journals, trade fairs, and wine tastings worldwide, along with recommendations via sommeliers and other wine professionals. Upon distilling that information down to a manageable number, approximately 30-35 invitations are sent out to individual wineries to submit a bid.

Our plane was a Boeing 747-400, an iconic aircraft in aviation that is a rarity these days given there are just 24 that remain active. Of those, only 10 are used as regular passenger jets, most notably by Lufthansa.

The business class configuration allows for a total of 67 business class seats. We were lucky enough to be among the 22 in the upper deck, making our journey feel not only more secluded, but also wonderfully quiet which was particularly appreciated for our overnight flight.

The fruit spends 12 months in barrel and another 6 months in the bottle and being able to drink such a textured wine really benefitted from age. The tannins had softened considerably and it paired perfectly with the tenderloin of beef on the menu.

British Airways Club World Business Class on the 747-400 is far from a cutting edge product as business class seats go, but Club World has had a reliably fully flat bed business class seat for 15 years, since 1999, which counts for something. After all, Lufthansa Business Class, Air France Business Class and KLM Business Class until fairly recently all had angled flat business class products even on long haul international flights.

Since the last time I flew British Airways Club World was before TravelSort, during my consulting days, I figured a review was in order. This is part of a mini round the world trip report including first class and business class flights, luxury hotel stays in London and Asia, and restaurant reviews.

In addition to the Upper Deck, I also prefer Club World window seats, because they're more private, not subject to aisle foot traffic, and have extra storage space via cubbies along the wall. Many folks like 62A and 62K, but those exit row seats are generally not available to prebook. So instead, I reserved 64A, the first window seat on the left as you enter the upper deck, and was happy with my choice.

The Club World business class seat is fairly narrow, at 20 inches, and either faces in the direction of travel or in the reverse. If it bothers you to not be facing the direction of travel or if you definitely want a window seat, I would recommend paying to get an advance seat assignment, otherwise there may be little to choose from when the free seat selection opens with online check-in 24 hours prior to departure.

I can remember the days when the Club World amenity kit was a nice Molton Brown affair more akin to the current British Airways First Class amenity kit, but that's long gone. Instead, there was a little blue fabric bag with Elemis amenities, as well a toothbrush and toothpaste, ear plugs, socks and a sleep mask. Nothing high end, but all the essentials.

Since we'd had a surprisingly tasty dinner in the British Airways Concorde First Class Lounge, I didn't have anything from the supper menu, apart from the dessert, which is generally the highlight of British Airways meals anyway.

I decided to see what the in-flight breakfast quality was like, so I gave my breakfast card to one of the flight attendants before I went to bed. About an hour before landing we were served breakfast. You're supposed to choose between the fruit and yogurt and I'd checked both, so I was only given fruit. It was mainly melon, however, which I don't care for, so I asked if I could be given a yogurt. The flight attendant I asked was worried they might have run out, but was happy to check for me, and came back beaming with a yogurt, which I appreciated.

The yogurt was my favorite part of the meal, but I will say that the NY Bagel with Scrambled Eggs, Bacon and Cheddar was decent, and certainly a ton better than the processed breakfast sandwich I encountered on our United First Class flight from Hawaii to NYC.

That said, for shorter international flights into London such as JFK-LHR, British Airways Business Class is perfectly fine, if not great. It's often the best nonstop business class award option into London with availability (albeit with high fuel surcharges), since many times there's no award availability on American's new business class on the 777-300ER doesn't offer saver award availability.

Temper your expectations and just focus on a flat surface to sleep on, a decent menu usually strongest in the cheese and dessert area, and often good service by European standards (great service by U.S. airline standards).

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