Lufthansa Boeing 767-300 Business Class

[Wynellewe Gr]

ThisAustrian 767-300 Business Class Review is from our recent flight from New York JFK to Vienna, Austria, which we reserved using 70,000 United MileagePlus miles per ticket. We had United miles to use up, but otherwise, Aeroplan charges just 55,000 miles albeit with fuel surcharges. Prior to our flight we had access to the JFK Lufthansa Business Class Lounge, which was underwhelming.

Austrian Airlines Business Class on the 767-300ER is in a 1-2-1 configuration, where each flat bed seat has direct aisle access. There are two 767-300 layouts, one with 7 rows, for a total of 26 seats (since the 7th row does not have middle seats) and one with 9 rows, for a total of 36 seats. Ours was the one with 9 rows, and it was a completely full cabin.

The seats are staggered, alternating between a seat close to the window with a side table by the aisle, and then a seat with the side table by the window and the seat next to the aisle. The seats closest to the window are more private, so I recommend that solo travelers pick these, particularly 3A, 5A, 3K and 5K for both configurations, and in the larger business class cabin, 7A and 7K as well, since they aren't the last row. Generally I'd avoid the first and last rows if possible.

The Austrian Business Class seat is fairly narrow, at just 19 inches, although that's 2 inches better than Economy, which is just 17 inches. The chairs themselves are grey, but with the red headrest and gingham pillows with light blue, and matching duvets, there was a cozier feeling about these seats than you normally have with business class seats.

Next to the seat, as you can see to the left in the above photo, is a reading light, along with a small storage pouch where there was already an amenity kit. It was in a red fabric bag, not a traditional cosmetic case, and just had the essentials: dental kit, lip balm, moisturizer, socks and sleep mask.

Prior to meal service, we were given some room temperature mixed nuts along with a drink of our choice. I decided to have the Riesling, as I planned to nurse it through my meal and have it with my salmon main course.

As expected, the salmon in the main course was somewhat overcooked, but otherwise excellent paired with the pea mousseline and the lentils. It was also plated more beautifully than most business class meals I see, at least on Western carriers.

Fortunately all the coffee concoctions can be made with decaf coffee, so I chose the Wiener Eiskaffee, with its ice cream and generous whipped cream topping. Delicious! There was even a little milk chocolate served alongside, but I prefer dark chocolate so didn't partake.

While the Austrian business class seat does recline to a flat bed position, as with most airline beds I found the seat too firm to sleep comfortably on, even when using part of the blanket as a mattress pad. Fortunately I had my new Therm-a-Rest mattress, and once I inflated it I was far more comfortable.

The sleep mask included in the amenity kit had an elastic band and was the right size for my son, but was uncomfortably tight for me, so I suggest bringing your own sleep mask with two straps that can be adjusted and attach with velcro (such as the Lufthansa First Class sleep mask or similar).

Austrian Airlines isn't Singapore or Cathay, so the movie selection wasn't exhaustive, but there was a better selection of kids' and family movies than I sometimes see. Both my son and I watched Boss Baby, which was entertaining if not exactly high art. Alec Baldwin's voice was apt in the role, although it was still strange to hear his same voice, given recent viewing of him as Trump on Saturday Night Live, and also in The Hunt for Red October, which we rewatched recently.

The food was good, especially the salad and main dish, although it would be nice if the nuts were warm or an amuse bouche was served. The coffee menu was a distinctive touch, as I've never had these kind of coffee drinks with fresh whipped cream even in other airlines' first class.

Bea, glad you also enjoyed your Austrian Business Class flights, and it sounds as though service as a whole on your flights was better (although the chef on our flight was certainly cheerful and gracious).

We arrived at Frankfurt Airport around two hours before departure, at 2PM. One of my favorite things about Frankfurt Airport is the old-style departures board, so we stopped there to check the status of our flight to Whitehorse.

We took the escalator down a level to our departure gate. Our boarding passes indicated that boarding would start at 3PM, though in the end it actually only started at 3:15PM. Leading up to boarding they made several announcements offering paid upgrades to their extra legroom economy section as well as to business class.

They had set up air stairs both for the forward and rear door, and we boarded through the forward door. This Condor 767-300 configuration featured a total of 18 business class seats, spread across three rows in a 2-2-2 configuration (some Condor 767s feature 30 business class seats).

While the 2-3-2 configuration in economy on the 767 is comfortable, the 2-2-2 configuration in business class is really tight. We had assigned ourselves seats 3A & 3C, the aisle and window seat in the third row on the left side.

As far as the amenities go, waiting at our seats upon boarding were pillows and blankets. The pillow was fine, while the blanket was rather warm, and feels like an easy area where they could improve the quality of the product.

At 4:05PM, shortly after our scheduled departure time, the captain made an announcement informing us of a technical problem. He promised to keep us updated, but based on the tone of his voice and the way he described it, it seemed pretty serious.

I was curious how this flight was staffed, given that this was the last flight to Whitehorse of the season. So I asked one of the flight attendants, and he explained that they were spending a night in Whitehorse, and were then returning as passengers the following day back to Frankfurt via Calgary.

There was no choice for the pre-arrival meal, but rather everyone received the same thing. This included seasonal greens with dried pomegranate and grape seed oil dressing, chicken in a tikka sauce with basmati gobi masala, and mousse from white chocolate with macadamia nuts. The meal was pretty tasty.

We had a smooth touchdown at 6:05PM. We rolled out to the very end of the runway and then had to backtaxi. While there was a taxiway at the end of the runway, I suspect it was too small to accommodate the 767.

Whitehorse Airport was so adorable. The immigration facility was modern, and there were three immigration officers. They were friendly, though also confused why we were flying through Whitehorse. I asked what other international flights they deal with, and they explained that they also had a couple of flights from Alaska.

We flew Condor Biz class a few years ago Toronto - Frankfurt return. Both excellent flights with excellent crews. Great price and great food. Flying the same route again this June and REALLY looking forward to the experience. They offer luxury at a value price.

I find these cultural differences very fascinating. I know when I travel to a new country I always do a quick google search on local cultural norms. Appearing culturally aware and adhering to local customs when I travel is super important to me. Nothing worse than inadvertently offending, or coming across as an ungracious guest. I'm absolutely positive Condor meant no offense.

@Fonzi - you are absolutely right about political correctness in the US. It's a very sensitive and complicated topic, which is definitely front and center in our national consciousness. I think we are in the process of trying to balance sensitivity/empathy and free thought/speech. It seems easy for us to go from one extreme or the other. I'm sure with successive generations it will become easier (I hope).

Your reviews of non-mainstream airlines are so much fun to read and savour - such as this review of Condor! I love all the detail such as the Salt + Pepper shakers and photos of every course + reflections on each beverage. Conder fits into the exciting airlines your fascinating blog touches on such as TAAG (Angola), Air Astana and Xiamen Airlines. Safe + Happy travels!

Thank you for taking the time for explanation. I wanted to write same as @Polarity.

The name is not Old Firehand but Old Shatterhand. Here in Europe the books of Karl May were quite popular and even movies been made. This is i think cultural misunderstanding. As Polaris mentioned they tried to show the funny way that smoking is not allowed. I thought you would notice that mainly ALL characters in the video...

Thank you for taking the time for explanation. I wanted to write same as @Polarity.

The name is not Old Firehand but Old Shatterhand. Here in Europe the books of Karl May were quite popular and even movies been made. This is i think cultural misunderstanding. As Polaris mentioned they tried to show the funny way that smoking is not allowed. I thought you would notice that mainly ALL characters in the video who break some rules were Americans. But that came into my mind after the "deep think". But that is extreme but sometimes normal nowadays in US as i see how far can go so called political correctness.

From German person point of view - the two guys were representing two fictional characters Winnetou (a Native American hero of several novels written in German by Karl May; hugely popular books over here; including the movies) & the other guy is Old Firehand.

And as it happened some...

From German person point of view - the two guys were representing two fictional characters Winnetou (a Native American hero of several novels written in German by Karl May; hugely popular books over here; including the movies) & the other guy is Old Firehand.

And as it happened some producer dude thought it would be great to create a parody on Winnetou & the Old Firehand, a movie called Der Schuh des Manitu (Manutu's shoe). I trully believe that Condor were only trying to do another take on the parody regarding Winnetou and Old Firehand... So from our point of view, there's nothing wrong with that.

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