Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 First Class

[Reggie Lamborn]

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.

The upper deck continued to fill up, surprisingly enough mostly with Americans (in my experience most Lufthansa first class passengers are German). There were two other Germans, and everyone else was American, including two Lufthansa employees (which might explain why they assumed I was an employee, since maybe they knew two Lufthansa employees were aboard in first class).

@ sam -- The reason behind the first class configuration on the 747-400 is because the product is on the upper deck, meaning they have a bit of extra space. The product they're installing on the 748 is the same as the new product on the A330/340/380, which is equally good, in my opinion.

"The flight attendant asked if I was a Lufthansa employee"

Sloppy stuff. They know EVERYTHING from the pax list printout.

But you're only partly right - Some senior management have F rights for both business and private travel. The privilege was removed at the end of April for other staff.

"The flight attendant asked if I was a Lufthansa employee"

Sloppy stuff. They know EVERYTHING from the pax list printout.

But you're only partly right - Some senior management have F rights for both business and private travel. The privilege was removed at the end of April for other staff.

I always get the feeling that the menus are written by people who don't eat in real restaurants or have no idea about/interest in food. Or correct capitalisation, for that matter.

A bit of trivia: my wife did their First Class menus for a while years ago and got a lot of positive feedback. Then they figured they could save money and gave it to an intern...

I have never flown first class but have an upcoming flight planned. I love to eat, and since I am athletic and a larger man, are you able to order as much as you want off the menu and/or at various times or are you relegated to ordering when they serve you and only one entree, app....etc per person?

This is more of an observation than anything, but I find it funny that airlines like LH insists on serving you with glassware with their logo on, they make sure that the logo always faces you et cetera, but they still hand out "common" water bottles, just like the ones you can buy at any convenience store or gas station.

Regarding breakfast service, there are usually less than one or two takers for the breakfast service and I am sure there are flights with no one eating breakfast. So the F/A will have no issue if you want...

Regarding breakfast service, there are usually less than one or two takers for the breakfast service and I am sure there are flights with no one eating breakfast. So the F/A will have no issue if you want all the items plus it is LH First. On my last DC to Frankfurt flight, I was the only one who ate the breakfast and basically chose a bunch of items from all three menus and the F/As had no issues accommodating me. Since I was in West Coast time, it was like dinner for me. I really appreciate that Lufthansa keeps a hot option.

As far as the breakfast menu goes, keep in mind that dinner and breakfast are only about 2.5-3 hours apart. Almost no one else ate breakfast, and I'm sure it wouldn't be an issue if you wanted two of the options, as Lufthansa flight attendants tend to...

As far as the breakfast menu goes, keep in mind that dinner and breakfast are only about 2.5-3 hours apart. Almost no one else ate breakfast, and I'm sure it wouldn't be an issue if you wanted two of the options, as Lufthansa flight attendants tend to be very flexible.

I love LH's F class menu descriptions. Delicious dressing? That's actually hilarious and would kinda scare me as to what it actually is. I think they should get a native English speaker to do their menus so they're not so hilarious lol

From what I've seen on other TRs based on this cabin, the positioning of the TV seems to be one of the only common complaints about this type of seating. Especially if you're someone who enjoys lounging in bed while watching TV (which would be most FC passengers, I imagine).

SCHONE SEIT 1960 ROSEN UND CAVIARWARUM JETZT NICHT????? DAS LETZTE MAL SCHRIEB ICK UEBER MILCHDH KAFFE SAHNE UND ES WURDE BERICHTIGTALSOICH WURDE GERNE HOEREN WEGEN ROSEN UND CAVIAR.ICH WARTE.HANS J KRACKOW

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Lufthansa, you see, is configuring these aircraft from three class (First, Business, Economy) into a different three class (Business, Premium Economy, and Economy). First class on a Lufthansa 747-400- will be gone for good soon- and I will sorely miss it.

No crew has ever been so genuinely nice (until a later LH flight on the same itinerary). After apologizing and explaining that I am too much of an AvGeek to think like I am not cabin crew, it was time for my first service. A nice, seemingly bottomless, glass of 2004 Veuve Clique. Fruity, caramel-noted, just a hint of apple, and wonderfully dry. Even better, they elevated the subtle sweetness of the macadamia nuts they were served with.

The seat itself is more than just the chair and bed combination that makes it amazing. There was a lot of thought put into it. Things like the little drawer for putting your shoes and street clothes into after changing into pajamas and slippers.

CONTRIBUTOR - SEATTLE, WA. Bernie has traveled around the world to learn about, experience, and photograph different types of planes. He will go anywhere to fly on anything. He spent four years in Australia learning about how to run an airline, while putting his learning into practice by mileage running around the world. You can usually find Bernie in his natural habitat: an airport. Email: ber...@airlinereporter.com.

One of the biggest reasons why I chose this flight was to fly the Boeing 747-400 config which has a separate seat and bed for first class seats. While I had the opportunity to have a separate seat as a bed anyway on my previous flight since I was the only passenger in the cabin, this is the only config that guarantees that luxury.

Even though there were 5 people in the van from the First Class Terminal, only two of us headed to the upper deck to the first class seating area. First class was half-full on this flight, with the other three passengers sitting in the front half of the cabin while I had the back half all to myself.

After settling in, I was given pajamas, an amenity kit, and the menu for the flight. In an attempt to adjust back to US time, I decided to sleep immediately after takeoff and hold off on eating. I asked a flight attendant to save me some caviar, the gnocchi, and the roast goose, which she happily obliged.

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