Lufthansa First Class: Washington Dulles to Frankfurt

Given that this is the second Lufthansa First segment this year (I know, I know...), I'll focus on the big difference between the flights.  Specifically, this flight featured one of Lufthansa's new First Class seats.

Lufthansa is doing something rather odd with it's First Class product - installing three variations of a new cabin in different aircraft.  Deliveries of their A380 aircraft come with the standard new seat, which appears to be a re-working of the old layout with more contemporary materials and a larger screen.  I understand that this cabin also includes personal storage lockers, which is really the only thing that differentiates the product from that being installed, slowly, as A340 and A330 aircraft are refurbished.  Rumour would have it that this is also the cabin that will feature on the airline's new 747-8 aircraft.

The third, and most radical version, is being retro-fitted to Lufthansa's older 747-400s.  It seems that, as new aircraft arrive, the oldest 747s will be retired, some will be converted to a high-density layout, with no first class, for leisure routes, and a small subfleet will feature the, amazing, product I'm about to tell you about.

Before we go into more detail though, it should be noted that the chances of enjoying one of Lufthansa's new First Class products are slim, unless you're flying a route operated by the A380.  As far as I can tell, at the time of writing, the proportion of aircraft which feature the new seats are:

• A330-300 - 0 of 15
• A340-300 - 1 of 26
• A340-600 - 2 of 24
• A380-800 - 8 of 8
• B747-400 - 10 of 30.

It seems that, to date, the refurbished aircraft all work on routes out of Frankfurt, so you have no chance if booked through Munich or Dusseldorf.

Given those odds, it was a massive treat to board the plane in Washington and find a brand new cabin.  I mentioned above that the seats being fitted to the 747's are quite distinct from those on the other aircraft - the difference is that they come with a completely seperate bed.  As shown in the photo below, each passenger has a large seat and, next to it, a fully made up bed - there's no complicated lie-flat mechanism or wait for the crew to make up a mattress and duvet here.

The whole thing is incredible.  OK, the seats are placed individually on either side of the aisle, so it's not the best set-up for a conversation, but the sleep was the best I've ever had in the air.  Strippled of all the moving parts and extendable pieces that are normally needed to turn seats into beds, the chair is also very comfortable.  Honestly, I could go on enthusing about, what is essentially, furniture, but I fear most of you are already bored.

If there is a downside to this product, it's that Lufthansa are only fitting eight seats into a space that once held sixteen; on unrefurbished aircraft, they're still only selling eight seats, each passenger gets two.  As a result, their First Class capacity is reduced and, consequently, there seem to be far fewer seats available for those of us booking with miles.  Indeed, if the, usually accurate, One Mile at a Time is to be trusted, it's now almost impossible to redeem miles for Lufthansa First.

The other big difference this time around was that we were flying through Frankfurt, so were able to access one of Lufthansa's First Class Lounge's, rather than the Senator Lounge that is offered in Dussledorf.  Lufthansa do have a seperate First Class Terminal in Frankfurt; it's mainly for those starting their journey, but connecting passengers can access it if they clear security and walk out of the main building.  As we had a fairly tight connection, we headed to one of the Lounges within Terminal 1.

After the dissappointment of the Senator Lounges in Dusseldorf and Washington (more about that in a moment), the First Class lounge was a revelation; peaceful, comfortable and with excellent food and drinks served by friendly staff.   The, actually fantastic, bellinis were served with an apology about the peach juice not, apparently, being up to the usual standards.  We were also treated to a rather amusing floor show as a young american (I struggle to use the term gent given the sea of man-made ugliness that he was wearing) tried to argue his way into the facility.  A wall of three statuesque ladies in Lufthansa uniform were stood, slowly shaking their heads, as he spent a full ten minutes sucking air through his teeth and mumbling nonsense about why they should be "working with me to find a solution to this problem".

Now that the interesting, "new", things are dealt with, I should probably give passing mention to the rest of the flight.

As I suggested, the Senator Lounge at Dulles Airport is not particularly pleasant.  It's crowded, noisy, offers a WiFi service which is so slow as to be useless, while the food and beverage offering is deeply unappealling.

I was actually asleep for the last majority of the flight, but during the hour or so that I was conscious, the service was excellent.  Perhaps not quite as accomodating as we experienced on BA the previous week, but otherwise faultless.

Before sleeping, I did partake of the full meal service, including all three appetisers.  By the time I ordered they had run out of my preffered main, halibut, so I took the steak.  Again, it was perfectly edible, but overcooked in comparisson to BA's effort with a similar dish.

Pictures and details of the food follow.  Sadly, given the apparently impending demise of BMI and, it's to be presumed, their generous frequent flyer programme, I doubt I'll be able to book Lufthansa First again anytime soon.  It was definately worth the additional miles that BMI charge, over, for example, first class on United.  If any of you are sitting on a stash of BMI miles, I would urge you to make some effort to blow them on a Lufthansa First ticket before they turn into magic beans or, more likely, something even less useful.

The, frankly rather odd, potato salad that was served as a pre-apetiser.

The caviar service arrived in sealed, individual, portions, rather than being served from a tin.  The crew suggested that this was an anomly and not a new policy.

A full rack of appetisers.

Tuna Teradito (no, I've no idea what Teradito means either) with a citrus-cilantro vinaigrette.

Poached chicken salad with grapes.

Roasted corn flan with mushrooms... Not a sterling effort.

Salad with "delicious" dressing.  It wasn't bad, I'm not sure about "delicious", but there you are.

Grilled tenderloin of beef with Chimichurri sauce, Costa Rican rice 'n' beans and green beans.

Comments

[FriendlySkies]

Thanks for the review of the new seat! I've got an award booking on FRA-DEN in January on the 744, so I'm hoping that I'll luck out and find the new F seats on my bird..