Review: Lufthansa First Class Dallas to Frankfurt LH438
As United MileagePlus was proceeding with the announced devaluation for Feb 1st 2014 - many flyers were looking to redeem their miles for a return trip on Lufthansa which only releases First Class inventory 2 weeks before flight departure to partners.
Book your flight on Lufthansa here.
As United MileagePlus was proceeding with the announced devaluation for Feb 1st 2014 - many flyers were looking to redeem their miles for a return trip on Lufthansa which only releases First Class inventory 2 weeks before flight departure to partners.
The only flight with a new First class configuration I could find for my dates was Dallas to Frankfurt. I booked a connecting flight from San Francisco to Dallas but had to stay overnight.
Lufthansa has no Senator lounge in Dallas - instead it uses the rather big United Club. There is a zoned off section for First Class passengers that features 2 choices of sandwiches and has drinks service. Otherwise it is a very normal United Club as you have seen it before.
The ground personal however provides an escort service through security. It looked more like an impromptu idea but it was a great service from the ground staff!
Once aboard I was surprised to see a completely full First Class cabin. Usually Lufthansa manages award inventory very tightly and rather leaves seats empty than making them available for redemption. At least one more passengers (yes a fellow mightytravels.com reader) was on an United award ticket though.
The seats are the same as in the A380. It's a seat that folds into a flat bed. The headrest can still be felt a little so it's not as great a bad as the other Lufthansa First Class configuration with a separate bed. Since the A330 has a smaller cabin - the First Class cabin also feels smaller and more cramped than on the A380.
Usually Lufthansa flights from the USA to Europe are great - the flight attendants are extra friendly, the catering much better than from Frankfurt and the timing is great to have an early dinner with wine and movies.
So was this flight - macadamia nuts and champagne were served before take-off. After the slightly delayed take off the dinner service started. Usually Lufthansa takes a long time - up to 4 hours for the whole service but it was more like 2 hours this time from start of the drinks service to making the bed.
I was barely able to finish my movie!
The caviar was awesome and the rest of the food equally delicious. I order a flight of red wines from the flight attendants and found the Australian Shiraz to be a fantastic wine for the rest of my flight.
Also the Lufthansa Flynet Internet was free during this flight for First Class passengers. Note that it won't work on a recent iPhone but on other devices.
After the bed was made (with an extra mattress and a great duvet) I was able to doze off quickly. This First Class setup is great for lounging and watching TV from your seat/bed. However the headrest comes out a little and while it's perfectly possible to sleep on your stomach it's not a hotel bed experience yet.
Breakfast was served an hour before landing:
Touch down was perfectly on-time (it's Germany after all!) into a foggy Frankfurt. Visibility was very low but Frankfurt airport seems not to be deterred by that. I saw no major delays that day on the board.
After dropping us into gate A26 I was on my way through immigration to the First Class Terminal.
Book your flight on Lufthansa here.
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