While there are a lot of European airlines, there are only three true First Class offerings (let’s not count British Airways because they offer Business Class seating): Air France, Lufthansa and Swiss. And given the latter two are both owned by the same company, Lufthansa, it might be a good way to test out how Europe does first class. Spoiler: Lufthansa chose understated elegance over flash, and yet the flight was still amazing.

Flight: LH 418

Departing: Frankfurt (FRA)

Arriving: Washington Dulles (IAD)

Operated by: 747-8

Cabin: First Class

Check in and Ground Experience

One of the most notable thing about Lufthansa First Class is that they have…a separate terminal. That’s right, you don’t need to even breathe in the same air as the business / economy class passengers (/s). But before I got there, I was checked in by a rather…almost rude flight attendant, who didn’t seem to understand that I lived in the US, and didn’t have an onward flight. Not a great experience to start. But with my ticket in hand, I proceeded to walk over to the First Class Terminal.

It turns out that most people aren’t weird like myself, and they typically have a car take them over to the terminal. In which case, you’d miss the below view!

Inside, I got taken through the private security lane - while this was an interesting experience, the security guard put my wallet into my bag without telling me, which lead to a few frantic minutes of me wondering where my wallet was. But once that was over, I was escorted by M, who proudly proclaimed this was the best lounge in all of Europe. And in my (limited) experience, I have to agree but for one thing...

The lounge itself reminded me of a cigar lounge with lighter tones and more casual seating; this was probably why the lounge actually did have a cigar lounge inside lol. The centerpiece of the place was a massive bar, which has over 100 types of different whiskies on offer (more on that later), as well as a plentiful selection of candy.

I didn’t touch the candy because honestly you could get that outside. This place truly has everything: for the business traveler, there are many different conference rooms and a cigar lounge, while for families there’s a family space.

Interestingly enough, I did see one family walk in, so this playground might be used! Note that Lufthansa allows for another passenger to come in with you, provided they are on the same flight as you - that’s right, even economy tickets are allowed!

But alas, what is one to do at lunch before the flight? Taste a ton of fine whiskey of course! My bartender was FANTASTIC - he struck the right balance between listening and giving advice, and unlike my Emirates flight attendant was quite knowledge about the whiskey.

The conclusion we reached was that the jump from low to middle was big, while the gap between middle to very high end was much smaller. So basically buy Johnnie Walker Platinum Label as opposed to Blue, as the latter is 3X more expensive!

Of course, in between drinks, I had to have a few bites to eat. There is both a buffet, as well as a dine on demand menu - given I saw smoke salmon, my greatest weakness, I chose to just indulge in the buffet.

Part of the reason I was indulging so much was to wait for the shower room with the bathtub to clear. And I was glad I did, for the bathtub was probably the biggest one I had ever seen in an airport!

Now you might notice that the rubber ducks are missing. Flight attendant M informed me that when the lounge first opened, rich people kept stealing the ducks, so to solve this Lufthansa just decided to give them away. The ducks were, of course, made in China.

Now, the one complaint I have is that the view from this lounge kind of sucks. Not that I spent any time looking out the window given the in house amenities.

Instead, one can stare at the flight board: I find it interesting that Lufthansa’s First Class flights depart in the morning / early afternoon. Perhaps this is why they feel able to offer a full bar!

Alas, when the clock struck 12:15PM (jk, it did take a while), flight attendant M came over to find me, and escort me to my terminal transfer. I am infinitely disappointed that the transfer isn’t private, and that the 4 other gentlemen joined me.

One thing I forgot to mention: our passports were taken by border control, and were given back to us upon transferring to our plane. So don’t be alarmed like I was!

We had to (gasp) walk up ourselves up to the plane, and sadly we didn’t get a chance to sneak a look at the stairs of the plane.

Seat and Cabin

The First Class cabin features 8 seats: 3 on each side of the nose of the plane, and 2 in the middle. There was an extremely baller older couple that occupied those middle seats - I believe the captain actually held the plane up for 30 minutes because their connecting flight was late. But that gave me plenty of time to admire my seat, which oh lord was massive.

One thing I do wish was in the seat was a door / privacy partition, as these days even business class seats have them! I was in 3K, which gave a good view of the entire cabin; however, note that 3K is also the last for food service, so be sure to sit on the other side!

In front of the two middle seats was a massive bar, which at the beginning of the flight was full of champagne and warm nuts.

Speaking of champagne, Lufthansa serves the Duval-Leroy Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru (which just means white grapes lol). Don’t let the fancy name fool you: at $80 a bottle, this tastes honestly disgusting, primarily due to how dry / lacking of sugar the champagne was. Would not recommend. While sort of sipping on the champagne, one of the flight attendants stored my things in the cubby at the end of our section.

The first thing I noticed in the seat was the amenity kit, by Porsche design. The second thing was the rose, a signature of Lufthansa First Class. Indeed, the rose harkens back to the 1960’s as part of Lufthansa’s premium long haul services.

There was yet another storage cubby that doubled as a footrest; I found that the latch on it was a bit lose, and had to shove hard to get it to close. Adjacent to it was the IFE / seat controls. Now, I know first class problems, but I find given how much space I have it really isn’t worth it to watch the IFE screen, as it takes too much effort to move my seat up. I know.

Lufthansa also provided a SUPER fluffy pillow on the seat - as we will see later, fluffy accessories is the Lufthansa way.

For reference, this is Lufthansa’s subpar business class - I’ve reviewed it in depth, and all I can say is that I am thankful I am in First Class lol. Through I understand that new seats will be installed soon!

Amenities

This is where Lufthansa was substantially worse than Emirates. The standard amenity kit was provided, and I was a tad disappointed this was by Porsche Design - at least pick a luxury brand that specializes in this stuff!

There was a combo, facial cream, socks, eye mask, shoe horn (lol?) comb, mint and dental kit. However, the smaller kit was made up by the fantastic slippers that Lufthansa provided that were extraordinarily comfy and fluffy. 10/10

Similar to my Emirates First Class experience, where I was given a medium when I was actually a smaller, I was given a medium by the flight attendant, which was too big, and then asked for a small. Hilariously on both flights I was given a women’s small, as the smallest size they make men’s in is medium. But back to the pajamas, they were soft and comfortable, and I will definitely be using them at home.

The flight attendant, G, noticed that I was getting tired, and kindly offered to make my bed. Interestingly enough, the bedding actually comes from a closet located at the front of the plane.

In full lie flat mode, the seat provides a tremendous amount of space. That, combined with a luxurious blanket, meant I was happily able to take a long nap.

Lastly, I wanted to showcase the toilet, and how much stuff there was. While not as luxurious or as much as Emirates, there was all one would want in a washroom, with plenty of shaving, cleaning and dental amenities.

Food and Drink

Lufthansa split the flight firstly into a meal service, then onto a section of “light bites” through out the day. Given this was a 9 hour flight, I personally would have preferred two full meal services, although the light bites did suffice as a dinner.

The drink menu was quite extensive; however, the main thing I found outstanding was the inclusion of Johnnie Walker Blue Label, which retails close to $300 a bottle.

The lunch menu was pretty standard (in a good way), and there definitely were a few standout dishes.

To start, I got an Amuse Bouche of Duck and something else, which I enjoyed.

Afterwards, an appetizer cart was rolled around, from which one could pick as many items as one reasonably wanted.

I chose the caviar (woo!) and lobster appetizers. The caviar was delicious, although strangely served with toast. The lobster was cooked perfectly as well. My one complaint (and you’ll see this throughout the meals) is that there are too many veggies on the plate.

Moving on, I chose the braised beef cheeks, and OMG was it amazing: the beef was perfectly cooked, the veggies roasted well and the sauce just tied everything together. Take note Emirates! Though to be fair, this was probably helped by copious amounts of Blue Label (no, I didn’t ask for that much ice).

To top it off, I got a cheese plate - the lovely flight attendant, G, cut up each piece individually at your seat. There was also fruit and sugary deserts.

And to make sure we didn’t sleep, flight attendant G passed around scrumptious chocolates; I chose the ones with fillings, and they didn’t disappoint.

After taking a nap for a couple hours, I reattacked the food with vigor. From the light bites, I ordered a meat plate and a shrimp salad - both were fantastic, although the shrimp was a tad on the dry side.

However, I was EXTREMELY disappointed by what came next: the Beyond Meat Burger. While the sauce and bun were great, the actual burger was tasteless, and I mean tasted like nothing.

Unfortunately, the ice cream as well wasn’t as good, which made for a sad end to my Lufthansa journey.

The Service

According to my German friend, German service is supposed to be quick, efficient, and not the overly friendly type favored by some cultures. On board, the flight attendants, G and L, were wonderful. G was basically your old grandma dotting over her kids, while L in the kitchen was ruthlessly efficient. M in the lounge was wonderful in indulging my questions as well! That being said, the front desk lady could have been a bit nicer (especially to someone flying in First Class), along with the security people - after all, these are the first people that one interacts with, and sets the tone for the rest of the flight.

Final Thoughts

If I designed a First Class, it would probably look very similar to Lufthansa’s. The decor and hard product would be nice and understated, while the soft product…actually wait I’d make a few improvements to the soft product, notably the champagne and the caviar. But overall, this was an extremely pleasant way to fly transatlantic in your own private little bubble. The First Class terminal was quite a nice touch as well, although I would have improved the view. When I came to Frankfurt, I was actually asked by the border guard why I was there; I said to fly First Class, and thankfully Lufthansa did not disappoint on this wonderful journey.