Lufthansa First Class: Service Starts on the Ground

Our member Princess Fiona was recently lucky enough to experience Lufthansa’s First class service on a flight from Frankfurt to Chicago. The in-flight service was exceptional, but the First class experience began long before Princess Fiona stepped onto the plane.

After a short connecting flight from Berlin, the layover in Lufthansa’s Frankfurt hub was long enough for a Porsche test drive…

Upon arrival in FRA we had prebooked the €99 Porsche rental. You get a 911 for 3 hours with a 150Km allowance including the fuel and using the suggested driving maps go nuts on the Autobahn.

After returning to the airport, our member got to visit Lufthansa’s flagship First class lounge. Along with all of the usual suspects, this lounge features a restaurant, showers and an impressive bar.

The Check-in process is very efficient and your Personal Assistant escorts you through security and into the Lounge. It wasn’t terribly busy when we were there but in any case the acoustics are good and the service is very polished.

Soon it was time for boarding, which involved another personal escort and a chauffeur drive directly to the door of the Boeing 747-8!

Princess Fiona settled into 1A, in the nose of the 747, for an enjoyable flight to Chicago. Caviar was served after take-off, followed by a German dinner and dessert.

Our member also flew Lufthansa First class back to Europe. Prior to this flight, they had the opportunity to visit the new United Polaris Lounge in Chicago. North American airport lounges do not generally have a reputation for high quality, but this lounge was a definite exception!

Straight up, this is the best lounge in North America of any carrier or Alliance by a long margin. Far superior to anything else I have used. The United Polaris Lounge opened up in Dec 2016. It is adjacent to the C18 gates just at the top of the escalator as you ascend from the connecting tunnel between B and C. Eligibility is UA Polaris Business and Polaris First pax and all Star Alliance J/F Long Haul.

Lufthansa First class is a difficult award flight redemption. Lufthansa does not open up award availability to partner airlines until 14 days before departure. But if you’re prepared to book at the last minute, it is possible to redeem miles in any Star Alliance program (e.g. United Mileage Plus). Princess Fiona redeemed Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles.

Find out what happened on the return flight, and enjoy the full trip report HERE.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.