Review of Lufthansa flight Frankfurt → Washington in First

weekend in italy

Now to finally wrap up this flight report.  For the return trip, I was originally booked on a Lufthansa business class routing MXP-MUC-IAD for 75k UA miles. There was first class available on that route (only saw on United for some reason) a few days before the trip, but not on Aeroplan or LifeMiles. Instead, an earlier flight with MXP-FRA-IAD popped up on LifeMiles. With an 15% Amex transfer bonus, this turned into 75k Amex points redemption for LH F on the Queen. Schedule-wise the MUC routing would have been better, but I wasn't willing to pay nearly 35k+ more miles for it. In any case, always happy to fly F on the Queen.

frankfurt am main airport

It's rare that I complain about arriving at a gate as opposed to a remote stand, but when connecting in LH F, it is annoying to have to walk through the massive Frankfurt Am Main Airport.  It was a roughly 20-minute walk  from my gate.  At the entrance, make sure you go down to the arrivals level before exiting the main terminal.

From there, turn left and keep walking.

lufthansa first class terminal

Eventually you find yourself in sight of the one of the most recognizable lounges in our hobby.

I've only ever arrived from the elevator in the back–some day maybe I'll originate out of Frankfurt and get dropped off here.  Once in the lobby, I was quickly greeted by a smiling attendant and ushered through the private security.

Is it just me or are there fewer ducks in the display than before? In any case, I was very disappointed to learn later that they had run out of ducks.  It was the morning!  I'm not sure whether this was another symptom of Lufthansa's cuts to its lounges.

Upon entering you find yourself in the main seating area, with the highlights of the lounge immediately to your right.

The first thing to the right is the impressive and well-stocked bar, with all kinds of liquors at your request.  Directly in front of it are the standard Lufthansa seating that I've become familiar with.  The window facing lounge seats are less popular here because there isn't a view of anything.  Next to the bar is the dining area–more on that later. There is also a cigar lounge that I've never used.

To your left after entering are more seating, arranged similarly, a few daybeds, and some office pods.

Beyond the dining area are two sleep rooms.  I used these the last time I came through, but no need to grab one of these today.

At the right end of the lounge is the shower/bath area.  Given that I had only around 2 hours, I skipped the bath in favor of a quick shower.

You can find similar shower facilities in all of Lufthansa's lounges.  I think the main difference is that the FCT showers are a bit more spacious and amenities slightly nicer.  They have switched out the mini bottles for larger communal bottles and now use Balmain.

I thought about doing a whiskey tasting after my shower, but thought better of it given that I was very sleep deprived at this point and also planned on drinking onboard.  The bar was featuring a special cocktail at the time (seen below).

Instead of the bar, I went for the dining area.

Here is the beverage menu.  Compared to my last visit in 2019, the wine list is significantly smaller and less premium.  In addition, there was just the option of still or sparkling water, as compared to the 15 or so different premium water options offered before.

The food menu seemed relatively unchanged.  There were also September-specific offerings.  Unfortunately, I did not take any of these in landscape, so you'll have to bear with the menu this way.

I grabbed a seat at one of the tables (there were about 10 or so guests dining at the time).

I started off with a cappuccino:

Then I had the Wiesn festive soup liver dumplings off the September special menu.  It was quite good.

For my entree, I opted for the braised leg of Ludwig Lugeder Wiesn duck, served with a mini potato dumpling, red cabbage, and strong duck jus.  It was decent, but a bit overcooked.

I had a glass of rose champagne to go along with it: Vranken, which I was not familiar with at all.  It was . . . passable.

At the FCT you leave your passport with your attendant, but she came over as I was dining to hand me a re-printed first class boarding pass with the proper holder.  After lunch, it was already almost time to board, though FCT passengers are called well after the actual boarding time.

The attendant came and grabbed all of the passengers for the flight to IAD around 12:45pm CET.

There were 5 of us departing from the FCT so unfortunately no Porsche rides today.  We had to use the Mercedes van instead, which was actually a bit of a tight fit for 5 of us.

Getting driven to your plane never gets old, Porsche or not.  Unfortunately, our departure gate was fairly close and we arrived before our plane soon enough.

lh418

I don't think it will ever get old seeing a majestic Queen of the Skies, especially up close and personal from the ground.

My chariot home was D-ABYP, a 9-years-old 787-8I.  D-ABYP bears the distinction of being the 1,500th 747 ever built.

After an elevator ride up the jet bridge, it was time to finally board.

I was greeted and 

Two other passengers were already on board (I assume they walked from the first class lounge in the terminal).  No chance of an unobstructed cabin picture folks.  You can see that Lufthansa's first class in the nose of the 747-8 is arranged in two rows of 1-1 and a third row of 1-2-1.

I was in 1A today.  Lufthansa first class seats are rather dated and open compared to the more competitive products out there, but I still really enjoy them–there's a timeless quality to this cabin.

The first row seats have 4 windows each, with IFE controls in the armrest adjacent to the window and seat controls closer to the aisle.  There's a reading light in the back, a bottle storage, and a few small storage compartments adjacent to the window.  Charging outlets can be found in your left armrest.

No overhead air nozzles, which sometimes can be a little annoying as Lufthansa at times keeps their cabin fairly warm.

Already waiting for you was the amenity kit, a pair of slippers (the best), and a fresh rose.

The ottoman across from your seat can be opened for additional storage.

One of the nice things about the unique setup of 747's nose is that there is a counter in the center that FAs can use for more efficient service.  You can see upon boarding that both champagnes were already out with the rose chilled for service.

Kevin would be the primary passenger-facing FA today.  In my experience, Lufthansa usually has 1 FA doing most of the service while the other FA does most of the galley/prep work.

Today we were fortunate to have two champagnes, both from Laurent Perrier–the 2004 Cuvee Alexandra Rose and the Grand Siecle.  I was quickly offered a glass after I settled into my seat.

What a beautiful sight: prestige champagne, macadamia nuts, with Lufthansa's signature rose in the background.

Before takeoff, passengers were given menus and a Lebkuchenherz, a traditional German gingerbread cookie.  Even though it was at the beginning of September, the Oktoberfest theme was already in full swing.

We pushed back at 1:34pm, nearly 40 minutes behind schedule.  No worries here, as Kevin kept me topped up on the Cuvee Alexandra throughout.

One of the best parts about Frankfurt is how many four-engine planes you can catch on the ground.

While taxiing, I noticed a rather ominous plume of smoke in the distance.  I wasn't sure what this was about.

For whatever reason I originally thought that all of the A340s were stationed in Munich.  In any case, it's becoming more of a rare sight these days and always great to catch sight of one in the wild.

We took off at 1:48pm. The captain gave us an estimated flight time of 7:45.

During takeoff, the forward closet swung open, but nothing fell out.  This is the second time it's happened to me on a 747.

Soon we were flying over the beautiful German countryside.

I'm guessing it was due to the sunlight, but the outside camera wasn't showing much after takeoff.

After takeoff, and before service began, I took this opportunity to check out the lavatory.  The 747 is perhaps the only Boeing with a decent-sized lavatory (at least in First).  I love that it comes with its on window to provide some natural light.  It was fully stocked with plenty of amenities: facial spray, shaving kits, mouthwash , lotion, etc.  Of course, since this is Lufthansa, you can't be without a rose in the F lavatory either.

The Purser, Sandra, came by shortly after takeoff to introduce herself and hand out the Wifi vouchers.  She was very pleasant and noted that I was coming from Milan and hoped that I got to spend some time at the FCT.  I assured here that I did.

WiFi is free for first class, but if sitting in other cabins, the pricing was as follows:
    9€ for messaging
    19€ for 2 hours of browsing
    29€ for the full flight at 4 mb/s

Let's take a look at the menu, it already had some Bavarian specialties in anticipation of Oktoberfest.

Here's the wine list.  What's interesting is that if anything, Lufthansa upgraded the wine menu onboard relative to my last first class flight with them back in January 2023.  This is in stark contrast to the very noticeable wine/beverage cuts in the first class lounges.

Service began 24 minutes after takeoff with the amuse bouche: quail breast with quinoa.

Note that the napkins have switched into an Oktoberfest theme as well.

Next up was is the best course among Lufthansa's onboard dining–its caviar course.

Despite the load in F being 7/8, I received a generous dollop of caviar.  Not pictured here, but Kevin kept me topped off on my Laurent Perrier Cuvee Alexandra throughout.  I probably had somewhere around 4 glasses before I switched wines.

Next up was the appetizer cart.  I opted for the simple Bavarian white sausage, which was not listed on the menu, and a salad.  I ended up not having any other appetizer, though the options looked new and pretty decent.  I just didn't have the appetite to eat too much on this flight, unfortunately.

The salad was reasonably fresh and the sausage was pretty good.

For the main, I switched to the 2017 Mas la Plana.  It was a fairly good Spanish Cabernet Sauvignon.

For my main, I had the herb crusted beef filet with asparagus and wild mushrooms.

It was cooked a pretty good medium (almost medium rare).  Great effort for in the air!

After the main, I was actually really full, so I skipped the cheese course, but the cheese and dessert cart is pictured here in its full glory.

I can't remember which dessert this was, actually, but all you need to know was that it hit the spot.

I had a glass of green tea to finish it off and then went to the lavatory to change into my pajamas.

When I returned, my bed was already beautifully made, with the chocolate menu and gebrante mandeln on the counter.

Here are all of the chocolates available–they normally present the entire box to you to choose from, but since I was in the lavatory, they left the menu beside my seat.

I was exhausted and stuffed, so as opposed to trying everything as I might have done at full strength, I opted for just the roasted nut brittle nougat–which was excellent.

A bottle of water had also been left in the bottle holder behind the seat.  I quickly passed out from exhaustion once I laid down.  Lufthansa has excellent bedding in first class.

I woke up to "breakfast" service, which began around 80 minutes before landing.  I was presented with a hot towel and a rose petal.

Then my table was set expertly.  I opted for pretzel bread of course, but I wasn't actually very hungry.

I just had the brotzeitbrettl course, which was good and light.

I also had a much needed cappuccino to wake up.

Sandra stopped by around 50 minutes before landing to ask if I wanted assistance with customs.  I politely declined as I have Global Entry and no checked bags–it would be quicker just by myself.

She and Kevin both came around with about 20-25 minutes left inflight to thank each passenger for flying with Lufthansa.  By this time, the outside camera was working and we could see the ground below clearly.

We landed at 3:30pm and reached Gate B45/47 only 5 minutes later, right next to a Eurowings A330!

After deplaning, we got on the infamous people mover, which actually offered a great view of the Queen in all of her glory.

Zooming in, you can make out the 1500th sticker in the back.

As expected, with the latest facial recognition GE kiosks, I zoomed through immigration and was on an Uber soon afterwards.  The longest part about going through IAD are the people movers, which take forever.