Review of Lufthansa flight Washington Munich in First

Airline Lufthansa
Flight LH415
Class First
Seat 1A
Aircraft Airbus A340-600
Flight time 07:55
Take-off 30 May 23, 22:20
Arrival at 31 May 23, 12:15
LH   #66 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 1597 reviews
jettoajet
By GOLD 1277
Published on 18th November 2023

Spoiler alert this was a very fun flight with a stellar crew in First alone. 

Anyhoo after equipment issues at LGA and worrying about making it to Washington I had finally arrived 3 hours later than planned in Dulles. Better late than never especially considering I was onboard to Lufthansa first tonight. 


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After arriving around 7pm I had roughly 3 hours to kill before departure so decided to check out the Polaris lounge first. Some might call me crazy but I love the food at the Polaris lounge and happened to always meet new friends at the bar! They let me in with no issues and immediately headed to freshen up in the shower. 


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After a nice shave, brushing of the teeth, combing of the hair it was time to sit down to eat. I opted for a double portion, a couple of glasses of champagne and a Pinot as per usual. 


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The dining room was surprisingly empty for it being 7 pm, maybe only 2 other passengers in the 30 minutes I was there. Service is hit or miss in my opinion but today was excellent, very friendly waiter and we started talking for a while. Finished it off with the classic Cookie and ice cream. 
I headed over to the bar where I met a couple of really nice people and exchanged numbers over some more, you guessed it, champagne! 
Heading out of the lounge around 8 pm I took the long walk to the Lufthansa lounge passing by our bird taking us to Munich tonight. 


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Having never flown out from IAD in Lufthansa before I had read there wasn't a separate First Class lounge which is true but I hadn't realised there is a sectioned-off area for First Class customers. Talk about a good sunset view!


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It's not overly private as you can see there was someone from the business class section sitting right there but it is nice to have a dedicated waitress who looks after you. At this point I was stuffed and still had lots of food to come so I skipped over eating in the lounge. For those wondering the menu wasn't worth a picture, maybe 3 or 4 dishes total, and none were that appealing. 
A couple more glasses of champagne later (no LPGS) and it was time to board. 


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First Class boards straight from the sectioned off portion of the lounge which is always a treat. They took my boarding pass, scanned it and walked me down the jetbridge. At the point is became apparent I would have First all to myself tonight, which in an open cabin, is phenomenal. 


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Immediately I was greeted by this amazing FA who introduced herself, offered me a glass of champagne (I think they know by now), pyjamas and slippers. She also let me know that the flight time would be slightly longer tonight due to winds (not complaining) and confirmed I was the only on in F tonight. How beautiful! 
This was a blessing as I was trying to get on Bali time and this was leg 2 of 4 to Bali. The plan was to stay up all night and sleep on the MUC-BKK route. 
She informed that anything I needed to let her know and that it should feel like a private jet tonight. I asked her if we keep could keep the lights on since I was the only one in F all flight and that met with "of course, anything you want". 


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Look at that gorgeous cabin!
We pushed back on time and up up and away we went.


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This is where it gets fun. Since this was the return leg back to Munich they had loaded enough caviar for a whole cabin (1 200gram tin). They said I could have it all and I certainly didn't need to hear that twice. Caviar is my weakness on and off the ground.

I moved to the center seats and the table was set. 


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Dinner service started right away with you guessed it champagne and caviar! Vodka was offered but I politely declined since I prefer caviar with champagne.  


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The FA asked if I wanted to split up the caviar service and have some for breakfast as well, I decided that was a good idea. I know there are a lot of reviews about LH F but I will state again and again the pretzel bread is so bloody good. 


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There is something peaceful about sitting with yourself, hearing the engines roar, and watching the moving map.

Okay enough about caviar (for now) it was time to move on to the main. I opted to try a couple of different options as, to be honest, I could. 


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Before someone calls me out I only drink red, I despise white wine even with fish as a pairing. The fish was the first main I decided on and was decent especially for being in the air but wasn't memorable. 


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The lobster claw was next up and it was very good. 
After that was the ravioli which was a bit firm but tasty nonetheless.


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The FA asked if I wanted dessert and I asked if I could have somewhat of an affogato. She seemed excited when I asked and put some coffee in a bowl of ice-cream for me. Now yes it's not in some fancy glass but it was great nonetheless and the fact the FA was willing to do this was outstanding.  


I decided to kick back and just relax. LH offer free wifi in First Class so I got some work done and sent a couple of emails before the First Officer came to my seat to talk about flying. He sat with me for 30 minutes talking about his career and when he started flying, how he was trained originally on the A330 but now with Covid flies the 340. He talked about the similarities and was so friendly. He even had the A330 training card which he grabbed from his bag and brought it back to give it to me. He was insistent on me taking it but I refused to take it because it was quite special to him. He is such an amazing person.
After about 30 minutes he said I have to go back to the cockpit but he had a great time talking and to enjoy the rest of the flight. 


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Returning back to my window seat the sun started to come up I was looking out for my relatives who interestingly enough were on the same Transatlantic routing and within 50 miles of me. One was flying  JFK-LHR and the other one flying ORD-LHR. 
I was unable to spot them sadly but I did see on Flight-aware how close they were. 
My coffees and champagne were continuously topped up/re-made, 5 stars there.  


Even though I was still full it was time for the caviar to be polished off and a steak to fill my belly!


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The table was set with a coffee before the rest of the caviar showed up! What a nice sized serving. 


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I opted to have steak for breakfast as I'm not a fan of usual breakfasts on planes and it didn't disappoint. Cooked to perfection and the perfect way to end the meal service. 
If you're wondering what that weird-colored drink is it's Campari mixed with Baileys, a must-try, bitter but sweet. 


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At the point about 2 hours before landing I am starting to feel tired. Usually I rest most of the time on these flights but since I had business to attend to when I land in Bali I was trying to adjust. I fell asleep sitting up for about an hour (I know it's a waste) and before I knew it we were making our descent. 


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A quick change back into my clothes and we were on final descent into Munich. 


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We landed about 40 minutes late due to the winds as mentioned. 
Everybody, the lead pursuer and FA's came by to thank you for flying Lufthansa and they can't wait to have me back onboard. 
While Lufthansa can offer a Porsche for connecting flights none was offered so I had to pick up my bags and quite literally run across Munich to make it onboard the A350 TG to BKK. 

Thank you Lufthansa for a private jet feel to a flight, your crew was outstanding.

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Verdict

Lufthansa

9.4/10
Cabin10.0
Cabin crew10.0
Entertainment/wifi9.0
Meal/catering8.5

Washington - IAD

8.3/10
Efficiency8.5
Access8.5
Services7.5
Cleanliness8.5

Munich - MUC

7.6/10
Efficiency7.5
Access8.5
Services8.0
Cleanliness6.5

Conclusion

Every time you have First Class to yourself it's a treat but in an open-air cabin like Lufthansa, it really felt like one big suite. The main FA working F was the best I have ever experienced flying and the fact the First Officer would take the time to talk about our love for aviation made me feel like the crew really cared. The pretty much, unlimited caviar was a treat paired with champagne and decent food made me completely full. Lufthansa you knocked it out of the park this flight, congrats.

Information on the route Washington (IAD) Munich (MUC)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 3 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne Washington (IAD) → Munich (MUC).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Lufthansa avec 7.3/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 8 heures et 10 minutes.

  More information

1 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 639825 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6744 Comments
    Always nice to see a review from my old home airport (one of them anyway)!

    Better late than never especially considering I was onboard to Lufthansa first tonight.

    Phew...good thing you had built in a good buffer...always important with positioning flights to long-haul.

    I don't blame you for heading over to Polaris first--it's probably just as good if not better than the LH lounge's F section. Boarding directly from the F lounge is also quite nice. AF used to have that at IAD as well, but changed locations some years back.

    Fantastic to get the First class cabin to yourself. I'm still not 100% sold on closing doors in F and J and in your case, the fact that the seats are open suites, you were able to take full advantage of the spaciousness in an empty cabin.

    Catering looks flawless, as one would expect in First and nice to hear the crew were on point.

    While I always questions LH's short stint as a 5-star carriers, it was mostly because of the inconsistency in Y and even J. But the one thing LH consistently do very well is the F experience, and this review is more evidence of this.

    Thanks for sharing!

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