Lufthansa First and Business Class Service Review

Lufthansa First Class.
This link will take you for a VIRTUAL REALITY (SHOWROOM) show of the classes.
The best thing about Lufthansa's new First Class is the leather seats. Fabulously sleek, retro styling and plenty of vorsprung durch technik make them a design freak's dream - if Audi was doing armchairs with touchpad controls this is how they'd be - and they're very comfortable, too. There are lots of pockets for magazines, slippers or whatever and there's even a hole for the long-stemmed red rose that's carefully positioned at the start of each flight. Pitch has been greatly increased from 157 to 234 centimetres and each seat adjusts into a workplace with power outlet for laptops (although no one was pounding a keyboard on my flight). When you want to sleep, a stewardess will turn the seat into a two metre bed, draping it with a cosy blue sheet and coverlet decorated with stars. A partition unfolds from the head of each seat to provide a 'bedroom' with more privacy. Nightshirts are available, apparently, but I wasn't offered one. Service in the small cabin, configured 1-2-1, was - as you would expect - attentive. On boarding, each passenger was given a personalised folder with details of all the service and menus, plus duty-free and Skyshop brochures. Meal service is supposed to be à la carte, although on my flight it followed the conventional pattern of dinner at a set time followed by breakfast before landing. Food was good but not amazing, although presentation was as sleek as the seats (I was sorely tempted to take the ridged chrome salt and pepper pots as souvenirs). Drinks after take-off came with a kebab and the only really luxurious element of dinner was the caviar starter with all the trimmings. Entertainment, however, was well up to scratch with in-arm video players and headphones with excellent sound quality. My only real complaint, and it's a small one, was the poor quality of the amenity kit. But these are under review. All in all it was an impressive performance, and if you're travelling to Frankfurt or Munich from January and arrive in the morning, you'll also be able to take a shower in the new Lufthansa lounge and have a light breakfast. In addition, you can use a dayroom at a nearby Kempinski hotel. By JB (The Business Traveler).

First Class seat: Sleeper Seat convertable into a six foot bed, adjustable head and shoulder supports, various storage areas, increased seat pitch, laptop connection in each seat starting summer 1999, open cabin layout, panel for privacy.

First Class service: à la carte service, free choice of menu order and time of service, last minute breakfast until 30 minutes before landing, freshly made food, favorite movie from the "On-Board Videotheque", Personal Video Player.