This trip report reviews the First Class flight in a Lufthansa Airbus A380 from Frankfurt Airport (FRA) in Germany to Bangkok Airport (BKK) in Thailand. We flew this flight in February 2018, and you can read all our Lufthansa long-haul First Class Flight reviews to find out about other flights we’ve taken with Lufthansa.
Lufthansa is Germany’s flag carrier and part of Star Alliance. When combined with its subsidiaries Swiss Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Germanwings, Lufthansa is the largest airline in Europe.
Lufthansa’s A380 First Class cabins offer one of the most exclusive and sought-after experiences in the skies. Although there are now newer and visually more striking First Class products available, Lufthansa still offers a sublime First Class experience, mainly because of the flawless service, delicious food, extremely comfortable bedding, and exceptional First Class lounges, when traveling via its Frankfurt hub.
The cost of our one-way ticket from Frankfurt to Bangkok was €280 EUR + 130,000 Miles& More miles, the frequent flyer program of Lufthansa.
Lufthansa Airport Lounge
If you fly First Class with Lufthansa, you get access to the über-exclusive Lufthansa First Class Terminal in Frankfurt, widely considered one of the best airport lounges in the world.
First Class Cabin
Lufthansa’s First Class cabin is located at the front of the A380 upper deck. It is an intimate cabin with a spacious feel because it does not have overhead bins. The design is open seats rather than the completely enclosed suites like the ones you find on the A380s of Emirates and Etihad Airways.
There are just 8 First Class seats in the cabin, spread across two rows and arranged in a traditional 1-2-1 configuration. The 4 seats on the side are ideal for solo travelers (with 3 windows per seat), while the 4 seats in the middle are perfect for those traveling with a companion. If you are a solo traveler and you end up in one of the middle seats, you can pull up your divider between the seats for privacy.
The decor feels warm, relaxing, and very German. A small vase with a single red rose is attached to each seat wall, next to the entertainment screen, which I particularly liked, and you will find a small bar (with water, Champagne, and orange juice) located between the cabin’s front wall and the middle two seats in the first row. There are also several private lockers in the cabin’s front, with each passenger being assigned one locker upon boarding.
The Best First Class Seat on Lutfhansa
The First Class seat doesn’t feature a closed suite design, based on customer feedback. While visually less striking and impressive as enclosed suites, I did like the ‘open seat’ a lot, in fact, more than an enclosed suite as I don’t like being ‘locked up’ for hours in a small, sometimes claustrophobic box. And Lufthansa combines the best of both worlds since you can raise a partition to transform the seat into a suite with complete privacy if that’s your preferred seat configuration.
The seat is extremely comfortable in all positions and features generous dimensions with a width of 31 inches (78 cm) and a pitch of 90 inches (230 cm). The Lufthansa A380 First Class seat ranks among the widest seats in the airline industry, and also has a little extra room compared to the First Class seats that you find on Lufthansa’s other aircraft (Boeing 747-8 and Airbus A330/A340). One armrest holds the seat controls and the control for the privacy screen, while the other armrest holds the handset for the in-flight entertainment system, a USB port, and two universal adapters. The window side of each window seat (or the central side of each middle seat) also features some storage boxes, a cabinet with the in-flight magazines, and a small fixed table (for drinks and snacks); it also holds a very large tray table which need be pulled out for any use. In front of the seat is a large retractable ottoman, which can be positioned to create the ideal footrest and doubles as a storage box. A 17-inch entertainment screen is fixed above the ottoman, which is on the small side, considering some airlines now offer 30 inch TV screens.
Upon request, the flight attendants turn the seat into a fully flat-bed with a length of 81 inches (205 cm). The bed is covered with a comfortable mattress topper and temperature-regulating duvet and dressed with Fleuresse cotton sheets, a throw, and a thick pillow. The bed(ding) is superb, and I could sleep for a couple of hours (which doesn’t happen to me a lot).
Solo travelers should go for the window seats, while companions should choose the middle seats. There is no worst seat in Lufthansa’s A380 First Class cabin. They are all pretty great!
Lufthansa First lass Amenity Kit
The amenity kit is in a navy blue bag created by Jil Sanders. The bag contains the essentials (e.g., eye mask, earplugs, a comb, shoehorn, toothbrush, and toothpaste) as well as three tubes with La Prairie skin products. There are also bose noise-canceling headphones (you cannot keep these as the crew collects them before landing), a pair of slippers, and Van Laack branded pajamas.
Food In Lufthansa First Class
Lufthansa’s First Class product is known for its excellent menus that have been prepared using seasonal and regional produce. The carrier’s onboard catering is provided by LSG Sk Chefs, a subsidiary of Lufthansa, and the biggest airline caterer in the world. On this particular flight, dinner was served right after takeoff, and breakfast about 90 minutes prior to landing (although you could have your meals at any time you wanted). You can read more about this meal in our review of the food in Lufthansa First Class.
Entertainment on Lufthansa
The First Class, in-flight entertainment program, offered a large choice with more than 100 films in up to eight different languages. Hollywood blockbusters, new German and European productions, and films from Japan, China, India, and many other countries catered for all tastes. There were also 200 TV programs available. In addition, you could follow the latest news via the live TV channels CNN and Euronews, as well as sports highlights via Sports 24.
Internet
Lufthansa offers onboard internet via Deutsche Telekom. On this flight, there were 3 individual tariffs for using the internet service:
- One hour of internet: €9 EUR / $10 USD / ¥65 CNY or 3,000 miles
- Four hours of internet: €14 EUR / $15.50 USD / ¥100 CNY or 4,500 miles
- Internet during the entire flight: €17 EUR / $19 USD / ¥125 CNY or 5,500 miles
The Lufthansa flight attendants on this particular flight were awesome, efficient, and super friendly. I don’t know why, but I always feel safe when in Lufthansa’s hands. There are also two palatial lavatories for First Class passengers (see pictures in the scroller above) in the A380’s nose. Overall, the Lufthansa flight experience is hard to beat. Their pre-flight lounges are incredible, and I love the open First Class cabin more than the enclosed “suites” found on other airliners. I highly recommend flying with Lufthansa.
Review by our friends at Luxury Travel Expert
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