Guest Review: Lufthansa First Class SEA - FRA

Guest Reviewer: Chris

An avid traveler and obsessive points and miles hound, Chris is my travel buddy extraordinaire. I love him for his enthusiasm, his sense of adventure, and his American Airlines Executive Platinum status benefits. Hope you enjoy his perspective! 

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Background

Over the Christmas holidays, I traveled to Scandinavia to visit my family. When I was trying to book my ticket, I didn't find much award availability out of my home airport (SFO), so I included other airports on the west coast in my search. After obsessively checking all the airline search engines multiple times a day (much to Jen's annoyance), I eventually found some first class award space on Lufthansa out of Seattle. It's easy enough to get from San Francisco to Seattle, and I'd never flown Lufthansa First Class before, so I decided to book it. The one-way ticket cost me 110,000 United miles, which is quite steep, but on the plus side the fees and taxes were only about $40.


The Flight 

Lufthansa #491
Seattle (SEA) – Frankfurt (FRA)
Sunday, December 21st, 2014
2:05 PM – 9:15 AM (+1) : 10 hours, 10 minutes
Airbus A330-300: Seat 2A (First Class)

I arrived at SeaTac airport about three hours before my flight and made my way to the Lufthansa check-in area. There was no line at the First Class counter, so I stepped right up and the agent was able to get me checked in quickly. After receiving my boarding pass, she asked me if I wanted an escort through security. Did I want an escort through security? I'd never been asked that question before, so absolutely I wanted an escort through security! I started imagining her shoving aside passengers left and right, carving a path to the front of the line. Unfortunately it turned out that I'd misheard her - it wasn't an escort through security, it was an escort to security. She took me on a 30-second walk from the check-in counters to the end of the security line, and then left me there to fend for myself. So overall not that useful, but it was better than nothing I guess.

Lufthansa uses the Club International contract lounge at SeaTac's S gates. The business class section was crowded, but there was a separate first class room which was empty. Within the first class section, the staff checked in on a regular basis to take food and drink orders. Unfortunately the only hot food available was soup, so I decided to skip food and just order an orange juice. Overall I wasn't all that impressed with the lounge, and after about an hour, I left the lounge and headed to the gate, which was a short walk away.

SeaTac Club International Lounge First Class Section

SeaTac Club International Lounge Snacks

Boarding was about 10 minutes delayed, which they apologized for multiple times (oh, Germans). First Class boarding was soon announced and after making my way through the crowd, I was asked by the gate agent if I wanted to be escorted to the plane. Never one to say no to an escort, I agreed and she led me down the jetway and introduced me to one of the flight attendants, who brought me to my seat (2A).

The Airbus A330 First Class cabin was elegant and had just two rows in a 1-2-1 configuration. On my flight, there was just one other passenger flying in first class, so it felt incredibly private. The seat was comfortable and had a large TV screen, an ottoman, and plenty of storage.

Lufthansa A330 First Class Cabin

Lufthansa A330 First Class Cabin

Lufthansa A330 First Class Seat

Once seated, I was offered a drink and I chose champagne. She served me a glass of Laurent-Perrier Grand Siecle, along with a glass of water and some salted macadamia nuts.

Laurent-Perrier Grand Siecle

After enjoying my champagne for a few minutes, the flight attendant came by to provide me with pajamas, slippers, and an amenity kit. The pajamas were Van Laack brand, and although the pajama top was comfortable, the trousers were made of polyester and felt cheap. The amenity kit was manufactured by Rimowa and was the same style as their luggage, which I thought was cool.

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