Check out this post to get a sense of the Lufthansa Business Class experience - Lounge, Cockpit, Aircraft, Seat, Food, Overall.
Lounge
At Newark Terminal B where my flight was departing from, Lufthansa has its own lounge. The lounge has just enough seats for all the business class passengers onboard the B747-8 and it can get a bit crowded. However, the food was great when I flew - bbq and jamaican wings with pierogies.
Cockpit
While everyone was settling in their seats, I was busy taking pictures and videos of the cabin and my seat. I let the flight attendant know that I am a blogger and plan on writing about my experiences. Out of nowhere and when I was least expecting it, he offered me a chance to check out the cockpit. I was spellbound and before I could realize I was in the cockpit talking to the first officer and captain onboard about the flight. It felt surreal and amazing at the same time. It was my first time ever inside the cockpit of a Boeing 747-8.
Inside cockpit - B747-8
Inside cockpit - B747-8
That's me with the captain
Aircraft
I flew on the Boeing 747-8 pictured at the top. Lufthansa has 19 B748's in the fleet. My aircraft had a total of 364 seats split across 4 cabins - first class open suites (8), business class flat bed (80), premium economy (32) and economy (244) -- and 2 decks -- with the upper deck only having 32 business class seats. All Lufthansa B748's are powered by 4 General Electric engines.
Did you know that at 76.3m in length, B747-8 is the longest passenger jet in the world? And, the B747 started flying 50 years back -- even before the internet came into existence. It is fondly called the "Queen of the Skies"
Seat map - lower deck (Image source: Seatguru)
Seat map - upper deck (Image source: Seatguru)
As you can see in the pictures above, business class has a 2-2-2 configuration in the lower deck and a 2-2 configuration in the upper deck which makes some seats better than the others for people who prefer aisle access.
The small business class cabin on the lower deck offers good privacy. However, if you love double decker planes, extra privacy, more personalized service and want to experience the joy of climbing up the stairs on an airplane, I would highly recommend picking a seat on the upper deck. As I will show later, window seats on the upper deck have extra storage bins on the side of the seat which makes them coveted.
Upper deck
Pairs of seats behind mine
Seat
I chose the seat highlighted in red - 86A (window) on the upper deck for the 6:40 hrs journey across the Atlantic. My seat already had a thick blanket and a colorful pillow kept. There was also an amenity kit and a bottle of water in a small area at the front of the seat.
My seat: 86A
That's me super excited
As I was settling in, a flight attendant came by to offer drinks - orange juice, champagne, water and take my jacket. I utlized the boarding time to check out the amenity kit which contained the usual stuff - toothbrush, toothpaste, moisturizer, socks, ear plugs, and eye masks.
Amenity kit - outside
Amenity kit - inside
The business class seats on the B747-8 angle inwards basically leading to the footrests being next to each other. On the Lufthansa A380 however, the pairs of business class seats along the windows have footrests on opposite sides.
Footrests next to each other
The seat controls were pretty basic but I liked the ability to set the firmness of the seat cushion. Under the seat controls which were on the center armrest, were the tray table, entertainment screen controller and lufthansa branded headphones.
Seat controls
Under the armrest - IFE controller, tray table and headphones
I wanted to check out the Wifi so I bought it for $8 that offered speed upto 64kbps and was good for whatsapp, messenger and instagram. Occasionally, it was able to fetch my emails as well. The description said that the Wifi was only for the current flight, however, the onscreen timer was for 12 hours and I was able to use the remaining hours on the next flight out of Frankfurt.
The other two interent plans were $19 and $32 offering more time to surf the net and higher speeds.
Food
There were two meal services on this flight - dinner after takeoff and breakfast before landing. The dinner service began about 25 mins after takeoff - once we reached cruising altitude. There were only 32 of us on the upper deck and 3 attendants so the service felt very private.
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
It began with my favorite thing - a hot towel - followed by a cup of salted almonds and choice of beverage. Once that was done, a flight attendant came by to take orders for dinner. I went with Slice of Halibut on Vegetable Ceviche, Argula Oil for appetizer followed by Pan-seared Striped Bass, Pesto Sauce, Pyster Mushrooms, sauteed Fennel, Asparagus, purple potatoes.
Appetizer - Slice of Halibut on Vegetable Ceviche, Argula Oil
Entree - Pan-seared Striped Bass, Pesto Sauce, Pyster Mushrooms, sauteed Fennel, Asparagus, purple potatoes
Both the items were okay and the thing that stood out was the warm garlic bread that I got with the appetizer. I mostly like eating cakes and ice-creams for dessert but since they didnt have either of those, I went with fruit which was pretty good.
Dessert - Fruit platter
By the time everyone was done eating and the cabin lights were dimmed, we were already half way there - only had 3.5 hours to go so I let the attendant know that I wanted to sleep through the breakfast service.
Overall
I had a great flight and was super happy to check out the cockpit and interact with the pilots. Lufthansa cabin crew was amazing as always and the service was impeccable although the food could have been a bit better. I loved the upper deck on the 747 as it offers more privacy and ample storage space. I would rate this flight a 9/10.
Engine view from seat 86A upper deck
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