Lufthansa 747 Business Class: Bottom Line Review

A year or two ago, my younger son started asking if we were going to fly on a “double decker” plane nearly every time we went to an airport. I was therefore thrilled to snag 5 seats in business class on Lufthansa’s 747 for our recent trip to Europe, finally getting him on a double decker plane (unbeknownst to him, we’ll be on the A380 on the way home).

While I would maintain that any flat bed seat across the Atlantic is a win, particularly when traveling with kids, and while I probably tend to enjoy the service and experience of flying Lufthansa more than some, even I have to admit that the 747 just isn’t the best. Storage at your seat is really limited, you have to carry bags up the stairs inside the plane, and if you’re seated next to a stranger, you might be especially uncomfortable. The price was right, but I wouldn’t set my sights on repeating this one.

Lufthansa’s newer Allegris Business class has gotten some attention in recent years, but that new Allegris seat is only available on a small set of planes/routes. Lufthansa operates quite a number of routes to/from the US, and most of them feature the same (or very similar) “old” 2-2-2 business class style seating, where window seats do not feature direct aisle access. I’ve always been fine with that style of seat since I’m typically traveling as a family. Particularly when traveling with kids, Lufthansa’s layout style can actually be preferable, since you are close enough to your seatmate to be able to easily reach over and help with a seatbelt or to cut food or help with the in-flight entertainment system, etc.

Lufthansa’s 747 features that “old” seating configuration, but on a slightly more “intimate” scale since the upper deck features a single aisle (meaning the seats are 2-2). Unfortunately, I enjoyed it less than I expected.

The novelty of flying on the upper deck certainly was fun, with my younger son so excited that he was scrambling to open the camera on his tablet as we climbed the stairs so he could get a picture of it.

That said, I was glad that my wife had made the executive decision to check most of our carry-on bags. We usually travel with a rolling bag for each kid, but the kids wouldn’t have been able to climb the stairs carrying those.

We were traveling as a group of 5 (me, my wife, our two sons, and my mother-in-law). That meant that one of us (me in this case) had to sit next to a stranger. I chose an aisle seat so that I would have direct aisle access, but that meant that I had virtually no storage space at all. A major advantage of the upper deck of the Lufthansa 747 is that there are large storage bins along the window that can easily accommodate a backpack/laptop bag.

If you’re traveling with someone you know, I imagine that you share that space. As I was sitting next to a stranger, I wasn’t going to climb over him to get to those bins, so I just used the overhead compartment. That left me with virtually no storage space at all at my seat. I couldn’t even find a great place to put my glasses when I went to sleep. I gained a new appreciation for those storage spaces where most airlines keep noise-cancelling headphones and an amenity kit, because these seats had nothing of that sort (the amenity kit was in a compartment on the floor where slippers were kept, and it didn’t appear less dirty than the side storage bins).

I found sleeping to be awkward with the seats so close together. I hadn’t previously had an issue with this on other Lufthansa flights, but this time around, the space just felt cramped for sleeping. I don’t have very long legs, but my seatmate was relatively tall. Our knees bumped a couple of times when one of us moved, waking me up. My wife said she had the same problem with our son.

Service was good; I usually find Lufthansa flight attendants to be relatively cheerful and proactive, and this flight was no different in that regard. Service was slow to get started, but professional and proactive once things got going. Maybe I just get lucky, but I tend to find Lufthansa flight attendants to be better than average for European airlines.

The lounge in Boston before our flight was great. The first impression is that it features quite a small buffet area, but the quality-to-size ratio was surprisingly good. But the standout feature of the lounge is that, at least for some flights (perhaps all?), Lufthansa boards business class directly from the lounge. There appeared to be doors for both Gate 11 and Gate 12 to board directly from the lounge. Be aware that you do need to walk downstairs to the jetbridge (and then back upstairs inside the plane if you’re on the upper deck). There may have been a lift available to the jetbridge; I’m not sure.

The connection in Frankfurt was simple. We only had about 2 hours between arrival and our connection, but we made it with plenty of time to spare. There was a bit of a line for border control (there were no automated terminals to register for the new European Entry-Exit System (EES); rather, immigration agents were manually processing each traveler), but we were through within 30-40 minutes max.

Regarding the short (~1hr) Air Dolomiti flight, I was surprised when both kids got a small gift. That happens often on long-haul flights (this time, Lufthansa had small coloring books for them), but I didn’t expect anything on Air Dolomiti. Both kids got Air Dolomiti-branded bandanas. I’ll probably end up keeping one of these in my bag to use on a future Frequent Miler team challenge. Perhaps one component of the upcoming challenge should be finding an appropriate use of each of the multifunctional functions.

Despite what sounds like a negative review, I’d fly Lufthansa business class again, but I’d prefer to do so only when traveling in even numbers of travelers. Given the way we booked with Air Canada’s multi-city tool ( more details here ), the price was certainly right, and I’d fly it again for the same price, though I’d prioritize other aircraft when possible.