The Details
- Flight: LH440
- Aircraft: B747-8I
- Class: First
- Seat: 1A and 1K
- Route: Frankfurt (FRA)-Houston (IAH)
- Distance: 5,390 miles
- Duration: 10hrs 3min
- Departure: 11:32 AM
- Arrival: 2:25 PM
The Preflight
After being dropped off at Terminal 1 by our private van from the Air Dolomiti flight, my wife and I left the secure zone to walk about five minutes to the Lufthansa First Class Terminal (FCT) located off-premise from the main airport terminal.
We took the elevator up to the main level to get checked into the lounge.
Directly before the main doors to the lounge was a glass display of the famous Lufthansa rubber ducks.
The FCT was fairly empty this morning with less than a dozen passengers. There was ample seating throughout the lounge.
To the left of the lounge entrance were various leather sofas and chairs.
In the far corner of the lounge were a few recliner chairs.
Immediately to the right of the entrance was the lounge bar.
There was an extensive collection of liquor, alcohol, and an espresso machine. Bar snacks were located throughout the lounge as well.
During our visit, there was a special with St. Kilian Distillers featuring their whiskey.
Next to the bar was the main dining room.
The main dining room had various tables with seating for two.
There was an extensive breakfast buffet during our visit.
Hot options included scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, roast tomatoes, and hashbrowns.
Cold options included various sliced meats, cheese, and smoked salmon.
Sweets included pastries, yogurts, fresh fruit, and cake.
There was an extensive selection of bread, pretzels, and fresh honey.
There was an extensive wine collection as well as Laurent-Perrier champagne available.
Further into the lounge were additional sofas and chairs.
Down the main hallway of the lounge was the cigar lounge, day rooms, restrooms, and shower suites.
The cigar lounge had additional leather sofas with a small self-serve bar.
The bar featured various liquors, wine, and soda.
At the end of the hallway was the shower attendant station.
Various toiletries were available.
The shower suite was clean and featured a rain shower and shower head.
Amenities included Balmain branded shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and body lotion.
The men’s restroom was nice with individual stalls and cloth hand towels
My wife and I decided to have a late breakfast/early lunch in the dining room.
There was a special lunch/dinner menu for May which featured asparagus.
I had a fantastic eggs benedict with smoked salmon and avocado.
My wife had the vegan chickpea fettuccine which she enjoyed.
During our visit, we were also each given a Lufthansa First class duck. To celebrate our recent wedding, we were also given a special wedding Lufthansa First class duck set.
While we were in the lounge, I received a phone call from the Lufthansa First Class service center alerting us that our flight had been delayed by an hour. At 10:35 AM, an hour and 15 minutes after our originally scheduled boarding time, the lounge attendant grabbed us to escort us down to our Porsche transfer. There was one other passenger in First on our flight for a total of three passengers.
The total transfer took just three minutes bringing us directly under the nose of the majestic B747-8I.
The B747-8I, registration D-ABYT, was a nine-year-old aircraft delivered to Lufthansa in March 2015. It was one of 19 active B747-8Is in the current Lufthansa fleet.
This particular B747-8I was painted in the Lufthansa Retro Special Colour livery.
We were escorted up the jet bridge and led directly to door 1L where we were warmly welcomed onboard.
The Flight
Upon boarding, my wife and I were each escorted to our seats at the very nose of the cabin. Lufthansa features a total of eight individual first-class seats on board their B747-8Is across three rows. The first two rows are in a 1-1 configuration while the third row is arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration.
I was seated in 1A at the tip of the nose while my wife was directly across from me in 1K.
Each seat was 30.5 inches wide with a pitch of 83 inches.
As there were only three total passengers, the entire cabin felt private and exclusive.
I really enjoyed the aesthetic of the Lufthansa cabin.
While the seats did not feel private, there was an incredible amount of space.
At the front of the seat was a 17″ HD touchscreen. There was a small coat hook above the screen but our coats were hung by the flight attendants in separate lockers near the galley.
At the front, there was an ottoman with a large storage bin.
Along the windows was the classic Lufthansa First-class rose holder. There was also a small cocktail tray.
Each seat had access to four windows. Each window had a thin blind and a thicker black-out blind that was electronically controlled.
The enormous tray table was stowed along the window.
It could be slid forward and backward.
Underneath the tray table was a large literature pocket.
Along the windows, there were two large storage bins. One storage bin held the headphones that were hard-wired into the seat.
Behind the seat was a water bottle holder.
The inflight entertainment remote was stowed within the left armrest.
Each seat also had two USB ports and two 110V outlets.
The seat controls were located within the right-hand armrest. There were buttons to move the ottoman forward and backward and to raise the privacy divider.
The seat itself was very comfortable with ample cushioning. Each passenger also had a small reading light that could be pulled from the headrest.
Awaiting us at our seats were the amenities.
We were both given Van Laack branded pajamas and comfortable Cumuli slippers.
There was also a large Lufthansa branded amenity bag. It was stocked with Augustinus Bader lotion, a toothbrush kit, a hair comb, mint, an eye mask, socks, a shoe horn, and ear plugs.
There were also two pillows provided. Both the larger pillow and the smaller day pillow were comfortable.
First-class passengers are also provided a pair of Samsung AKG N700NC headphones and a bottle of still water.
The flight attendants on this flight were fantastic and made this flight the best one of our lives. Once they heard we had just gotten married in Italy, they went above and beyond with the service to make this flight special.
We started off with a glass of Lanson Le Vintage Brut 2012 served with a ramekin of nuts. My wife and I were also given a small rose. The flight attendants and the purser later came by to congratulate us both and asked to see some of our pictures from the wedding. The captain then came down from the flight deck to peresonally congraulate us as well.
Free inflight WiFi vouchers and food and beverage menus were handed out.
Our main course choices were taken on the ground.
Our flight attendants kept the champagne flowing on the ground and offered to take a few pictures of my wife and I in the cabin while we waited for boarding to finish. We pushed back at 11:19 AM an hour and 30 minutes behind schedule. This actually was beneficial for us as we had more time both in the FCT as well as on board.
We took off from runway 7C at 11:32 AM and climbed out with beautiful views of downtown Frankfurt.
Service began promptly once we reached cruising altitude with an amuse buche of salmon roe. I went with another glass of the Lanson 2012.
For our lunch, I decided to join my wife at her seat in 1K and we had the table set up for two. The set up included salt and pepper, olive oil with balsamic vinager, a warm bread basket, and butter.
The main service began with the classic caviar service and appetizers served from a cart.
We were each given a heaping spoonful of caviar served with a lime, onions, creme fraiche, egg yolk, and egg whites.
Next there was a trio of appetizers including veal tenderlion, marinated asapragus, and prawn and snow crab.
Both the veal tenderloin with peas, carrot, and tuffle sauce and the prawn and snow crab with grapefruit and avocado were phenomenal.
For my main course, I went with the classic German dish of white asapragus with hollandaise sauce with roast potatoes.
It was accompanied with a plate of black forest ham and prosciutto.
My wife had the interesting vegetarian dish of grilled leek with sliced nectarines, potatoes, sweet potato chips, and black truffle sauce.
We split the tasty cheese course which was served with fresh grapes, figs, and apricot chutney.
Finally, for dessert, my wife and I shared the yuzu and mascarpone mousse with orange sauce.
My wife is not a fan of fruity desserts but she does love chocolate. When the flight attendants heard about her love of chocolate, they brought out an generous amount of pralines and chocolate bars for her.
At the conclusion of our lunch the flight attendants turned our seats into comfortable 81 inch long beds.
The turn town service included placement of a thick mattress topper on the seat. The bedding also included a thick comforter and the previously provided pillows.
While the bedding was as comfortable as I could have hoped for; I was unable to sleep on this day time flight. The fact that the cabin was kept warm without individual air vents at the seat meant I was not able to nap at all.
There were two First-class lavatories at the rear of the cabin each with a window.
Amenities included mouth wash, Evian facial spray, and Augustinus Bader cream.
Each lavatory also had a lovely fresh red rose.
I watched enjoyed a few movies as we flew over the Atlantic and Greenland occasionally checking the IFE map.
I had hoped to catch some views of Greenland with the nose camera or forward camera but there was thick cloud cover.
Flight attendants also set-up a small snack station in the cabin. There was a chocoalte cake, fresh fruit, and a veggie burger.
They also came by to give my wife four more Domori chocolate bars.
I had a cup of cappuccino as we crossed into the USA.
The pre-arrival meal began just as we flew over St. Louis Lambert International Airport.
For this meal, my wife joined me in seat 1A. We started off with a sushi platter of salmon, tuna, shrimp, and imitation crab. To be honest, it was terrible.
We also shared a small tapas of cured ham, anchovies, cheese, olives, and salmon roe.
For my main, I had the beef consomme with Semolina dumplings which was flavorful.
My wife had the red onion ravioli with carrot, spinahch, and cashews. This was the best pasta dish she has had on an airplane.
We finished the meal with a decadent plate of petit fours.
I also had a fresh espresso.
I spent the rest of the flight gazing out the windows while finishing up a few movies.
The cabin was prep for landing 30 minutes out from Houston. We landed on runway 8L at IAH at 2:35 PM.
We arrived at gate D16 eight minutes later.
This was one of the most memorable flight experiences from airport to landing in my life. The entire Lufthansa staff in Frankfurt to the flight attendants made this a special flight. While Lufthansa’s seat is no longer industry leading for first class, the food and service certainly shines above other competitors.
