Pic: Lufthansa A333 First Class Champagne Bar (Jun 2015)
For my return from Canada to Belgium, I used 85.000 Miles & More miles (+€383 in taxes & fees, ouch!) to book Vancouver to Munich in First Class and Munich to Brussels in Business Class. The required miles were earned with my Brussels Airlines Premium American Express card. This wasn’t my first time flying the ‘new’ Lufthansa First Class, I had previously enjoyed LH F on the B747-400, A380 and A340-300. This trip added the A330-300 to the list with the B747-8i and A340-600 still to go.

Pic: Lufthansa First Class pre-departure Champagne
The ground services at Vancouver airport were rather disappointing. Lufthansa uses the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge for its First Class passengers, a business class lounge which doesn’t even have showers. Star Alliance partners ANA, Swiss and Air China must have realized how bad this lounge is as they invite their premium passengers to the nearby Plaza Premium Lounge which does have showers. I reported my disappointment to Lufthansa via Twitter and to the inflight manager. The latter must have filled a report, as I received a call from Lufthansa Customer Relations a few days after my flight to apologize and provide me with 7000 miles as compensation. Excellent service!

Pic: Lufthansa First Class seat 2K on A330-300
Once onboard, I settled in my favorite seat (2K) which offered a nice overview of the cabin. I immediately noticed the interior looked very new with no stains or scratches. I assume this A333 was one of the more recent aircraft which got retrofitted with the ‘new’ First. FYI As of June 27, 2015 all Lufthansa aircraft offer the new First Class.

Pic: Enjoying the spacious Lufthansa A333 First Class
I was welcomed by the cabin purser and offered a glass of Louis Roederer 2007 Vintage Brut. The menu read as follows: Dining menu intro, Dinner, Breakfast, Vinothek intro, Champagne + Aperitif, White Wine, Red Wine, Dessert Wine + Liqueur and Port, Spirits, Cold Beverages, Hot Beverages.

Pic: Louis Roederer 2007 Vintage Brut with macadamia nuts
Boarding was already well underway when a German family with baby took their seats in First Class. Fortunately, the kid slept most of the flight, so there were no inconveniences.

Pic: Lufthansa First Class Caviar Service
Once airborne, inflight dining started with my favorite course: caviar! To my surprise there hadn’t been any caviar served on my Etihad, Qatar and British Airways First Class flights earlier that week, so I was happy to indulge myself with two rounds of caviar!
Pic: Lufthansa First Class Caviar – delicious black gold!
The courses which followed didn’t impress. I returned the appetizers as they didn’t look fresh: Seared Pacific Diver Scallops, Farmers Charcuterie and Marinated Feta Cheese with Sweet Peppers. The Pier 39 San Francisco Cioppino was disappointing as well. Unfortunately, this has been a returning issue on all my Lufthansa flights, the food is never really good, except for the caviar! I wish they got rid of their LSG Sky Chefs and switched to the excellent DO&CO catering which Lufthansa uses at their First Class terminal in Frankfurt. The food is so much better at DO&CO catered flights! (e.g. Austrian or Turkish Airlines)

Pic: Lufthansa First Class – Cheese platter and Dessert 
As a sweet tooth, I couldn’t skip dessert: Warm Apple Crumble with Vanilla Ice Cream. I also had a cheese platter with Danish Blue, White Cheddar & Oak, semi soft cheese, Goat & Champfleury cheese served with Fig Chutney. A nice extra was the Pralinenmenu with a selection of premium Coppeneur chocolates.

Pic: Lufthansa A330-300 First Class – Movie time!
After dinner, I had a flight attendant convert my seat into a full flat bed and enjoyed some movies. I was excited by the much improved In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) system with a bigger high-resolution screen and new navigation menu compared to my previous LH F flights. A much needed upgraded for Lufthansa, as competitors like Etihad and Qatar are now offering huge high definition IFE screens in First Class.

Pic: Lufthansa First Class limo service at Munich Airport
Upon arrival in Munich, I was fortunate to have our plane at a remote stand resulting in an enjoyable Mercedes-Benz S-Class limo ride to the terminal!

Pic: Healthy breakfast at Lufthansa First Class lounge in Munich
I was a bit confused when my driver guided me to the Lufthansa First Class lounge and had me skip immigrations. Once at the lounge, it became clear they had their own dedicated immigration officer to process my passport, quite neat.
Pic: Taking a bath at Lufthansa First Class lounge in Munich
One of the fantastic privileges of flying premium class tickets is the ability to take a shower (or bath in this case) before / after your flights…except if you end up in an Air Canada lounge! 😉

Pic: Lufthansa First Class Bar at Munich Airport Lounge

Pic: 2002 Pommery Cuvée Louise Champagne at First Class lounge
After a late breakfast and relaxing bath, I headed to the First Class restaurant where the menu read as follows: Buffet, Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, Champagne & Red and White Wine, Beer, Soft Drinks, Hot Drinks. I had the 2002 Pommery Cuvée Louise and ordered a T-Bone steak with fresh asparagus.

Pic: T-Bone steak at Lufthansa First Class Lounge Munich
At boarding time, a lounge attendant came to see me and guided me to the reception area where a white Porsche Cayenne was waiting for me to drive me to the plane. The enthusiastic driver was in his twenties and told me it was his sidejob. I opted to wait until all passengers had boarded the plane to Brussels and used the opportunity to have the picture taken below.

Pic: Porsche Cayenne chauffeur service to plane at Munich airport
Conclusion: Overall another great Lufthansa First Class experience with some minor hiccups like the Air Canada lounge in Vancouver and the average LSG Sky Chefs onboard catering. I loved the new retrofitted cabin and the enthusiasm of both the inflight crew and ground staff at Munich airport. Also great follow-up by Lufthansa Customer Relations on my comment about the AC lounge with 7K miles as compensation.