Bart Lapers

Pic: New Lufthansa First Class on A340-300 (Dec 2011)
When boarding flight LH501 (A343) from Rio de Janeiro (GIG) to Frankfurt (FRA) on Tuesday December 6, I expected to see the ‘old’ First Class cabin from my seat 3H in Business Class.  To my knowledge, the new Lufthansa First Class cabin was only available on the A380 and some of Lufthansa’s 747 aircraft.  One of the pursers must have noticed my interest for First as she immediately approached me after boarding.  I told her I was surprised to see the new First Class on this A340-300, I wish I had upgraded using miles, I said.  To  my surprise, the purser said she could still go back to the gate and request my seat to be upgrade to First.  I handed over my Miles and More FTL card and off she went to the gate.  A few moments later, a gentleman of the GIG ground staff wearing a United lanyard approached me and addressed me by name.  He requested my Miles and More PIN code to confirm the upgrade.  Ten minutes had passed and boarding was almost completed.  All Business Class seats were taken but only two out of eight First Class seats were in use.  The Chief Purser introduced herself and confirmed my upgrade was successful.  She handed over my boarding pass with my new seat, 2K.  It felt quite awkward to take my bag out of the overhead bin in front of all other business class passengers to then move to First Class.
Pic: New Lufthansa First Class Cabin on A340-300 (Dec 2011)
Pic: New Lufthansa First Class Seats on A340-300 (Dec 2011)

Pic: New Lufthansa First Class Cabin on A340-300 (Dec 2011)
The look and feel of the First Class interior was stunning.  A great improvement in design, materials used (a lot of soft leather) and a much better color scheme compared to the old blueish First Class.

Pic: New Lufthansa First Class – Ottoman on A340-300 (Dec 2011)
I wasn’t comfortable taking out my big DSLR camera to start shooting pics of the cabin interior, instead I used my iPhone 4s.  Unfortunately boarding was already completed by the time I ended up in First Class, so I had only a few moments to shoot some pics of the cabin interior.  As this was a nighttime flight, and one of my fellow First Class passengers wanted to go to bed immediately, the cabin lights were switched off for the whole duration of the flight.  This made shooting high quality pictures very hard.

Pic: New Lufthansa First Class Inflight Entertainment on A340-300 (Dec 2011)

Pic: New Lufthansa First Class – Inflight Entertainment (Dec 2011)
The inflight entertainment system offered the exact the same content as in Economy and Business.  As I’m a frequent Lufthansa flyer, I had already seen all movies and documentaries of my interest.  Too bad the selection in First Class was not more extensive.  I also experienced a slow responding menu navigation and found the screen resolution too low for the 21 inch screen.

Pic: Lufthansa First Class – Inflight Entertainment remote (Dec 2011)

Pic: Lufthansa First Class – Seat Controls (Dec 2011)
The seat was very comfortable and controls were intuitive.  It also featured a Privacy Screen which I used when in full flat bed mode.

Pic: Lufthansa First Class – Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones (Dec 2011)
The Bose QuietComfort 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling headphones did a great job, I even slept with the headphones on.  I found them filtering the noise much better than regular earplugs.  On my next trip to the US, I’m going to buy a set of these, as they are retailing for $299 in the US and a whopping €349 ($464!!) in Europe.

Pic: LH First Class – 2000 Champagne Laurent-Perrier Milesime

Pic: LH First Class – 2000 Champagne Laurent-Perrier Milesime
Had two glassed of this excellent champagne.  It was the only available brand during this flight, no Krug, Dom Perignon or Louis Roederer Cristal.  I don’t know much about wine and didn’t drink it on this flight.  A great selection of spirits was available: Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7,  Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Bushmills Malt 10 Years Old, Cognac Lheraud Cuvee 30, 2002 Alter Birnenbrand, 1998 Etter Zuger Kirsch, 2007 Late Bottled Vintage Port, etc…

Pic: New Lufthansa First Class on A340-300 – Caviar (Dec 2011)
Another exceptional experience for me was the Caviar.  This must be the first time I had real caviar.  It was served with traditional garnishes and the best toast ever.  Loved it!  The Salad with Parmesan was nothing exceptional, the Pan-fried Salmon Trout with Lime Butter, Lentils and Spinach by Chef Alfons Schuhbeck rather disappointing.  The Opera Cake, on the other hand, was delicious.

Pic: New Lufthansa First Class on A340-300 – Opera cake (Dec 2011)

Pic: New Lufthansa First Class on A340-300 – Restroom (Dec 2011)
Pic: New Lufthansa First Class on A340-300 – Red Rose (Dec 2011)

Pic: New Lufthansa First Class on A340-300 – Restroom (Dec 2011)

Pic: New Lufthansa First Class on A340-300 – Restroom (Dec 2011)

Pic: Lufthansa First Class – Pajamas, Slippers and Porsche Design Amenity Kit

Pic: Lufthansa First Class – Porsche Design Amenity Kit (Dec 2011)
After dinner, I asked the purser to convert my seat into a full flat bed while I changed into my Lufthansa pajamas in the restroom.
Pic: New Lufthansa First Class on A340-300 – Full Flat Bed (Dec 2011)
The bed was very comfortable and offered me the best night of sleep I ever had on a plane.  Two hours before arrival in Frankfurt, I requested breakfast to be served.

Pic: New Lufthansa First Class on A340-300 – Breakfast (Dec 2011)
Conclusion:  This flight was an amazing experience and I’m up for more.  I paid 70K miles for this upgrade (from Z to F) and I’m glad I did.  The Lufthansa Business Class product is rather mediocre compared to the First Class product, so whenever I have the opportunity, I’ll upgrade to the new Lufthansa First Class!