George Nugent Travels

I recently had the opportunity to fly Lufthansa in Business Class from Glasgow to Newark (New Jersey) via Frankfurt in Business Class. As someone with a passion for aviation, flying business is a dream that we aim to achieve, and I am genuinely lucky that I was able to do this at just 20 years old.

Anyways, enough of that, here is my review of Lufthansa’s business class product as of April 2022.

Flight Details

Date – 02/04/2022

Route – Glasgow -> Frankfurt -> Newark

Price – £735

Aircraft Types – Airbus A320 and Boeing 747

Check in experience

My first flight departed at 0600, with check in opening at 0345. Lufthansa were using desks 9-11 at Glasgow, with desks 9 & 10 being used for economy and 11 for business and first class.

There was no queue for me when I arrived, however there was already a queue for economy, this moved quickly.

If like me, you are travelling via Frankfurt your bag should (more on this later) be checked through to your final destination.

Glasgow Airport Experience

Security opens at 0400, so use that time before it opens to prepare. It was fast and efficient, and I was through in just 2 minutes.

Be prepared at this time for most retail outlets to be closed, so bring an empty bottle and refill it after security.

Our Gate was displayed at 0515, however, as we were the only Lufthansa flight, just look for their aircraft on the ground.

Boarding was slightly chaotic though, as people were not listening to staff who were boarding via boarding groups.

Flight 1 – LH975

This flight was only 1hr 37mins compared to the scheduled time of 2 hours. However, bad weather in Frankfurt delayed our departure by 37 minutes whilst the flight crews filed a new flight plan.

All of the crew on this flight were fantastic at serving us. Pre-departure drinks were available to the twelve passengers sitting in business.

After take-off breakfast was served, now I would love to tell you what it was, but I have not worked it out yet.

Despite its strange looks it actually tasted very nice and was a different way to start the morning.

Coffee was also served in branded Lufthansa cups but be warned it is not very strong.

It was then time to land in Frankfurt after what was ultimately an uneventful flight.

Frankfurt Airport

When arriving from the UK and are connecting to flights to the USA you will be required to change terminals and go through security again.

This process can either be very smooth, or in my case will take over an hour to not get very far.

As I was travelling in Business Class I had access to the Lufthansa Senator lounge in the Z terminal at Frankfurt.

The lounge itself is ok, with drinks and light snacks available at any time, but this is the only lounge in this section of the airport so it may get very busy.

Flight 2 – LH 402

This flight was operated by a Lufthansa Boeing 747-800, so naturally I chose to sit upstairs, selecting seat 85A.

Two members of cabin crew were waiting upstairs for all 32 passengers and greeted everybody with a personalised hello when we took out seats. A pre-departure drink of either champagne or orange juice was offered as well.

Our original departure time of 13:25 was missed due to catering issues, and we ended up departing Frankfurt at 14:43, however, most of this delay would be made up.

An hour or so into the flight lunch orders were taken by the crew, I have attached the digital version of the menu for you to look at.

I settled on the Beef Appetiser and the Chicken Main Course. Both dishes were fine, however, I personally was not a fan of the Ratatouille served with the chicken, but this is personal preference. Alongside your meal you can be served either an alcoholic drink or a soft drink, I settled with a Diet Coke.

For Dessert I went outside of my comfort zone and had the cheese board, probably the best course of the lunch.

After lunch, the crew turn off the cabin lights to encourage you to get some sleep, so I put on a film and slept for 4 hours as it had been a long day for me so far.

When I woke up, the crew provided us with US Customs and Border Protection landing cards, it is essential you fill this out accurately, as failure to do so is a criminal offence.

The crew also offered us a before landing snack, two options were available as seen from the attached menu card below, I settled with the roast beef.

The beef and the quail egg were fine however, the potato salad was questionable as it did not have much taste, still ate it though.

By the time the service had been completed there was 45 minutes until arriving in Newark, so I remained awake and explored the amenity kit. The amenity kit comes in a branded shopping bag featuring one of Lufthansa’s destinations, mine had Dubai on it.

It contains everything you need including socks, toothbrush, toothpaste, hand wipes and mints. Eyeshades were available on the flight in the toilet, or just ask a member of crew.

Arrival into Newark

Lufthansa use Terminal B at Newark alongside their Star Alliance partners. Immigration was not very busy and took 10 minutes to clear the border, at this point I should have been collecting my checked bag, however, a text message from Lufthansa revealed it had not arrived with me.

Therefore, I passed through customs and went to the Lufthansa service desk, who told me they could not do anything and sent me to the baggage team downstairs. They told me the bag might arrive the next day and would be sent to me. This however was a challenge for me as I was only in my next two cities for a night each, meaning if it did not arrive then I would probably never see it again.

Therefore, I agreed to collect it in Newark Airport on Monday before flying to Chicago.

My Final Thoughts

Overall, Lufthansa have a good business product, however, the layout of the seats is better suited for couples flying together rather than solo travellers.

The customer service onboard was excellent, however, the service received on the ground in Frankfurt and Newark did not do much to improve my experience with Lufthansa.

If I were to do this trip again, I would do the Frankfurt to Newark leg with United Airlines as I prefer their service and product.