Lufthansa A340-600 First Class ORD-MUC
The four carrier A350 comparison tour’s final flight, and the catalyst for doing it, was taking SAS back to Chicago. When SAS announced the first A350 route it happened to be Copenhagen to Chicago and award space was available. While this wasn’t the inaugural flight, it was within weeks of their fleet addding the first couple A350s.
I had originally booked United to go east, hoping for Lufthansa to release space on the 747. Instead, to my bucket list delight, an award seat on the A340 in first class opened up just in time. Having flown LH’s 747-8i and 380, flying this aircraft was checking the box of all the current Lufthansa first class offerings. It did not disappoint.
Not only was this an excellent Lufthansa flight, it was made much more enjoyable by two fantastic lounge experiences; Polaris in O’Hare and Lufthansa First Class Lounge in Munich. Photos from those lounges are at the end of this trip report.
You don’t need to look at the departure board to find Lufthansa’s gate in Chicago. Gates B16 and B17 are dedicated to LH for the Franfurt and Munich flights. But physical excercise before the flight is in order as the Polaris lounge is located in Terminal C, so the underground walkway between terminals is required.
The A340 is an older aircraft. So while it is a wide body, it’s more of a 777 type wide body as opposed to the expansive ceilings found on the 747/380 aircraft. There’s plenty room, it just has a different feel compared to being in the nose of a 747 or the upper deck of an A380. Those planes you just KNOW you’re on a behemoth, this one not as much. But I do like the A340 as it is quiet and handles turbulence well. In fact the A340-600 was the longest plane flying until the 747-8i was built. The A380 is third in length. So Lufthansa would be the only carrier to have the 3 longest aircraft flying in their fleet currently.
I think the Lufthansa First Class cabins are the most beautiful of any carrier in terms of colors and aesthetics. To me the cabin is warm and inviting. Definitely some place you want to be. But maybe it’s the champagne and roses doing the inviting!
The seats are not cutting edge but are very comfortable for both sitting and sleeping. And with the privacy partitions offer a resonable amount of seclusion from other passengers.
There are drawbacks however, such as this odd place for a light.
Seat controls and electronics are fairly handy. Although I remember my first LH flight in this seat I couldn’t find the USB port, but that could have been champagne related.
The lavatories on the A340 also take a space hit, as the one on the 747 is large enough to curl up and sleep on the bench and the A380 with it’s unique urinal in the sky have more space to work with. Yet Lufthansa still made a sizable lavatory in the A340, unlike what you will find on first class 777 cabins of even the best airlines.
And of course the most interesting lavatories in the sky, lower deck lavs in economy. These are accessible via a staircase in the middle of the economy cabin with bright flouresent lights illumiating the poor souls who a sitting on either side, wondering what in the world they signed up for.
Amenities on this flight was typical of Lufthansa. VanLaack brand pjs, and these happen to be my favorite in a lighter beige color. Top is nice, trousers not so much, IMO. These hard cased amenity kits were probably one of the nicer kits received on LH as well. But the slippers are the same and not recommeded for home use!
Flying in or out of Chicago is one of the most scenic aircraft views available. This night was no exception.
My biggest complaint with Lufthansa is their horrible IFE system and monitor. The good news is it actually worked on this flight even though the choice of cities to point out on this approach into Munich is dubious.
Here is the complete Beverage menu.
Followed by the full Food menu.
Tonight would be a red wine night. Fantastic.
Later on I did some taste testing with the Grand Cru winning out against the Argentinien.
This late night meal began with caviar, a staple in Lufthansa first class. They aren’t shy with the servings! And they offer the eggs with traditional garnish, other than toast instead of bilnis.
I have said for awhile that over the last few years LH food has lost some quality and quantity. Most of these dishes provide evidence of that.
Cheese and dessert are served via cart, which can be a nice option depending on how presented. This presentation isn’t particularly good or am I being too critical?
Well, a complaint on quantity won’t get far with this post meal gorge.
After some, little, sleep it was time for breakfast. Next time I will sleep in and dream about the days of real Bircher Muesli.
United Polaris Lounge ORD Terminal 1
I arrived just after the United evening European flights had departed to find the lounge pretty much to myself.
Á la carte dining is what separates the United business class lounge apart from the other two large domestic carries in the states. While the dining room in Chicago is small, maybe seating for 20 or so with 10 tables, I’ve never had to wait for a table. Probably just jinxed myself.
Any lounge that offers Prisoner is a lounge to visit in my book. Beyone that, this is a pretty impressive menu. Two of my favorite things in this photo.
What a fun dish, Mahi Mahi tostadas with sweet potato mash.
And to round out one of my better visits to the Polaris lounge this yummy Apple Spice cupcake.
Lufthansa First Class Lounge in Munich
My Lufthansa experience was not over after the lovely A340 flight, as I was headed to Copenhagen for SAS. This afforded the opportunity to visit the MUC LH First Class Lounge. While not as flashy as the FCT in Frankfurt, this lounge tries to compete. This lounge even has an outdoor patio which was open on this warm February day in Munich.
Clearly the biggest advantage over FCT are the views. The biggest drawback, walk to your next flight.
My first order of business was a shower. No bathtubs and no ducks. The bathtub no big deal, the ducks, disappointing. Otherwise a very similar shower facility to its FRA counterpart.
Poking around the dining area to find numerous liquors on display.
The lounge does have a small dining room for Á la carte dining.
The choices were Chäteau La Tour which was also on the plane so that was a no brainer.
And while LH’s Schnitzel is not to be missed in Frankfurt, a different caterer in Munich pushed me to try the Bavarian Meat Loaf. This is NOT the meat loaf your mom used to make. (But delicious nonetheless.)
An extensive buffett accompanied the sit down menu. And potentially I could have tried something from the last photo.
See you next on SAS.
