Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Review: Lufthansa A340 business class from New York

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

This is my review of Lufthansa business class on an A340 from New York JFK to Munich.

On Tuesday I did a SWISS Business Class flight down to the Middle East.  I will try to do a brief review but I thought I should cover this first from my flight last month.  Lufthansa and SWISS are sister airlines after all with equally high service standards.

Regular readers will know that I don’t like reviewing overnight flights from the USA because I like to sleep and rarely eat.  This one is slightly different as the 17.30 departure time meant that I did have a meal.  It is more of an overview than a full review, however.

Lufthansa A340

I booked this flight using Miles & More miles, connecting in Munich to a Heathrow flight.  It was literally the only premium cabin reward flight I could find on a Friday night, across all of oneworld, Virgin Atlantic / Delta and Star Alliance, when booking a month in advance.  I guard my Miles & More miles with care and this was not the best use of them, but BA / American / Virgin / Delta did not open up a single Business or First Class on any of their many New York departures in the final four weeks.

I am not covering the Lufthansa lounge at New York JFK.  It was horrendously busy when I arrived although upstairs was quieter than downstairs.  After an hour it emptied out a bit but it certainly isn’t a destination in its own right.  On the upside, the only reason I was there for so long was because I managed to clear security in around 5 minutes after I had budgeted for 30.

The Lufthansa A340 Business Class seat

If you think British Airways is behind the times with its Business Class seat, Lufthansa is arguably worse.  This is the airline which ordered its A380 aircraft with sloping seats in Business Class …..

Since that blunder, Lufthansa has been making amends by rolling out a fully flat seat.  Of course, they still messed it up a bit and the airline has already announced a replacement to launch in 2020 which will finally offer direct aisle access to every passenger.

It is very minimalist.  I don’t think that I have ever seen a ‘cleaner’ look in a cabin.  There is very little superfluous design on the seats.  Click on any of the pictures to enlarge:

Lufthansa A340 business class review New York to Munich

Unfortunately, that is a problem.

Lufthansa A340 business class review New York to Munich

The reason the cabin looks so slick is that the seats lack privacy.  They don’t have high sides.  They don’t have curved head rests.  Importantly, they don’t have high dividers either.  You can see everyone, everyone can see you.

Lufthansa A340 business class review New York to Munich

I voluntarily chose to be in the middle pair because it guaranteed me aisle access and it guaranteed that no-one would climb across me whilst I was sleeping.  The 2 x 2 x 2 layout means that, if you in the pairs by the windows, you will either be stepping over someone else or someone else will be stepping over you.

As with the American Airlines and KLM business class seats I looked at recently, the herringbone layout in the middle means that – whilst your head is a long way from the head of your seat neighbour – your feet are very close.

With American and KLM, this isn’t a problem.  There is a high divider.  Lufthansa does not have this.  Take a look at the foot divider in this picture:

Lufthansa A340 business class review New York to Munich

Three times during the night, the person next to me started to stroke my ankle and foot with his foot.  He wasn’t doing it on purpose (I think …) but the very short divider meant his foot popped over very easily.  It was all a bit weird.

This is only a problem if you are in the middle pair.  If you are by a window, your feet are totally separate from the feet of your neighbour:

Lufthansa A340 business class review New York to Munich

I didn’t watch any TV as I was keen to sleep, so can’t comment on that.  (I did say this was more of a brief overview than a review!)  No pyjamas were given out and I didn’t see anyone else wearing them so I am guessing they are not available on request either – although to be honest the hassle of changing would have been too much for a short flight.

The seat itself was comfortable – remember I am 6’2′ – and I didn’t find the narrow footrest as bad as I anticipated, apart from the leg stroking I mentioned above.

Food and drink

Lufthansa has good reputation for its business class food, and whilst you won’t have a caviar trolley rolling down the aisle as you get in First Class you can generally trust that you’ll be OK.

On my flight I was offered as appetizers:

Grilled beef carpaccio with horseradish wasabi cream

Smoked salmon and avocado tarte (see below)

Ricotta with pumpernickel and young vegetables

Followed by:

Watercress salad, spinach, zuccini and edamame, presented with dressing

For mains we had:

Duck confit in potato crust with spring vegetables

Seared cod with pommery mustard caper butter, zucchini rolls and mashed potatoes (see below)

Buffalo mozzarella ravioli

And for dessert, which I skipped:

Stilton, crystal aged cheddar and chaumes cheese

Chilled chocolate fondant with salted caramel and hazelnut brittle

Fresh fruit

There is also an Express Meal service where you can receive a cold meal served on one plate if you want to go to work or go to sleep more quickly.

I was happy with the two courses I ate.  They showed ambition in terms of trying something a little different, whilst still being filling.

I chose to skip breakfast but there was a fixed plate of fresh orange juice, buckwheat and chia seed muesli with goji berries and a serving of smoked turkey breast, beef salami, cream and cheddar cheese, smoked salmon, avocado and cottage cheese.

The drinks list is most noticeable for the fact that two of the four beers are 0% alcohol.  The spirits list includes wild cherry alde gott and Jagermeister.

The champagne is Duval-Leroy Brut Reserve with a choice of two white and two red wines.  I’d had a couple of drinks in the lounge and decided to skip in an attempt to get to sleep more easily.

Conclusion

If you are travelling as a couple then Lufthansa’s A340 business class product is solid enough, with good food and an efficient crew.

For solo travellers, all of the seats have compromises – the window seats require you to climb over your neighbour, the adjacent window seats means you have aisle access but get climbed over and the middle pair mean you get to play footsie with the person next to you.  I’d be happy to fly it again if necessary but would definitely take a 1-2-1 product on another carrier, which is what Lufthansa is introducing from 2020, if given the choice.

One final point: due to a lack of mileage seats, I was facing a 3-hour layover in Munich before I could get a connection to London.  When I arrived, I headed straight to a ticket desk and the agent was happy to move me to a Heathrow flight leaving just 45 minutes later.  No fuss, no bother, which was appreciated at 7.30am on a Saturday morning after a night with relatively little sleep.

Redeeming for Lufthansa flights via credit card spending

Lufthansa is a member of Star Alliance.  This means that you can book seats using its own Miles & More miles (here is the new UK credit card which just launched) or via a partner programme.

American Express Membership Rewards (earn with Amex Gold, Amex Platinum) partners with two Star Alliance schemes – SAS EuroBonus and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.  You would earn 20,000 miles as a sign-up bonus with Amex Gold (review here) and 30,000 miles as a sign-up bonus with Amex Platinum (review here).

Alternatively, the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Card, reviewed here, lets you transfer to many Star Alliance partners at up to 1.25 miles per £1.  The sign-up bonus is 30,000 points which is 10,000 miles.

This Head for Points article offers a comprehensive guide to earning Star Alliance miles via UK credit cards.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Comments (61)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Kai says:

    So far LH is the only airline with worse Business class than BA in my experience. Their five star rating is a joke.

  • Darren says:

    Three times? He knew!

  • Neil Donoghue says:

    Has anyone received any contact since they applied for the new miles and more credit card?

  • John says:

    OT for the last five days the Marriott contest has reverted to me only ‘winning’ a sweepstake entry, no points 🙁

    Has anyone else noticed the same? or is it just that my luck is out!

    • Rob says:

      Just you!

    • RussellH says:

      Bad luck, I regret!

      For me, the last five have been 50,500,50,50,0

    • Tilly says:

      I’ve had 50 the past few days and then 500 this morning which is the most I’ve won. Would be nice to have the luck others have had with 1000s.

    • Leo says:

      Similar here John – no luck on this promo at all. I just do it on the basis it extends the points life….

    • Lady London says:

      Nope. Not just you. Me too.

      I’m telling myself that’s because they are storing my points up for the big win….!

      • Shoestring says:

        Double your odds by using your SPG login details as well. Not that I’m bothering, good luck to others, though.

        • Lady London says:

          Actually the first time I bombed out with nothing was when I accessed the competition via an email SPG had sent me…. That started my run of bad luck! 🙂 I keep telling myself it’s because they’re saving me the big one….. 🙂

    • Alex Sm says:

      It’s just your bad luck I’m afraid. My partner and I keep winning a random combination of 0, 50 and 500 points

  • Dan says:

    OT: just won 10000 points on the daily Marriott game! That’s 14000 on my account and 1900 on my partners since it started. Really not bad!

  • ankomonkey says:

    I’d have gone with the salmon, the duck and the fondant.

  • Voltron says:

    Currently have approx 10,000 Lufthansa miles from Hilton promo. I never fly with Lufthansa and it seems like redemptions have similar taxes to BA.
    Is best way to cash out to trade miles for giftcard? Don’t think can get any short haul Europe flight with that low balance.

    • Dan says:

      Yes, I’m in a similar position. 22,500 points and no particular plan for them. Perhaps worthy of an article, Rob?

      • Rob says:

        EU short haul flights booked at 2 weeks notice or less are reduced to 15,000 miles plus taxes. There is a monthly ‘mileage bargains’ sale which is also worth a look if you can top up via an ‘Amex to Marriott to M&M’ transfer.

        Alternatives are booking a hotel via their portal and part-paying with miles for a discount, or moving them to Heathrow Rewards at the rate of 1,750 miles for £5 (shockingly bad but ….), minimum transfer 7,500.

      • Lady London says:

        for about 17,000 Miles & More you used to be able to get a very long domestic flight in Business in the USA.

        10,000 would be hard to use as the monthly promotions can use them. But they want so much in taxes often the taxes are more than the price of same ticket on other mainstream airlines.

        around 20,000 yes you can use on other continents.

  • Mark says:

    Does anyone know how long in advance I can book a M&M FC on LH? A VERY helpful agent at their Capetown call centre has waitlisted me (I am not travelling to LAX until the new year) – but wonder if you more experienced peeps can give me a heads up on the best process to follow. I have heard that they only release FC award seats a few weeks before travel. Do you think the waitlist will simply KK at that point or do I need to do the ‘daily availability check’? I am aiming to fly the A380 in F from FRA to LAX (via MUC) – ok, so I wanted to try the FRA FC Lounge too! Thx for any advice.

    • Rob says:

      It is only two weeks before for partners. Using M&M miles you can book many months in advance, as I always do.

      • Mark says:

        Ok, thanks. I am a M&M member (only silver ‘Frequent Flyer’ though) – I am trying for an F class seat in the beginning of May 2019 but as yet it is still on waitlist. Availability only shows C Class availability (for mileage M&M bookings) – no F class…. I guess I will just keep checking to see if a seat pops up?

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.