Riding on the upper deck of a Boeing 747-8 is a somewhat bucket-list event for plane geeks like me. Lufthansa is one of only 3 operators of the 747-8, they are also the largest operator with 19 in their fleet. I’m lucky enough to be riding in business class on the top deck of the Lufthansa 747-8 between ORD and FRA. The total flight time is just about 8 hours. In those 8 hours we got a dinner service and then offered breakfast that I skipped. This is a very late departure at 10:30 Central, a little later than I would prefer.
I’ve ridding on various 747s a few times, but not the last of the line and largest -8 variant. Sadly I don’t have a review of the Northwest, Delta, or Virgin 747s that I’ve been on, those were before Kinda Boring Travel. I’ve flown Lufthunsa Business Class in the past, but it’s been about 6 years so I’m interested to see what the experience is like these days.
Bottom Line: Riding on the top deck of the LH 747-8 is fun, but honestly Lufthansa Business Class isn’t that great. The service was good and the meal was pleasant, but the seats are a letdown.
Lufthansa 747-8 Boarding ORD
After spending a little time in the fantastic United Polaris Lounge(Review Here) and then the mediocre United Club here at ORD, it was time to board our flight to Frankfurt.
The departure time was scheduled for 10:35, but we’re running a bit behind. We didn’t start boarding until about 10:15. The 747-8 is a large plane, I’m expecting us to be a little delayed.
Once on board we headed upstairs. The 747-8 doesn’t have upstairs boarding doors. All boarding is on the main deck and then you walk up the stairs to the top deck.
Lufthansa 747-8 Upper Deck Business Class Cabin
The top deck of the Lufthansa 747-8 is all Business Class. There are 8 rows of 2-2 seating up stairs. On the main deck there are another 8 rows in a 2-2-2 configuration. In total there are 80 Business Class seats on the Lufthansa 747-8.
We found our seats on the left side of the plane. On Trans-Atlantic flights I try to pick seats on the left side of the plane when traveling east, just in case there’s a chance to see the aurora. We’re in the 5th row here. There is an emergency exit row in-front of Row 84. ‘We’re in the 5th row here. There is an emergency exit row in-front of Row 84.
Lufthansa 747-8 Business Class Seat Review
I was in the window seat and Val was in the aisle. Here’s the biggest issue with Lufthansa’s Business Class, the 2-2 seating. There’s really not a lot of privacy and there’s not direct aisle access. In my seat was a pillow and blanket.
The leg room is very good, even with this seat fully up. That’s one advantage of this style of seat, they are very open and not at all like a coffin. However, that means they are not particularity private.
On the upper-deck of the Lufthansa 747 there is a ton of storage. For those in window seats, there are very large storage cubbies. They fit my backpack without issue.
The head rest was small but comfortable. One weird part is the reading light is built into the seat and the headrest. I’m really not sure why that decision was made.
The controls for the seat are easy to use. But this really shows how close the two seats are to each other.
Between the two seats there are power ports for charging devices.
Lufthansa 747-8 Business Class In Seat Entertainment
The in seat entertainment is pretty good. The downside is that the screen is far away so using it as a touch screen is difficult. There is a remote in the armrest, but mine didn’t work.
The selection was pretty solid, not amazing, but there was enough to keep me entertained for a few hours before I fell asleep.
In the center armrest there is the tray table, headphones, and remote. As you can see, my remote was labeled Inop and showed an Error. I didn’t use the headphones, but inside here is where the plug is use my own headphones.
Lufthansa 747-8 Business Class Amenity Kit
In each seat there was an amenity kit. This one was a little different than most, the bag is quiet large, I’ll probably be able to use it for shoes it’s so large.
Inside the Lufthansa amenity kit was a tooth brush, socks, ear plugs, and a mint.
Lufthansa 747-8 Business Class Departure and Takeoff
Inside the cabin, the flight attendants came around and offered sparkling wine, orange juice, or water.
I went with the sparkling wine.
The fuselage of the 747-8 is kinda thick, due to the angle, it’s a little tricky to see out of the windows too. So while the upper deck is cool, it’s not exactly the best view.
About 15 minutes late the door was closed. I’m pretty impressed at how quickly the plane was boarded. We’re not exactly on time, but we’re only a little delayed. We pushed back from the gate and the safety video was shown on the in seat entertainment.
We took off towards the West and then made a large sweeping turn towards the North East.
As we crossed over Lake Michigan we got a great view of Milwaukee.
Lufthansa Business Class Menu
Menus were distributed for the dinner service. While Lufthansa doesn’t offer a pre-order on this flight, you can view the menu ahead of time on their website here. So we knew what to expect for the offering on this flight. The menu provided did match the one online.
Lufthansa Business Class Drink Selection
Lufthansa Business Class Wine List
Lufthansa Business Class Beer and Liquor
Lufthansa Business Class Dinner
About 10 minutes later the flight attendant came around and took our dinner orders. She also distributed hot towels.
The Dinner service started with table cloths, drinks, and nuts to snack on. I decided to have a wheat beer.
Very quickly the salads arrived. I’m not sure I really liked this. I know it’s weird, but I like a lot of lettuce in my salads and I don’t really like asparagus.
Soon enough the entrees were delivered. I had the filet with prawns. I was surprised at how decent it was. Steak on planes is never great, but this one was one of the better ones I’ve had.
Overall the dinner service for Lufthansa Business Class was decent. Not amazing, but more than filling enough for dinner. I didn’t much care for the salad but the main was good. I skipped desert, coffee, and aperitif in exchange for a little more sleep. In total, the dinner took about 90 minutes. We have about 6 hours left in the flight.
Lufthansa 747-8 Lavatory
There are 3 lavatories on the top deck of the 747-8. They are all about the same size and layout. This is the one in the rear near the stairs. Throughout the flight the bathrooms were kept clean.
In the lavatory there was a selection of toiletries including eye masks. I was wondering why there wasn’t an eye mask in the Lufthansa Business Class Amenity Kit, but it makes sense now. Though, I’m not sure I’d put something on my face that was just 2 feet from the toilet.
I headed back to my seat with just under 6 hours left in the flight to Frankfurt. You can see the curvature of the plane really well up here. The giant 747 feels very small upstairs.
Lufthansa Business Class Bedding
I settled into my seat by reclining it into a bed and lowering the outside armrest. The pillow provided was very good, the blanket was good too. Lufthansa doesn’t have a sheet or mattress pad.
Once Val reclined, you can see how close you are to your seat mate. The Lufthansa Business Class seats are just fine for a couple like Val and I, but if those feet belonged to a stranger, I’m not sure I’d be as comfortable. I was able to get a good 4 hours of sleep, with the late departure time I was very tired.
Lufthansa Business Class Arrival Into Frankfurt
With about 60 minutes left in the flight I woke up. I took off my eye mask(that I brought from home) and saw that the cabin lights had been turned on.
The flight attendants noticed I was awake and offered me a breakfast, I declined.
I turned on the moving map and saw that we were just about to pass over the Dutch coast on the way down to Germany.
The seat belt sign was turned on and the pilot made a few announcements. He told us the weather in Frankfurt was cloudy and would be a somewhat mild 6 degrees C. It is November after-all.
Outside we were descending between the layers of clouds. It is fun to look out the window and see 2 engines hanging of the wing.
We put our seats back into the upright position and stuffed our bedding into the foot wells. You can see again how close together the seats are.
Inside the cabin the flight attendants had everyone open their windows and they collected the last little remnants from the breakfast.
They also passed out chocolates. I liked the dark chocolate one and skipped the milk chocolate one.
Outside we passed below the lowest clouds. The leading edge device on the 747-8 wing are interesting and very old school in comparison with most modern planes. They are called Krueger Flaps.
A few minutes later we softly touched down just on time here at Frankfurt. Our arrival time was just about 1pm local time.
Once at the gate we walked back down stairs and into the terminal.
Here at the FRA gate we finally got a chance to check out the exterior of the Lufthansa 747-8. At ORD the plane wasn’t in a good position to see it from inside the terminal. This LH 748 is in the newest livery.
Lufthansa 747-8 Business Class Final Thoughts
Business class is great, even when it’s not the best in the world. Lufthansa’s 747-8 is firmly in that category. It isn’t the most competitive flight in the world, but the 747 top deck is certainly fun. I’d much rather fly up here than in economy, especially on an overnight flight. This flight left very late in the day, 10:30 Pm Central time so the arrival time into Frankfurt was just after 1pm. I prefer an earlier flight, but not as early as the 4:30 PM JFK departure from Air France I reviewed last year.
I liked the Lufthansa Business Class meal and the service was very good from all of the crew. However the seats just are not great. Having to step over someone who’s sleeping to get out and go to the bathroom is a little annoying for both people. If you’re sitting next to a stranger, it wouldn’t be very fun to play accidental footsy with your neighbor.
For me, I’d fly it again, but I’d look for other options before choosing this flight again. The late departure and arrival time is just hard to deal with. I also don’t much care for the Lufthansa Business Class seat.
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