Lufthansa 747-8 feeds the AvGeek soul despite hard product foibles

As a lifelong Boeing 747 fan, I’ve always wanted to fly aboard the latest model, the 747-8 — quite specifically in a seat with a good view of the wing and engines, which usually means flying in a premium cabin.

Lufthansa happens to run the largest fleet of -8s by a good measure, and has offered several reliable routes between its Frankfurt hub and North America for years. It also has a strong reputation for offering one of the most premium services out there today, so I’ve been chasing them for some time.

Lufthansa’s high-flying reputation typically comes with an equally high-flying price, with one-way tickets often pricing substantially above its competitors. So years went by as I saved up for what I expected would be a hefty price-tag. But an unusual fare sale out of Istanbul early in 2024 finally put my goal within reach. Even better, I was already scheduled to be in Istanbul in September for personal travel.

Several route options originating in Turkey, and traversing via Frankfurt, would put me onto the 747-8, but Mexico City wound up taking the cake with the cheapest fare and longest time aloft. That it was scheduled to land at sunset was icing on the cake. The Istanbul-Frankfurt-Mexico City itinerary was booked via Lufthansa’s website, where I snagged a deeply discounted business class fare that was well under half the normal cost.

I didn’t think much about it again until it was time to check-in the day before. I had no problem receiving a boarding pass from the airline’s app, but I did have trouble checking in a family member whose return travel overlapped on the IST-FRA leg. I had paid to upgrade their seat on this first leg so we could be together, and as a nice surprise to start their journey home. Lufthansa assured me that the upgrade had gone through, but check-in failed as it said I still owed money.

A quick call to the airline’s 24/7 customer service line assured me that I had indeed paid and everything was good, but the check-in counter staffer wouldn’t honor it. It was either pay the far higher walk-up rate or forfeit my seat to stay together. I grudgingly ate the cost of the walk-up rate, thus setting a less than awesome tone out of the gate.

Expensive check-in weirdness aside, the flight to Frankfurt in Eurobusiness was perfectly fine, with good catering, pleasant crew, and an empty middle seat to play cribbage in.

The real star of the show appeared at the gate a few hours after landing in Frankfurt: a big, shiny Boeing 747-8. No aircraft swaps today, thank goodness.

Boarding began 30 minutes behind schedule without any posted delay or explanation. I made my way to seat 8A aboard the jumbo jet, tucking my bags into the over-sized overhead bin with ease. A mattress pad, duvet and pillow awaited me on the seat, along with a small welcome bag of cashews.

Settling in, the first thing that really sticks out is that the cabin is dense. Lufthansa operates the jet with 80 business class seats across three cabins. Mine was in the first of two main deck cabins. This larger space seats 30. A smaller 12-seat cabin is positioned behind the galleys. Both are configured as 2-2-2. The elusive upper deck seats 32 in a 2-2 layout.

The second thing which struck me was that it is not remotely private. Each set of two seats constitutes a pod of sorts, and the seats themselves face inward toward one another. For window seats this means no direct aisle access. Not so bad for couples or colleagues, awkward for two strangers.

Likewise, there are no high walls or privacy dividers between seats in the pod or the pods themselves. In an era of mini suites, doors and over-sized privacy partitions, the lack of any of these features stood out like a sore thumb.

The third is that it is showing its age. High-touch surfaces had scuff marks, and high-contact cloth surfaces were visibly fraying in more than a few places.

While it was cleaner than I expected, grime wasn’t terribly hard to find either.

It was evident in other ways also. One of the first things I check when settling in is the functionality of the power sources. This seat has two, one international outlet and one USB-A port. Neither worked at any point. A small storage cubby under the IFE screen held a water bottle and a cute amenity kit. It also wouldn’t close, even after emptying it out.

Though this made for a disappointing first impression, it wasn’t long until the best part of this experience appeared: the crew. The lead for my half of the cabin introduced themselves early on, asked me how I’d like to be addressed, invited me to peruse the menu, and offered to snag me a pre-departure beverage. They reappeared a few minutes later with a spectacular peach-fizz cocktail.

I sunk into the seat, sipped on the drink, and took note of the view out the window: one beautiful wing and two engines. Exactly what I wanted to see.

I received a dose of good luck just before the airplane buttoned up: the other seat in my pod would be empty for the 12-hour adventure. I welcomed the additional storage space, working power outlets and extra modicum of privacy with open arms.

The flight took off late, with a super satisfying departure over the German countryside before setting a course across the Atlantic.

I dove into the inflight entertainment early on. The 15” IFE touchscreen was sharp and resolved well. Yet it was somehow also dim and prone to reflections. Combine it with a slim font and it was hard to read selections without having to lean forward (maybe I’m just getting old?).

A tethered trackpad remote was finicky but functional.

The back-end coding running the IFE system was often glitchy. The map feature occasionally wouldn’t load at all. Loading preview thumbnails to view choices in a given category, let’s say ‘TV’, would noticeably lag (in some cases in excess of one minute) while compiling.

On the plus side, it was pretty well stocked (300ish movies and 100ish TV shows). While much of my attention for the first several hours went to the view out the window, I had no trouble finding a few current releases and some TV shows to pass the time later in the flight.

The glitchiness luckily did not extend to actually playing content. While it may have lagged in loading, it never lagged when playing. A pair of airline-issued headphones (mine were not compatible and there was no Bluetooth connection) were of usable quality.

You can also pair your mobile device to either split watching multiple pieces of content or else just have the benefit of a brighter screen. Turns out you need the Lufthansa entertainment app to do so. I didn’t know that, so I didn’t have it. Oh well.

Wi-Fi is offered on board, something both the crew and placards along the walls don’t let you forget. I’d really like to report that it worked well, but instead it was incredibly buggy and slow. For a start, it took 23 tries over two hours to simply complete the purchase process for a US$10 messaging plan. Most of the time it just wouldn’t start at all. Several times it took my payment info and then did… nothing. At least the system leveled with me on the 23rd attempt with an error message that told me it had taken my money but also that I wouldn’t be getting any Internet: try later or ask for a refund after the flight.

An hour later, though, texts mysteriously began appearing. It continued that way for the rest of the flight. Messages would come in and go out in bursts, then go quiet during long outages. It made me very glad I hadn’t paid $22 for a two-hour browsing package or $35 for the full flight.

The first of two dining services began 45 minutes into the flight. A small cheese and olive starter appeared atop my linen covered tray table along with a crisp Bavarian beer. The combo was absolutely perfect, so good I wound up asking for seconds. Lucky for me they had several left over, and I gladly consumed each and every one of them.

A follow-on appetizer featuring veal with mustard caviar, pretzel dumplings and a radish salad was superb but came with quite a lag after the starter.

Dinner came not long after the appetizer, with far less of a lag. The crew were long out of my first choice, defaulting me to the vegetarian offering. This could have been a recipe for disappointment, but the catering team in Frankfurt knocked this mushroom ragout out of the park. Flavorful and tasty, it was a real highlight.

A mousse tart dessert was average, though pleasingly presented.

All told, the service lasted 2.5 hours, a bit long but hustling out 42 meals and drinks ain’t easy. And even still, the crew remained attentive and personable. Dishes never lingered on the table, the beer was always topped off just before it ran out, and in a harder to explain vibe, when you had a crew member’s attention it was all yours.

A second meal service began the usual two hours before arrival.

Once again I leaned into vegetarian, with, ironically, another mushroom ragout that was somehow pretty different from the first. It wasn’t quite as impressive as the first, but still well above average.

A Bavarian cream with raspberry sauce and a warm caffeinated tea capped the experience.

In between I tried to sleep. Alas, something about the seat was broken. In full flat mode, it felt like it somehow was poking into the middle of my back. The empty seat to me wasn’t much better, and I made do with an angled lie-flat position instead.

Thankfully the mattress pad and duvet were quite comfortable, which made getting a few hours of fitful sleep possible.

I continued to appreciate the friendly and approachable crew members. They found out I was onboard specifically because it was a 747-8, and invited me to take a little tour of the plane. A visit to the nose, a walk-through of the purser’s station, and as many visits to the upper deck as I wanted made for a memorable experience.

Even aside from that ‘above and beyond’ touch, their seat-side manner was pleasant and proactive without being overbearing. They were, in my opinion, a ‘top five’ crew experience in my hundreds of flights.

The airplane landed late into Mexico City, but with nowhere to be I didn’t really mind. Plus the sunset was in full view, pouring a nice golden light out over the city in between rain showers.

Let’s be honest, the experience had a number of disappointments. The upgrade snafu in Istanbul was deeply frustrating, never mind pricey. The hard product aboard the 747 seemed like it was on a mission to let me down at every opportunity, alongside the Wi-Fi.

Lufthansa’s existing 747-8 business class product is both aging and dated. I knew that going in. But having multiple features broken, with non-functional power outlets and a bed that’s uncomfortable in full-flat mode? That’s a problem.

Stellar catering was a real stand out, however. And a stellar crew delivered an experience that this AvGeek largely enjoyed but with a few big asterisks. Take the 747-8 factor out of it and I’d be hard pressed to encourage serious spend on this product.

Looking down the road, the 747-8 family isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Lufthansa has committed to refreshing the cabins with its landmark Allegris long-haul products starting in 2025. Hopefully this time next year I’ll be singing a very different tune.