What is it like to fly in the upfront cabin of Lufthansa A320 European Business Class, and is it worth the extra expense for the upgrade? Is this truly a ‘Business Class experience’ on par with the big North American Airlines like United Airlines, Delta and Air Canada? I flew a one hour and thirty minute early morning flight from Krakow, Poland to Munich, Germany to find out!
Pre-boarding and Business Class Lounge in Krakow
My European business class ticket had acces to the ‘Business Lounge’ in Krakow Airport near Gate 2. I was greeted with a red carpet and secluded entrance to the lounge, but also by a locked door upon arrival! Luckily it was only a short wait as the lounge didn’t open until 04:30 a.m. I was more than happy to get access to the comfortable and relatively quiet airport lounge in Krakow, and it was great to get an early coffee and bottle of sparkling water.
Food and drinks available in the lounge consisted of a small selection of salads and Polish meats and cheeses as was beer, various wines and liquors, even this early in the morning. I am always surprised by how many beer and champagne drinkers there are at 0430 a.m.!
Above – a look out the window as we climb out of Krakow, Poland on the Lufthansa A320, from my seat 4A. Right, the light breakfast that was served shortly after takeoff.
Boarding the Lufthansa A320 in Business Class
We boarded the A320-200 by bus, but the ride was only a few hundred metres taking just moments to reach the Lufthansa jet in it’s modern white livery. Boarding went very smoothly. After the many hundreds of flights I have taken, it seems to me that boarding is always faster by bus and air stairs once you reach the aircraft.
Upon boarding the friendly cabin crew gave us a mini bottle of water and offer pillows and blankets.
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Food and drinks On Board
For breakfast we were served a cold plate of meats and cheeses, a choice of breads and a musli cereal with cherry compote. The presentation was nice and took the edge off of an early morning. Coffee tea and juices were served.
Lufthansa A320 Business Class Seat
I was seated in 4A, the last row of the four rows of 16 business class seats. Seating on Lufthansa European business class (and other European airlines like KLM) is essentially the same seat as in economy with a slightly longer seat pitch (the distance between seat backs) allowing for ever so slightly more legroom. The middle seat is always left empty so you never have someone in the middle seat. This allows for a far more comfortable journey as you have a lot more elbow space and both armrests to your self.
Prior to takeoff the captain made his very friendly welcome announcement from the front of the cabin which was a nice change from the typical short message from the cockpit. He thanked us all for a very efficient and speedy boarding and that we would be pushing off for an on time departure and the flight would be about an hour and h half. Lastly when wished us a really fun time in Munich. It was a nice personal touch that Ive seen a number of times on Lufthansa.
It was a great flight, near perfect landing by a cheerful captain, and a great start to my journey back to Canada this sunny April morning.
Conclusion: is it a luxury product?
Is Lufthansa’s European Business Class product a luxury offering or is it just dressed up economy class on the A320? Well, it certainly is not luxury by business class standards. After all the years I have been flying in this class, usually from Frankfort to Amsterdam, I struggle with European Airlines even calling this business class. However, after a nine-hour international flight, I’ll take every little bit of extra room and attentive service over the crowded back anytime.