Lufthansa Expands First Class Award Availability, Will Reopen Frankfurt First Class Terminal

Never Miss Another Deal - Follow DansDeals on Facebook

It has been over a decade since I flew Lufthansa First Class, but the memories are still warm.

In 2010 I took my wife on a surprise trip to Zurich, Paris, Tel Aviv, and Venice, though she didn’t know where we were going. The Lufthansa First Class lounge agent was thrilled that it was a surprise for her, “That’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard” as she scratched the destination off the connecting boarding passes before handing them to us. Lufthansa shuttles you directly from the first class lounge to your plane in a Porsche and our chauffer told us to wait a minute in the car while he went up to the flight deck and instructed them not to announce where we were going!

If you fly through Frankfurt you can access the awesome First Class Terminal, which has private security, a bar with just about every complimentary whiskey you can dream of, a cigar lounge, a restaurant where you can preorder complimentary kosher meals, and even a shower/bath suite with collectible First Class Terminal rubber duckies. And then you get chauffeured directly to your plane in a Porsche. Not bad at all.

Have a drink. Or 3.

There’s nothing quite like driving up to a 747:

The First Class Terminal has been closed due to COVID, but it will reopen on September 1st. In the meantime you can access the First Class Lounge, though it’s not quite the same as a private terminal.

https://twitter.com/Lufthansa_FCT/status/1423246881451384834

For the past several years Lufthansa has only released first class award availability within 2 weeks of the flight, making it difficult to plan a trip.

However they are now releasing award space up to a month in advance.

United charges 121K miles each way (plus $5.60 outbound or $138.85 on the return), which isn’t a bad deal for a flight that costs over $8,000 one-way.

The same rates apply from other cities, and you can save on the taxes as well. On our last Lufthansa First Class trip we flew home from Venice via Frankfurt:

However booking with Air Canada, with points transferrable from AMEX, Capital One, or Chase, is just 100K each way:

You can save even more by using just 87K Lifemiles, which are transferrable from AMEX, Capital One or Citi:

Or book a connection with Lifemiles and you’ll save on even more. For example the flight from Venice will be as low as 82,720 miles:

Turkish Airlines, transferrable from Citi, doesn’t show first class availability online, but it should be bookable for 67.5K miles each way over phone. Unlike when booking with Air Canada, United, and Lifemiles, Turkish adds fuel surcharges which should be similar to what the surcharge is for business class as shown online.

Fuel surcharges are lower as 2 one-ways as opposed to a round-trip:

You can also book Lufthansa First Class for just 50K Asiana miles plus fuel surcharges each way. You can transfer 120K Marriott points into 50K Asiana miles. You need to call 800-227-4262 to partner awards with Asiana miles.

Will you book award travel in Lufthansa First Class?

HT: mdv, via DDF