We previously flew Lufthansa First Class on our way back from Portugal last year (and I also flew Boston to Frankfurt about five years ago). Those flights were on a 747-8i, one of the newer aircraft with a First Class cabin. This time, we were on an A340-600, one of the older aircraft that was just reactivated to provide more capacity out of Munich as air travel rebounds. Lufthansa will introduce an all new First Class (and Business Class) beginning with their new A350-1000 aircraft that are being delivered starting next year. I expect that they will make it much harder (or impossible) to book award tickets using partner miles once these new cabins roll out so I would advise people to try and book in the next year or so if you want to try the current product.

We left the First Class Lounge around 2:40pm with our flight scheduled for 3:25pm. It was a short walk down to Gate L26. On the way, there was a document check for all the US-bound flights including ours.

LH434 MUC-ORD
Scheduled 15:25-18:15 (-7 hours)
Actual 15:38-18:11 (-7 hours)

We boarded right away through a separate First/Business Class jetway. There are only 44 Business Class seats on the A340 (compared to 80 on the 747-8i) and 8 first class seats at the very front in rows 1 and 2.

We were in seats 1D and 1G in the middle of row 1. The window seat next to me in 1A was open so I moved over there for takeoff and landing. I also had the flight attendant make up my bed in that seat when I took a nap.

We were offered amenity kits, pajamas, slippers and a glass of champagne after boarding. Before we pushed back, I changed into my older Lufthansa pajamas that I had brought with me and saved the new ones for another day. Everything worked on this older aircraft. It looked like it had never been taken out of service.

The weather in Munich was great and we had some nice views after takeoff.

After we climbed above the clouds, I went back to my assigned seat and perused the menu.

I ordered a Johnnie Walker Blue on the rocks and enjoyed the amuse bouche which was some sort of mushroom/avocado/beet combo.

Then the table was set for dinner (lunch?). I enjoyed the caviar, appetizers, soup, and then the surf and turf. I was hopeful they wouldn’t overcook the beef and thankfully it was just about medium. I had a glass of red with the beef.

It was a ton of food and I just about had room for dessert but not the cheese course.

After the meal, I decided to try and take a nap in 1A. The flight attendant made up the bed and I rested for a couple of hours. Despite a smooth flight and an early wake-up that day, I wasn’t really able to sleep much so I gave up and watched Slow Horses on my iPad instead. I usually don’t bother watching the IFE much in Lufthansa First Class as the screen is relatively small and the resolution is not great.

After a few hours, it was time for another bite to eat. I asked if there was any caviar left (as the cabin wasn’t full) and there was! I had another portion and then the amazing Tom Yum soup and dessert.

On the way into Chicago, we crossed the lake and had some nice views.

We landed a few minutes early and taxied over to the prehistoric O’Hare Terminal 5. I had a few issues with getting through immigration (thanks to forgetting my US passport), but we made it out in the end.

After exiting customs, we found the entrance back into Terminal 5 security by going up a couple of levels. Thanks to CLEAR and Precheck, we were through in a few minutes and found the new SkyClub on the Delta side of Terminal 5.

Although we were not hungry, we sat with a cold drink for a few minutes and I took some pictures of this new lounge that opened in November 2022.

It’s a beautiful lounge with great apron views and lots of food and beverage options. There are two staffed bars, showers, and local food options like Chicago-style hot dogs. The lounge is huge and way larger than Delta probably needs for its own flights. My assumption is that Air France, KLM, Korean and other SkyTeam partners send their business class passengers to this lounge as they are departing from Terminal 5 as well.

Our flight to Atlanta was delayed about 15 minutes but we were upgraded about four days out thanks to my Platinum status. We landed back in Atlanta around 11pm and made it home around midnight. It was a great long weekend trip to Liverpool and other parts of the UK. I hope you enjoyed reading this trip report.

Up Next: No big international trips until October (Ireland) and February/March (SE Asia), but we have lots of domestic travel including NYC, Baltimore, Florida, Washington DC, and a return to Kauai.

If you enjoyed this post (or have questions), let me know in the comments or send me an email at emptynestermiles@gmail.com. If you are thinking about opening a new credit card, please use one of my links.