Review of Lufthansa A320 Business Class Service between Manchester and Munich
When we wanted to visit Munich for the Octoberfest and Neuschwanstein Castle, I chose Lufthansa flights to try out a different airline.
At the time of booking, about 8 weeks prior to the flights, the difference between Business Class and Economy return was £77.24 for 2 seats return flying out Friday evening and returning Monday evening!
A bargain I couldn't resist, especially as I calculated business class would be cheaper than ecomony with the add ons.
So what did I get?
Table of contents
The business class return cost around £77 more for 2 people than economy
As with all of our trips we paid for this ourselves in cash (flipping between as many airlines as possible means no loyalty building up).
On arrival at Manchester Airport T1 (due to T1 closing Lufthansa have now moved to T2) we followed the checkin desks to find where we needed to be.
Right at the end of the line of desks, next to the Emirates checkin, was a sign pointing to more desks that I didn't know existed for the Star Alliance checkins.
We followed this around the back to see a quiet area.
There was no queue at the business checkin so we went straight to the front. To be fair, there was only 1 person in the economy checkin too, probably because we were slightly more than 3 hours before departure time!
After a polite conversation with the checin agent our bags were wisked away and we were invited to go to the Aspire Lounge. No mention was made of prioirty security, but the airport was so quiet I think the prioity queue had closed.
Lufthansa's Business Class Lounge in Munich
The lounge used at Manchester was the Aspire Lounge; I've not seen if that has changed with the terminal move.
But access was very easy.
Follow your way through duty free, which as anyone visiting T1 knows is a long walk, then follow the signs to the Premium Lounges and Aspire is the first that you see.
Entrance was simple - tell the recepionist we were travelling Lufthansa Business, show our boarding cards and we were then allowed in.
If the lounge wasn't enough, there's snacks too.
Lufthansa were flying their A320 on this route in its standard 3 - 3 configuration.
The exact A320 variant changes depending on day, so the cabin was a little different to the return journey, but basically for European Business class you will be seated in either a window or an aisle seat.
The middle seats (B & E) are kept free, which means no fighting with neighbours for arm space.
The seats are exactly the same as economy with the same pitch and legroom, just a curtain pulled back to indicate the division.
On the outbound flight the middle seat wasn't even blocked off so we could have swapped a little.
Business class does board first, so the economy passengers are giving you funny looks knowing you've paid more to sit in identical seats at the front. However, that empty seat does allow a lot more room and on our flight, the 'up front' and 'extra legroom' seats were selling for more than business class.
A small snack with drinks was provided, on a short flight such as this after a few hours in the lounge a full meal is not really needed, but the snack and drinks did help pass time. We tried to order Gin & Tonics after our meals, but they had run out of the standard Gin. Apologies accepted we took another drink, then a few minutes later premium Gins arrived from the rear of the aircraft.
With only 4 rows of business class the attendant was able to look after everyone well. It might only be the standard Economy seats, but the space, extra food and attention from the crew made it worth it.
I really did find that on this instance business class cost me less than economy!
The extra cost for Business Class (return) was £77.24.
We would certainly have spent that at the airports so this flight worked out cheaper than economy, so I'd definitely say it was worth the cost.
But looking at other destinations / dates the price difference didn't look so close. Maybe because we were doing Friday / Monday flights a lot of people were booking as cheap as possible for the Oktoberfest and the business cabin wasn't filling? I certainly wouldn't both to upgrade if it was a couple of hundred per person, but it's worth it when there's a good deal on.
So what did I get?
Table of contents
Checkin
The business class return cost around £77 more for 2 people than economy
There was no queue at the business checkin so we went straight to the front. To be fair, there was only 1 person in the economy checkin too, probably because we were slightly more than 3 hours before departure time!
After a polite conversation with the checin agent our bags were wisked away and we were invited to go to the Aspire Lounge. No mention was made of prioirty security, but the airport was so quiet I think the prioity queue had closed.
Lounge
Lufthansa's Business Class Lounge in Munich
Flight
If the lounge wasn't enough, there's snacks too.
Business class does board first, so the economy passengers are giving you funny looks knowing you've paid more to sit in identical seats at the front. However, that empty seat does allow a lot more room and on our flight, the 'up front' and 'extra legroom' seats were selling for more than business class.
A small snack with drinks was provided, on a short flight such as this after a few hours in the lounge a full meal is not really needed, but the snack and drinks did help pass time. We tried to order Gin & Tonics after our meals, but they had run out of the standard Gin. Apologies accepted we took another drink, then a few minutes later premium Gins arrived from the rear of the aircraft.
With only 4 rows of business class the attendant was able to look after everyone well. It might only be the standard Economy seats, but the space, extra food and attention from the crew made it worth it.
Conclusion
I really did find that on this instance business class cost me less than economy!
But looking at other destinations / dates the price difference didn't look so close. Maybe because we were doing Friday / Monday flights a lot of people were booking as cheap as possible for the Oktoberfest and the business cabin wasn't filling? I certainly wouldn't both to upgrade if it was a couple of hundred per person, but it's worth it when there's a good deal on.