Lufthansa First Class Terminal Review

The Lufthansa First Class Terminal at Frankfurt Airport reopened on September 1st, 2021. We were flying Lufthansa First Class (on a partner award redemption ticket) on September 5th, so we were excited to be able to experience all the First Class Terminal has to offer. The terminal has been closed since the beginning of the pandemic and Lufthansa has instead been sending first class passengers to the lounge we used on our inbound flight.

Getting there

Getting to the Lufthansa First Class Terminal isn’t straightforward, but if you know what to look for, it’s pretty easy. You actually have to exit the terminal you landed in, almost as if you were leaving the airport. Once outside, you walk to the left for about 10 minutes and you will see the First Class Terminal. 

I grabbed a quick guide published by Lufthansa on how to get there:

It would be great if they offered ground service transfers to the terminal for arriving First Class passengers. Air France offers this service to their First Class passengers and I think it provides for a more holistic First Class experience.

Check in

The FCT is available for passengers flying in Lufthansa First Class as well as HON Circle members. After a quick elevator ride to the 2nd floor, we were greeted by our personal assistant who checked us in for our flight. They also checked our passports and covid vaccination cards. Similar to our experience in the First Class Lounge, we gave them our contact details for the contact tracing program should we need to be contacted.

After check-in, we were guided through security that is just for this terminal. Normally it’s a breeze, but for some reason my bag tested positive for explosives! It caused all security operations to halt until the police came to inspect my bag. 

The most people I’ve ever seen trying to enter the First Class Terminal arrived and also had to wait until the police inspected my back. Luckily, the police arrived after about 10 minutes. They asked me where I was flying to (San Francisco), if I’d open up my laptop (I did) and if I was traveling with any lotions (I was not). After that, I was free to go and enjoy the lounge. They didn’t even open my bag that supposedly tested positive for explosives.

Food

We arrived around 830am, so they were serving a limited breakfast menu. I had eggs benedict with salmon, a butter croissant and a cappuccino. 

Unfortunately, the buffets were still closed due to COVID.

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Amenities

Next, I headed to the shower suites for a quick rinse before my flight. I was also able to snag one of the special edition Lufthansa ducks!! For those of you who may not know, Lufthansa provides rubber ducks as gifts in their shower/bath suites, and they have become collectibles for AV geeks. 🤓

The light above the shower was out in my suite, which I thought was odd since the FCT has been closed for months, and I would have thought changing the dead light bulbs would have been part of reopening preparations. 

Other amenities in the lounge include a cigar lounge, nap rooms, and private offices.

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Ground service

When it was time for us to board, our lounge assistant found us and took us to the ground floor for a final boarding pass check and immigration. Since we were the only passengers there, it was quick and easy. The immigration agent actually said it’s a boring post to work since so few passengers come through. 

From there, we were driven to the plane. They have a few Porsches, but our driver was assigned a Mercedes van. Tough life, I know! 

For me, being driven to the plane is one of the coolest AV experiences to date. Driving directly on the tarmac, I felt like a kid in a candy store with my face up against the window. It’s a perspective of the airport you don’t often see as a passenger. My only complaint was that the drive was too short! Our plane was departing from the first gate after entering the tarmac… we almost could have walked there. 

Once outside we were ushered upstairs and onto the gangway where the assistant hands you off to the First Class cabin crew to get settled before the flight. 

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Considerations

In terms of ground experience, Lufthansa’s First Class Terminal is a major differentiator. The fact that the terminal is separate from the rest of the Frankfurt Airport provides an exclusive and private experience. The amenities are top notch and the food is very good. Very few carriers drive passengers to the plane, so for this reason Lufthansa ranks at the top of my favorite airlines list. The only feedback I have is that I wish they offered ground transportation to the terminal from your arriving flight.