Is Lufthansa business class good?

The new Allegris cabin is very good — 8.8 out of 10 on verifiable product, number 6 of the 31 carriers we score, with a full 10 on seat for a 1-2-1 layout that gives every passenger direct aisle access. The problem is that Lufthansa is still flying two business cabins at the same fare. The legacy 2-2-2 scores 7.5, and its seat scores 5, because the window passenger climbs over a stranger to reach the aisle.

Which Lufthansa planes have Allegris?

Only newly delivered A350-900s and 787-9s. The 747-8 retrofit is mid-rollout through late 2026 and the older A330-300s keep the legacy cabin entirely. That means the same route, on the same day, at the same fare can produce either product, and the aircraft assigned to a booking can change after you pay. Check the equipment before you choose Lufthansa over a competitor on the strength of Allegris.

Is Lufthansa cheap to Europe?

In economy, yes — it carries a $50 median premium across 292 routes and is the outright cheapest carrier on 71 of them, which ranks it number 10 of 31 on price and scores 9 out of 10 on Value. In business it is a different airline: a $1,019 median premium across 251 routes, and a Value score of 7.

Does Lufthansa fly nonstop to Europe?

To its own hubs, and almost nowhere else. Of its 292 economy fares in our grid, only 21 are nonstop — the rest connect, 165 through Frankfurt and 104 through Munich. That is the business model rather than a shortcoming: Lufthansa sells the connection, which is how it reaches 29 European destinations from 14 US cities.

Have you flown Lufthansa business class?

Yes, in business on a Europe route, which is why this is labeled Flown rather than Researched. Service, food and ground recovery are still unscored, as they are in every review here: they cannot be read off a specification, and the four dimensions below are the ones that can.

Cabin reviewsFlown

Lufthansa Business Class Review: Two Cabins, One Fare

Allegris scores 8.8 out of 10 and is the best cabin on this site that Jon has actually flown. The legacy 2-2-2 it is replacing scores 7.5, sells for the same money, and is still on most of Lufthansa's US flying.

Best for: Anyone booking Lufthansa business and wanting to know which of its two cabins they are actually buying

By Jon MiksisUpdated September 2, 20267 min read

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Lufthansa sells two business classes at the same price, and which one you get is decided by the airframe rather than by anything you can choose at booking.

That is the whole review. Everything else — and Allegris is genuinely one of the best cabins in our data — sits underneath it.

The scores

Our score

8.8/10

Seat: 10
IFE: 8
Lounge: 10
Value: 7

Scored against our published rubric.

8.8 out of 10 on Allegris, number 6 of the 31 carriers we score.

Only one cabin Jon has flown scores higher — Qatar's Qsuite at 9.3 — and that score is built on three dimensions rather than four, on an airline selling a single European destination. Allegris is the best flown cabin in our data scored on all four, and the best one you can realistically use to get around Europe.

Four of our seven rubric dimensions can be known without being on the aircraft, and those four are what this scores. Service, food and ground recovery are not scored anywhere on this site, for the reason that they cannot be verified from a specification sheet.

The two cabins

Aircraft	Seat	IFE	Lounge & bags	Value	Product
747-8 / A330-300 (legacy)	5	8	10	7	7.5
A350-900 / 787-9 (Allegris)	10	8	10	7	8.8

The cabin Allegris is replacing. Still widely flown on US routes into late 2026.

Allegris flies only on newly delivered A350-900s and 787-9s. The 747-8 retrofit is mid-rollout through late 2026 and older A330-300s keep the legacy cabin, so the same route and fare can produce either product.

Five points of seat, on the same ticket.

Our seat score is arithmetic: five points for lie-flat, three for direct aisle access from every seat, two for a closing door. Both Lufthansa cabins are lie-flat, so both clear the biggest hurdle. Allegris is 1-2-1 and everyone reaches an aisle. The legacy cabin is 2-2-2, which means the window passenger steps over a sleeping stranger to reach the toilet, twice a night, on a seat sold as a flat bed.

That difference is not a detail. It is most of what separates a business cabin you would pay for from one you would not, and Lufthansa is currently charging the same fare for both.

When you actually get Allegris

Allegris flies only on newly delivered A350-900s and 787-9s. The 747-8 retrofit runs through late 2026, and the older A330-300s are not being converted at all.

So the practical rule is narrow: if the aircraft on your booking is an A350-900 or a 787-9, you are likely in Allegris. If it is a 747-8, an A330-300, or it changes after you book — which equipment does — you are not. Anyone choosing Lufthansa over a competitor because of Allegris is making a bet, not a purchase, and the odds are not published.

This is the same failure mode as Qatar's Qsuite fleet split, where the suite is fitted to 10 of 33 A350-900s. The difference is that Lufthansa is reachable: it sells 292 routes in our grid against Qatar's 8, so this is a bet far more Americans will actually place.

Cheap in the back, mid-table up front

Lufthansa is two different propositions by cabin, and the fare data says so more clearly than the product data does.

In economy it is genuinely competitive: a $50 median premium across 292 routes, outright cheapest on 71 of them, ranking number 10 of 31 on price. That earns a Value score of 9 out of 10.

In business it is not. Across 251 business routes the median premium is $1,019, and Value falls to 7.

A carrier cheap in the back is not automatically cheap up front, and Lufthansa is the clearest example of it in our data. The cheapest Lufthansa business fare we recorded was $3,914, Atlanta to Porto via Frankfurt.

It is a connecting airline, and that is the point

Of Lufthansa's 292 economy fares in our grid, 21 are nonstop. The other 271 connect: 165 through Frankfurt, 104 through Munich.

Route	Fare	Routing
Boston → Helsinki	$458	via Frankfurt or Munich
Los Angeles → Krakow	$689	via Frankfurt or Munich
Los Angeles → Budapest	$758	via Frankfurt or Munich
Los Angeles → Malta	$870	via Frankfurt or Munich
Boston → Salzburg	$925	via Frankfurt or Munich

Fares observed August 31, 2026. Source: Carrier grid, economy round trip, fixed travel week November 8-14 2026. Airfare moves constantly; treat these as the range to judge a quote against, not a price you can book today.

That reach is the product. Two hubs let Lufthansa sell 29 European destinations from 14 US cities, including places almost nobody flies nonstop — Salzburg, Krakow, Malta. If your destination is a secondary European city, Lufthansa is frequently the cheapest way to reach it, and the connection is what makes that possible rather than what spoils it.

The trade is time, not money. On the routes where a connection wins, it usually wins by a lot.

What else Star Alliance sells you, for less

A reader choosing Lufthansa business is really choosing among Star Alliance carriers, because that is the set an Aeroplan or United award can reach and the set that competes on the same connections. Priced against each other, Lufthansa's business premium looks expensive for what it delivers.

Carrier	Product score	Business routes	Median premium
EgyptAir	not verified	4	$80
Turkish Airlines	8.8	353	$233
Air Canada	8.5	97	$681
TAP Air Portugal	8.5	132	$800
Lufthansa	8.8	251	$1,019
Avianca	not verified	12	$1,092
Austrian	8.3	23	$1,351
LOT Polish Airlines	7.3	36	$1,388
ITA Airways	8.5	23	$1,422
Brussels Airlines	7.3	5	$1,507
SWISS	7.3	105	$1,708
United	8	268	$1,723

Premium is the median dollars above the cheapest option on each route the carrier flies, so it compares carriers within a route rather than across different weeks. Carriers below 3 priced routes are omitted. A carrier shown as not verified has no cabin we have checked — it has not been judged and found wanting.

Read the top of that table carefully first. The two cheapest Star Alliance carriers, EgyptAir and Avianca, carry no product score at all — we have not verified a cabin on either, which is a gap in our checking rather than a verdict on their seats. A low premium next to "not verified" is a price, not a recommendation.

Among the carriers we have actually checked, two things fall out, and neither flatters Lufthansa.

Turkish Airlines scores the same 8.8 on product, across 353 business routes — more than Lufthansa — at a $233 median premium against Lufthansa's $1,019. That is the same verified product quality for a fraction of the money. The trade is geography: Turkish connects through Istanbul, which is a long way east of most of Europe, so the routing is worse for anywhere north or west of the Balkans. For southern and eastern Europe it is frequently the better buy outright.

And SWISS, Lufthansa's own group sibling, is both worse and dearer — 7.3 on product with a seat scoring 5, at a $1,708 median premium. Being inside the Lufthansa Group buys you the same lounges and the same alliance, not the same cabin.

Booking it with points

Lufthansa is a Star Alliance carrier. In our data Star Alliance is both the cheapest alliance to fly to Europe and the widest — a $842 median economy round trip across 662 routes and 11 carriers, against oneworld's $930.

The programs that reach it are Aeroplan, ANA, United MileagePlus and Turkish Miles&Smiles, plus any transferable currency that feeds them. Aeroplan is our strongest transfer destination for Europe and does not add fuel surcharges on most Star Alliance partners, which matters more on Lufthansa than on most carriers.

Be careful how you value that award, though. A Lufthansa business award measured against the $5,396 median Star Alliance business fare looks far better than the same award measured against what you would actually have paid. The arithmetic is here.

The verdict

Allegris is the best cabin Jon has flown that you can actually build a Europe trip around, and on an A350-900 it is worth choosing.

But you are not buying Allegris. You are buying a Lufthansa business ticket, which resolves to Allegris or to a 2-2-2 cabin five seat points worse, at the same fare, with the aircraft subject to change. Until the retrofit finishes, the honest way to book Lufthansa business is to check the equipment, treat Allegris as the upside rather than the expectation, and decline to pay a premium over a competitor whose cabin is consistent.

In economy the calculation is much simpler, and much better: 9 out of 10 on Value, cheapest on 71 routes, and a connection through Frankfurt or Munich that reaches European cities most airlines do not sell at all.

Common questions

Is Lufthansa business class good?: The new Allegris cabin is very good — 8.8 out of 10 on verifiable product, number 6 of the 31 carriers we score, with a full 10 on seat for a 1-2-1 layout that gives every passenger direct aisle access. The problem is that Lufthansa is still flying two business cabins at the same fare. The legacy 2-2-2 scores 7.5, and its seat scores 5, because the window passenger climbs over a stranger to reach the aisle.
Which Lufthansa planes have Allegris?: Only newly delivered A350-900s and 787-9s. The 747-8 retrofit is mid-rollout through late 2026 and the older A330-300s keep the legacy cabin entirely. That means the same route, on the same day, at the same fare can produce either product, and the aircraft assigned to a booking can change after you pay. Check the equipment before you choose Lufthansa over a competitor on the strength of Allegris.
Is Lufthansa cheap to Europe?: In economy, yes — it carries a $50 median premium across 292 routes and is the outright cheapest carrier on 71 of them, which ranks it number 10 of 31 on price and scores 9 out of 10 on Value. In business it is a different airline: a $1,019 median premium across 251 routes, and a Value score of 7.
Does Lufthansa fly nonstop to Europe?: To its own hubs, and almost nowhere else. Of its 292 economy fares in our grid, only 21 are nonstop — the rest connect, 165 through Frankfurt and 104 through Munich. That is the business model rather than a shortcoming: Lufthansa sells the connection, which is how it reaches 29 European destinations from 14 US cities.
Have you flown Lufthansa business class?: Yes, in business on a Europe route, which is why this is labeled Flown rather than Researched. Service, food and ground recovery are still unscored, as they are in every review here: they cannot be read off a specification, and the four dimensions below are the ones that can.

Written by

Jon Miksis

Jon Miksis has run travel businesses since 2017 and spends 3–6 months a year traveling, two to three of them in Europe. He has taken 250+ flights and booked every one himself, and regularly flies Boston to Europe for under $300 round trip. Every “Flown” review is from his own seat.

This review is from Jon's own seat on this airline and cabin, on a Europe route.

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