How To Book Lufthansa First Class Using Miles, Plus Current Routes

Booking yourself into a swanky Lufthansa First Class seat using points and miles is an aspiration for many in this points and miles hobby. Part of that may come from the fact that it's not the easiest award ticket to get. Here's how to book Lufthansa first class using miles, plus which routes are currently operating first-class products.

Which Aircraft Have Lufthansa First Class?

Lufthansa operates its first class on its Airbus A340-600s, Airbus A380s, and Boeing 747s. The Airbus A380 operates two routes out of Munich, while the 747-8 aircraft operate solely out of Frankfurt. However, the A340-600 aircraft are flying out of both Frankfurt and Munich. In 2024, Lufthansa will introduce first class into some of their Airbus A350 aircraft.

So which aircraft are actually flying Lufthansa first class right now?

Lufthansa Airbus A380 Routes

For winter 2023-2024, Lufthansa is operating its A380 aircraft on two routes from Munich:

• Bangkok (BKK)
• Los Angeles (LAX)

However, as Lufthansa pulls more A380 aircraft out of storage, they will operate the following routes:

• Boston (BOS) – beginning March 31, 2024
• Delhi (DEL) – beginning March 31, 2024
• Los Angeles (LAX)
• New York (JFK) – beginning March 31, 2024
• Washington (IAD) – beginning June 1, 2024

First class seats on Airbus A380

There are eight first class seats on the upper deck of Lufthansa's Airbus A380, and are laid out in a 1-2-1 seating arrangement.

Airbus A340-600 Routes

Lufthansa's Airbus A340-600 flies on the following routes.

Frankfurt to:

• Bogota (BOG)
• Boston (BOS) – beginning March 2024
• Chicago (ORD) – excluding February 2024
• Hong Kong (HKG)
• Houston (IAH) – beginning February 2024

Munich to:

• Boston (BOS)
• Miami (MIA)
• Newark (EWR) – until December 26, 2023. Restarting March 31, 2024
• New York (JFK)

First class seats on A340-600

There are 8 first-class seats on the Lufthansa A340-600 aircraft. These are found in rows 1-2 of the aircraft, arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration.

Lufthansa Boeing 747-8 Routes

Lufthansa operates its Boeing 747-8s out of Frankfurt (FRA) airport in Germany. Current routes are from Frankfurt to the following airports.

• Buenos Aires (EZE)
• Chicago (ORD)
• Johannesburg (JNB)
• Los Angeles (LAX)
• Mexico City (MEX)
• Miami (MIA)
• Newark (EWR)
• San Francisco (SFO)
• Sao Paolo (GRU)
• Shanghai (PVG)
• Singapore (SIN)
• Tokyo Haneda (HND)
• Washington (IAD)

First class seats on B747-8

There are 8 first-class seats on this aircraft, situated in rows 1-3 in the nose of the aircraft. Due to the curvature of the plane, seats are arranged as follows:

• 1-0-1
• 1-0-1
• 1-2-1

Quirks for Booking Lufthansa First Class Using Miles

Now that we understand what routes have Lufthansa first class, let's look at using miles to get tickets. There are two major limitations you need to understand.

No advance availability to partners

Lufthansa offers its first-class seats to its own loyalty members first. Members of the Miles & More program can book Lufthansa first-class seats using their miles as soon as availability is released.

Traditional thinking in this hobby has been that Lufthansa only releases first award space to partners 14-15 days before the flight. This can require some last-minute planning and a bit of luck to get a seat. That may be part of why people get so excited to fly Lufthansa first class using miles — the chase makes it more rewarding for many.

Back in August 2021, One Mile At a Time reported spotty availability for first-class partner awards beyond 15 days. However, it seems this has gone away. At the time of writing, I could not find any partner award availability for Lufthansa First Class beyond 15 days.

Lufthansa's own program is a mixed bag

Since we know that Lufthansa Miles & More members can use miles to book first-class seats as soon as possible, it's worth examining this program.

Lufthansa miles expire 36 months from the date they are earned, and you can also pool miles with family members. These two features may give you enough time to amass miles and redeem for a first-class seat — if advance booking is a priority for you.

While advance availability and a decent expiration policy are the positives, the negative is that there are no optimal transfer partners from the major currencies to Lufthansa Miles & More. The sole transfer option used to be sending Marriott Bonvoy points to Miles & More at a 3:1 ratio. However, even this transfer option was suspended in 2019.

This lack of transfer partners may make amassing sufficient miles for a first-class redemption difficult in Lufthansa's own program unless you buy Miles & More miles. Add to this the fact that the current welcome offer (60,000 miles) on the Miles & More^® World Elite Mastercard^® is nowhere near enough for a first-class award redemption.

Finally, Lufthansa tacks heavy fuel surcharges to award bookings in its program. This is another reason why the negatives may offset the positives.

Best Programs To Book Lufthansa First Class Using Miles

When considering the “best,” I will include two factors for eligibility:

• Little or no fuel surcharges (cash portion is low)
• Multiple options to amass miles in the account

These programs are quality options for booking Lufthansa first class with low cash requirements and the ability to amass miles easily in the account you want to use.

Avianca LifeMiles

LifeMiles has the lowest mileage requirement out of these the programs we consider the top three. Plus, its cash requirement is fairly average.

For a Lufthansa first class flight from Frankfurt (FRA) to San Francisco (SFO), you will need 87,000 LifeMiles. For taxes and fees, you'll pay $154.

The biggest downside: LifeMiles sometimes struggles to see Lufthansa award availability. However, if Lufthansa First Class award availability shows up on LifeMiles, it's the top option.

One of the reasons is just how easy it is to accumulate LifeMiles. You can transfer points to LifeMiles from the following major transferrable points programs:

Just note that Marriott Bonvoy transfers to LifeMiles no longer get 5,000 bonus points for transferring 60,000 points.

Air Canada Aeroplan

Aeroplan generally charges the 2nd-lowest mileage requirement. However, a partner redemption fee means that the out-of-pocket cost is the highest, adding up to $183 USD on flights from Germany.

Aeroplan has the following transfer partner options:

You can gain Aeroplan points via the welcome offer on its credit card available to U.S. travelers: Aeroplan^® Credit Card.

Aeroplan^® Credit Card

Apply Now
Rates & Fees

Aeroplan^® Credit Card

Annual Fee$95

Welcome Bonus Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.

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Why We Like ItHighlightsEarning Rates

The Aeroplan^® Credit Card earns 3x points on grocery, dining, and Air Canada direct purchases. Cardholders receive 500 bonus points for every $2,000 you spend in a calendar month (up to 1,500 points per month), and earn a 10% bonus on Chase Ultimate Rewards point transfers to Aeroplan, enhancing point value. The card includes a free first checked bag for up to eight people on the same reservation, no foreign transaction fees, and a Global Entry/TSA PreCheck^®/NEXUS fee credit.

• Earn 75,000 bonus points
• Earn 75K bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
• $95 Annual Fee
• Redeem points for both international and domestic flights with the Aeroplan® Credit Card.
• Fly to another continent and travel the world with the Aeroplan® Credit Card.
• Earn 3X points for each dollar spent at grocery stores, on dining at restaurants, and Air Canada directly. Earn 1X point for each dollar spent on all other purchases.
• 500 bonus points for every $2,000 you spend in a calendar month - up to 1,500 points per month.
• Member FDIC
• Rates & Fees

• 3x points directly with Air Canada
• 3x points on dining, including takeout and eligible delivery services
• 3x points at grocery stores
• 1x point on all other purchases

And four available to residents of Canada:

• TD^® Aeroplan^® Visa Infinite
• TD^® Aeroplan^® Visa Infinite Privilege Card
• TD^® Aeroplan^® Visa Platinum
• TD^® Aeroplan^® Visa Business

United MileagePlus

MileagePlus will charge the highest amount of miles on this Frankfurt-San Francisco flight option. However, cash requirements are the lowest with United.

In recent AwardWallet user redemptions, United MileagePlus miles have averaged 1.69¢ per mile for economy award bookings. Using this as a bare minimum, an extra 21,000 miles over Aeroplan is worth around $355 more in mileage costs. So, if all programs show the same availability and you have options with your points and miles, United would likely be your last resort.

United MileagePlus has the following transfer partner options:

There are a bunch of United credit cards available to U.S. residents which you can use boost your mileage balance:

• The New United℠ Explorer Card (Rates & Fees)
• The New United Quest℠ Card (Rates & Fees)
• The New United Club℠ Card (Rates & Fees)
• The New United℠ Business Card (Rates & Fees)

Comparisons on other routes

Here are comparisons for using miles to book Lufthansa first class on other routes, in order to give a broader understanding of your best options:

• Munich–New York (distance of 4,038 miles)
  • Aeroplan: 100,000 miles
  • LifeMiles: 87,000 miles
  • United: 121,000 miles
• São Paulo–Frankfurt (distance of 6,085 miles)
  • Aeroplan: 100,000 miles
  • LifeMiles: 105,000 miles
  • United: 137,500 miles

As you can see, which partner charges the fewest miles completely depends on the distance of the route you're flying. Where you're flying also matters since all of these programs use zones but divide the zones quite differently.

How To Find Availability

Seats.aero

Seats.aero recently introduced a Lufthansa First Class Finder tool on their website. The tool displays all Lufthansa First Class availability within 14 days of departure, their prices, the last time Seats.aero checked the flight availability, and the prices on United and Aeroplan. The Seats.aero table is also searchable, meaning that you can type in an airport code to quickly see if Lufthansa first class availability exists.

If you press on the information icon for a flight on the right side of each row and press the “First” tab, you can then press the Book button to be directed to either United or Aeroplan.

At the time of writing, Seats.aero does not support searching with Avianca. However, you can easily search for a flight returned by the Lufthansa First Class Finder tool on the Avianca website.

United Airlines search engine

United's search engine is another solid option for looking at Lufthansa first-class availability, especially if you want to look at availability with a connecting flight. Seats.aero does not currently support looking at connecting flights alongside Lufthansa first-class availability. You can use these tools alongside each other by initially finding first-class availability on Seats.aero and then searching for the complete itinerary on United.

Here are the steps:

Go to United.com and click on the “advanced search” option.

You will be taken to this screen. Ensure that you choose “Miles” for your price, “Nonstop only” under your destination, and choose “First” for the cabin.

This will show you only non-stop flights — since we should be searching just for the route with Lufthansa First Class to start. Even if you have a connection — such as starting in Vienna, going to Frankfurt, and then the first class flight to San Francisco — it's easiest to find the date with the first class flight first.

Once you find the most difficult piece (the first class flight available on miles), then you can search for the whole itinerary (with the connection.

Once you've found availability for your itinerary, you should be able to replicate it with LifeMiles or Aeroplan to compare award costs.

Bottom Line

Lufthansa is currently flying first-class products out of Frankfurt (FRA) and Munich (MUC) airports. You'll only find Lufthansa First Class on Lufthansa's Airbus A380, Airbus A340-600, and Boeing 747-8 aircraft.

Searching for Lufthansa First Class award availability using miles is significantly easier with the release of Seats.aero's Lufthansa First Class Finder tool. However, finding availability is not the easiest of feats, and that may be part of why it's so aspirational in the points and miles world.

Lufthansa releases award availability to its own program well in advance, but partners typically have access only 15 days before the flight. Due to a lack of solid transfer partners and a lack of generous sign-up bonuses from credit cards, getting the required miles in your Miles & More account may be difficult. Then, you need to be willing to pay the costly surcharges.

Overall, the best options for “easy to accrue miles” plus “low cash costs” are Aeroplan, LifeMiles, and MileagePlus. Using these programs to book Lufthansa first class should be your best bet, but remember that you'll only have access to redemptions 15 days before the flight.

For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Aeroplan^® Credit Card (Rates & Fees), The New United℠ Explorer Card (Rates & Fees), The New United Quest℠ Card (Rates & Fees), The New United Club℠ Card (Rates & Fees), and The New United℠ Business Card (Rates & Fees)

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