One Flight. Four Cabins. Four Meals.

Each week, my Meal of the Week feature examines an airline meal from my travels over the years. This may be a meal from earlier in the week or it may be a meal served over a decade ago.

Have you ever wondered what an airline serves in different cabins on the same flight? For this installment of my Meal of the Week feature, we take a look at breakfast in economy class, premium economy, business class, and first class on Lufthansa Flight 457 from Los Angeles to Frankfurt.

That’s actually the only flight I’ve flown in all four cabins of service, so it marks the natural choice for this review. I’ll mention at the outset that is has been some years since I flew business class, but while the cutlery and crockery may have changed, the meal is essentially unchanged.

Economy Class

Lufthansa served a hot breakfast prior to landing. No choice was offered: just an egg frittata (with spinach and tomatoes), cooked spinach, and some greasy hash browns. On the side was a cold bread roll and a small container of fruit with pineapple, watermelon, and grapes. Lufthansa uses metal cutlery for the main meal, but plastic for breakfast.

> Review: Lufthansa A380 Economy Class Los Angeles To Frankfurt

Premium Economy Class

Premium economy passengers were offered a cheese omelet with cooked tomato, and has browns. In fact, had this been the same flight date as my economy class trip above, the egg dish would have been the same frittata. Fruit (same pineapple, grape, watermelon blend) and a bread roll (but warmed, unlike in economy class) were serve on the side. Unlike in economy class, Lufthansa uses glass not plastic. Plastic cutlery is used, but sturdier than in economy class.

> Review: Lufthansa A380 Premium Economy Los Angeles to Frankfurt

Business Class

A familiar omelet with hash browns is served in business class and really no different than the meals served in premium economy or economy. It was plated nicer and came with a cloth napkin and real cutlery. Sliced fruit on the side was a bit more substantial and the flaky croissant was appreciated.

> Review: Lufthansa 747-8 Business Class Frankfurt to Los Angeles

First Class

So far, the differences have been minor. First class, however, offers a totally different breakfast experience. The a la carte menu includes fresh breads, fruit, yogurt, cereal, cold cuts, cheese, and scrambled eggs with bacon. Fresh squeezed orange juice, fruit smoothies, and delectable cappuccino (plus regular coffee and tea, of course) are available.

> Review: Lufthansa 747-8 First Class Los Angeles to Frankfurt

CONCLUSION

You can see that economy, premium economy, and business class all receive roughly the same meal. That’s not so much a problem as it is a recognition that you can only do so much for breakfast on an airplane. Yet first class shows how lovely a breakfast on an airplane can be.

What is your favorite airline breakfast?