• Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
Live and Let's Fly
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
Home » Lufthansa » I Survived Lufthansa Economy Class
Lufthansa

I Survived Lufthansa Economy Class

Matthew Klint Posted onMarch 20, 2019November 14, 2023 39 Comments

a window with a seat and a bag on it

A couple years ago I wrote an article entitled, “I Survived Lufthansa Premium Economy.” Now I have the pleasure of saying that I survived economy class as well. Barely…

I say barely not because I cannot take a 10+ hour flight in economy class. Instead, I was simply not prepared for a flight in Lufthansa economy. First, Lufthansa has no power plugs in economy class for larger devices, only a USB port. How can that be in 2019? When I do fly economy class it is usually on United and every single United mainline aircraft now offers power ports (at least two for every three seats).

an airplane with rows of seats

an airplane with rows of seats

a row of seats in an airplane

a row of seats in an airplane

a close up of a usb port

My laptop was fully charged, but that’s only 3-4 hours. Thankfully, my business partner bought his portable charger along and I was able to use it to re-charge. So note to self: bring back up power when you fly on Lufthansa! Shame on me for not knowing better…

Second, the legroom is truly horrible when the seat in front of you is reclined. Lufthansa has fairly generous recline for economy class, but it is murder if you’re trying to work while your neighbor in front is fully-reclined. Here is photo evidence:

a man sitting in an airplane with a laptop

(Yes, my business partner relished coming down from first class and rubbing in the difference between our cabin accommodations)

And I even wound up with an open middle seat…

Service was friendly, food was “blah” (not great, not bad, just mediocre), and wi-fi worked no differently than in any other class…very sporadically. I do appreciate Lufthansa’s extensive IFE library, which I took advantage of when I could not sleep.

a tray of food on a table

a tray of food and drinks on a table

CONCLUSION

Of course I survived…I’d do it again IF I had to. But the beauty of miles and points is that I don’t…at least not for longer trips like this one. When I fly home, it will be in the forward cabin…count on that.

But I will post a full review of this flight with a lot more pictures in the days ahead. Stay tuned later today for another incident that occurred onboard.

an airplane wing and water and city

an airplane wing and city landscape

an airplane at an airport

Get Daily Updates

Join our mailing list for a daily summary of posts! We never sell your info.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Previous Article 737 MAX Customers Have Nowhere Else To Turn But To Boeing…
Next Article An Onboard Shower…In Lufthansa A380 Economy Class

About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

Related Posts

  • United Airlines June 2024 operations

    The Problem With The Airlines’ “Capacity” Earnings Narrative

    July 21, 2024
  • delta earnings lufthansa

    Delta, Lufthansa Join Major Airlines, Revise Earnings Down

    July 14, 2024
  • Lufthansa Senator Lounge Frankfurt Review

    Review: Lufthansa Senator Lounge B (Non-Schengen) – Frankfurt (FRA)

    February 1, 2024

39 Comments

  1. Chiguy1979 Reply
    March 20, 2019 at 10:10 am

    I totally agreed that economy across the ocean is never “fun” (well, I always think hopping on a plane to another country is fun) but I do think LH is one of the better options out there. I have a solid stash of UA and Chase UR points and have found that LH and other Star Alliance partners have great award availability out of ORD but sometimes a purchased fare is just too good to pass up. A recent trip to Lyon is a prime example – less than $500 r/t in standard (not basic) economy. I’d have greatly preferred to be upstairs on the 747-8 but I think the 45 or 46 BC or HJ paired seats at the back of the cabin are among the better economy options in the sky. The extra storage is fantastic and the proximity to the flight attendants is great for top offs on drinks. We indulged in the upgrade a la carte meals on the last FRA-ORD flight and were thoroughly impressed. Don’t get me wrong – row 85 upstairs is infinitely better but I’ll take LH any day for a relatively short 8-10 hour flights between Chicago and Germany. The experience is leaps and bounds better than UA, DL, or AA on a comparable flight.

    • Arthur Reply
      March 20, 2019 at 5:18 pm

      Agree. I used to fly TATL economy a fair amount, and thought that on LH the food and service were generally better and they had cleaner seats, so superior to any US carrier, though AF was my favorite. Admittedly, I have not managed to get stuck in economy on long haul in quite a few years, between certificates, miles and time spent searching for discounted fares and cheaper connections.

  2. Axel Reply
    March 20, 2019 at 10:10 am

    There are standard power outlets under each pair of seats in economy on every lufthansa plane!

    • Matthew Reply
      March 20, 2019 at 10:14 am

      Nope. Not on this one.

    • Mallthus Reply
      March 20, 2019 at 10:17 am

      Nope. Only updated aircraft. That’s all A350 and 748. It’s hit or miss on the A330, A340, and 744. The A380s have none.

  3. Howard Reply
    March 20, 2019 at 10:20 am

    5 star airline my ass.

    Congratulations on living like a peasant for a day.

  4. MeanMeosh Reply
    March 20, 2019 at 10:30 am

    That death stare of yours is priceless.

    You should make John pick up the spaghettieis for the next week as payback!

  5. Justin Reply
    March 20, 2019 at 10:31 am

    You are absolutely right about the difference between “I can do it if need be” and “It’s not what I choose to do”. There’s no shame in selecting what you want to spend your hard-earned dollars and points on.

    The one perk to economy, for me, is meeting interesting people. There is less privacy, and some people are excited about being on a special vacation or trip and want to chat about it.

  6. JD Reply
    March 20, 2019 at 10:44 am

    why would you not survive? ahem… what makes you so special?

  7. Debit Reply
    March 20, 2019 at 10:47 am

    And I personally think they will create statues and write epitomes of your feat for eternity. Bravo!

  8. Debit Reply
    March 20, 2019 at 10:49 am

    All the non american carriers the younger and hotter flight attendants are in economy. That is enough of an incentive for me to go by economy if needed.

  9. Zack Morris Reply
    March 20, 2019 at 10:55 am

    Hello rich brat! You complain about being tight on a plane while 90% of the population of this planet has never experienced air travel! Maybe you should reconsider what is the marvel of flying.. bridges in the skies bringing people together. . Getting you where you need to be or even better, where you want to be! Drop that laptop of yours for a duration of a flight and get to know the person sat next to you. That might be the beginning of something. Too bad for whoever is sat next to you. Narrow minded Matthew.. Grow up man we are all peasants!

    • Stuart Reply
      March 20, 2019 at 11:47 am

      Talk to the person next to you? What century are you in, lol.

    • Luis Abecassis Reply
      October 31, 2019 at 4:55 am

      Bravo! My thoughts exactly

  10. Richard Reply
    March 20, 2019 at 10:56 am

    wearing united PJs in lufthansa economy for the praxis !

  11. Melissa Cristóvão Reply
    March 20, 2019 at 2:01 pm

    I flew once in LH economy (Munich to Hong Kong), and wasn’t impressed. The food was OK, but the way meal service was handled was poor and slow (they first served the “starter” which was basically a bag of salty cookies and a cup of juice, and only after that they served the main course…about 40 minutes after the starter, when people were already starving). The crew was OK, far from friendly, and one of the FAs even rolled her eyes at a passenger for taking too long to chose his meal (it would have helped if she could explain what the meal, a goulash, is, but this didn’t occur to her). Legroom was poor and I’m only 4’11. Service was a lot better on the return flight (Hong Kong to Zurich), which was operated by Swiss. They were a lot faster serving the meal and they served the starter and the main at the same time. FAs were effective (one came to me about one second after I pressed the call button!) and smiling a lot more.

    • Donato Reply
      March 20, 2019 at 5:19 pm

      Eye rolling by cabin crew is not exclusive to economy class. My daughter ordered tea while travelling JFK-ZRH on SWISS. She asked what tea options were available, I wish I could have filmed the eye rolls.
      On a recent United 12 hour flight in business I found one Cabin crew member, Frank, to be very rude. I asked a younger crew member and he explained, Frank got up on the wrong side this morning. He then exclaimed that he was surprised, he found me to be a very easy passenger.
      I didn’t know that crew scored passengers. LOL

      • Melissa Cristóvão Reply
        March 20, 2019 at 5:35 pm

        I guess most service people score customers and certainly curse the most annoying ones which is fine as long as they keep it between them. Now rolling eyes at customers should be enough reason to get told off by your boss regardless of where the person happens to be working.

  12. Esteban Reply
    March 20, 2019 at 2:09 pm

    OMG, you know, just for like, you know, like, totally fun, I’m going to…omg, it’s hilarious, I’m going to fly economy class. I know, like, totally not me but I’ll do it just to show how tough I am, you know, like, you know, like, totally, you know, like

    • andrew Reply
      March 20, 2019 at 9:21 pm

      exactly rather than being informative blogg its turned into i piss take. All the comments appear to be from self proclaimed business and first class flyers mocking economy. yet the writer claims to fly on cheap using miles etc. A bit of a contradiction. face facts if you can afford do it if you cant dont. no point in highlighting shortcomings between the classes and making embarassing comments about bravery and living like a peasant. all rather pointless

      • Matthew Reply
        March 20, 2019 at 9:24 pm

        And yet you still took the time to comment. Thanks!

  13. Howard Miller Reply
    March 20, 2019 at 3:15 pm

    How about doing (as another reader also suggested in your original post) the trip back in Premium Economy to possibly offer a comparison again regular economy – and if you find it a worthwhile value for those whose budgets (and credit lines) are more limited than the cost/points for biz or 1st classes requires?

    It’s a westbound flight, so sleep might not be as critical; plus your expertise comparing the four (4) varied classes from nose to tail might also offer an unique perspective to better assess LH’s PE as a value proposition than most other reviewers have.

    Just (seconding) an idea… 😉

    Cheers!

    • Matthew Reply
      March 20, 2019 at 11:36 pm

      Hi Howard,

      Already done!

      https://liveandletsfly.boardingarea.com/2017/06/24/lufthansa-a380-premium-economy-review/

  14. Justin Reply
    March 20, 2019 at 4:00 pm

    Despite all the hand-wringing about narrower seat pitches, I gotta say that the single greatest innovation to make long-haul flights in economy tolerable is the personal on-demand IFE screen and/or the IPad with downloadable content. Long-Haul economy class flights truly were hell in the days where you had to watch movies on a big screen with no choice… but personal IFE makes the time go ALOT faster. I’d take 12 hours in modern economy with an IPad over 12 hours in first in 1980.

    • Howard Reply
      March 20, 2019 at 10:54 pm

      They did have books back in the day.

  15. Sivaprasad holigi Reply
    March 20, 2019 at 7:14 pm

    About the food served in economy the less said better

  16. Chris Reply
    March 21, 2019 at 4:33 am

    3-4 hours of laptop battery life. How can that be in 2019?

    • Matthew Reply
      March 21, 2019 at 3:35 pm

      New Apple Macbook Pro. And that four hours is if I am lucky and have most apps closed…

  17. Martin Dott Reply
    March 21, 2019 at 3:00 pm

    I’m sorry, yet I have followed your blog for some time now, and always enjoyed reading your opinions and reviews about travelling all over the globe.
    Today, I’m pretty disgusted at what you have decided to publish.

    I’m a frequent flier, long and short haul based in Europe. I also work as Cabin Crew for an airline that’s exclusively European in terms of route network.
    I get the odd perks and upgrades and when I can, I’ll treat myself to at the very least premium economy, sometimes business.
    This is a really unfair post about what’s it’s like to travel among us common people, and boo bloody hoo you decided to do it as a ‘joke!’
    Long haul economy can sometimes be the best Cabin if the aircraft it be in, rather than those who think they elitist and think they deserve better.

    Yes, if you can afford the luxury, I have no quibbles, yet don’t downstep those that flying economy who perhaps saved thousands and thousands of Pounds (I’m Scottish, so U.K. sterling) for what may to them, be a trip of a lifetime to slag off the conditions they travel in.

    An unhappy follower of your blog.
    You have really went down in my estimations of what I thought what a serious and respectful travel blogger.

    Trot along away and turn left every time you board an aircraft. You won’t be welcome turning right with an attitude like you have shown in this post.

    • Matthew Reply
      March 21, 2019 at 3:34 pm

      Hi Martin,

      I appreciate your comment and thank you for reading. I actually travel fairly regularly on United in economy class–the point is not that I am “too good” for economy class or that I cannot tolerate it. This flight became a “joke” because I had plenty of miles and business class redemptions were wide open. Thus, it became a deliberate choice to fly economy when the extra miles were inconsequential.

      One of the primary purposes of my blog is to help people essentially fly premium cabin for coach prices. I don’t promise free travel — it doesn’t exist. But with the right credit card spending and use of miles and points, you don’t have to sit in coach unless you choose to. Here, I chose to.

      So I don’t “downstep” those who fly economy. Whether by choice or necessity, sometimes flying economy class just makes sense. But again, my point is only to underscore what a huge difference as few as 25K points in securing longhaul passage.

      Thanks again for reading and commenting.

      • R. Reply
        April 18, 2020 at 1:07 pm

        I think your review is very helpful. No matter what class you fly. I am having to pick between this and another airline and this review is helpful.

  18. Viviana Mora Reply
    July 24, 2019 at 9:39 am

    I’ve never had the chance to fly prem economy or business and i’m a travel agent (but obviously dont travel enough myself). I’m making a trip to REY with a loooong layover in FRA both ways so I looked up reviews or blogs about economy on Lufthansa since it will be my first time flying with them. I thought your post was funny but also informative for me, 1. I now know at least my seats will recline a lot 😀 (I had to laugh at that picture) and 2. I had to look up what plane i’ll be flying on 747 to see if i’ll have enough laptop time (although mine is for homework not work, so I really wouldn’t be upset if it died LOL). I appreciate your post. People get butthurt at everything now a days. Keep on writing! Thank you!

    • Matthew Reply
      July 24, 2019 at 12:58 pm

      Thank you Viviana!

  19. Ryan Reply
    September 22, 2019 at 4:09 am

    Ok. I cannot believe theres no power /USB outlet to charge your phone on the 380 in eco. Are you serious ?

    • Anastasiya Reply
      November 25, 2020 at 1:34 pm

      I flu Lufthansa premium economy just a month ago. And I love travel. But I also should day I survived it. Barely.
      Why customer service was pretty good (ok, let’s say), there were only two food services on 15 hrs flight, 12 hrs apart. Vegetarian options only!!! Snake were just chocolates, fruit – when we asked for something rather then chocolate.

      But in first place, they did not even put me on a plane, my first leg; transfer where supposed to be to United. Which had never happened to me before!!! They said it is because of layover is more then 12 hrs, and they will not transfer my baggage.???
      Eventually, 10 days later, I was finally able to fly. After they forced me to force United to change 2nd leg from United to Lufthansa. Now that was ok to transfer my baggage.‍♀️

      Airport security pass in Frankfurt happened to be a horror experience on this trip.

  20. Luis Abecassis Reply
    October 31, 2019 at 5:01 am

    Jeez… whatever happened to read a (real as opposed to screen) book on flights?? Also, the person who sat in front of you,, the recliner, is probably thinking how good that Lufthansa economy class seats recline so comfortably, so that he or she could rest. It’s all a matter of perspective.

  21. Leo A Bader Reply
    January 29, 2020 at 11:27 am

    I have to say that it is very pretentious to be making these complaints when you are someone privileged enough to be able to fly. It’s also disgusting that you still entertain the idea of flying first class even when the climate crisis is at its height, and the pollution of first class has been well documented. You should be ashamed of yourself.

    • Jerk Reply
      July 18, 2021 at 7:32 pm

      Ground all planes! Cut down 100’s of square miles of trees for solar panels/ Put up turbines and kill birds.

  22. Sam Reply
    September 16, 2023 at 2:17 pm

    That’s why I don’t fly anymore – too much hassle

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Search

Hot Deals for May

Note: Please see my Advertiser Disclosure

Capital One Venture X Business Card
Earn 150,000 Miles Sign Up Bonus
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Earn 100,000 Points
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 Miles!
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 Miles
Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Earn $750 Cash Back
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Earn 120,000 Membership Reward® Points

Recent Posts

  • United Airlines Domestic Check-In Cutoff
    United Airlines Adjusts Check-In Window For Domestic Flights May 22, 2025
  • Delta Sky Club ATL E Review
    Review: Delta Sky Club Atlanta (ATL) – Concourse E May 22, 2025
  • Influencer Dog United Airlines
    Unreal: Influencer Brings Her Massive Great Dane “Service Dog” On United Airlines Flight May 21, 2025
  • Hawaiian Airlines Bomb Threat
    “The Guy Next To Me Has A Bomb!” Hawaiian Airlines Passenger’s Lie Sparks Tarmac Chaos May 21, 2025

Categories

Popular Posts

  • a room with a table and benches
    Where To Smoke At Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG) April 26, 2025
  • United Airlines Polaris Lounge Chicago Review
    Review: United Polaris Lounge Chicago (ORD) May 1, 2025
  • United Airlines Refresh Polaris Lounge Chicago
    First Look: United Airlines Reopens Renovated Polaris Lounge In Chicago (ORD) April 29, 2025
  • a hand holding a blue card
    Chase Sapphire Preferred 100K Bonus Offer Ending Soon May 2, 2025

Archives

May 2025
M T W T F S S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031  
« Apr    

As seen on:

facebook twitter instagram rss
Privacy Policy © Live and Let's Fly All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Live and Let's Fly with appropriate and specific directions to the original content.