The Lufthansa First Class Terminal in Frankfurt (FRA) is one of my favorite first class lounges in the world and continues to offer a fabulous ground experience for Lufthansa’s most premium passengers.
Lufthansa First Class Terminal Review
I spent three glorious hours in this lounge after my flight from New York to Frankfurt in Lufthansa First Class last month. This review is a compilation of many reviews over the years of this excellent facility.
Access + Hours + Location
There are only two ways to access this lounge: hold HON Circle status in Lufthansa’s Miles & More program or fly in first class. While American Express Centurion cardholders have access to Lufthansa First Class Lounges, access is not granted to the First Class Terminal.
Both status members and first class passengers are allowed a single guest, but only if that guest is traveling on the same flight. There used to be an exception for partners or spouses which only had to be traveling same-day on a Lufthansa Group flight, but that is no longer the case.
Passengers who upgrade from business class or use miles to fly first class are eligible to use the First Class Terminal.
The lounge is currently open daily from 5:30AM to 10:00PM.
This is meant as a departure lounge for travel originating in Frankfurt, meaning you cannot use this lounge if your travel is terminating in Frankfurt (unlike like the First Class Lounges in the A Gate or the still-closed B Gate area, which ordinarily welcome arriving passengers). However, if you are connecting via Frankfurt on a Lufthansa Group carrier (Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, Brussels Airlines), you can use this lounge before your connection as long as you arrived same-day in first class or hold HON status.
If you arrive in Lufthansa First Class and are connecting on another carrier outside the Lufthansa Group, even if Star Alliance, you technically do not have access to the Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt. I say “technically” because while those are the access rules and most agents are very strict in enforcing those rules, there have been instances in which passengers connecting on another Star Alliance flight are allowed entrance into the lounge. Consider access an exception, not an expectation, if you fall under this scenario. Either way, you’ll have to get to the Terminal yourself.
The First Class Terminal is indeed a separate terminal, with its own entrance, its own security, and even its own immigration booth. If you enter the airport by car, follow highway signs for Terminal 1 and you will enter via the upper level by turning right before you reach the main passenger terminal.
If you are connecting, head out on the bottom level of Terminal 1, turn left, walk several hundred meters past the taxi rank, and then you’ll see the Terminal. There’s a circular staircase, like a vintage 747, taking you upstairs or you can enter on the ground floor and take an elevator upstairs.
When arriving by car, staff will often come out and offer assistance with your bags. Once inside, you’ll be asked to surrender your passport. After verifying your name against the flight manifest, you’ll be escorted through security, which is no different than security in the passenger terminal, minus the lines.
Your escort will ensure you are comfortably seated in the lounge with your boarding pass, then leave you alone – when it is time to board they will return with your passport and escort you downstairs.
COVID-19 Test Or Proof Of Vaccine Required To Enter – No Longer In Force
Until recently, pursuant to German law, you needed to present a negative COVID-19 test (not more than 24 hours old) or proof of vaccination in order to enter the lounge. This is no longer in force.
Should you require a COVID-19 test, the onsite testing booth in the Terminal lobby has also been removed. Head to the Centogene test center in Terminal 1 near the long-distance train station for airport testing.
Seating
After clearing security, walk past the duty-free shop on the left (currently closed) and you’ll encounter the heart of the lounge. From there, you can turn left or right for comfortable seating in chairs clustered together, usually in groups of 4-8. The seating areas feature Italian-made leather chairs from Balieri Italia, which are extremely comfortable (and also quite pricey…I did look).
My favorite seats in the lounge are the relaxing chairs along the window.
There’s always a power port close by, often on the floor.
Work Rooms
Several work rooms are available where you can discreetly make phone calls or use a desk and ergonomic chair to work. If I do need to make a phone call, I step into one of these rooms, though many do make phone calls from the lounge.
Sleep Rooms
Two sleeping rooms offer a twin-sized bed in which you can rest if you have a lot of time in the lounge or are particularly tired. Ask the shower attendant if you wish to utilize one of them (often the doors are locked, but that does not necessarily imply they are in use).
Cigar Lounge
While Lufthansa no longer provides complimentary cigars or cigarettes, the smoking lounge remains and offers a cordoned-off area to smoke indoors.
Restrooms + Showers
I love the restrooms in the First Class Terminal because they are spacious, private, and Lufthansa uses real towels (versus paper towels). I also love the smell of the Malin + Goetz hand soap.
Shower rooms are available: just ask an attendant at the counter. If there is a wait, you can add your name to the list.
The shower suite that features a bathtub was out of order during my visit, but here is a picture from a previous visit:
Duck
Speaking of bathtubs, the signature souvenir of the Lufthansa First Class Terminal is a rubber duck. The standard-issue duck is black, though special edition ducks are offered throughout the year.
It used to be that the shower attendants would keep these in their cabinet: if you wanted one (or two or three), you just had to ask nicely. lately, it seems only the concierge staff have the ducks. Ask your flight assistant if you want one.
Near the entrance to the lounge (just past security) is a display of historic limited-edition ducks that have been offered over the years:
Tip: If you happen to be flying through the First Class Terminal on your birthday, let one of the attendants know. The Terminal offers a very special birthday duck that is only available on your birthday (no exceptions).
> Read More: My Unforgettable Birthday Surprise In Lufthansa First Class Terminal
Food + Drink
The highlight of the lounge is the extensive selection of food and drink, including a huge bar and restaurant offering a la carte dining. The extensive buffet has also returned to the dining area.
In addition to a great menu of a la carte items, coffee is free-flowing and the orange juice is still freshly-squeezed…two of my favorite things.
Here’s the current a la carte menu:
Last year in the lounge I enjoyed an omelet for breakfast…
…followed by schnitzel for lunch.
During my last visit, I enjoyed filet mignon, cooked a perfect medium rare, with salad.
The bar is quite extensive and included a huge menu of whiskey and nearly every bottle of top-shelf liquor you could put your mind on. The Champagne type varies, though I’ve seen Pommery 2004 Cuvée Louise Brut and more recently a 2007 Thiénot Cuvée Alain.
My favorite bourbon is Blanton’s and the First Class Terminal even had this…so we had a birthday toast:
There was also a wine-bar in the restaurant area with red, white, and rosé wine from around the world:
Chauffeur To Aircraft
One of my favorite parts of the First Class Terminal experience is being driven to your aircraft by a chauffeur. That allows you to bypass the crowds in the gate by pulling up beside the plane on the tarmac, taking an elevator directly to the jet bridge, then walking onboard.
The limousine area is located just below the lounge. When it is time to board, your concierge will find you, escort you to the elevator, then meet you downstairs for final immigration formalities if traveling outside the Schengen Area. From there, you are assigned a car and driver to take you to your plane.
Lufthansa currently has a fleet of Porsche sedans and Volkswagen vans. Unless you request private transport, you will typically be seated with other guests from your flight.
Service
The staff on day of travel could not have been kinder. There are some problematic staff members I’ve experienced during my many visits over the years, but none were present on the morning of my flight. I appreciated that the restaurant staff, hired by Do & Co and not Lufthansa, were very attentive. For example, I was asked no less than once every half hour if I needed a beverage refill.
Overall, I felt like a valuable client and appreciated the care and genuine friendliness of all the staff.
CONCLUSION – Lufthansa First Class Terminal Review
With a full range of food and beverage options available once again, this lounge is back to its pre-pandemic glory (minus the cigars, I suppose). In short, this is a fundamental part of the Lufthansa premium ground experience and should not be missed if you are traveling in Lufthansa First Class, especially for the first time.
If I lived in Germany again I would do everything in my power to become a HON Circle member in order to visit this lounge before each trip. It’s still one of the pinnacles of aspirational travel and a great way to begin a first class flight. Even without frequent flyer status, using the proper credit card can help you secure sufficient points to enjoy this wonderful product.
You can compare this Lufthansa First Class Terminal review to my 2011 and 2017 reviews here.
How would you review the Lufthansa First Class Terminal?
Great review, thanks! Given the hundreds of thousands of people visiting the FCT over the years, what are the odds that one time a staff member lost track of time and caused a traveler to miss his/her flight?
Funny you ask that–it happened to me! My now-wife and I were flying back to the US, and when we and the HON Circle member sharing a ride to the flight arrived, the plane had already pushed back.
They pulled it back up after a few frantic phone calls, and we were able to board without issue.
A plane returning to gate for you? Now that’s VIP service!
“Although I stuck to coffee and juice, the bar is extensive” — What?? There were 20 useless pictures of empty leather seating everyone has to fast-scroll through but nothing about if their beverage program changed and what the house champagne is? No interaction with staff about what changed and what services are coming back soon? This review is sadly only mediocre. Furniture in lounges is like videos of an engine when a plane is taking off — no one cares.
I’m sorry, we’ll promptly issue a refund. The Champagne, btw, was 2004 Cuvée Louise, which you can also find onboard.
I love videos of the engine at takeoff.
My one gripe about this lounge (and it’s so minimal I even hate to mention it), is you can’t see the ramp. One of the things I love in lounges is to look out the window and see the living airport. Here, you’re looking at a parking lot and buildings.
The Luca app is what we use for contact tracing, not to verify vaccination or testing. It is a pretty good app, handles your data privately much like the CoronaWarn app.
“That’s my only real gripe about my visit: the menu is very limited (a shadow of the pre-pandemic menu) and even breakfast staples like a bowl of berries were not available.”
You can get Bircher muesli and Wiener schnitzel. What more do you need? 🙂
Looks pretty much the same from my 2019 visit otherwise. That’s not a bad thing. I’ve mocked you for being a Lufthansa fanboy, but LH F and the FCT certainly merit the hype.
I thought there was a wall of self-pour whiskey in the cigar lounge. Maybe my memory has faded over time.
There was, but it is gone.
Those were the days! Brilliant review Matthew. I’ve passed through the lounge 3 times in 2022 volunteering In Ukraine etc… and still the best bar none including London’s Concorde, and Doha & Dubai’s FCL. Anyone remember the name of the night bartender In FRA who makes killer martinis?
Great review and WOW, I had no idea how many different ducks were issued. I thought the one in the middle was a Bart Simpson duck until I zoomed in. Was all excited at first.
I wonder how long it will take for Lufthansa to downgrade the catering from Do&Co to Sodhexo (most known for catering prisons in the UK) just as they have in other lounges. Perhaps the absence of the buffet is just the start. Otherwise the lounge looks just as it did the first time I remember it just as it opened in 2005.
I have that black duck with the gold bill… Is it limited edition lollll (my kids still play with it in the bath).
Nice review thank you! (I still think the lounge is overrated 🙂
I have to agree with previous comments, I don’t see the point of this lounge. It was marginal in the past (the one time in recent years that I had access to it I decided not to bother exiting the terminal and looking for it, too tired from a 13 hour flight), and it looks like a waste of time now that the food and drink options have been enhanced away.
There is no access for those on connecting flights or from the train station, so it only really makes sense for those getting there by taxi (or possibly returning a hire car to Sixt) from a fair distance away and wanting to allow a couple of hours extra just in case there is an accident/road closure en route. I appreciate that Matthew and many of us are fascinated by airports, lounges etc but, in the grand scheme of things, very few people would choose to spend four hours of their time and/or wake up early in exchange for an omelette and some coffee.
I suppose the FCT has been a massively successful way of distracting people from the comical levels of ground service that LH F pax enjoy at outstations- e.g. no escort through immigration or other priority services at EZE, ‘reserved’ table in the middle of the half-empty lounge at GRU just to embarrass the pax/compromise their privacy by broadcasting their names and flight details to all lounge guests, ‘sorry, we won’t pay for you to get into the fully operational AENA lounge because covid’ at BCN.
There’s one great thing about LH F though. There aren’t enough people out there with the kind of money/sense imbalance required for a decision to actually pay for it, so it’s often available for miles at the last minute, when it’s tricky to find decent business class fares (on any airline). Works for me.
(just to avoid any confusion, the GRU lounge is the regular business class one with no dedicated space for F pax, I was spared the embarrassment as I was flying TAP)
If someone is flying business class within Europe (since that’s the highest class of service) to connect to first class to the USA can they access the Terminal?
You mean something like FRA-ZRH-JFK?
No, ATH-FRA-ORD.
You would have access. You just would have to walk the terminal unless your ATH flight landed at a remote stand in FRA.
Should be fine, as long as the connection is to LH or LX (and not e.g. flying to LHR to connect to an ANA flight).
Matthew, thank you for reporting the current state of the FCT. I imagine Lufthansa know that this is their Emerates Airline shower: A true, as you pointed out, aspirational experience not unlike the AF La Premiere lounge at CDG.
So, as a designer, I do find it kind of interesting that they chose not to do any refreshing of the interiors during the very extended shut down. Yes, I know very well the financial issues caused by Covid, the issues with the government over bail outs or no bail outs and the real need to preserve cash.
BUT, you have traveled extensively and have seen and experienced the best lounges that the world’s leading carriers provide. Do you see room for improvements in the FCT that could have been undertaken during this time with zero impact on their valued First Class and HON Circle customers?
How many of the ducks in the display cabinet have you amassed thus far?
I have about a dozen unique ducks, but I also have duplicates of most of them.
The Karl Lagerfeld duck is amazing.
Hi guys!
I have a question as I am preparing for my travel to Zurich in a few days with Lufthansa. I have a confirmed First Class ticket from JFK-FRA, then a separate Business Class ticket from FRA-ZRH. Coming back, it is the same way, I have a Business Class ticket from ZRH-FRA, and a separate First Class ticket from FRA-IAD.
According to your post from November 2019, it does not sound like I do since my end point is not FRA. However, according our good friend Ben’s post from OMAAT, it sounds like I would, as long as the arrival flight was on the same day (which it would be obviously).
Would you be able to help provide some insights? I tried researching Lufthansa’s website, but I couldn’t quite find the policy that addresses my situation.
I think you’ll have access…but may have to fight for it. The SWISS agents are notoriously stingy.
didn’t you have JFK-FRA-DBV on LH and granted access? why is that different from Mike P.’s itinerary?
I was on a single ticket.
eh sorry, missed word “separate” in Mike P ‘s post
One Credit Card at a Time has gone full TPG and has zero creditability. He has begun screening comments and removes anything that is not supportive of his credit card handlers. He was once a serious blogger but the joy is gone. Just an employee of the marketing department of big banks.
Very helpful “how to” guide Matthew!
I was first in the LH F Terminal back in 2005 when it was brand new. It’s probably the only thing in the whole Lufthansa experience which hasn’t been dumbed down beyond recognition over the years and it still does make flying a bit special.
This review is so fun to read even though it’s been reviewed before. Please review it again in the future.
I am amazed at all the photos taken with no people in them. That is quite a feat.
To some, I’d imagine that they become jealous at this sight and think them rich people should be punished. Think of a way to tax them so it really hurts them. Ban the terminal unless they allow some economy folks to use it for free.
The key to get those photos is to be at the lounge at opening time – it stays mostly empty until almost 7:30 am.
Remarks, not nitpicking:
To be guested makes it three ways to get the access.
I have never been asked my passport or any document before entering the FCT security, only boarding pass.
You ate filet mignon, not filet million. Auto correct typo right 🙂
Birthday duck no other day exceptions? I have different kind of them and never visited FCT/FCL on my birthday.
Yikes! Thanks. How far were you from your birthday when you collected the birthday ducks?
For obvious reasons I am not publishing those timeframes. Latest was this year. Thanks for understanding!
One of my favorite lounges and I like the comfortable chair in the far left corner. Had Eggs Benedict with bacon. Have had great spirits tasting but not so much this past May slept and showered, no bath yet
One visit on Birthday so special duck. I was flying HKG FRA IAD Birthday lasted 36 hours. 5 at FCT
Sweet place
Smoking? Cigars?? It just shows that passengers in first class are not necessarily first class passengers.
Many years ago now YVRAP was down to just a few small glass enclosed rooms in the gate area for passengers who still smoked. It was so disgusting that the Workers Compensation Board of the provincial government stepped in and closed it down. It was deemed an unsafe work area for the cleaners.
Hi, not sure if you updated the post but the Duty Free shop is closed as they are looking for a new company at the moment (and that is going on for a while)
We love the FCT and will be using it in December. I’m so glad to hear the lounge is now fully back.
On our last trip we got up early and skipped the hotel’s breakfast to allow extra time in the FCT prior to an early departure. Once we were in a Porsche headed to our flight and the driver nearly crashed into another airport vehicle, adding to the “experience”.
Besides the FCT, perhaps not well known is the LFT Arrivals lounge where you can shower and have a decent breakfast.
LFT arrivals lounge? Do you mean the Welcome Lounge in FRA or the A Gates FCL that can be accessed upon arrival?
Great review of the FCT with a lot of interesting info for a first time LH traveller.
I will be flying from Johannesburg to Glasgow via Frankfurt with a 6 hour layover in Frankfurt.
The overnight flight from JNB to FRA is in First and from FRA to GLA in Business on the same day of arrival in FRA.
Can you confirm that I would be able to access the FCT and also get the chauffeur drive to the flight to GLA.
Many thanks.
Yes to both! You’ll need to enter Germany and walk over to the FCT yourself but will have access and be driven to your GLA flight.
I am flying Glasgow- Sydney on Lufthansa via Frankfurt soon. Do you know if a visa is now required to enter Germany as we will look to leave the airport although technically in transit, to visit the FCL ?
Are you a UK citizen? Where else are you connecting, Singapore? Lufthansa does not fly to Sydney.
Curious what the issues you’ve had with the staff are in the past. Just a couple disgruntled attendants? Surprised they stick around in this environment.
Im flying CAG-FRA-ORD. The ticket is first class Swiss. But operated by LH. The layover in FRA is 14.5 hours from 8:30pm to the next day 13:00. Would we be able to stay inside the security checkpoint and access the lounge for both dinner and breakfast?
No, you will only have lounge access on the day of travel.