I transferred 140k Chase Ultimate Rewards into United for a recent trip to Portugal. I booked two business class tickets to Lisbon via Frankfurt, Germany, on their Star Alliance partner, Lufthansa Airlines. Usually, I don’t redeem points for business class even though it’s a better value than redeeming for economy class. I would instead use fewer points and have enough left over for another trip rather than burn twice the amount on luxury and comfort. However, there were a couple of factors at play this time around. First, the wife was pregnant, and this was our babymoon, so her comfort was a high priority. Secondly, United had saver-level awards for business class but no saver-level awards for the economy (30k miles per ticket) on the day we wanted to depart. So my choices were 70k miles per person in business class or 70k points per person in economy (lol). This was the most no-brainer of no-brainers. Neither of us had ever experienced an international long-haul business class flight, and we now understand why business class redemptions provide much better value than economy class redemptions. Here is a screen-shot of the price we would have to pay for each ticket in business class if we were using cash:

A combined $14,400! Instead, we used 140,000 United miles plus $40 tax per ticket. We got a fantastic 10 cents per mile value on this award ticket. This was the most value we have ever extracted from a miles/point redemption. Generally, getting 2.5-3 cents per point on redemption is considered pretty good. In addition to the in-flight service, we both got access to the Polaris Lounge in Chicago and Lufthansa Business Class Lounge in Frankfurt. Our flight from Frankfurt to Lisbon was also business class; I’ll have a separate review. You can read about my Polaris Lounge experience here.

Check-in

Checking in was very straightforward. We used the designated business class check-in counter to skip the line usually seen in economy class.

There was no one in front of us, and after taking our check-in luggage and handing us our boarding pass, the Lufthansa representative informed us we had access to Polaris Lounge if we wished. That was the reason we got to the airport 5 hours before departure in the first place =)

Boarding and Seating

We boarded in the priority lane reserved for first-class and business-class travelers during the boarding process. For this trip, we would fly on the Boeing-747, the “Queen of the Skies” for this flight to Frankfurt. I had not flown on a 747 since 2005, and being able to fly on one in a premium cabin gave this award redemption added value. Upon entering the plane, we turned right into the business class cabin and were seated in 5A and 5C (these seats are adjacent). Lufthansa Business Class has fully lie-flat seats. Traveling overnight is a huge deal, as you can beat jet lag and not waste a day recovering. After finding our seats, our air hostess offered us welcome drinks before takeoff.

These seats have space under the footrest area and a pullout compartment to store smaller items during the flight. The amenity kit is also located here. If you want to utilize the in-flight entertainment, Lufthansa provides Bose noise-canceling headphones in the armrest compartment.

The amenity kit provided socks, eye covers, a razor/shaving cream, lip balm, moisturizing cream, mint, a toothbrush/toothpaste, ear plugs, and headphone covers for the Bose headphones they provide.

After Takeoff

We were given salted cashews as a snack and a dinner menu shortly after takeoff.

However, the menu didn’t really apply to us as Lufthansa was able to accommodate us with a halal meal that I requested during the booking process. Just for completeness, I’ll post the menu right here. We were served scallops for the appetizer for our dinner, which was delicious.

For the main course, we received a meal both of us were very familiar with:

Butter chicken with jasmine rice and mixed vegetables cooked Indian-Pakistani style. This was also delicious and tasted like it was restaurant quality. It wouldn’t shock me if one of the restaurants on Devon Ave in Chicago was the supplier for halal requests. For dessert, we received a cup of Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream. I do wish they had something different for dessert. There is nothing wrong with Haagen-Dazs, and I am a big fan of their ice cream, but I can get this from the freezer section of my local grocery store. I suppose something more unique would have been more desirable.

Post-Dinner

After dinner, it was time to take advantage of the lie-flat seating and get some shut-eye until breakfast.

The air hostess asked my wife and I if we wanted to be woken up for breakfast, and we both said yes. This gave us about 5.5 hours to get a good night’s sleep.

If you’re wondering, we both slept very comfortably. Lufthansa gave us lovely, lush pillows and thick blankets that were hotel-caliber. The 5.5 hours of shuteye were very refreshing, and before we knew it, it was time for breakfast.

Breakfast

We received a croissant, warm turkey slices with cucumber and lettuce, fresh fruit, and orange juice for breakfast. I have no complaints, as everything tasted great. The hostess came around a second time if we wanted another beverage or coffee. She also passed around a box of chocolates, which was a nice touch.

About an hour after breakfast concluded, the descent had begun into Frankfurt International Airport. Lufthansa did have in-flight internet, but I did not purchase it, so I have no idea how the connectivity was. This was another knock on Lufthansa since passengers in premium-class cabins should have complimentary Wi-Fi. My time would be spent eating or sleeping, and that’s precisely how it went. If I had redeemed an award ticket in the economy, I would have likely purchased in-flight wifi since I sleep very poorly when sitting upright. This was a solid business class experience for my wife and me, and the fact that she could sleep well on the plane, being 2/3 into her pregnancy, made this part of our trip highly comfortable for her. I also want to acknowledge the flight attendant who was assigned to our part of the cabin. She did an excellent job and routinely asked us if we wanted anything to drink or if we wanted any snacks. The attentiveness we got in business class was not lost on us, so thanks to Lufthansa.  I’m not sure if I’ll ever extract the value I did for this award redemption, but the great thing about it is we weren’t even done. We still had access to Lufthansa Business Class Lounge during our 6-hour layover in Frankfurt and another business class flight to connect to Lisbon, Portugal. To conclude, we had a fantastic experience flying in business class on Lufthansa, and we hope to be able to do so again in the future.