I begrudgingly exited the Lufthansa First Class flight experience and headed towards the Lufthansa First Class lounge to experience their ground service for the first time. This lounge is the real deal.

1. Introduction and trip planning
2. Lufthansa First Class Dulles to Munich
3. Lufthansa Munich First Class Lounge
4. Lufthansa Business Class Munich to Oslo
5. SAS Economy Class Oslo to Longyearbyen
6. Radisson Blu Polar Hotel, Spitsbergen
7. Exploring Longyearbyen
8. Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel, Oslo
9. Exploring Oslo
10. Park Inn By Radisson Oslo Airport
11. Lufthansa 747-8i Frankfurt to Dulles
12. Park Hyatt Washington DC

I stepped off the plane with a bit of a headache after going a little overboard on the Perrier Champagne.  I had never been to a First Class Lounge before so I was excited to make the Munich Lufthansa First Class Lounge my first time.

I stepped through the glass doors and was graciously greeted by an agent who directed me towards a uniformed officer behind glass.  He asked for my passport and ticket.  I heard the comforting STAMP STAMP and I realized I had just cleared customs.  That sure beats the long windy lines of O’Hare.

I was then escorted into the lounge and informed I would be paged when my flight was ready. The agent also informed me the flight to Oslo was at a remote stand so I would need to meet downstairs to be escorted to the plane.

The lounge was virtually empty when I entered with a vast array of amenities I had never seen before. I did a quick tour around this sleek and modern lounge.  The space itself is not overly large so I can imagine at peak times the area could become rather crowded.

There was a full bar pouring top shelf alcohol and draft beers, a sit-down restaurant with a made-to-order menu, a full buffet for quick eats, a Cigar Bar, shower rooms, and a few business rooms.

I was a little overwhelmed at first with so many options so I just took a seat in a leather chair to compose myself and deicide what I wanted to do first.  Within minutes a lounge attendant came right over and asked if I would like anything.  Given my slight headache and the fact that it was early morning in Munich, I decided to do the responsible thing….and order a German Beer!

After a few celebratory drinks, I decided I would give the shower rooms a try.  I left DC where the heat index was hovering around 100 F.  My next two flights had me flying 6 hours straight North where temperatures would be closer to 30 F.  I would definitely need to rethink my wardrobe and a the shower room was a great place to reset and recharge.

The shower room attendant handed me the key to shower room 4. The room was large, clean and comfortable. This was definitely one of my favorite components of the lounge experience.  The shower was amazing and relaxed me prior to my trek North.

I did not partake in the Cigar Lounge but the fact that this lounge had one reinforced my initial impressions that this lounge just oozes luxury.

I was getting a little nervous because my flight was scheduled to leave in 5 minutes and I still had not been called.  I went up to the front desk and she told me to relax and they will take care of me.

Sure enough the agent came out a few minutes later to escort me downstairs to the car service.

This is where the experience went downhill a bit.  The Limousine Service staff introduced me to my driver who glanced at me once and started walking away briskly.  I had to ask if I needed to follow him and they said yes.  I proceeded to chase this guy through the airport, walking down several flights of stairs full of people lined up while carrying my own bags.  I didn’t have a problem carrying my own bags but I was barely able to keep up with him since he was carrying nothing and booking it.

If your plane is on a remote stand at Munich, Lufthansa First passengers are driven to the gate in a fancy German vehicle. I got the short straw and had the clunky Mercedes van.  Boohoo right.  Nevertheless, the drive was very cool weaving through the Munich Airport and directly to the plane.  The driver offered for me to wait in the air conditioned van until the entire plane had boarded but I decided to get out and enjoy the sounds of the jets and warm weather in Munich.

One last item worth noting.  Lufthansa First Class passengers at Munich with a lengthy layover have the option of receiving a day room at the Hotel Kempinski near the airport if availability exists.  I would have liked to try this generous perk but my stay was not long enough to take advantage of it.  Next time.

The bottom line

Other than the driver that was in a big hurry for no apparent reason, I would say the Lufthansa First Class ground experience was near perfect. Out of the Lufthansa First flight experience and the ground experience, I would actually have to say the  ground experience WOW’d me a bit more.  Prior to this trip, I knew several airlines ran impressive flight experiences up in First but I really didn’t know this level of ground service existed at an airport.