Review: Lufthansa B787-9 Business Class | Munich – Montreal
- Saudi Arabia - Qatar 2022
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Lufthansa 787 Business Class – Booking
Booking a one-way ticket from Nice (NCE) to Montreal (YUL) via Munich (MUC) costs 40,000 Aeroplan points in economy class and 70,000 Aeroplan points in business class (pricing between the Atlantic zone and the North America zone):
Lufthansa regularly releases award availability on this route to Star Alliance partners, including Aeroplan.
See our tutorial at the end of this article to learn how to earn Aeroplan points, whether you're reading us from Canada, the United States or elsewhere in the world.
Lufthansa 787 Business Class – Cabin
This aircraft has three cabins:
- Business
- Premium Economy
- Economy
On this LH478 flight from Munich to Montreal, I'm travelling in business class.
Business class on Lufthansa's B787-9 consists of a single cabin with a total of 26 seats in a 1-2-1 configuration.
The cabin spans 6 rows of 4 seats, plus 2 additional seats in row 1. See AeroLOPA for the detailed seat map.
With this type of configuration, every passenger has direct aisle access.
This B787-9 was originally meant to be delivered to Hainan Airlines, which explains why its cabin is different (and better) than what you currently find on most Lufthansa aircraft, including the current version of Lufthansa’s A350:
Note that Lufthansa is gradually rolling out a new business class called Allegris starting in 2024.
In the meantime, if you want direct aisle access, aim for the B787-9 or the A350s that also inherited cabins from other airlines (Philippine Airlines), which I reviewed here:
For this flight on Lufthansa’s B787-9, I chose window seat 6K.
If you’re travelling solo, I recommend the window seats, but avoid seats 5A and 5K, which have only 1 window instead of 2 like the other seats:
If you’re travelling as a pair, the centre seats are the better choice: you’ll be able to chat easily with your travel companion.
Lufthansa 787 Business Class – Seat
Now let’s look at the seat itself on this Lufthansa B787-9.
The Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seat has an adjustable headrest and a shoulder seatbelt, and it converts into a fully flat bed of about 2 metres, making for a very comfortable flight.
This seat offers plenty of storage options. Two compartments along the side of the seat can hold most small items, such as computer cables, headphones and glasses.
You can use the remote control to operate your screen and other seat functions.
The armrest, which can be raised or lowered at the push of a button, also doubles as a storage area where you’ll find a bottle of water.
Finally, you can put documents or a tablet in the open storage pocket on the side of the seat.
An amenity kit is provided at every business class seat. The items are basic (socks, earplugs, toothbrush). If you’re looking for a sleep mask, you’ll have to go to the washroom to find one!
The screen is a comfortable 18 inches, as you can see from the Milesopedia coaster test.
The faux-wood folding tray table, which unfolds from under the entertainment screen, measures 17 inches wide and 19 inches long. As you can see, it’s perfect for larger laptops, like my 16-inch MacBook Pro here.
Lufthansa 787 Business Class – Service
During boarding, cold drinks are offered, including champagne.
The meal service begins shortly after takeoff. As usual with Lufthansa, warm peanuts are served with a nice glass of red wine.
Here’s the menu on this flight to Montreal:
For the starter, I chose the smoked halibut with potato salad and garden cucumber.
For the main course, I chose the pan-seared cod with roasted pumpkin ragout and pearl barley risotto with asparagus.
For the cheese course, I tasted the Chaumes cheese, medium-aged gouda, goat cheese and Montagnolo blue.
And for dessert, it was the mascarpone and vanilla mousse with raspberry and citrus.
The whole meal was good, and the service was fairly quick.
I was able to work for the rest of the flight thanks to the Wi-Fi (and the free Boingo access that comes with my World Elite Mastercard).
A quick look at the washroom, which has a window. You’ll also find refreshing toiletries there (and this is where you can pick up a sleep mask, which oddly isn’t included in the amenity kit).
One hour before landing, a second meal is served. This time, I chose the salmon fillet tataki with root vegetables, bergamot and corn.
Followed by a cherry chocolate mousse.
Bottom Line
All in all, I had an excellent flight of just over 7 hours on this Lufthansa B787-9.
If you can get this aircraft type for your transatlantic flight, it’s an excellent option, with a fairly recent cabin.
As for the service, it’s “Germanic” in style (rather cold and curt) but it was quick! It’s similar to what you’ll find on board Swiss or Austrian, which are part of the same Lufthansa Group.
Both the service (soft product) and the cabin (hard product) are on par with what you’ll find at Air Canada.
That said, Lufthansa remains a very good option for using your Aeroplan points on transatlantic flights. Since it’s an Aeroplan partner, you can take advantage of fixed pricing (70,000 points in business class), whereas pricing for Air Canada flights can soar past 100,000 points.
How to earn Aeroplan Points
Earn Aeroplan points in Canada
The easiest way to earn Aeroplan points is to sign up for one of these Aeroplan credit cards. Not only will you get Aeroplan points as a welcome bonus, you’ll also earn them on every purchase you put on your Aeroplan credit card.
The most popular Aeroplan credit card is the TD® Aeroplan Visa Infinite* Card®. Here’s the welcome offer currently available:
Featured
- Annual feeNo annual fee the first year
- $0 $139
- Our valuationMilesopedia first-year estimate First-year valueWelcome bonus$1,000Annual fee rebated$139Total$1,139Rewards on your spending are not included. The calculator that adds them from your own profile is on the card's page.
- $1,139
- Welcome offerAfter $12,000 in 12 months
- Up to 50,000 points
Apply Now
on TD's website
Note that you can also earn Aeroplan points through the American Express Membership Rewards program. You can transfer your American Express Membership Rewards points to Aeroplan points at a 1:1 ratio. So, 10,000 Membership Rewards points = 10,000 Aeroplan points. Many Membership Rewards credit cards are available in Canada.
In my view, one of the best American Express Membership Rewards credit cards is the American Express Cobalt® Card. With this credit card, you earn 5 points per dollar on groceries, convenience store purchases, and restaurant and bar spending. Also keep in mind the gift card trick, which also lets you earn 5 points per dollar at many retailers such as Amazon, SAQ, Ikea, Netflix, etc.
Here’s the welcome offer currently available for this card:
- Annual fee
- $191.88
- Our valuationMilesopedia first-year estimate First-year valueWelcome bonus$255Total$255Rewards on your spending are not included. The calculator that adds them from your own profile is on the card's page.
- $255
- Welcome offerGet 1,250 points after $750 in purchases per month for 12 months
- Up to 15,000 points
Apply Now
on American Express's website
Apply with confidenceCheck whether your application will be approved before you submit it, with no impact on your credit score*When you apply for a personal American Express Credit Card, we will tell you whether you are eligible without affecting your credit score. So you can apply with confidence.*Instant decisions are only available for consumer Card applications (also called “personal Cards”).
Earn Aeroplan points in the United States
If you live in the United States, you can also earn Aeroplan points with credit cards.
First, there’s the Chase Aeroplan® World Elite Mastercard®. This credit card lets you earn Aeroplan points directly on your purchases.
You can also transfer points from several programs to Aeroplan:
- American Express Membership Rewards points (USA)
- Bilt Rewards
- Capital One
- Chase Ultimate Rewards
Earn Aeroplan points elsewhere in the world
If you can’t earn Aeroplan points with a credit card or a partner points program, there are two other ways to get Aeroplan points:
- Transferring Marriott Bonvoy points to Aeroplan points: 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points = 25,000 Aeroplan points
- Buying Aeroplan points (ideally during a promotion)
Buying Aeroplan points can be a smart move. Quite often, the cost of the purchase will be about what you would have paid for an economy class ticket. Except you’ll get to travel in business class or first class!
For example, this Lufthansa flight costs:
- 40,000 Aeroplan points in economy class (80,000 Aeroplan points round trip)
- 70,000 Aeroplan points in business class (140,000 Aeroplan points round trip)
By buying Aeroplan points during a promotion (usually with an 85% bonus), you can get these Aeroplan points for 1.9 cents per point, which works out to:
- 760 CAD one-way in economy class
- 1,330 CAD one-way in business class