Today I’m reviewing the Lufthansa Business Lounge at Frankfurt Airport. A very solid, if a bit soulless lounge offering. Specifically I’m looking at the B-Ost Non-Schengen Lounge by gates B44-48. Though the experience will be similar whichever Lufthansa Lounge you visit.
Frankfurt Airport Lounges
Frankfurt Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world. Therefore it makes sense that they have a huge range of lounges at this airport. Lufthansa alone has a whopping 14 lounges spread throughout the airport. The full list can be found here. Some are only available to First Class passengers (they even have a separate First Class Terminal which Onemileatatime covered in detail here). Other lounges called ‘Senator’ lounges are available to First Class passengers as well as Star Alliance Gold Members and Lufthansa status holders, referred to as Senators. Then there’s the lowest tier of lounges, available to all of the above plus Business class passengers.
Though I wasn’t actually travelling Business class today but rather just plain Economy. Luckily I have an American Express Platinum Card. One of the perks of which is free lounge access to over 1,000 lounges worldwide. Platinum card holders are able to access the Lufthansa Business lounges as long as they show a Lufthansa Group boarding pass (regardless of travel class). Worth noting you specifically have to be travelling with Lufthansa Group airlines (Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, Brussels Airlines etc).
My flight today was out of the B gates at Terminal 1. From the above map you can see the lounge is located by Gate B44. Plus there’s another one by Gate B21 at the opposite end of the terminal area. Also worth noting all of the B gates are past passport control so only accessible if you’re flying to a Non-Schengen destination. The lounge entrace (below) is very non-descript. There’s just a small sign and desk with a (slightly grumpy) attendant who checks you have valid entry. Then you either head up the stairs or lift to the lounge.
The Lounge
After walking up the stairs you come to the bright yellow entrance. Its style reminds me a bit of an actual aircraft entrace, so that’s cool. There is a help desk which you can ask the staff for help if you need it. And the lounge itself is laid out like a giant donut. Food & drinks are in the middle with seats on the outside.
Lufthansa Business Lounges are pretty much the same design wherever you visit in the world. You can see from their lounge at Heathrow here and their lounge in New York here. The aesthetic and furniture is basically the same throughout the world. And they always have these Glashutte clocks showing different timezones.
Seating
There are various seating options at the Lufthansa Business Lounge and you can tell they’re catering to business travellers. It felt like half the lounge was setup as a work area. As you can see below they have a few office chairs plus some elevated seats. There are loads of power sockets, but no USB sockets. Overall this lounges is definitely more function over form. And none of the seats are particularly comfortable. There were a few armchairs but not many.
Below is the dining area, with both dining chairs and some bar tables with an obstructed view of the runway. There are loads of seats available and it was never more than half full for the hour I spend here around 4pm. The staff also kept it clean.
Food & Drink
I didn’t have very high expectations going in to this lounge visit. But it turned out to actually have a pretty good food & drink offering. Now quick disclaimer, they almost exclusively have German cuisine which was a bit disappointing. I think a good lounge should have a range of international cuisines, especially given how many different nationalities will be passing through. When I visited it happened that an Asiana flight to Seoul was departing from a nearby gate, and probably half of the people in the lounge were Korean. A minor gripe, but I do think big lounges should cater a wider range of dishes.
My meal below consisted of some slightly spicy pulled pork, potatoes, sauerkraut, and probably my favourite German food: Spätzle (cheesy pasta). I also had a big cheese pretzel (delicious) and a chocolate brownie with mini pretzels. Overall a great meal and it left me pleasantly surprised.
Apart from the spätzle, my favourite things were the delicious pretzels. I had a cheese pretzel in the lounge and took another plain one with me for my flight. Then on top of that there are some good dessert options, cereal, snacks etc.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about this lounge though was the drink bar. It’s all self serve, which I don’t have an issue with. But I do think that attended bars just add an extra layer of luxury to lounges. Anyway, they had a massive ranges of both soft drinks and alcohol (spirits, wine, prosecco, beer). There’s also a few coffee machines and a variety of tea on offer.
Facilities
Also this lounge is great if you have a long layover (which I imagine is the case for many people at Frankfurt). They have both showers and a dark rest area with day beds. So it’s a good place to refresh yourself and take a nap whilst waiting for your next flight. They also have lockers so you can safely store your bags whilst you sleep. Though just note the lounge is only open between 6am and 10pm so you won’t be able to stay here overnight.
Lastly they have a children’s play area, printer, and a range of newspapers and magazines to keep you entertained. And below I’ve just included a small selection of the alcohol on offer at this lounge. I mentioned it in the Food & Drink section earlier. But it really is impressive compared to most lounges these days.
Final Thoughts
Overall I think the Lufthansa Business Lounge is pretty darn good. It won’t win any prizes for aesthetics or service. In fact it feels more like a German office building than an airport lounge. However, it has a great range of food and especially drinks. I had a classic German meal and it was actually very good considering I’m not usually a huge fan of German food. The seating on offer here is plentiful. The place is kept tidy. And the fact that they have showers, phone booths, rest area, printers etc just makes it a very complete offering.
From what I can gather you get a pretty standardised experience from the many Lufthansa Business Lounges around Frankfurt (and around the world in fact). Lastly I’ll make a quick comparison with another European flag carrier, British Airways and their Galleries Club Lounge at Heathrow Terminal 5. Whilst Lufthansa’s lounge isn’t as flashy as the British Airways offering, it is much more calm and tranquil and overall a more pleasant experience. So all I can say is good job Lufthansa for having such a solid lounge experience!
More from me…
If you liked my Lufthansa Business Lounge review, please feel free to check out other related posts I’ve written:
- Malaysia Airlines Economy A350-900 – Great food on a 13 hour flight
- No1 Lounge at London Gatwick South – Surprisingly good
- Singapore Airlines Economy from London to Singapore
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- The Platinum Card – You Receive 80,000 Membership Reward points after spending £10,000 in the first 6 months plus a further 25,000 after 15 months: https://americanexpress.com/en-gb/referral/fREDEGMhtY?XLINK=MYCP
- British Airways Card: You Receive 10,000 Avios after spending £1,000 in the first 3 months: https://americanexpress.com/en-gb/referral/fREDEGB3NS?XLINK=MYCP