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How we finished my mom’s $120k+ Birthday Trip: Lufthansa First Class A330 Frankfurt to Dallas
ICYMI: My mom had a big birthday this year…so my dad and I planned a crazy trip around the world using points. I just finished tallying up every cabin and hotel and it was between $120-130k family vacation. For all those premium cabins and 5 star hotels we paid $1500-1600 each. Yeah, not bad for 24 night vacation around the world! The final piece: Lufthansa First Class A330 Frankfurt to Dallas fell into place just 10 days before we were supposed fly home from Cannes, France. These seats retail for roughly $11k each and we got 3 of them for 80k Singapore Krisflyer and $300 each. To put that in perspective…the Champagne we drank on the flight would cost almost the same. #Ballers.
The Cabin is drop dead GORGEOUS and filled with light.
Lufthansa First Class is arguably the best way to fly across the Atlantic. I was fortunate enough to fly from Frankfurt to LA last year on the 747-8i, had the 2 nose seats all to myself and left the flight a fan for life. It was an incredible experience and I wanted my folks to experience Lufthansa First Class for themselves and compare it to all the other First Class products experienced on our jaunt around the world for my mom’s birthday(!!!). When availability opened up to Dallas 10 days before we were to fly back to the States, I was ecstatic; Not only would that mean they would be able to fly First Class around the World, but I’d get to fly their final leg in the same cabin with them. We had a ball. Here’s a quick look at Lufthansa First Class A330 Frankfurt to Dallas.
Originally I had seat 2A.
2A and 2K are the best seats for single travelers. Even though Lufthansa doesn’t offer fully enclosed Suites there is a partition that can be raised to provide a great deal of privacy. But, we wanted to be all together. Luckily, the gentleman sitting across the aisle switched with me, thanks man!
Out of the 8 seats in First Class…we snagged 3 of them. Our home for the 11 hour flight. Not. Bad.
The middle seats are great for those traveling together. My mom and I ended up sitting in the middle and my dad took the window. He loves looking out the window.
Middle seats in the front row get a bit more traffic as the bar is set up in front of them. Still…gorgeous.
Lufthansa’s PJs are light and UBER comfy. The new amenity kits from Jil Sander are stylish as well. And allll freeeeeee!!
We made Caviar a family affair 😉
The Champagne…1998 Henriot Cuvee des Enchateleurs. $180 a bottle.
Not going to lie…I’d never heard of it. But once I found out it cost that much I thought it was more delicious. Is that wrong?
Lufthansa’s bed is one of the most comfortable.
They not only put down a thin mattress pad, but they top it with an incredibly soft comforter. Add a pretty soft pillow and the fact you’re literally sleeping on the clouds – you’ll never want to return to landing/take-off position again.
The service, food, and hard product lived up to every bit of praise I’d given it last year on the 747-8i. I was so happy to enjoy it with the fam. It was also THE PERFECT way to end the trip
I have a MEGA trip report coming as well as video content. Stay tuned…this epic trip is well documented and I’ll teach you how to do exactly the same thing.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
$300 Chase Travel℠ Credit + Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- $300 Chase Travel℠ Credit + Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- That’s worth $750 when redeemed through Chase Travel℠. Plus, get up to $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel℠ purchases within your first year
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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