Hi Everyone!

Thanks to everyone who posts on this forum. It is incredibly helpful. This is my first time post and I thank you guys In advance for all of your help!

I am looking to book a trip from Los Angeles to Munich at the end of April. I want to fly business class and was wondering if anyone has recommendations for the best flights? Ideally it would be a "best bang for your buck" situation. The flight that makes the most sense is a direct flight on Lufthansa for about 4k, but it seems like that plane is a bit on the older side and the review are not great. On the other side, there are "flagship AA" flights for around $5700 that I am sure are fantastic - but the flight is pretty expensive.

I did find a few flights on BA for around 4500 but I am having a hard time figuring out what the business class portion of these flights are like.

Again, thanks in advance for your help!

Welcome to the forum.

Question is a bit hard to answer depending on what you consider "best flights" ? Do you want to focus on seat comfort for sleeping (LAX to MUC is an overnight flight) ? For lounging ? Food ? Alcohol ? Something else ?

Hi thanks for the reply,

I would say in descending order of importance:
-Newish plane.
-Lay flat seats
-privacy
-food / drink.

Thanks!

Well then :
- Newish plane : hard to say. First you can book because schedule said it is an A350 and then a substitution to an old B777 happens. But in general I would chose BA because you have a good chance to get a A380 I think.
- Lay flat seat : except if you choose Icelandair, I think everything will be lay flat on that route.
- Privacy : Lufthansa is not private at all. Other airlines have private seats on most fleet.
- Food/drink : all American Airlines are OK, BA can be good but is mostly OK, Lufthansa and Swiss too, Austrian is excellent, Air France very good too. SK is bad.

non-stop vs. connection is not a concern? How about loyalty program - do you care where you earn miles?

If the OP opts for a connection in Europe, be aware of the fact that short-haul Business Class within Europe can be pretty dire, because of skimpy seat pitch. I would look for a connection that minimizes time on the short-haul segment. LAX-VIE-MUC on Austrian would check this box, but Austrian's LAX-VIE service is seasonal.

If time and convenience is a factor I would only do direct flights. So it's limited to Lufthansa. Otherwise connecting via FRA or LHR is quite convenient, wich means you have many options. Wouldn't do something the European part (99% in Fake Business) is too long. Especially as prices with Lufthansa seems to be quite good.

All airlines offer lie-flat seats in business class flying across the Atlantic these days. Also, newish planes. Most airlines have retired older aircraft during the pandemic (BA sent all their 747s to the desert...) and thy tend to fly the new, fuel-efficient aircraft on long routes to maximize fuel cost savings at todays fuel prices.
However, Lufthansa offers a very mediocre business class product on the A350s they fly to LAX that is in dire need of an overhaul which will not be forthcoming anytime soon. They have 2-2-2- seating with no privacy, plus you get to play footsies with your seat neighbor when seated in the center seats. I actively avoid flying them.
The only - but big - advantage there is that the flight is nonstop, and they don't seem to be charging a premium for it.

If you don't mind trading a connection for a better experience on the longhaul flight, I would recommend:
Swiss LAX-ZRH-MUC. They offer some single "throne" seats (best seats: 4A and 7A!) on their 777 that have very good privacy. Key here is seat selection, so book early to get one of the coveted single seats. The rest of the experience is well above average, too. Food and service are markedly better than on LH.
For a connecting flight, things actually are OK First, ZRH-MUC is a very short hop that takes less than half an hour in the air. Second, ZRH is a nice, compact airport offering a seamless transit experience.

AA/BA LAX-LHR-MUC. Well... I`m kind of biased here as I`m usually loyal to that alliance.
Not taking alliance loyalty, miles and all that into account, this would be worth is to me only if BA had the A380 scheduled to fly the route on your dates and schedules would align nicely so you'd have a short layover. BA's A350 with it's new 'club suite' seat featuring privacy doors is also a step above the competition, seat-wise..
The good: A380 a possibility, otherwise club suites not bad also..
The bad: transiting LHR is, well, not that great of an experience (it's a huge busy airport with a reputation for long lines at security), plus the shorthaul flight is not the greatest experience as well - rather cramped seat for an hour and a half.
If you have no status with oneworld, you'd need to pay for advance seat selection on BA. On the A380, get a window seat but beware, those face backwards which some people don't like. Best seats 53AK on the upper deck.
American's 777-300 is nice, Good seats, good privacy. The service and food offerings are, well, not that great, and the LHR transit experience including the two-hour stint on a cramped BA plane isn't as well.
DO NOT do anything like AA LAX-CLT-MUC or AA LAX-PHL-MUC. You'd be spending 5 hours on a narrowbody in "domestic F" before connecting to your transatlantic flight. On the outbound, the flight from the east coast is too short to catch any meaningful sleep.
The seats on AA's widebodies are OK for the most part, and they have good privacy. Service and food are so-so.

The best experience would flying Qatar LAX-DOH-MUC on aircraft equipped with Qsuites (their new business class product) But I don't think that'd be competitive, price-wise., and you'd be backtracking too much.

Hey guys,

apologies for not following up on this sooner.

basically what I found is that the direct business class flight from lax to Munich on Lufthansa is not that great. The plane is old etc and that is important to me.

instead I was able to find flagship business class on AA to and from LAX to LHR. This does require flights to and from LHR into the EU, but these tickets are relatively inexpensive.

the flagship business class seems like a good product, especially when flying out of an airport like LAX that has dedicated flagship lounges.

im happy with my choice. Let me know if you guys have any questions!

That's what I usually do, too.
See that you can select seats in the minicabin at the very front in rows 3 and 4. And preorder your meal.
Really, the only downside to using AA/BA is the connection in LHR. You'll need to change terminals which means a long trek through a crowded airport, and have to pass through security which is a PITA in LHR.
You will have access to one of the the BA Galleries club lounges in Terminal 5 (there's two, North and South, select the one that's closer to your connecting flight's departure gate). Those have showers and there's food and drink.

Great thanks for the info!

yes it seems there is a flagship arrival lounge for us in LHR.

we are actually going to spend the night in London and then fly the next day. We figure just in case flight is delayed etc. also now we can rest in a hotel and be good to go the next day.

what do you mean by the �minicabin in rows 3 and 4?�

Hi,

I think this means that in J rows 3 and 4 are just behind first class and in front of the galley and door 2 with the rest of the J cabin behind door 2 so there are only a small number of J pax in rows 3 and 4 so it feels very nice( as you do not see the rest of the J cabin )

Regards

TBS

Okay. I actually think in flagship business there is no more first class and instead they created one level of class. Our seating chart rows 3 and 4 are just in the regular business class area.

Okay. I actually think in flagship business there is no more first class and instead they created one level of class. Our seating chart rows 3 and 4 are just in the regular business class area.