gaobest

The LH C for sfo/muc is angle flat and worse than UA hard product. I can't speak for LX

belfordrocks

There is no more angled flat on LH.

wco81

Hmm, so how does the LH business compare to UA 767 BF, UA 747 BF or Swiss business A340?

belfordrocks

Swiss would be my pick.

TA

LH 459 is the new A346 config with premium economy.

boolean64

well if you're originating in SFO, there's no way i'd do SFO-EWR-ATH. One long flight is way better than two medium flights. Also the transit experience in MUC is pretty solid. Never been to ZRH.

I personally would try swiss since LH business is good but not great so there's potential for upside with swiss...unless you have systemwides and want to try to burn one on an upgrade to F on the SFO-MUC flight. LH and LX F are both amazing.

I don't know the routes on the return, but if you can snag upstairs on the 747, might as well do that as many times as you can before they go away. Just something special about it. And like i said, i don't see LH C being *that* much better than upstairs on a UA 747...unless of course you were upstairs on an LH 747

wco81

Yeah the only good thing about SFO-EWR-ATH is that it arrives earlier than the other routes, which arrive in the late afternoon or evening.

I prefer to arrive earlier, would give me flexibility in this case to possibly fly straight to one of the islands.

Return is through MUC, ZRW or FRA so it would be a matter of choosing the better product, the schedule, etc. Price are similar.

One option that I wasn't aware of, LH is flying an A340 from SJC-FRA. Not sure if that's a new flight or not, guess I always figured there wouldn't be a nonstop TATL out of SJC. So if all the LH business products are upgraded, that might be an option to consider.

If the other airlines are much better, of course I'll go up to SFO (I'm in San Jose).

MatthewLAX

I would take UA due to scheduled arrival time preference.

We're not talking about first class here -- business is business unless you can fly Turkish Airlines. I find LX/LH/UA totally unremarkable (as a rule) in business class.

Please note Seat Guru is inaccurate, as all LH aircraft have now been retrofitted with its "new" business class.

kb1992

I found both LH and LX biz class very underwhelming.

In fact, I like UA BF seats better.

Kacee

TK would be my first choice also.

I would not take the UA 764. That's the shortest BF seat in the UA fleet. I don't like it at all for an overnight flight.

Why not UA SFO-FRA connecting onwards on LH? Upper deck on the 744 is still one of my favorites. The seat is great for sleeping. Way better than LX, which is hard as a rock and has a seam in it.

eefor jfp

If it matters to you, I think Swiss has the best catering.

As far as the seat goes, I hate the throne seat (singles on the left side of the aircraft) because I find the cut out for my feet horribly confining (think coffin) but I also hate bulkheads (so it may just be my claustrophobia). All the other seats have a cut out that will allow for some movement.

wco81

SFO-FRA-ATH didn't come up in Google Flights.

Kacee

UA sells it. 3:40 connection at FRA.

Between this itinerary, LH, and LX I'm not sure there's an obvious winner. MUC or ZRH connection both better than FRA.

TheTakeOffRush

LX has better elbow-room than LH or UA's BF. Catering is solid vs the weak and variable UA (can't vouch for LH). I think you'll enjoy LX.

AntonS

My choice would be Swiss.

Between LH and UA - it's a tough choice. On one hand, I feel that LH is more reliable when it's not on strike and I feel better cared for on LH (service wise, IRROPS, phone agents, etc). Food is about as bad on both. But LH became very unreliable because of labor issues and unexpected strikes. So in my view, LH = UA.

Several people mentioned TK as superior to LX/LH/UA. I disagree. While TK has great food and IST lounge, I personally would avoid TK at all costs:

1. TK safety and pilot training concerns: AMS crash did not teach them a lesson -- KTM could be nearly as bad, other major mishaps, questionable safety culture, corruption. In addition, Turkey does not make accident reports public, so how much we we do not know?
2. Really really bad IRROPS handling and clueless phone agents.
3. Unstable situation in Turkey.