We’ve known this was coming for some time, and the price of seat assignments in business class on Lufthansa was even published back in December, but it’s officially here: ‘Allegri$$ Day’ as noted by aviation watchdog JonNYC.
I think today is the day that you have to/can (depending on your P.O.V.,) pay for Lufthansa Allegris seating– as in pay for the more desirable ones.
— JonNYC (@xjonnyc.bsky.social) April 1, 2025 at 3:23 PM
The idea of paid seat assignments in business class isn’t new. British Airways pioneered this – they have large business cabins, often sell the seats cheap as a result, and try to segment their customers to extract extra revenue.
Lufthansa Allegris Business Cabin
Meanwhile, other airlines sell Business Basic fares, and several now have premium rows in business class – either the front row with extra space or airlines that used to have first class and never got rid of those seats.
Lufthansa Allegris Business Class
But Lufthansa has taken things to a whole new level with their new ‘Allegris’ business class. There are (5) different business class products in the same cabin of an Airbus A350, each with a different cost.
- Seat (12/38 seats) closest to the aisle have no extra fee
- Privacy (10/38 seats) are actually window seats and more private, free to assign on full fare business and by Lufthansa Senator members and above and their companions.
- Extra space (4/38) middle throne seats are free to Senator members and above and their companions.
- Extra long bed (4/38) behind the extra space middle seats, free to HON Circle members and their companions only.
- Business suite (8/38) extra space with doors in the first row of each cabin.
From the U.S. West Coast, extra seat fees in business class run $196 – $690 and from the East Coast, $161 – $575. Pricing varies by currency and doesn’t simply use a standard conversion.
please help me, I'm so deep into this madness right now (for work, not travel, sadly)
— Jason Rabinowitz (@airlineflyer.net) April 1, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Less than a third of business class seats are assignable without extra charge. Not that those may be taken when you purchase! So you’d either have to pay up, or take whatever is left on the day of travel. And this isn’t great for passengers wanting to travel together, either.
Lufthansa Allegris Business Class
A microcosm of the broader decline in German society, Lufthansa is the perfect example of how a reputation for efficiency and competence has been turned on its head. At this point my mental model of Lufthansa is that everything they do is somehow illogical, incompetent, and incoherent.
Stupidity at its finest!!!! Fly Swiss instead.
Beyond ridiculous. This means you can’t sit together without paying more and you can’t select a window seat without paying more.
Very “premium” experience.
I can understand paying to get a different product however never understood paying to “sit together” in business class. You are in your own pod anyway (even if in 2 middle seats). My late wife and I traveled a lot over 35 years together and never cared if we sat together on a plane. Frankly I don’t understand couples that are so needy they can’t be separated for a flight
BTW when flying by medley I never prepay for a business class seat. Also will get the job done IMHO
Yeah, this is not ‘great,’ but I am still looking forward to trying Allegris, one way or another.
As for Gary calling this disappointment “a microcosm of the broader decline in German society”–that’s unnecessarily hyperbolic and definitely hypocritical…for an American to say that of Germany in 2025… oof. *facepalm*
@Matthew
This type of setup is coming to Swiss as well.
My wife flatly refuses to fly Lufthansa — even if they are less costly — after they stranded us in OPO with no communication after the initial, and no refund. Those were Bus Class tickets.
And thank you @Gary: “A microcosm of the broader decline in German society, Lufthansa is the perfect example of how a reputation for efficiency and competence has been turned on its head. At this point my mental model of Lufthansa is that everything they do is somehow illogical, incompetent, and incoherent.” You have it spot on.
PS: Friends don’t let friends fly Lufthansa.
I’m trying to recall the last time Lufthansa did something – anything really – of note that was customer-friendly or logical and reasonable. Sadly, nothing springs to mind.
@Woofie — Nah, Gary’s wrong on that comment about Germany, as are you. Feels a little more like thinly-veiled right-wing anti-Europe propaganda. I doubt any of you care about the nuance of their economies, cultures, or whatever they are dealing with currently. Just cheap shots, really.
On your incident in OPO, it’s a shame that you got ‘stranded’ and apparently did not get ‘helped’–did you at least pursue EU261 compensation (in addition to any refunds) afterwards? I know what those situations can feel like. Happened to be with Finnair once, but I don’t hold it against the people of Finland.
I’ve been fortunate on LH; but, I do prefer AF. Swiss is alright (ZRH is lovely) and I may fly Swiss again, depending on how my ITA Volare Executive Club status is respected.
Lufthansa and all its brands are the definition of mediocrity, including Swiss, which is supposed to be the premium brand within the group.
Booking throne seats on Swiss also incur a charge. $196, if I remember correctly.
No worries never liked the airline and now will boycott them permanently
It seems that if you are an incompetent leader, the airline business is the one place you can thrive as evidenced by Robert Isom and Carsten Sphor
Can all of the whiners explain how this is bad for LH, instead of just complaining? BA does it as well (and without even having better vs worse seats), AF / KLM do it now too, and other airlines have also talked about segmentation of premium cabin traffic or already do it (AC signature suite restrictions, chauffeur drive being limited to cash tickets booked directly with the airline, etc.). How is offering different products within a class of service a bad move for the airline exactly?
@Dominic Kivni — See my comments; I am not one of your so-called ‘whiners.’
Maybe @Matthew @Common Sense @shoeguy or @Dwondermeant will eventually get back to you, on-substance, but they probably will not. Oh well. Whiners gonna whine.
But, I’m also not going to pretend like this ‘slippery-slope’ of ‘micro-transactions’ and ‘sub-categorizing’ of such products and services is ‘good’ for me as a consumer.
We’ve often joked on here–what if the airlines started charging per use of the lavatories? Of course, that one is absurd. (In fact, that would have been a good April Fools post, Gary!)
Yet, seat-selection within a business class cabin may seem ‘reasonable’ to some (such as yourself, apparently), but we already paid plenty for the class of service–it just feels like unnecessary nitpicking and yet another way to increase products while not really offering much extra. And if these seats are really all that ‘better,’ then maybe they will fetch a premium.
For instance, on jetBlue’s transatlantic A321LRs, I wanted to try the ‘Mint Studio’ (front row, more space), so I paid an extra $299 for that honor from JFK-LHR last year. Was it really worth it? Meh. It was nice, but I’m not sure I would pay extra for it again. I suspect the same for Allegris.
*increase ‘profits’ (not products)
Honestly, I try to proof-read, yet the phone often autocorrects–the software (artificial lack-of intelligence?) doesn’t ask for our ‘consent’ anymore. (‘When you’re a star, they let you do it!’)
Anyway, usually most of this comes down to the ‘greed’ (of the big company) and the ‘ignorance’ (of the average consumer).
@AC… I wouldn’t say it’s “needy” as you put it. In my case it’s wanting to experience what is going on WITH my wife. Most of the time we sit together but occasionally we don’t and it’s not a big deal. It’s just more fun for the both of us when we do.