Want a window seat in business class? If you’re flying in the new Lufthansa Allegris cabin that’s likely to cost extra.
Lufthansa will have enough Allegris-configured A350s by the end of March 2025 to commit them to specific markets, allowing the carrier to start charging the long-expected extra fee for certain seats in the premium cabins. Those planes will initially operate from the carrier’s Munich hub to Chicago, Shanghai, and San Francisco.
The airline is quick to point out that “classic” business class seats remain available without a surcharge. But the majority of seats on board are not the classics and do carry an extra fee. The starting price ranges from 100 euro for the window (“privacy”) seats or extra long bed to 400 euro for the Business Class Suite bulkhead row seats on board.
Read more: New First Class Suite planned for British Airways A380s
But those numbers are just the starting point. A spot-check of various Lufthansa flights in 2025 showed prices starting 30-50% higher than those numbers.
The extra large Suite Plus in first class also comes with an upcharge. Pricing there starts at 1900 euro for the larger space as a single passenger. If a pair of travelers are flying in first and want the double suite they are invited to book via the call center rather than online to receive “special rates” for their trip.
Read more: Delta pushes product segmentation, punts on Basic Business for now
It is worth noting that third party retailers have access to sell the seats, so passengers booking via Expedia can also buy up to the various seats, though their interface does not explain why the pricing differs for each seat.
While the pricing may prove frustrating for passengers, the concept is far from new. Swiss and British Airways (among others) have been charging for business class seat assignments for years. Both offer selection for free to certain status tiers of their frequent flyer programs. Lufthansa will offer the same for “up to 80%” of the seats in the cabin, implying that the bulkhead suites will likely be excluded.
Read more: A Tale of Two Turks: Flight-testing the 777 and A350 Business Class on Turkish Airlines
And the bulkhead pricing – at least the staring price of 400 euro – is not too far off from where Virgin Atlantic or Condor are pricing their similar offerings. As the price ticks up from that minimum, however, the disparity grows.
Ultimately the trend of airlines working to further segment their aircraft, searching for “good, better, best” options where they can charge more, is not likely to reverse anytime soon.
And perhaps at least there can be some celebration that Basic Business isn’t part of the plan?
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