Lufthansa Business Class: Munich - New York - Munich

Airline: Lufthansa
Aircraft: Airbus A330-200 / A340-600
Class: Business
Route: Munich - New York JFK / New York EWR - Munich
Date: August 2010

Check-In
Check-In in Munich was conducted smoothly at curbside check-in counters. We went to the Senator Lounge which was very full. The food offered was good and the staff at the welcome desk very helpful. As our seats had been changed despite confirmed reservation, the gentleman at the desk managed to get us back to our actual seats. So we could travel in the mini-cabin right behind First Class. 

Seats
There was a blanket and a pillow on every seat plus the amenity kit. This time it was the A380 metal box and contained ear plugs, socks, eyeshades, a lip-balm and body lotion, toothbrush and toothpaste. The seat itself is flat, but angled. It is very good for relaxing or watching a movie, however, during sleep you always slide down or your back hurts in some kind of awkward position. There is a shoe compartment as well, but it only works for normal shoes, sports shoes don't fit in unless you squeeze them over the limit. If you wish to use your laptop on board, no problem, there is a power outlet, but it only works with flat plugs. Space for storing things is quite limited. A book and glasses are no problem, but bigger items like your liquids bag are hard to squeeze in as there are so many magazines in the pocket in front of you.
Every seat is equipped with a personal monitor. There is a good selection of movies, documentaries, cartoons etc., but you can't shut off the monitor in between and continue watching a movie later, it will start again then. The picture quality is mediocre, sound quality is depending on the headset provided. Some have some strange noise that is a little bit bothering.
Aisle access might be quite a challenge if you are seated at the window and the person next to you is sleeping, because you need to climb over your neighbour's seat.

Lavatories
Lavatories are tiny, really tiny. Changing clothes is quite an effort if you don't want to bump against the wall every other second. However, the lavatories were very clean and well-maintained. Mouthwash, hand cream, razors etc. were provided.

Service
The flight attendants were very friendly and helpful. However, as usual, meal service started right after take-off. The tables were unfolded, covered with white cloth, a drink and a small bag of nuts was offered. From then you were more or less trapped in your seat for the next hour before the actual meal service started (an express meal was not available).
During the inbound flight, a night flight, it again occurred that meal service took almost two hours so that it was hard to sleep due to the noises in the cabin. These circumstances led to the fact that there was only sleep for about 3 hours possible, definitely not enough for a 7-hour-flight!

Food
Lunch & Dinner: We tried salad as starter, pasta and fish as main courses and some kind of cheese cake as dessert. The salad was good, the pasta somehow tasteless, the fish smelled fishy and the cake was good again. Salt, pepper and butter are offered in sachets or wrapped into foil. The cutlery looks like cutlery for small children, so no dining in style!

Breakfast: Sadly, Lufthansa doesn't offer cereals or cornflakes. There were two slices of pineapple, one slice of kiwi, one small piece of mango (each no bigger than an apple slice!). Additionally, two slices of ham. And marmelade in a small plastic container.

Luggage
Luggage was handled quickly, nothing got lost, nothing got damaged.

Résumé: 
Improvements are urgently needed. The seat is not state-of-the-art anymore (at least not for the regular prices Lufthansa charges for Business Class flights!), the presentation of food should be reconsidered (salt and pepper shouldn't be offered in sachets and it would also be nicer to serve nuts, butter and maremlade on small porcellain plates instead of plastic containers... and please, new cutlery!) and an express menu (a real one!) for night flights would be really highly appreciated!