Lufthansa First Class:
Singapore to Basel
for 110,000 Miles

There's a version of this story where I tell you I spent months hunting for award availability, refreshing screens at 4am, running elaborate transfer strategies. That version would be more dramatic. The truth? I found this ticket 48 hours before departure, transferred miles within minutes, and boarded one of the most exclusive cabins in the sky — in the literal nose of a Boeing 747 — for 110,000 Miles & More miles and the taxes on a connecting short-haul to Basel.

That's the reality of Lufthansa First Class award availability. It doesn't always work this way, but when it does, it is pure magic. And if you're Swiss-based and positioned correctly with your miles, you can be ready to pounce exactly when those seats open up.

Booked 48 hours out.

Here's something most people don't know about Lufthansa First Class: they almost never release award space to partner programmes more than 14 days before departure. They'd rather sell those eight seats at CHF 6,000–12,000 a pop than hand them over for miles early on. Can't blame them, really.

What this means is: if you're a Miles & More member booking LH First Class, you're in the programme that actually owns the seat — so you get the best access. Space opens up in the last two weeks, and again in the final few days. This particular Singapore–Frankfurt seat appeared two days out. Miles were already in my account. Booked within the hour.

This isn't about luck. It's about being ready. If your Miles & More account is sitting there loaded with miles from your Cornèrcard or Amex — when the seat appears, you book it. If you're scrambling to accumulate, someone else does.

The First Class Terminal.
Yes, it's its own building.

Before we even get to the plane — Frankfurt. Specifically, the Lufthansa First Class Terminal, which is a separate building from the main airport. Not a better lounge. A completely different building. And it's included with your First Class ticket.

You arrive, hand over your passport, and your personal assistant disappears to handle the formalities. No queue. No departure board to watch. You eat, drink, have a shower, take a nap if you want — and then your assistant comes to find you when it's time to go. I'm not exaggerating any of this.

The moment of departure from the FCT is, frankly, theatrical. You descend to the lower level of the terminal where a fleet of cars waits to drive First Class passengers directly to the aircraft on the tarmac. For years, that transfer was in a Porsche Cayenne — one of those details that lodges in the memory and makes the whole experience feel unlike anything else in travel. (Note for future travellers: the Porsche partnership ended in late 2024, and Lufthansa has transitioned to other premium vehicles for tarmac transfers — still a private car service, still a world apart from a boarding gate.)

You drive across the apron, pull up beside the 747, and board directly through the aircraft door — bypassing the terminal entirely. Other passengers watch you arrive from their windows. I know, because I was one of those passengers once. Now I was on the other side.

Sitting in the nose
of a 747.

The 747-8 is one of the last proper Queen of the Skies still flying regular commercial routes. Lufthansa is the big operator — Singapore, New York, Miami, Tokyo. The Singapore–Frankfurt service is actually the last Boeing 747 still operating into Changi. Which makes it a bit of a send-off every time it lands.

The First Class cabin is in the nose. Eight seats, no overhead bins — which makes it feel absurdly spacious. Row 1 is the one to aim for: two seats, positioned so far forward that you're actually ahead of the pilots (they're on the upper deck). Four windows. The curved fuselage visible on both sides. Climbing out of Singapore at night watching the city disappear through the nose of a 747 — there's genuinely nothing else like it in commercial aviation.

The Singapore–Frankfurt sector runs approximately 12 hours overnight, which is almost perfectly designed for a full Lufthansa First Class dinner, a proper night's sleep, and a leisurely breakfast on approach into Germany. The crew-to-passenger ratio — two flight attendants for eight seats — means the service feels genuinely attentive without being intrusive. This is not the effusive, almost performative hospitality of some Asian carriers. It is precise, warm, and quietly confident. Very German. Very good.

Dinner began with a Champagne and warm macadamia nuts. Then caviar — Lufthansa is reportedly one of the largest purchasers of Beluga caviar in the world, even ahead of many Middle Eastern carriers — followed by a main course and a cheese course if desired. I slept for around seven hours. Breakfast arrived just before Frankfurt.

The connecting hop Frankfurt–Basel on a short-haul Lufthansa flight brought me back to earth in every sense. But that contrast only amplified how exceptional the previous 12 hours had been.

How to get to 110,000 miles
without flying there

This is where most people assume the story falls apart. It doesn't. If you're based in Switzerland and you know which cards to use, 110,000 Miles & More miles is achievable through welcome bonuses and ordinary spending. No status required, no flying first.

The key: stack your sources. Welcome bonuses from card applications are the fastest route to a meaningful balance, and Swiss residents currently have access to some genuinely strong offers.

The Swiss Card Ecosystem for Miles & More

That's roughly half the miles needed for a Lufthansa First Class seat — from sign-up bonuses alone, before you spend a single franc on day-to-day purchases. Add a year of household spending routed through the right cards, and the 110,000 figure becomes very achievable within 12–18 months.

The Amex transfer: the move most people miss

Swiss Amex MR points transfer to Miles & More at 2:1 — not the most efficient ratio, but the Amex Platinum welcome bonus (45,000 points = 22,500 miles, credited straight away) makes it a powerful starting point when combined with card spending.

The golden rule: don't transfer until you're ready to book. Confirm the award seat exists, then move the miles. Amex points stay flexible until you transfer them — Miles & More miles, once transferred, are committed. Don't rush it.

What Does 110,000 Miles Cost You in Cash Terms?

A one-way Lufthansa First Class ticket on the Singapore–Frankfurt–Basel routing in the same travel window I flew was priced at approximately CHF 9,500–11,000. The award redemption cost 110,000 miles plus around CHF 250 in taxes and fees. At even a conservative estimate, that's a redemption value of around 8–9 CHF cents per mile. The average Swiss card earns miles worth, at best, 0.5–1 centime in cash-back terms. The uplift from redemption versus cash-back is an order of magnitude.

This is why Miles & More miles, used correctly for premium cabin redemptions, are among the most powerful currencies available to Swiss residents. Most people treat them like supermarket loyalty points. They are not.

The score.
And a caveat.

Was it worth 110,000 miles?
Yes. Obviously.

People ask whether First Class is worth it over Business. Honest answer: the flat bed and food aren't dramatically different. The rest of it — the private terminal, the car to the plane, two flight attendants for eight passengers, being one of eight people in a cabin designed for a completely different pace of travel — that's a different experience entirely.

What pushed this specific redemption into a different category was the aircraft. The 747 won't fly commercially forever. Booking the nose of one in First Class, on the last 747 route into Singapore, on 110,000 miles you accumulated from CHF spending — that's not just travel. That's the system working exactly as it should. Book it while you still can.