Condor's candy-striped livery may split opinion, but the German carrier's business class is an easier call to make. One recent trip from New York JFK to Frankfurt — with a connection on to Berlin, and a midday return — showed what the airline's roughly USD-priced transatlantic front cabin delivers.
Condor has been around since 1955, but two things define it today: a long history of undercutting legacy carriers on fares between Germany and North America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia, and a 2022 rebrand that brought the stripes and a fleet of Airbus A330neos with a three-cabin layout. Its last Boeing 757-300 left the fleet in November 2025.
The business cabin holds 30 seats in a 1-2-1 configuration across seven rows, lit in low blues and purples that suit a red-eye. Seats recline a full 180 degrees — though crew won't lay out the bed mat for you — and there's a shoe compartment at your feet that doubles as a footrest, a console with US, EU and USB outlets, over-ear headphones, and an amenity kit with toothbrush, eye mask, striped socks and moisturiser. The front-row Business Class Prime seats are larger and add pajamas plus free Wi-Fi; regular business passengers pay for connectivity.
Food is generous. On the eastbound red-eye: a four-part starter of dips, smoked duck and marinated salmon, a choice of beef tenderloin, shrimp with herb polenta or ricotta ravioli, cheese, chocolate cake, then a feta-and-sweet-potato omelet breakfast. Coming back, lunch ran suitably German — breaded "Oktoberfest style" chicken with potato salad and lingonberries — followed by a lighter pre-landing supper. All drinks, including alcohol, are complimentary, and tickets unlock lounges at both ends: the Horizons Lounge at JFK Terminal 7, plus solid Lufthansa lounges in Frankfurt and Berlin Tempelhof (Jägermeister on tap, a dish-collecting robot).
Two caveats. There are no privacy screens between the paired centre seats, so book those with someone you like. And Frankfurt Airport's passport control can be slow enough to turn a connection into a sprint — build in buffer time.
The verdict: everything Condor controls meets international business class expectations, usually at fares below Lufthansa and other legacy European airlines, and Atmos Rewards members (Alaska and Hawaiian's loyalty programme, for which Condor is a global partner) can sweeten the deal further. If you find a good points or cash fare, it's a genuinely worthwhile upgrade.
Story via Condé Nast Traveler.
