by Lufthansa Flyer | Nov 17, 2016 | Cash & Miles, Featured, Lufthansa, Miles & More |
Lufthansa announced today that it has launched a new program dubbed ‘Cash & Miles’ that will allow passengers to use a combination of cash and miles from their Miles & More account balance to book flights on any LH Group airline (as long as the booking is made through Lufthansa.com).
The program is operational as of now, but from what I understand will not be available in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Finland, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain and Italy until early 2017. It is however available in most countries outside of Europe.
If you are a resident in a country where ‘Cash & Miles’ is available, you’ll see the new option when pricing out a new fare (make sure your Miles & More profile is loaded). There will be a sliding scale that you can use when calculating the amount of miles that will be needed based on the amount of cash you want to spend on a ticket. According to the program rules, a minimum of 7,000 miles must be used towards any booking.
Tickets booked under ‘Cash & Miles’ will still qualify for full mileage credit to Miles & More based on the fare class that you are booking.
The program is targeted primarily to those Miles & More members that may not have quite the amount of miles needed for a full ticket redemption and the math confirms that notion.
Here are the numbers for 2 examples: To reduce your fare by $20, you would need to use 7659 miles. To reduce the fare by approximately $100, you would need to use 31,405 miles. As you can see for the 31,405 miles you can book an economy award ticket within USA, or for a few more miles a ticket within Europe. Not to mention the deals you can take advantage of through the Meilenschnappchen program.
However it is a net positive addition to the Miles & More platform because it does allow you to use your miles to offset the cost of a ticket. The value of the program however is based on a case by case basis. For some, this will be a great way to shed miles they normally wouldn’t be able use, while for others it would make sense to keep the miles towards a far better redemption option through Miles & More.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Nov 15, 2016 | Europe, Fare Sale, Featured, Lufthansa |
Lufthansa launched a fare sale today that offers about the lowest prices that you’ll find between their US gateways and Europe. The fare sale lasts until midnight, Novmember 16.
The best fare for this promo is a $450 ticket thats available between Washington DC and Stockholm, Sweden. Denver – Amsterdam comes in at a close second for only $480. From the west coast the best deal appears to be Los Angeles to Prague for only $829.
Most fares between the US and Europe for this sale fall between $700 (East Coast / Mid-West) and $1100 (West Coast).
The fare sale covers departures taking place between November 18 and December 13, while return travel can take place all the way out to June 13, 2017. The only other restrictions include a Saturday night stay and 3 day advance purchase requirement.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Nov 15, 2016 | Featured, Mileage Plus, Passenger Experience, United |
United announced a new ‘enhancement’ that takes it one step closer to turning Economy class into something akin to what a Low Cost Carrier would offer, or worse.
In their announcement, they are now going to restrict certain low-level Economy fare buckets to only allow one piece of carry-on luggage which has to fit under the seat in front of you. In addition, seats will not be assigned until check-in and it is even possible that passengers traveling together on the same itinerary will not even be able to choose seats next to one another. ‘United Friendly’ right?
Also, this new fare class will have to refund or rebooking options. If you don’t fly on that ticket, you’re out the amount that you spent. According to UA, these fares will also not be eligible for upgrades no matter what your elite level may be.
On top of all this, these ‘low class’ Economy fare buckets will not be eligible to earn Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM). How’s that for being ‘Friendly’? AND you’ll get to automatically board with Group 5, meaning you will be the last person on the plane. More insult to injury.
Why not just charge for water while you’re at it, United?
Is this next?
United suggests that this will add approximately $5 billion to their bottom line annually by 2020. I guess someone has to pay for the Polaris product that is coming next month. So let the back of the plane subsidize the front! 🙂
It’s an obvious cash grab since in my mind I have no doubt that the other Economy Fare classes will have substantial price increases to exploit the passengers wishing to avoid this enhancement. I can also see Advance Seat Reservation (ASR) fees going up. Instead of $19 for an ASR or upgrade to Premium Economy from GRR to ORD, maybe it moves to $50. Good times.
From a passenger point of view, I can only see this as a disaster. Especially once on board the aircraft.
For example, lets say 25% of the Economy cabin is booked in this new ‘Sheeple’ class, where passengers can only bring aboard one bag that HAS TO fit under the seat in front of them. This will theoretically create quite a bit of over head bin space. What’s to stop someone in this fare class from putting their bag into the overhead since it’s empty anyway? Are the flight attendants who already don’t care about passenger well-being going to police the cabin during the flight and use the passenger manifest to enforce whose bag goes up top, or whose goes under the seat? C’mon.
On the optimistic side of things, United has done a piss poor job in enforcing previous passenger enhancements. Remember when your bag had to fit into the sizer next to the gate? Yep, fail. In 2 years and dozens of flights, I still see Hockey Bags, Backpacks destined for Everest, and babies still board aircraft! 🙂
This may very well fall under the heading of all bark and no bite since getting their crew to enforce these measures will be the hardest part as far as policy enforcement is concerned.
