by Lufthansa Flyer | Jul 21, 2015 | Austrian, Business Class, Economy Class, Fare Sale, Featured |
Austrian is running a fare sale for travel between NYC (JFK and Newark) and Budapest during late this year and early next. Fares are as low as $760! Here are the terms:
Valid travel periods are between October 26 and December 11 and again between December 24 and March 26.
Fares can be booked until December 10 (based on availability).
Minimum stay is one Saturday Night.
This fare on its own is a fantastic deal, but I have a better idea.
Use Austrian’s SmartUpgrade program!
For those of you unfamiliar with SmartUpgrade, it is OS’ way of allowing you to bid for a Business Class seat regardless of the economy class that you book. If your bid is accepted, you’ll even earn Business Class miles (P fare levels) and get the other perks of Biz class travel such as lounge access and increased baggage allowances.
How it works:
Book your Economy Class ticket. As part of your booking process you’ll be asked if you would like to submit a SmartUpgrade bid. Do it! You can place a bid anywhere between $350 and $800 per Business Class segment. The higher your bid, the better your chance of getting the biz seat. I have gotten all of my bids filled and never had to go over $500.
Why do I suggest doing this?
Well for starters, you are dealing with a $760 base economy fare which is already a good deal. But you can turn a good deal to a great deal with SmartUpgrade. Even if you submit a max bid of $800 for both directions you will have an Austrian Business class seat for only $2360. A fare that you typically do not find every day for OS Business. Imagine if you bid $500 each way and you’re ‘approved’, you’ll fly roundtrip for only $1760 in Business. Hard to beat that deal.
Not sure about bidding at the time of booking? Thats OK. You can still book your Economy fare now and go back and add your bid later as long as you place it at least 72 hours before departure.
The one BIG BIG caveat (actually 2):
1. You must book your ticket through Austrian.com to be able to place a SmartUpgrade bid.
2. Make certain that the credit card that you use to bid will still be valid 24 hours prior to your departure. You will be billed for the upgrade approximately 48-72 hours prior to departure. I screwed up my ticket one time because my CC expired and my bid was cancelled when they went to charge me. Lesson learned!
Aside from the Budapest offer, most OS destinations in Europe seem to be attractively priced as well, Vienna for example is around $800 as are many other cities in Europe.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jul 9, 2015 | Business Class, Economy Class, Featured, First Class, Route Announcements, Swiss |
Earlier today, SWISS unveiled the look of their cabin interiors for all the classes for their new 777s that are set to join the fleet beginning next year.
Though the interiors are new, they certainly carry a bit of a reminder of the current color schemes. The new aircraft will be configured for 8 First, 62 Business and 270 Economy class seats. Each class will bring new features not previously available on LX aircraft.
First Class passengers will be able to enjoy a Suite-like experience thanks to the new seat design that will allow a sliding door to close, giving a passenger nearly perfect privacy. The space above the seat will be open, but the side panels will be large enough to prevent anyone from peeking at the seat. A large 32 inch Monitor will be the biggest in the industry.
SWISS’ First Class seat aboard the 777-300ER
Business Class seats also receive a face lift. According to SWISS, privacy and comfort were the biggest criteria that went into the design. With the new seat, passengers will of course be able to convert the seat into a true-flat bed and continue to be able to adjust the firmness of their seat cushion just as they have on the current LX Business class seat.
SWISS’ new Business Class cabin aboard the 777-300ER
Economy class was not overlooked when it came to the design of the cabin and seat. Newly designed seat cushions and large touch-screen monitors along with WiFi awaits passengers. Economy pax will also have a self-serve kiosk available that will offer snacks and beverages.
SWISS’ Economy Class cabin aboard their 777-300ER
As part of today’s news, SWISS also offered information on the routes that the new birds will fly on beginning next summer. Initially, you’ll be able to see the 777s on routes to Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo, San Francisco and even Tel Aviv. For Sao Paulo, San Francisco and Tel Aviv it is expected that the routes will be split between 777s and A340s.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jun 30, 2015 | Business Class, Featured, Lufthansa |
Each month LUFTHANSA updates the status of their Business Class retrofit progress across the long haul fleet. This month’s update confirms that 95 long-haul aircraft now feature the new Business Class cabin. That means that 5 additional aircraft now sport the new Business Class Cabin as compared to the June Update. This leaves only 12 long haul aircraft that need to be retrofitted.
Here is the breakdown by Aircraft type and then by specific aircraft registration:
The aircraft registration codes that are highlighted in green represent the newly retrofitted aircraft added to the report for this month.
Airbus A330: D-AIKP, D-AIKQ, D-AIKR, D-AIKS (These 4 planes were line-fit meaning that they were delivered by Airbus with the seats installed). D-AIKA, D-AIKB, D-AIKC, D-AIKD, D-AIKE, D-AIKF, D-AIKG, D-AIKH, D-AIKI, D-AIKJ, D-AIKK, D-AIKM, D-AIKN, D-AIKO have all been retrofit by Lufthansa Technik.
Airbus A340-300: D-AIGM, D-AIGS, D-AIGO, D-AIGV, D-AIGT, D-AIGN, D-AIFE, D-AIGZ, D-AIFC, D-AIGX, D-AIGU, D-AIGL, D-AIFA, D-AIFD, D-AIFF, D-AIGW, D-AIGY (All Retrofit).
Airbus A340-600: D-AIHA, D-AIHB, D-AIHC, D-AIHD, D-AIHE, D-AIHF, D-AIHH, D-AIHI, D-AIHK, D-AIHL, D-AIHN, D-AIHQ, D-AIHR, D-AIHS, D-AIHV, D-AIHW, D-AIHX, D-AIHY, D-AIHZ (All Retrofit).
Airbus A380: D-AIMB, D-AIMC, D-AIMD, D-AIME, D-AIMF, D-AIMG, D-AIMH, D-AIMI, D-AIMJ, D-AIMK, D-AIML, D-AIMM, D-AIMN. MK, ML, MM, and MN were line fit while all other A380s were retrofitted.
Boeing 747-8i: All have the new Business Class.
Boeing 747-400: D-ABTK, D-ABTL, D-ABVO, D-ABVP, D-ABVR, D-ABVU, D-ABVW, D-ABVX, D-ABVY (Retrofit).
Another way to look at the progress is to see which aircraft still need to be retrofitted. Here is the list as of June 30, 2015:
A340-600: D-AI: HM, HO, HP, HT, HU
A340-300: D-AIGP
A330-300: D-AIKL
747-400: D-AB: TL, VM, VS, VT, VZ
If you have upcoming Business Class travel on Lufthansa, you can use this tool to determine if your flight will have an aircraft equipped with the new Business Class.
