by Lufthansa Flyer | Mar 22, 2018 | Featured, Lufthansa, Miles & More, Swiss |
Lufthansa has announced that it has changed its approach to First Class upgrades for members of Miles & More.
Beginning April 3, 2018, all revenue based Lufthansa Business Class fare classes will be eligible for upgrade to First Class. Until this announcement, Miles & More members could only upgrade using their E-Vouchers if they flew certain Business Class fare classes. For example, purchasing a ‘P’ fare (deep discount fare) ticket would not allow you to upgrade to First. That is now no longer the case. Any Business Class ticket that you PAY for is eligible for upgrade. Award tickets obviously remain un-upgradeable!
Lufthansa made this switch to align with the policy in place with SWISS who has always allowed any Business Class seat to be upgradeable to First Class using e-vouchers. It’s a smart move for LH to make the upgrade policy consistent between the 2 Lufthansa Group carriers that offer First Class cabins.
Speaking from personal experience, the previous policy impacted my decision making a great deal. It was the old upgrade policy that had me choose to fly with SWISS more often than Lufthansa when I had e-vouchers to use for upgrades.
Now LH group passengers have a level playing field when it comes to choosing which of the 2 carriers to fly if they are looking to redeem upgrades to First Class.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Mar 19, 2018 | Featured, Lufthansa, Passenger Experience |
Lufthansa today announced the results of a pilot program undertaken in Los Angeles that allows passengers to board flights without the use of a passport or boarding pass at the gate.
In association with Customs and Border Control (CBP), Amadeus, and other partners Lufthansa set up self-boarding gates in LAX that allowed for biometric facial recognition technology to determine if a passenger is authorized to board a flight.
According to LH, when a passenger approaches the self boarding gate, a camera takes a photo of a passengers face and is immediately compared against a US CBP database. Within seconds, the information is relayed back to the gate and if everything is in good order, the gate opens and allows the passenger to board the aircraft.
With this technology in place, it would eliminate the need for a boarding pass or passport to be used at a gate.
In fact, Lufthansa was able to successfully board 350 passengers aboard an A380 in 20 minutes, marking a significant improvement over the normal time it takes to board the aircraft.
With the success of this pilot, Lufthansa will now consider expanding this concept to other USA gateways in an effort to modernize the passenger experience at the airport and at the same time enhance air travel security. No timeline has yet to be determined by LH as of this writing.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Mar 14, 2018 | Austrian, Business Class, Fare Sale, Featured, Lufthansa, Swiss |
Lufthansa, SWISS, and Austrian have posted a sensational Business Class fare sale for travel that originates from either Europe or North America!
The sale is scheduled to last until March 28 and covers travel between June 22 and August 11, 2018.
Some examples of the sale:
- Frankfurt – New York for $2064
- Prague – Washington DC for $2100
- Munich – Los Angeles for $2600
In fact, most Business Class fares to the USA, Canada, Latin America, Europe, and Mexico are ranging between $2000 and $3000, making this a fantastic opportunity for summer travel.
What’s especially nice about this fare sale is that it covers travel in both directions. Usually a fare sale is targeted towards departures from Europe OR North America. Though prices from North America are about $100-$300 more than prices for travel that starts in Europe.
The fares are also available for United and Air Canada operated flights, but why go there especially if United may kill your dog…..
