As luck would have it, Lufthansa has followed up a day after my post regarding the Premium Economy rollout with more information regarding the new seat.
As of today, passengers can book Premium Economy seats for travel that begins on December 10, 2014. December 10 is the date that the seats will enter service aboard 747-8i aircraft ONLY and at the moment only the 747-8i operated flights can be booked for Premium Economy travel.
Destinations that will be covered by the 747-8i flying from Frankfurt to Washington DC, Seoul, Beijing, Hong Kong, Chicago, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo and Mexico City.
To reward those making early reservations, Lufthansa is running a Premium Economy Fare sale valid for travel between December 10 and March 30, 2015. The fare sale is a 15% discount off of normal Premium Economy fares. For example, the fare between Chicago and Frankfurt during this sale will be approximately $1500.
ADDITIONALLY, The A340-600 will debut Premium Economy in January from Munich to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo.
Beginning in late April the A380 will have the new cabin on flights between Frankfurt and San Francisco, Houston, Miami, New York (JFK), Singapore, Shanghai and Johannesburg.
When booking, passengers will have 3 levels of Premium Economy Tickets: Basic, Basic Plus and Flex.
BASIC tickets will be non-refundable, earn 100% of miles flown and have a rebooking fee ($300). Basic tickets will not be upgradeable with the use of Miles & More Miles.
BASIC PLUS tickets will be refundable ($300 fee), earn 100% of miles flown and have a rebooking fee ($300). Basic Plus tickets will not be be upgradeable with the use of Miles & More Miles.
FLEX tickets will be refundable ($0 fee), earn 150% of miles flown and have no rebooking fee. FLEX tickets can be upgraded to the next higher cabin available by using Miles & More Miles.
Here’s a chart that illustrates the differences between the Premium Economy fare classes:
WHAT TO EXPECT ON BOARD AND AT THE AIRPORT
Premium Economy passengers will be entitled to several enhancements when it comes to their experience as compared to Economy:
Passengers will be allowed to check 2 pieces of luggages (50 lbs. each) at no cost.
Access to a Lufthansa Business Class Lounge outside of Germany will cost only $35.00.
Access to the Lufthansa Arrivals Lounge in Frankfurt will cost €50.
Star Alliance Gold Credentials can still be used for access to Senator/Business Lounges and Arrivals Lounge at no cost.
On board, Passengers will receive a Premium Economy Amenity kit along with a bottle of water. Additionally, meal service will be enhanced and will be served on porcelain china. Passengers will also be greeted by an enhanced IFE (In Flight Entertainment) system that features an 11 or 12 inch screen, approximately 15-20% larger than the Economy Class IFE screen.
Before you ask about earning or redeeming Star Alliance member FF program miles, Lufthansa has not set up the infrastructure at the moment. Expectations are that by mid-2015 Lufthansa will establish a fare class that can be used by partner airlines for redeeming miles for travel in Premium Economy. In the same vein, mileage earning rates have yet to be determined as well. My thoughts on this is that LH is waiting for the Premium Economy cabin to be fully rolled out throughout the fleet and timetable before delving into frequent flyer program compatibility with other airlines.
I will fly Lufthansa from Cape Town to Frankfurt to Washington D.C. in Economy X class.
How much luggage am I allowed to take?
The following basic regulations apply for the free baggage allowance on all intercontinental flights operated by Lufthansa: Economy Class: 1 bag up to 23 kg (50 lb) Premium Economy Class: 2 bags up to 23 kg (50 lb) each. Business Class: 2 bags up to 32 kg (70 lb) each.
What about qualifying miles? Is it 150% in all categories? How is UAL going to deal with this against the E+ services?
Looks like there will be 2 categories of miles. 100% and 150% for Miles & MOre, LH has not yet finalized ANY fare classes or earnings rates as far as dealing with *A partner plans are concerned. Personally, I don’t think you’ll have a 150% Mileage Plus option since thats already the case with Z fares, etc. Even P fares only earn 100%, so I can’t see where LH Y+ would earn any more than 100%. I’d like to be proven wrong though!
I’ll add thst it is shame there is not reciprosity between UA and LH on premium economy for elites. I might rather fly this than a dark UA flight. That said I am not sure the LH seats look comfortable for long distance, UA’s tend to be. If only LH had a competative frequent flyer program, I might switch.
Reciprocity should be in place by mid 2015 once the entire LH fleet is retrofitted and systems can be updated. Stay tuned! 🙂
LH has said that reciprocity for an upgrade to Premier Economy would occur in mid 2015 for other airlines in the Alliance. My wife and I are Gold Lifetime members. We are booked LAX – MUC on LH453 on 4 Nov 15 and continue on LH1814 MUC – BCN on 5Nov 15. UA has upgraded us to Economy Plus for all portions of their flights in our trip.
We have traveled with LH for many of our world trips and feel you are absolutely in the top group in all the airlines. We would hope that LH would honor us with an upgrade even with a slight charge and the other flight LH1793 on 23Nov15.
Thank you,
Donald & Helen Hosaka
Honolulu, Hawaii
That’s all? Barring any mistake fares or lack of award space I’d pay that!
It’s not bad at all!
This is welcome. i would pay for premium economy.