by Lufthansa Flyer | Apr 18, 2013 | Airlines |
AUSTRIAN has announced a new program that will allow passengers the opportunity to bid for a Business Class seat via auction. The new program is available to any passenger booked on a long haul flight that is operated by Austrian.
The process is simple, passengers can place their bids online and will be informed with 72 hours of their scheduled departure if their bid was accepted and if they will be seated in Business Class for their flight.
Successful bidders will have access to all the perks afforded with a Long Haul business class ticket including:
Enhanced DO&CO dining options.
Luggage allowances afforded to Business Class travelers.
Credit for Business Class miles in a passenger’s Miles&More account.
Business Class Check-In.
Conditions exist for this new concept:
The ticket has to be a revenue ticket (i.e. Economy award tickets are not eligible).
ALL Economy Class fares are eligible.
The auction is per segment/flight. If you have multiple long haul flights on one AUSTRIAN itinerary, you will need to bid for a seat on each flight.
The auction does not apply to short-haul or medium-haul business class seats.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Apr 18, 2013 | Airlines |
Between now and May 16, Lufthansa is conducting a fare sale for Spring travel to Europe from the USA. Fares are attractive from all gateways but the best deal looks to be Houston-Istanbul which starts from only $679. I did a few sample fare searches and found the majority of LH fares to be less than other airlines in most cases. Fares notwithstanding, the experience you’ll have aboard a Lufthansa, Brussels, Swiss or Austrian flight will be better than the competitors anyway 🙂 .
Most fares from the east coast to a variety of European destinations range from the mid $700 to mid $900 area while fares from the west coast range between the high $800 to low $1000 range. These fares are typical of a Spring Fare Sale.
The fares are valid for travel on Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, Brussels, United and Air Canada but if you want my unsolicited advice, I would book my travel on Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian or Brussels operated flights. The reason behind my advice is that I feel that the LH Group airlines provide better onboard hospitality. Again, this is just my opinion based on my own experiences.
So if you are going to take my advice, be careful when you are booking and make sure you pay attention to which airlines will be operating your flights. After all, your vacation starts with your flight so you should begin to enjoy your trip the moment you step aboard an aircraft.
The terms and conditions for this fare sale are as follows:
Ticket must be purchased by May 16, 2013.
You must depart between April 25 and May 16, 2013.
You must return between April 25 and June 16, 2013.
Tickets must be purchased 7 days ahead of departure.
Fares valid on Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, Brussels, United and Air Canada.
Saturday night stay is required.
Weekend travel surcharge of $60 may apply.
Maximum stay of 1 month.
Date changes are allowed ($250 per change).
by Lufthansa Flyer | Apr 17, 2013 | Airlines |
AUSTRIAN announced that effective immediately passengers traveling on Austrian medium-haul flights will have the opportunity to purchase an economy class Exit Row seats up to 36 hours ahead of their scheduled flight. Previously, this has only been available to passengers traveling on an Austrian long haul flight.
The cost of the seat upgrade will be only €40 and be purchased at time of Web Check-In or even on board if there are seats still available. Restrictions apply as to who can purchase the seat. The passenger must be at least 15 years old, not traveling with a child under the age of 2 or with pets/assistance animals. The passenger must also meet the physical requirements of being able to assist in the event of an emergency landing.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Apr 15, 2013 | Airlines |
It’s been a relatively quiet week for route announcements coming from Star Alliance member airlines, but I wanted to provide an update while the information was still relatively current. In a few weeks, Airlines will start to aggressively update their Winter 2013/2014 timetable so expect the rate of announcements to increase noticeably.
AUSTRIAN:
Vienna-Yerevan effective June 19 will increase from 6x/week to 1/x DAY.
EGYPTAIR:
Cairo-New York (JFK) effective May 1 will increase from 6x/week to 1x/day.
ETHIOPIAN:
Addis Ababa-Lome-Rio de Janeiro-Sao Paulo 3x/week NEW service is delayed from June 1 to July 1.
SAS:
Copenhagen-San Francisco effective November 24 will be reduced from 6x/week to 5x/week.
Copenhagen-Tokyo (NRT) effective December 9 will be reduced from 1x/day to 6x/week.
SINGAPORE:
Singapore-Manila effective between July 14 & August 10 is reduced from 4/x day to 3x/day.
SWISS:
Geneva-Ajaccio effective June 29 will BEGIN 2x/week service (Seasonal / Weekends)
Zurich-Miami effective October 27 will be decreased from 11x/week to 10x/week.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Apr 13, 2013 | Airlines |
Between now and Midnight (CEST) on Monday, Austrian is running a fare special for travel from it’s Austrian gateways to Bangkok, Cairo, Dubai, Delhi, Amman or Beijing. The fare sale covers travel between May 1 and June 27 and looking at Austrian’s booking engine, there is plenty of availability to these cities. Austrian’s gateway cities within Austria include Graz, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Linz, Klagenfurt and Vienna.
Example fares from Vienna are as follows (roundtrip / all inclusive):
Vienna – Bangkok starting from €699
Vienna – Cairo starting from €359
Vienna – Dubai starting from €499
Vienna – Delhi starting from €629
Vienna – Amman starting from €499
Vienna – Beijing starting from €679
Looking at these fares, Beijing, Delhi and Bangkok appear to present the best value in terms of the “cost per mile” of the fare.
As part of booking your tickets, you’ll have the ability to upgrade your onboard dining experience by selecting a ‘DO&CO’ catered meal as part of your reservation. This upgrade in on-board dining will cost only a few Euro and is well worth it!
Terms and conditions apply and are as follows:
Booking must be made by Midnight (CEST) on April 15.
Travel must must be completed between April 15 and June 27.
Minimum stay of 3 nights OR 1 Saturday night.
The best values during this sale is for travel to Beijing for only €679 (All inclusive) or Bangkok for only €699.
