As part of an LSG Sky Chef event in New York last week, Lufthansa has unveiled an entirely revamp Menu strategy specifically designed for flights departing US Gateways. For those of you not familiar with LSG Sky Chefs, it is a Lufthansa Group subsidiary and the largest provider of inflight meals in the world. In fact, 1 in 4 meals served by any airline, on any flight is sourced from LSG Sky Chefs.
The new ‘Taste Of America’ program is designed to serve regionally inspired cuisine for passengers traveling in First or Business Class and is scheduled to begin in May. For the program, Lufthansa has taken the US and divided it into 4 regions:
Northeast/Midwest: New York, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Newark, Philadelphia
Southeast/Mid-Atlantic: Atlanta, Miami, Orlando, Charlotte, Washington DC
Central: Dallas, Houston, Denver
West: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle
The new program looks to take advantage of regional traditions and ethnic influences to create unique dining experiences and move away from everyone having the same menu at the same time when flying from the USA. As part of the 5-star strategy, this is a major piece to the puzzle when it comes to improving the on-board experience from one of Lufthansa’s largest markets.
The program itself is a collaboration between Lufthansa food specialists and LSG Sky Chefs which undertook the daunting task of reviewing over 1,000 menu ideas before choosing the finalists. The vetting process went beyond just taste and flavor. The options chosen for the new menu had to pass a stringent review of the meal’s ability to maintain freshness and appeal when served in an airline environment, which includes preparation, temperature variations, altitude, etc. It was not as simple as the food tasting good on the ground, it had to perform while in flight as well. Additionally, ingredients used towards this menu are locally sourced so that authenticity to the region and ethnic inspiration can be maintained.
Here is the breakdown of the initial menu concept that will be on board beginning in May:
Northeast / Midwest: Italian inspired selections including Pasta stuffed with Artichoke.
Southeast / Mid-Atlantic: Cartoccio, a locally inspired seafood dish.
Central: Smoked and grilled Beef with a spicy chili sauce.
West: Cioppino – a seafood ragout with tomato and saffron.
Expect that these options will change on a monthly basis as is normal for Lufthansa’s dining menus. There will of course be other menu options available on board besides the options listed above.
To see what some of these options look like and the work that went into the program’s development, take a few minutes and watch the following video:
Lufthansa has recently announced changes to their Summer 2014 flight operations which primarily updates the kind of aircraft that will fly on a given route. Additionally, this update provides information on any changes that involve adding or removing First Class cabins from certain flights or routes. Please pay special attention to some of these changes if you are looking to travel in First Class. Some destinations, like Philadelphia for example, will have a mix of 2-class and 3-class cabins depending on the day of the week.
BOSTON – FRANKFURT:
Lufthansa will operate a 747 on each of their 2 daily flights. The first 747 will begin flying the route on March 30 for flights LH422 & LH533. The second 747 will begin serving Boston on May 19 for flights LH420 & LH 421. Both of these 747s replace Airbus A340 aircraft.
BOSTON – MUNICH:
Beginning March 30, an Airbus A340-400 will fly the route until April 27 at which point an A330-300 will take over until June 5. On June 5, an a340-600 will begin to fly the route.
DALLAS – FRANKFURT:
Beginning on July 28, a 2-class A340 will replace a 3-Class A330 on the route thus eliminating First Class service on the route.
DETROIT – FRANKFURT:
Between May 5 and May 31 a 3-class A340 will replace a 2-Class A340 thus creating First Class capacity from DTW for most of May.
DUBAI – FRANKFURT:
Beginning March 30, a 3-class Airbus A340 will replace the 747 on the route. Beginning on June 1, First Class will no longer be available when a 2-class A340 is expected to begin flying the route.
DUBAI – MUNICH:
Beginning March 30, service will be reduced from 7x/week to 6x/week.
MONTREAL – FRANKFURT:
Beginning May 15, service resumes with 5x/week service. The route will be flown by an A330 on Tuesdays and an A340 on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
NARITA – OSAKA – FRANKFURT:
Until July 19, Lufthansa will continue to fly to Narita and Osaka as one continuous flight. Beginning on July 20, Narita and Osaka will receive their own dedicated non-stop flight from Frankfurt. Frankfurt – Narita will operated as LH710 and LH711 and flown by a 747-400. Frankfurt – Osaka will be operated as LH740 and LH 741, also flown by a 747-400.
PHILADELPHIA – FRANKFURT:
Between June 1 and August 1, the 3-class A340-300 will be replaced by a 3-class A340-600 on Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday. A 2-Class A340-300 will operate on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Between August 2 and August 21, a 2-class A340 will operate each daily flight (No First Class cabin during this period).
Beginning August 22, a 2-class A340-300 will operate everyday except Thursday. On Thursdays, a 3-class A330 will fly the route.
SEATTLE – FRANKFURT:
Beginning April 25, an Airbus A340 will replace the A330-300 for each daily flight (3-Cabin).
Beginning July 1, a 2-class A340 will replace the 3-class A330,eliminating First Class on the route.
WASHINGTON (IAD) – FRANKFURT:
Beginning August 2 for LH416 and 417, a 3 class A340-600 will operate on Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A 2-class A340 will fly the route on Wednesday and Thursday.
As part of Lufthansa’s overhaul of their long haul fleet which includes the migration to a new Business Class and Premium Economy seat, attention has also been given to enhance the Infight Entertaintment (IFE) experience.
Recent IFE software and hardware upgrades that have been undertaken have enabled passengers traveling in all 3 class to have access to the same content. Additionally, LH has expanded the IFE menu which has dramatically increased the options available to passengers:
300 Music CDs by various artists in a variety of genres and languages.
Movie selections have doubled from 100 to 200 full length feature films.
200 TV shows included digital ‘boxed sets’ that provide multiple episodes of a given TV show.
Increased family-friendly offerings for children including 10 films, 20 TV shows, audio books and audio CDs.
Increased assortment of regional content for flights operating to Asia, India and the Middle East.
This decision to upgrade came in the 4th quarter of 2013 as Lufthansa committed to create a complete ‘5-Star’ airline experience for all passengers. The decision came as a result of earning several prestigious awards for their First Class product. In 2013 LH was awarded a 5-Star rating for their First Class product including Best First Class Lounges from Skytrax as well as a 5-Star award from the American Academy of Hospitality Services for their Inflight First Class service and First Class Lounges in Frankfurt, Munich and New York’s JFK.
As of April 2014, approximately half of the long haul fleet will be updated with the new IFE systems. Upgrades will continue throughout mid-2015 as the long-haul fleet goes through the process of having their new cabins installed.
If you’re like me, you are probably getting tired of the aggressive winter that most of us in the USA are dealing with. I haven’t seen my lawn at home since November and not sure that I’ll ever see it again at this rate!
However there is a light beginning to appear at the end of the proverbial tunnel…..
Fares range between $2500 to $3300 depending on which US gateway you depart from. For this fare sale, the best deal that I’ve found is between Chicago and Madrid for only $2529. Otherwise fares from East Coast gateways start at $2800 and West Coast gateways start at $3700.
When booking be mindful of 2 things. First, the operating carrier for the transatlantic segment can vary among Lufthansa, SWISS and United. Considering that these tickets will book as a deep discount Business ‘P’ fare the amount of miles you earn will vary based on the operating carrier and your Frequent Flyer Program. Depending on your ‘FF’ program you will earn either 100% or 150% ‘Elite Qualifying Miles’ which can make a big difference when you consider the 8,000-12,000 miles involved in traveling round-trip between Europe and the USA.
Second, the gateway you choose will go along way in determining the kind of aircraft that you will fly on. As far as Lufthansa’s fleet is concerned, mypreference and recommendation would be to fly on the 747-8i. It is Lufthansa newest type of aircraft and the cabins are consistent throughout all of the 747-8i in the fleet. This simply means you will experience Lufthansa’s fantastic new Business Class seat no matter which 747-8i you are on. You can find the 747-8i flying from Washington DC, Chicago and Los Angeles to Frankfurt. Another recommendation would be to fly the A380 which you can find flying to Frankfurt from Miami, Houston or San Francisco. However the A380s are only now beginning to have the new business class installed so you would still experience Lufthansa’s previous version of Business Class if you fly in April.
As with any fare sale there are terms & conditions and they are as follows:
Tickets must be purchased by April 13, 2014
You must depart between April 13 and April 25, 2014
You must return between April 19 and May 1, 2014
Tickets must be purchased 28 days ahead of departure.
If you have any questions about the sale or need help building an itinerary, please let me know by leaving a comment.
In planning a Safari trip for later this year, I came across what I would consider very attractive Business Class fares from several of Lufthansa’s USA gateways to Johannesburg, South Africa.
Typically, Business Class fares from just the USA to most of Europe on LH will run in the $5000 range from the East Coast to over $7000 from the West Coast when there is no fare sale.
What I have found however are several windows of opportunity in 2014 where travelers can enjoy Lufthansa’s Business Class from several US gateways to Johannesburg (via Germany) for ONLY $5000-5200. In addition, these are NOT deep discount ‘P’ fares but are the more attractive Z fare. I say attractive because ‘Z’ fares usually credit more elite qualifying miles towards most Star Alliance Frequent Flyer programs.
After I expanded my search I discovered that these attractive fares are available from Chicago, Boston, New York (JFK/EWR), Houston and Los Angeles. Yes, you can fly LH Business from LAX to JNB which will yield 33580 ‘Elite Qualifying Miles’ for $5030. Thats 1/3rd of the way to Miles & More Senator status in just one trip! Additionally, current Miles&More members will earn an additional 25% Executive Bonus and walk away with 39122 miles.
The advanced rationalizer will see these fares as paying for Business Class between the USA and Frankfurt or Munich and getting the roundtrip flights from Germany to South Africa for free when you consider the fares. It was a no brainer for me to book our tickets today!
The dates that these fares are available vary considerably. The bulk of these fares are available for Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday departures between now and mid-May. The fares move up to the $7000-$9000 ($10,000-$12,000 in some cases) range during the summer months and come back down to the $5000 range in mid-August and stay that low through the end of the year. The best pricing for August-December fares is found when departing early in a given week.
Just to illustrate how attractive this fare is, if you book a departure early in a week you would pay the aforementioned low fares. If you were to depart on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday the fare nearly doubles in some cases.
The icing on the cake for these fares is that it gives you the opportunity to fly in 2 of Lufthansa’s best aircraft if you plan appropriately. If done ‘correctly’ you can experience Lufthansa’s A380 and 747-8i between the US and South Africa.
Please be aware that some fare options that you’ll find include flights operated by United or South African. I suggest being aware because the miles you earn may vary based on the airline operating your flights. Check with your FF program ahead time so you know what you’ll earn with a given carrier. The credit you will earn for Z fares can vary widely based on the FF program. For example if you fly on a South African operated flight and are a United Mileage Plus member, you would only earn the actual mile flow towards status. There are no bonus elite miles for Z fares on South African operated flights if you credit your miles to Mileage Plus. On the other hand, Lufthansa operated flights will credit 150% of miles flow towards elite status with Mileage Plus.
If you need any help with finding these fares please leave a comment or send me an e-mail!
