by Lufthansa Flyer | May 6, 2013 | Airlines |
When AUSTRIAN’s Boeing 777, OE-LPB (Heart of Europe), took off for Tokyo on May 4 it marked the entry into service of the final refitted 777 that sports the new cabin interior.
With 4 777’s now complete, AUSTRIAN passengers have 192 Business Class and 1,040 Economy seats available to them in these updated 777 cabins. Additionally, AUSTRIAN has so far updated 2 of her 6 Boeing 767 aircraft as well.
The renovations involved a complete overhaul of the cabin which included changes to carpeting, fuselage wall, seating and the in-flight-entertainment systems.
Here is a peek at the new look of the cabin interior (photos courtesy of AUSTRIAN):
The New Business Class Interior
by Lufthansa Flyer | May 6, 2013 | Airlines |
Lufthansa has begun their traditional summer business class fare special for travel between the USA and Europe. The fare sale is in place until July 2 and is valid for departures between June 28 and August 31, 2013. The fares for this summer fare special are only $100-200 more than they were last year, and when you factor inflation and fuel costs, this slight increase is negligible.
The lowest cost destinations for this this fare sale are Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm from most USA gateways giving this fare sale a decidedly nordic “theme” as far as best pricing is concerned. Example fares included Chicago-Oslo for $2639, New York-Stockholm for $2679 and Washington DC-Copenhagen for $2679.
My recommendation would be to use this fare sale to discover Lufthansa’s new Business Class that you’ll find aboard their 747-8i aircraft. As of now, you can book travel on the 747-8i flying from Washington DC and Los Angeles to Frankfurt,with temporary 747-8i service coming to Miami in May. Another 747-8i destination will hopefully be announced soon for the USA, but I won’t let that “plane” out of the hangar just yet! 😉
These fares will most likely book into ‘P’ discount business class, so be aware of what that may mean as far as miles earned for your frequent flyer accounts. Also, the fare is valid for travel on Air Canada, Austrian, Swiss, United, Lufthansa or Brussels Airlines. I would recommend you fly Austrian, Swiss, Lufthansa or Brussels, but that just my humble opinion on the subject…..
The terms and conditions for this sale are as follows:
Tickets must be purchased by July 7, 2013.
You must depart between June 28 and August 31, 2013.
You must return between June 30, 2013 and September 5, 2014.
Tickets must be purchased 28 days prior to departure date.
Valid for booking on Lufthansa, Austrian, Brussels, Swiss Air Canada or United.
Minimum 7 day stay
Fares are valid for mid week departure and arrival dates.
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 11, 2013 | Airlines |
SWISS is running 3 concurrent fare sales for travel from the USA to cities throughout Europe. What’s nice is that you have your choice of classes to choose from. For Economy class, the fare sale covers Spring travel while Business and First Class fare sales are in place for Summer travel.
The Economy Class Sale fares start from the mid to high $800 range for travel from New York to a variety of European destinations including Lugano, Venice, Vienna, Prague and other fantastic destinations. The fares are slightly higher from other East Coast SWISS gateways. Flights from San Francisco to the same cities ranges between the upper $900 to low $1000 area and actually is the better value when you factor in the “cost per mile” of the ticket. These low fares are readily available for travel throughout April and May.
The Business Class Sale picks up where the Economy Class sale ends and covers Business Class travel during the summer. The fares are approximately 50% lower than their regular price. Some highlights of this fare sale include New York to Istanbul for only $2828 and New York to Barcelona for only $2823. Fares from east coast gateways mostly range from $2800 to $3100 while fares from the West Coast start in the mid $3000 range and go up into the $4200-4300 area. The fare sale covers travel between June 28 and September 5, and availability is plentiful.
I’ve said in the past that SWISS Business Class is one of the finest business class cabins that you’ll ever find on any airline. I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing it several times and thanks to their great hospitality, cabin and crew I would choose SWISS business over many other airline’s First Class product. This fare sale makes a very compelling argument for someone to experience SWISS for themselves!
The First Class Fare Sale discounts the typical first class fare by 50% and if you’re in the mood to spoil yourself, this may be a great time to do so. Typically a $12,000+ seat, you can book SWISS First Class from New York to most European destinations from as low as $6000. The best fare appears to be New York – Rome which comes in at $6055. Other fares from the east coast range anywhere from $6000 to $7000 and fares from the west coast range from $7000 to $8000. The first class fare sale covers travel between June 28 and September 1 and has plenty of availability.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 17, 2013 | Airlines |
Most may not be aware, but AUSTRIAN has their own blog called red|blog that focuses on the great things going on behind the scenes at the airline. Every few days they post interesting articles that give fans and passengers a unique perspective. Recently, with Austrian’s retrofitting of the cabins found in their long-haul fleet, the red|blog has been giving us a great look at the process.
Most airlines generally do not like showing their aircraft in a state of repair where you can see the “bowels” of the aircraft, since it suggests that something may be wrong with the aircraft, etc. Not AUSTRIAN! they give us full access to their facilities and show step by step how the new cabins are coming together. In fact, they’ve started a special “10 story special” that will take us through the retrofitting of their long haul airliners, the Boeing 767 and 777. This is a special treat for us “Avgeeks”!
In the first post of the series, they go into great detail with a lot of pictures showing one of their Boeing 777s being refit at their facility in Vienna. The posts shows us that it’s simply not just pulling out the hold seats and bolting in the new. It gets a little bit more complicated!
An example of the behind the scenes look that Austrian is giving us
The second post of the series takes a deeper look into the retrofit of the 777. In this installment, we learn that the retrofit of their 777 is the first time that an airline is installing the seating and Inflight Entertainment System (IFE) on a 777. Also learned in this post is the fact that there are approximately 1400 drawings of schematics involved with the installation, along with removal of 150kg of cabling from the previous IFE. It also shows the 777 “stepping” onto a scale to weigh it, so that proper weight distribution can be confirmed.
A sample of the schematics involved with the installation
The lastest entry in the series takes a look for the first time at the retrofit taking place on a 767. This 767 is being retrofitted at a facility in Shannon, Ireland and posts takes a special look at the interior coming together from it’s bare bones to fully furnished cabin.
The brand new Business Cabin aboard Austrian’s Boeing 767
I hope you enjoy reading through Austrian’s efforts thus far and also enjoy the great behind the scenes access that Austrian has given us into the commitment to improve their cabins. As they release more installments on their blog site, I’ll be sure to bring them to your attention.
