by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 26, 2014 | Airlines |
Not to be outdone by Lufthansa’s 2-day sale to Europe, SWISS has launched their own fare sale but it is only in place today, February 26. The fare sale covers travel for the month of March.
Similar to the LH offer, SWISS is offering very attractive fares from their US Gateways. Most fares range between the high $600 range (New York/Geneva) and mid-$700s for the bulk of SWISS’ European destinations. Additionally, great fares are available from Chicago – with the best one being a $574 ticket to Istanbul!
The west coast is involved as well, with most fares being in the mid to upper $800 range. This includes San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The fare sale does extend to some non-European SWISS destinations with attractive fares to Africa and the Middle East. Johannesburg has been popular with the LH Group as of late, and SWISS’ deal is only $850 from NYC to JNB.
As I mentioned, this is a ONE DAY fare sale only, and availability is somewhat limited. These fares are available for Sunday through Thursday departures and returns. You will not find these low fares for weekend travel dates.
Keep in mind that other airlines including Edelweiss, United and Lufthansa may operate some of these flights. As far as earning frequent flyer miles, what you earn will be determined by the airline that you fly. In some cases you may only earn 50% of miles travel or none at all in some cases. So please check with you FF program to see what you’ll earn before you book.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 25, 2014 | Airlines |
Lufthansa is on bit of a roll as far as fare sales are concerned. In my last post I talked about the great fares from the USA to Johannesburg and now Lufthansa tops that deal with a sub $500 fare between New York and Istanbul!
We had a chance to visit Istanbul 2 years ago and its on our list of ‘Must See Again’ destinations. It is a fantastic and diverse city that is worth seeing! You can see my trip reports on Istanbul by using the search box on my site (I’d list the links here but it is near impossible to do via iPad!). Simply type in “Istanbul” and you’ll see the list of my reports.
Act quickly on this one since the fare sale is in place for only 2 days. Previously, the lowest fares that I’ve seen between this city pair as been in the mid $600 range. So this truly is a deal to take advantage of!!
The fare sale is valid for travel in March and tickets must be purchased by February 26.
In addition to this awesome fare, there are other great fares tied into this promo. For example, fares from the west coast to several European destinations are all under $1000!
I’m in the middle of a busy day today so I don’t have much time to expand on this sale, but please visit the Lufthansa Fare Sale website (the link above) for more information and additional deals!
by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 24, 2014 | Airlines |
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Lufthansa’s Business Class fare sale I was able to take advantage of for our upcoming safari trip to South Africa. After digging in a bit deeper, I was able to find great fare deals for economy class travel as well.
For most of November, its easy to find fares from the East Coast for as low as $910 (Washington DC – Johannesburg). The West Coast isn’t too far behind with fares starting at $1050-1100 (LAX-Johannesburg).
These fares are among the lowest that I’ve seen between the US and Johannesburg. The low fares create the opportunity to potentially discover a new country and continent and if you’ve been thinking about a Safari, fares like this definitely make it easier to make the trip a reality!
Courtesy: Paddy Hagelthorn of Paddy-Hagelthorn.com
Availability seems to be wide open during the month of November. Bookings in October or December run $100-300 more. September fares were $200-500 more depending on departure city. Click here to be taken to Lufthansa’s Fare Sale website (you won’t find any mention of Jo’burg, so just enter your search parameters to get results).
Please keep in mind that there are many codeshare combinations that include Air Canada, United and South African. So as always, be mindful of the carrier that will operate your flight because it may impact the amount of miles you earn based on your frequent flyer program. Fare sales like this typically book into deep-discount economy fare classes which usually means that you may earn less than 100% of miles flown or none at all.
Courtesy: Paddy Hagelthorn of www.Paddy-Hagelthorn.com
by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 19, 2014 | Airlines |
Lufthansa is currently running an attractive fare sale for First Class travel between the US and Europe with fares as low as $5240. This is the kind of fare sale I like to take advantage of because it lets me book a First Class ticket for what normally is a Business Class price.
By now, I’m sure you are all familiar with the outstanding amenities involved with flying First Class with Lufthansa including access to the world’s finest dedicated First Class Terminal in Frankfurt, private car transfer between terminal and aircraft in certain situations and 5-Star treatment during your flight. Additionally, Lufthansa has been upgrading their long-haul fleet to a new First Class cabin which puts the cherry on top of a fantastic experience!
As far as the fare sale is concerned, it runs until March 15 and is valid for departures taking place between April 13 and April 25 and returning between April 19 and May 1. Additionally, tickets must be purchased 28 days prior to departure.
I usually warn readers during these fare sales to be careful of operating carriers. In this particular case I have found several flights options that are operated by United Airlines. While their First Class product is great, it is not Lufthansa First Class. More importantly, if you fly on United you will NOT have access to Lufthansa’s First Class Terminal or Lounges! So keep that in mind when reviewing reservation options. It’s that important! 🙂
Start or add to your Lufthansa First Class Duck Collection!!
My suggestion would be to book flights operated by Lufthansa’s 747-8i or Airbus A380 aircraft. They both feature Lufthansa’s new First Class cabin throughout the aircraft types. Lufthansa’s 747-400s, A340 and A330 aircraft are currently undergoing upgrades so there is a possibility that you may not see the new First Class product if your flight is operated by one of these birds. Regardless, you will be pampered and spoiled by a fantastic crew, aircraft and ground services!
And don’t forget to get your duck! 😉
by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 17, 2014 | Airlines |
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…..
To remind us that Spring is out there some where, Lufthansa is running an early spring Business Class fare sale for travel from the USA to Europe during April.
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, my preference 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.
