by Lufthansa Flyer | May 22, 2013 | Airlines |
Lufthansa has launched a pair of fare specials targeted specifically for US travelers for travel to Poland or Italy.
In my opinion the better of the 2 deals is for travel to Poland where fares start as low as $769 for travel between New York and Krakow. The fares reach into the mid $1100’s if you are traveling from Lufthansa’s West Coast gateways or from Houston, otherwise most fares are sub $1000 making them fairly attractive.
The other part of the fare sale covers Italian destinations including cities such as Florence, Catania, Genoa, Pisa, Rome, Venice and others. Fares for this sale range from the low $1100’s from East Coast gateways to the mid $1300’s if you are flying from the west coast. Still attractive fares, but not as attractive as the fares to Poland.
Granted that Italy may be the better value since their is a bit more to see in Italy as a tourist than there may be in Poland, but a “miles earning” standpoint, Poland fares provide better from a “cents per mile” perspective if you’re into measuring that metric.
Late Summer/Early Fall is especially a great time to visit Poland or Italy(or Europe in general) because it is past the peak summer holiday travel season. Travelers typically find great deals on hotels and travel during this time of year, not to mention the fantastic weather that exists in the early fall. It’s personally my favorite time to travel to Europe. I’ve been to Rome, Capri, Venice, Sorrento and Naples in the fall and can tell you from first hand experience that the fall season is a great time to go. It’s also when I do a majority of my travel to Slovakia when visiting family. Less crowds, less hassles, less “weather”, BETTER DEALS!
Use this link to be taken to the POLAND FARE SALE.
Use this link to be taken to the ITALY FARE SALE.
The Terms and Conditions for BOTH Fare Sales are as follows:
Tickets must be purchased by May 29, 2013
You must depart between August 25 and October 24, 2013
You must return between September 1 and November 24, 2013
Tickets must be purchased 7 days ahead of travel
Valid for travel on Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, Brussels, Air Canada or United (I suggest using one of the first 4!)
Maximum stay of 30 days
Saturday night stay is required.
Weekend departure surcharges may apply.
Date changes are allowed: $300 per change.
In addition to great fares to Poland and Italy, this sale extends to other destinations throughout Europe. To learn more about these fares, please visit Lufthansa’s general fare sale webpage.
by Lufthansa Flyer | May 8, 2013 | Airlines |
Lufthansa is running a short 6 day fare sale for travel from Germany to the USA during the 4th Quarter of 2013. This is a great opportunity to start booking your holiday travel (though it pains me to think about Winter since we’re barely into Spring!!).
The fares cover most departure points from Germany and are valid for travel to Charlotte, New York, Philadelphia, Toronto, Seattle, Montreal, Washington DC and Las Vegas. PLEASE NOTE that there is no direct service to Las Vegas, you’ll need to connect to a United flight from one of Lufthansa’s gateways that is part of this sale.
The lowest cost destination for this fare sale is Philadelphia, with tickets starting as low as €477 for a round-trip ticket between Frankfurt and Philadelphia. Looking through a number of sample bookings, fare availability is plentiful throughout the 4th Quarter.
Please keep in mind that this sale ends May 14 and will probably contain the lowest fares that you’ll see all year for travel during the last 3 months of 2013.
Terms and Conditions apply and are as follows:
Tickets must be purchased by 14 May 2013
You must depart between 1 October and 13 December, 2013
You must return between 6 October and 13 March, 2014.
A Saturday night stay is required.
The fares are not rebookable nor refundable.
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 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.
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.
