Frankfurt | Lufthansa Flyer

LUFTHANSA: Summer 2014 Fleet Update For USA Routes

by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 9, 2014 | Airlines | 0 comments

Lufthansa has recently announced changes to their flight operations in the US for their Summer 2014 timetable. The biggest change involves the removal of First Class cabins from certain gateways in the US. Please keep in mind that these kind of updates are fluid and other changes can still be announced. I’ll provide updates as they are released by LH.

Boston – Munich beginning on March 30, 2014 will be operated by an Airbus A330-300. Beginning on June 5, it will be replaced by an Airbus A340-600. First Class cabins will be available on these aircraft.

Dallas – Frankfurt beginning July 1, 2014 will be served by a 2-class Airbus A340-300. This will replace the A330. First Class will not be available from Dallas during the summer timetable.

Detroit – Frankfurt effective between March 30 and May 4, 2014 will be operated by an Airbus A340-600 with 3-class service. Beginning on May 5, a 2-class Airbus A340-300 will resume flying the route.

Los Angeles – Frankfurt will see the 747-8i operate both daily flights between LAX/FRA for the summer timetable.

Miami – Frankfurt will continue to see the A380 fly the route during the summer timetable.

New York(JFK) – Frankfurt will see the A380 return for the summer for one of the 2 daily JFK-FRA flights. The A380 will operate on LH400/LH401.

Philadelphia – Frankfurt beginning June 1, 2014 will be served by a 2-class Airbus A340-300. First Class will not be available from Philadelphia during the summer timetable.

San Francisco – Frankfurt beginning on April 22 will see the return of the A380, replacing the 747-400 for the summer timetable.

Seattle – Frankfurt beginning June 21 will be served by a 2-class Airbus A340-300. First Class will not be available from Seattle during the summer timetable.

Washington Dulles – Frankfurt beginning on July 24, Flight LH416/417 will be flown by a 2 class A340-300. First Class service will not be available. The other daily Washington DC – Frankfurt, LH418/LH419, will continue to have First Class capacity.

LUFTHANSA: Attractive Business Class Fares From USA To Johannesburg

by Lufthansa Flyer | Jan 31, 2014 | Airlines | 6 comments

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!

LUFTHANSA Recognizes New Highs In On-Time Departure Performance in Frankfurt & Munich

by Lufthansa Flyer | Jan 21, 2014 | Airlines | 0 comments

Lufthansa announced that it has realized it best year ever as far as on-time departure performance is concerned.

For 2013, 85% of all Lufthansa operated flights departing Frankfurt and Munich departed on time. This inspite of many challenged faced by LH throughout the year including strike tactics, severe winter weather, night-flight departure bans in Frankfurt and construction in Munich.

In addition, LH also reported that approximately only 1% of passengers had their luggage delayed to their final destination during 2013.

News like this is great to see because so many times we get caught up in the various forums and threads that criticize an airlines performance. Usually it’s only those having issues who will complain and those who have no problems seldom will pay a compliment to an airline.

Nice to see a bit of good news when it comes to baggage handling and on-time performance!

Dahl Scholarship Fundraiser: Win The Lufthansa Ju52 / Hamburg Port Festival Experience!!

by Lufthansa Flyer | Jan 7, 2014 | Airlines | 1 comment

I’m thrilled to announce the first Dahl Scholarship Fundraiser for 2014! It promises to be the best Prize ever!!

One Lucky GRAND PRIZE Winner Will Receive:

1 ticket for a ride aboard LUFTHANSA’s Junkers Ju52 during the opening parade of the 825th Hamburg Port Festival on May 9, 2014 courtesy of LUFTHANSA.

Round-trip airfare between Frankfurt & Hamburg courtesy of LUFTHANSA.

1 Night Hotel Accommodation at the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel and Conference Center on May 8, 2014 courtesy of LufthansaFlyer.com

1 Night Hotel Accommodation at the Park Hyatt Hamburg on May 9, 2014 courtesy of LufthansaFlyer.com

VIP Tour of Lufthansa Technik Hangars in Frankfurt courtesy of LufthansaFlyer.com and LUFTHANSA.

The tentative/example itinerary:

Winner arrives in Frankfurt on May 8th and will be met by Dennis from LufthansaFlyer.com and be taken on a VIP tour of various LUFTHANSA TECHNIK Hangars and other facilities in Frankfurt.

After spending the night in Frankfurt, the winner will fly to Hamburg on May 9 and board Lufthansa’s Junkers Ju52 for an afternoon touring flight. This flight will fly over the opening parade of ships signaling the start of the 825th Hamburg Port Festival. TICKETS FOR THIS FLIGHT HAVE ALREADY SOLD OUT!

Winner will then spend the night in Hamburg at the Park Hyatt and fly back to Frankfurt on May 10.

Please note that the winner is completely responsible for transportation to and from Frankfurt as well as arranging for any travel documents/passports/visas that may be necessary. I will be available during the course of this itinerary to assist as needed.

Additionally, there will be a 1st Place Prize:

Boeing 787 Dreamliner simulator session in Houston (travel arrangements to and from Houston are the responsibility of the winner).

In past fundraisers other prize packages have been added during the course of the entry period. We may be adding prizes as we go!

Here is the donation ‘schedule’ and the amount of entries that you’ll have based on your contribution:

• $25 = 2 chances
• $50 = 5 chances
• $100 = 15 chances
• $200 = 40 chances
• $300 = 60 chances
• $400 = 80 chances
$500 = 100 chances

As in the past, please make your contributions at the Dahl Fund contribution page and use PayPal. It is important that you note your donation is for the FlyerTalk raffle in order to participate. Use the “More Info: Send a Note to Seller” link on the final page or “Add Special Instructions to Recipient” and note: “FlyerTalk raffle.” Please also include your handle (if you have one—friends and lurkers are welcome to participate) and your preferred email address. Remember, many companies will match charitable gifts. The winner, as in the past, will be able to donate/gift the ride to someone else if they are unable to attend.

The deadline for entries is January 25, 2014 at Midnight US Eastern Time. A winner will be selected by random drawing by midnight US Eastern Time on January 27 and will be contacted via E-mail or Personal Message on Flyertalk.

Captain Denny will keep us informed on the amount of donations and we’ll update the thread with those that have contributed to this great cause. Captain Denny has been raising funds for the Dahl Fund since 2005. To learn more about the Capt. Jason Dahl Scholarship Fund, please visit their website.

Please help spread the word by sharing this post with your Friends and Family, Twitter followers, Facebook Friends, etc. etc.!

If you have any questions, please leave a comment or send me an email! You can also join the conversation by visiting the FlyerTalk Cares Thread.

Thanks in advance for you participation and see you in FRANKFURT!

__________________

LUFTHANSA Offering Attractive Fares Between NYC & Frankfurt During Q1 2014

by Lufthansa Flyer | Dec 19, 2013 | Airlines | 0 comments

Lufthansa is offering attractive fares between the US and Europe in general for the first quarter of 2014, but a city pair that is most attractive is New York – Frankfurt. Fares run as low as $699 for travel between JFK and Frankfurt and are only a few dollars more for Newark Departures. Departures from other US gateways to European destinations range in the low $1000 levels as should be expected for this time of year.

The fare sale is in place through January 9, 2014 and is valid for departures between January 9 and March 27, 2014. Return flights must take place between January 18 and April 27, 2014. When I looked at a few sample bookings, it seems that bookings made for departures between January 9 and 17 required a January 18 or later return to qualify for the $699 fare. The worst case scenario would require a 9 day stay (Jan 9-18) to qualify for the lowest fare. Booking tickets for travel after these dates did not have a minimum stay associated with them. Please note that there is a 14 day advance purchase period involved as well.

Be mindful when booking the fares and make sure you are flying on Lufthansa operated flights. In some cases flights were being operated by United and if you don’t pay attention, you may not realize that fact. Also, since this is a deeply discounted economy fare, be aware that you may or may not earn miles in your frequent flyer account. Most of these fares are booking to ‘K’ class so ‘YMMV’……literally! 🙂