by Lufthansa Flyer | Apr 9, 2013 | Airlines |
Austrian has a handful of attractive fares valid for booking this week for travel from Vienna to Istanbul, Dubrovnik, Leipzig or Stuttgart.
Fares start at €117 from Vienna to Stuttgart or Leipzig (roundtrip/taxes inclusive), between Vienna and Istanbul it’s €161 and Vienna-Dubrovnik is €227. These low fares are available for travel throughout the year (except for Leipzig) with plenty of availability at this point. If you are planning a trip to OR within Europe in the coming months, it may be a good idea to take advantage of some of these fares now.
The only minor restrictions that I see for these fares is that the maximum stay is 12 months and the minimum stay must include 1 Saturday night. Keep in mind that the flights may be operated by Austrian, germanwings or Tyrolean. In the case of Vienna-Istanbul, flights may be operated by Austrian or Turkish.
Use this link to visit Austrian’s Fare Sale. When you reach the page, select AUSTRIA in the “Show Offers From” menu, then select VIENNA in the “From:” menu then drop down the “Special Name” menu and select “Offers of the Week” to be taken to booking page for these fares.
Your screen should look something like this once you’re done selecting the options:
by Lufthansa Flyer | Dec 30, 2012 | Airlines |
Throughout the year, germanwings has occasionally offered “Blind Booking” deals for travel within it’s network. What I like about the promo is it’s element of surprise. You actually do not know your destination until you complete the booking process and pay for your fare. If you’re having trouble deciding where to go, a promo like this is perfect!
You do have the option to choose the theme of your trip, which includes “PARTY”, “SHOPPING”, “CULTURE”, “GAY FRIENDLY”, “SNOW & SKI” and “METROPLIS WESTERN EUROPE”. Within each of these themes, there is a list of cities that germanwings feels fits the theme and it will be one of those cities that you will be ticketed to for you trip. You are able to de-select half of the available cities for each theme if you want to really avoid a certain destination (perhaps an outstanding warrant is waiting for you somewhere??).
For this promotion you can travel between 1 January and 13 February and it does not appear that there are any minimum or maximum stay requirements. Fares start from €33 per segment and there are small surcharges for choosing seats on-line and for checked baggage.
You can begin your travel from Cologne-Bonn, Stuttgart or Hanover and destinations include Vienna, Barcelona, Berlin, Lisbon, Prague, Budapest, Rome among many others throughout Europe.
Please visit the germanwings Blind Booking Promo for more information.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Dec 6, 2012 | Airlines |
Germanwings today announced the changes that will take place throughout 2013 that will rebrand Lufthansa’s “Low Cost Carrier (LCC)”.
Effective 1 January, Lufthansa’s European and most intra-Germany (Except for flights to and from Munich and Frankfurt) will be operated by germanwings.
Beginning 1 July, germanwings will be officially launched as the sole “LCC” within the Lufthansa Group. At that time, all the product enhancements will also take effect which includes changes to Fare Options (see chart below) and an updated logo.
A brief video showing off the new look:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wflyHcrXchY[/youtube]
For passengers, the biggest change will be the 3 fare structures. Beginning 1 July, passengers will have a choice of 3 fare options, each with different features and benefits. This chart clearly identifies the similarities and differences between the 3 options:
As you can see, the Basic-Fare will be the lowest cost fare class with options to purchase premium seating and refreshments. Passengers will also pay to check luggage. Fares will be non-refundable but will be eligible to earn either Miles&More miles or Boomerang Club miles (at reduced rates).
The Smart-Fare will be the standard germanwings fare class who’s benefits will include additional leg room for your seat, complimentary refreshments and free checked luggage (subject to limitations on quantity and weight).
The Best-Fare will be germanwings’ premium fare class that involves several great amenities including an empty middle seat, lounge access, reserved space for carry-on luggage, fast-lane security, lounge access, priority boarding and bonus miles.
Looking at the chart, it’s also made clear that Miles & More Senator and HON level members will have access to lounges even when flying with a Basic or Smart fare ticket. That should come as a relief to those concerned with that issue.
Germanwings has provided the follow Q&A to help answer our initial questions:
According to the press release, germanwings plans to continue offering it’s €33 fare basis for a one way ticket which I suspect will fall into the Basic-Fare category.
At first glance, it seems that germanwings has done a really nice job by providing several layers of benefits for passengers based on the fare class that is chosen. I especially like the fact that passengers will have the option to earn bonus miles and have lounge access when booking “Best-Fare” tickets. Another good benefit is that the booking of these tickets will integrate with Lufthansa so there will not be a need to book these tickets separately when you have other Lufthansa flights on the same itinerary. This means that you’ll be able to select your seats in advance as well.
To learn more about these changes including route details and more information on the streamlining of germanwings, please visit this presentation from germanwings and Lufthansa. Please note that this presentation is in German.
If you have any questions regarding the “new” germanwings, please forward them to me, and I’ll get the answers from germanwings!
by Lufthansa Flyer | Nov 29, 2012 | Airlines |
Via their Facebook page, germanwings is hosting a contest that will award 100 winners a €100 Travel Voucher. The short contest starts and ends today, 30 November.
The terms/conditions state that the offer is only available to EU residents. The voucher will need to be redeemed by 30 March, and travel completed by 30 May, 2013.
To enter the contest, all you need to do is enter your name and email on this germanwings Facebook Page.
Winners will be notified via Email.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Oct 23, 2012 | Airlines |
Lufthansa Group’s decision to streamline operations and transfer domestic and intra-european flights (except for those operating from Frankfurt and Munich) exclusively to Germanwings is starting to show up in their reservation systems.
Over the next few days, expect to see “LH” flight numbers to be replaced with “4U” flight numbers across most flights that do not operate to or from Frankfurt or Munich. For those of you unfamiliar with Germanwings, “4U” is their IATA Airline code just as “LH” is Lufthansa’s.
It looks as though Berlin-Stuttgart has already gone through that changeover and several “4U” flight numbers are already in place. I looked at several sample bookings and have seen many instances of the new “4U” flight numbers. “4U” flight numbers will be in the 4U2000 and 4U8000 ranges.
Two weeks ago, Lufthansa decided to retain the “Germanwings” name as it consolidates it Regional and Germanwings division into one Low Cost Carrier (LCC). Expect additional announcements between now and year’s end regarding topics such as flight booking, existing reservations in place for 2013 and frequent flyer program impact. I’ll certainly be covering these topics as they evolve.
