by Lufthansa Flyer | Apr 1, 2014 | Business Class, Featured, Lufthansa |
Photo Courtesy Of Paddy-Hagelthorn.com
I first wrote about this a few weeks ago before coming back to BoardingArea.com, but seeing how many new people have discovered ‘LHFlyer’ I thought to revisit what amounts to being a great business class fare opportunity.
In late February we began the process of booking our Safari trip to South Africa for later this year and part of that was to take care of the Airline tickets. I was expecting to have quite a bit of ‘sticker shock’, but what I found was actually a pleasant surprise.
Lufthansa (and a few Star Alliance partners) are offering fares between US gateways and Johannesburg for as low as $5030, which in some cases can be $2000-3000 less than competitor prices. The $5000 fares are widely available from most USA gateways but there is one catch. In order to get this low pricing you must book your ticket to originate and return to a gateway city. If you add a domestic connection, your fare may blossom by over $2000! For example when I booked our tickets, Chicago to Johannesburg via Frankfurt, I wound up paying $5030 per ticket. Had I booked the trip from our home airport, GRR, the fare would scoot up to $7500 per passenger.
Sometimes to take advantage of the best deals you need to be flexible in your travel planning and in our case a minor adjustment saved us thousands. To resolve getting to ORD, I can simply book a couple of round trip tickets for a $400-500 or just redeem some miles to get to and from ORD. I went with the miles option in this case. Renting a car is of course an option but the thought of driving 3 hours after spending 25 hours in transit just sounded like a terrible idea.
Another nice aspect to this fare deal is that the tickets book to ‘Z’ Class which is referred to as ‘Discount Business’ which typically credit 150% of miles flown towards elite status qualification for most Frequent Flyer Programs. I say that this is a nice touch because there is a ‘Deep Discount Business Fare’ known as ‘P’ fares, which would only credit 100% of miles flown. So in this case, both the fare and miles earned are attractive propositions. Make sure you refer to your Frequent Flyer Program to confirm the amount of miles you would earn since there may be minor variances.
Additionally, these fares are flexible to the point that you can build in a stopover for a day in Frankfurt in either direction and the fare remains the same in most cases.
The fares are widely available throughout most of the year except between June and August where limited options exist at these price-points. However from September onward, it’s wide open.
If you are considering booking this fare (or any other), make sure to get Lufthansa’s voucher that will reduce your ticket by $50. The voucher offer ends on April 3 and is valid for travel booked for late April through mid May.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Mar 31, 2014 | Airlines, Featured, Lufthansa |
Just a quick update as far as the pilot strike is concerned. Lufthansa has begun to cancel flights (3800 so far) ahead of the 3 day strike planned for April 2 through April 4. However, flights departing the USA are being canceled that depart on April 1 since they would be arriving on April 2 in Europe.
Here is the list that has been provided by Lufthansa so far. Expect more flights cancellations to be announced today and tomorrow.
LH has announced that it will rebook passengers affected by the strike at no cost. You can take care of your booking yourself by visiting this Lufthansa webpage.
Also, you can Use this link to determine the best phone number to contact based on your location if you can not access your reservation online to make necessary changes.
You can also follow this FlyerTalk thread dedicated to the strike which may provide updates faster than I can publish them!
by Lufthansa Flyer | Mar 30, 2014 | Airlines, Featured, Lufthansa |
Beginning today, Lufthansa will increase the amount of codeshare flights that are operated by United. Codesharing by its definition allows for 2 airlines to streamline the reservation process by allowing a smoother way for airlines to book their passengers on flights operated by a ‘codeshare partner’. Currently there are dozens of codeshare flights operated by Lufthansa and United for each other and this list acts as an update.
I’ve been keeping a list of codeshare flight numbers available on my site so that passengers who use Lufthansa’s ‘Blue Legends’ app can readily receive credit for checking in on a flight operated by United which has a Lufthansa codeshare flight number associated with it.
Here are the new routes that will have codeshare flight numbers. I’ll be receiving the actual list of codeshare flight numbers from LH by Monday or Tuesday and will update my ‘Blue Legends’ page to reflected these additions.
Chicago – Albuquerque
Chicago – Aspen
Chicago – Greenville
Chicago – Hunstville
Chicago – Jackson Hole
Chicago – Jackson MS
Denver – Austin
Denver – El Paso
Denver – Eugene
Denver – Fresno
Denver – Grand Junction
Denver – Kona
Denver – Lincoln
Denver – Monterey
Denver – Omaha
Denver – Palm Springs
Denver – Santa Barbara
Houston – Dallas/Ft. Worth
Houston – Killeen
Houston – Little Rock
Houston – Memphis
Houston – Munich
Houston – Ontario
Houston – Orange County
Houston – Valparaiso
Los Angeles – Fresno
Los Angeles – Kona
Los Angeles – Monterey
Los Angeles – Phoenix
Los Angeles – Tucson
Newark – Des Moines
Newark – Grand Rapids
Newark – Hartford
Newark – Honolulu
Newark – Madison
Newark – Milwaukee
Newark – Omaha
San Francisco – Kona
San Francisco – Orange County
Washington Dulles – Albany NY
Washington Dulles – Buffalo
Washington Dulles – Cleveland
Washington Dulles – Colorado Springs
Washington Dulles – Columbus OH
Washington Dulles – Cincinnati
Washington Dulles – Dallas/Ft. Worth
Washington Dulles – Greensboro
Washington Dulles – Greenville
Washington Dulles – Indianapolis
by Lufthansa Flyer | Mar 21, 2014 | Featured, Lufthansa |
Lufthansa’s 5000 pilots took to the polls this week to vote on the possibly of a strike after negotiations between the Airline and Pilot’s Union failed to reach an agreement. As a result over 95% voted in favor of a work stoppage. This includes pilots from Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and germanwings (Lufthansa’s LCC).
The union stated that in the event of a strike, it would provide 48 hours notice and thus far has committed not to strike during the Easter Holiday which tends to be a VERY busy time of year for air travel within Europe.
Lufthansa has already negotiated new agreements with Cabin crew and Ground staff, leaving the Pilots group as the remaining piece that needs to be resolved. The Pilots are asking for pay raises and better terms for ‘transition contracts’ when Pilots choose to retire before normal pension payments begin. Specifically, Pilots are asking for a 4.6% raise retroactive to May 2013 along with a raise of 5.2% retroactive back to between March 2012 & April 2013.
This obviously can cause widespread misery for a lot of travelers. With the unions commitment of providing 48 hours notice, this will hopefully give Lufthansa enough time to re-accommodate passengers to other airlines and to other means of travel such as Deutsche Bahn (DB).
Obviously we have not heard the last of this, so I’ll provide updates as they become available.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Mar 20, 2014 | Deals |
If you are looking to book travel on Lufthansa between now and April 3, you can save $50 by getting a Fare Discount Voucher from Lufthansa.
The voucher will be good for travel between now and April 13 as well as between April 29 and May 15, 2014.
Travel must originate in the USA and your flights must be operated by Lufthansa or Lufthansa’s regional partners. The voucher can only be redeemed through Lufthansa.com.
Hope this helps a bit as you plan your travels with LH! 🙂
