by Lufthansa Flyer | Aug 9, 2015 | Featured, Lufthansa, Strike |
LUFTHANSA and the union that represents the majority of their cabin crews, ‘UFO’, have both expressed optimism after recent negotiations.
Initially the union had given Lufthansa until September 1 to propose acceptable solutions to the dispute, but thanks to the success of the negotiations the deadline has been moved back to November 1. According to comments from LH and the union, it appears that they have found common ground on several issues, yet have a few more to resolve.
With this recent development and the fact that the Pilot’s union is also satisfied with the current pace of negotiations, it appears that strike threats have been eliminated for the coming months.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Aug 7, 2015 | Featured, Lounges, Munich |
When the new ‘Satellite’ Terminal opens in Munich in April 2016, eligible passengers will have access to 5 new Lounges. The 5 lounges will comprise of 1 First Class Lounge along with Senator and Business Class lounges in both Schengen and non-Schengen areas.
The First Class lounge will be similar to the other ‘FCL’ in in Munich in that it will have private car service to and from apron parking positions and its own passport control. As always, passengers will find private ‘bedrooms’, a cigar lounge and a full service restaurant. The FCL will be located on the top level of the terminal and will be approximately 10,000 square feet in size.
The Senator and Business Lounges will also be similar to their counterparts in the main terminal. As I mentioned there will be a Senator and Business Lounge in the Schengen area and non Schengen area. Both lounges will offer private work areas, showers and a central TV area. These 4 lounges will take up approximately 32,000 square feet.
The lounges will be installed in a manner that will give visitors a wide panoramic view of the tarmac and all 5 Lounges will be located in the center section of the terminal.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Aug 3, 2015 | Featured, Lufthansa, Swiss |
Both airlines began advertising a 3 day Economy Fare sale from the USA to Europe running between now and August 5.
The fare sale covers all of their US gateways. Most fares from the Midwest and East Coast range between $800 and $900 while West Coast fares range between $950 and $1050. However, the absolute best fare that I was able to find was a very attractive $659 between Orlando and Copenhagen advertised by Lufthansa.
The fare sales are a bit of an overlap since either carrier can operate your flight. Additionally Austrian, Brussels, Air Canada and United can be flown as well. Just pay attention to your carrier since the miles you earn will be determined by the carrier operating your flight. With these deep-discount Economy fare ‘buckets’, there are instances where a non LH Group flight will earn you ZERO miles.
The fare sale covers travel for 2 separate periods. One sale covers travel between August 23 and October 31 while the 2nd part of the sale covers November 1 to December 10. Fares were generally lower for the November-December option.
The Lufthansa.com version of the sale.
The Swiss.com version of the sale.
The Terms/Conditions:
Tickets must be purchased by August 5, 2015
Tickets must be purchased 14 days ahead of departure date.
Saturday night stay is required.
A weekend surcharge of $60 may apply.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Aug 1, 2015 | Business Class, Featured, Fleet Update, Lufthansa, Passenger Experience |
Each month LUFTHANSA updates the status of their Business Class retrofit progress across the long haul fleet. This month’s update confirms that 100 long-haul aircraft now feature the new Business Class cabin.
Since the July report, this is an increase of 5 additional aircraft now outfitted with the new Business Class cabin. It also means that there are ONLY 7 more left so if things remain on track the retrofit should be completed by September
Here is the breakdown by Aircraft type and then by specific aircraft registration:
The aircraft registration codes that are highlighted in green represent the newly retrofitted aircraft added to the report for this month.
Airbus A330: D-AIKP, D-AIKQ, D-AIKR, D-AIKS (These 4 planes were line-fit meaning that they were delivered by Airbus with the seats installed). D-AIKA, D-AIKB, D-AIKC, D-AIKD, D-AIKE, D-AIKF, D-AIKG, D-AIKH, D-AIKI, D-AIKJ, D-AIKK, D-AIKL, D-AIKM, D-AIKN, D-AIKO have all been retrofit by Lufthansa Technik.
Airbus A340-300: D-AIGM, D-AIGS, D-AIGO, D-AIGV, D-AIGT, D-AIGN, D-AIFE, D-AIGZ, D-AIFC, D-AIGX, D-AIGU, D-AIGL, D-AIFA, D-AIFD, D-AIFF, D-AIGW, D-AIGY (All Retrofit).
Airbus A340-600: D-AIHB, D-AIHC, D-AIHD, D-AIHE, D-AIHF, D-AIHH, D-AIHI, D-AIHK, D-AIHL, D-AIHM, D-AIHN, D-AIHQ, D-AIHR, D-AIHS, D-AIHU, D-AIHV, D-AIHW, D-AIHX, D-AIHY, D-AIHZ (All Retrofit).
Airbus A380: D-AIMB, D-AIMC, D-AIMD, D-AIME, D-AIMF, D-AIMG, D-AIMH, D-AIMI, D-AIMJ, D-AIMK, D-AIML, D-AIMM, D-AIMN. MK, ML, MM, and MN were line fit while all other A380s were retrofitted.
Boeing 747-8i: All have the new Business Class.
Boeing 747-400: D-ABTK, D-ABTL, D-ABVO, D-ABVP, D-ABVR, D-ABVT, D-ABVU, D-ABVW, D-ABVX, D-ABVY, D-ABVZ (Retrofit).
Another way to look at the progress is to see which aircraft still need to be retrofitted. Here is the list as of July 31, 2015:
A340-600: D-AI: HA, HO, HP, HT
A340-300: D-AIGP (Will be flying as a ‘Jump’ Configuration)
747-400: D-AB: VM, VS
If you have upcoming Business Class travel on Lufthansa, you can use this tool to determine if your flight will have an aircraft equipped with the new Business Class.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jul 30, 2015 | Deals, Fare Sale, Featured, First Class, Lufthansa |
Lufthansa has quietly launched a fantastic First Class fare sale. Before you get too excited there are a few provisions that you have to abide by.
First, the sale is a 2 for 1 deal, so you have to buy 2 tickets in order to take advantage of the pricing.
Next, your travel must originate from an Austrian airport, including but not limited to Vienna, Graz, Innsbruck, Salzburg, etc. and connect through either Munich or Frankfurt. You’ll also need to return to Austria.
The destinations are limited to Asia (including India), Africa and South America. From doing a quick fare search, I was not able to find any deals to North America. Also, not every date or routing has this fare available. It is a bit of hit-n-miss and a bit of luck.
However, you can find fantastic deals like Graz to Hong Kong for only €2390 per person. That’s less than a typical Business Class seat and you also get to enjoy things like Caviar, Rimowa Amenity Kits and visits to the First Class Lounges and First Class Terminal!
Other fare examples include Rio for €3500, Beijing / Shanghai for €2999, Johannesburg for €3500 and Dubai for €2499.
The rules of the fares are as follows:
The fares are available for booking until August 13 (or when sold out).
Travel must take place between August 13, 2015 and March 31, 2016.
Tickets must be purchased 14 days prior to departure.
Your connecting flight from Austria to Germany will be in Business Class.
The Fares appear to booking to ‘A’ so you’ll earn 3x/miles.
NOT REFUNDABLE.
NOT CHANGEABLE.
Hopefully your travel plans are flexible enough so that you can take advantage of this great offer!
Please note, if you are having trouble finding the fares online, you may need to call the reservation center since this is considered a companion fare and may not be properly loaded into their online reservation systems.
You can also contact SkyTravelAgent.com for assistance in booking this fare. I’ve used them successfully in building mileage runs and taking advantage of fare sales and recommend them highly!
A big H/T to FlyerTalk’s Oliver2002!
