by Lufthansa Flyer | Sep 9, 2014 | Business Class, Fare Sale, Featured, Swiss |
It’s that time of year again! The time when airlines start offering fantastic Business Class fares to Europe for travel during the Thanksgiving Holiday.
SWISS has launched their Business Class fare sale to Europe with fares starting as low as $1899 for travel to Barcelona from New York.
Most of the fares for this sale are ranging in the low to mid $2000 level from the East Coast while fares from the West Coast range in the very low $3000 range. Great fares!
I sampled a few fares, and found that this deal is available for travel between November 22 and December 1 with very good availability from their USA gateways. The Business Fares are being booked as ‘P’ fares.
Please pay SPECIAL ATTENTION to who will be operating your flight. Most of the fares that I sampled had SWISS as the carrier for the transatlantic segments. However, there were pockets where United and Air Canada were options. My suggestion is to make sure you fly on SWISS to fully enjoy the experience.
SWISS is consistently recognized as having one of the best Business Class experiences in the industry. If you’re going to spend $2000-$3000 to travel, you may as well fly with one of the best!
by Lufthansa Flyer | Sep 8, 2014 | Airlines, Featured, Industry News |
Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has suggested that if the EU escalates their sanctions against Russia to include its Energy sector, Russia will retaliate in kind with sanctions against the EU’s Airline Industry. This coming from an interview that was conducted by Russia’s Vedomosti newspaper and published today.
As it stands now, European airlines enjoy the ability to transit Russian airspace on their routes to Asia, which typically saves 2-4 hours of flight time and thousands of dollars in fuel costs versus having to fly around Russian airspace.
Should these events come to pass, it will cost an airline like Lufthansa over $1 billion in additional fuel and maintenance expense EVERY 3 MONTHS should the ability to fly over Russia be taken away. In fact, the Lufthansa Group operates 220 flights per week that transit Russian Airspace, so it’s quite easy to see how the additional expenses can add up quickly.
Of all the European Airlines, only KLM-Air France use Russian airspace more than Lufthansa; they transit Russian airspace 249 times per week (according to Bloomberg data).
As the war of words and sanctions continues to ratchet up, its unfortunate that no one in a position of influence clearly understands the concept of unintended consequences. With most European airlines operating at losses, or at best a paper thin profit margin, we may see some of the smaller airlines fail as a result of this volley of sanctions between the EU and Russia. At the same time Russia does not emerge as a winner in this situation either because they would lose millions in air traffic revenue generated by airlines transiting their airspace.
We’ll learn more in the coming days as the EU is set to meet today and announce their plans for increasing sanctions against Russia some time tomorrow. Early rumors suggest that Russia’s oil companies may be restricted from raising long term capital from European markets.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Sep 7, 2014 | Contests, Featured, Swiss |
The Swiss national travel board, Switzerland Tourism, has put together a contest that will award its winner and their guest a customized trip to Switzerland based on the entrant’s preferences. As part of this contest, SWISS International Air Lines will be furnishing the airline tickets between the USA and Switzerland.
The contest is Facebook based. When submitting an entry, you’ll have 3 destination options that you can choose from: Mount Pilatus, Basel and Lake Lucerne. Once you select your destination, you’ll be asked if you preferred mode of transport is by Rail, Cable Car or Walking and then finally you’ll be asked your preference for accommodations: Historic Swiss hotels, Deluxe Hotel or Traditional Swiss Hotel. After selecting your preferences you’ll be ask to provide your contact details.
The contest runs until September 30. The winner will receive roundtrip Economy airfare between a SWISS gateway in the USA and Switzerland, 3 nights accommodation in the hotel selected as part of the contest as well as 2 8 day First Class Swiss Rail passes to help you get around.
The contest is open to legal residents of the USA and Canada.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Aug 20, 2014 | Contests, Featured, Swiss |
SWISS is running a contest that will award 4 lucky winners each with a pair of tickets for admission to the Omega European Masters Golf Tournament that will be contested on between September 4 and 7. The tournament will take place at Golf Club Crans-Sur-Sierre in Crans Montana in the southwest of Switzerland.
I’m not sure if the tickets cover only one day of the tournament or the entire event as those details were not made clear in the terms and conditions of the contest. I would assume they cover all 4 days but don’t hold me to it!
Your entry requires you to answer a ‘skills’ question in order to be eligible. The question in this case is “How many hours in advance can you reserve a seat on you SWISS flight?”….Hint, the answer starts with a 4!
The contest is for tickets to the tournament only and does not include airfare or accomodation.
Good Luck!
by Lufthansa Flyer | Aug 15, 2014 | Contests, Featured, Swiss |
SWISS is giving away 3 pairs of tickets to the Lucerne Festival and Symphony Concert 21 that will be held on September 7. This specific concert will feature conductor Alan Gilbert and the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester along with soloists and choirs.
Entering the contest is easy. All you need to do is answer a question regard SWISS’ service to Miami and provide your contact details. Hint, the answer lies between the number 1 and number 3. The entry deadline is this Sunday, August 17.
It looks like the contest is open to everyone. Additional Terms/Conditions can be found here.
