Miles & More (Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, and other partners) - I'm a complete flying newb, anyway I can get better seat on Lufthansa flight?

I'm 6'3 and flying JFK-Munich next week and would like to get better seats with at least more leg room. First and Business Class were a lot more expensive than I thought they would be and I didn't feel the tickets were worth it so went with economy hoping to get exit row, but travel agent told me they don't hand those out till day of flight normally. I've googled around and all I could come up with for getting bumped on Lufthansa flight was frequent flier program that I won't qualify for. So I'm just wondering if there are any tips or tricks on getting better seats or bumped up a class for free or minimal extra charge or do those not apply on international flights?

Thanks

ask at checkin and the gate.....offer someone in a good seat $100 if they will swap....good luck....

Unfortunately, most people get better seats in one of two ways- either by buying the seat or having elite status. If you don't have either, then getting a better seat is unlikely unless there's an irrops situation going on. I don't know how LH divvies up its exit row seats, but on most airlines folks with elite status get the first chance to select those seats, so there might not be any left for you on the day of the flight.

So unless you can negotiate some kind of seat swap the day of the flight (and most people will need an incentive to move to a worse seat), you're pretty much out of luck.

Welcome to Flyertalk, JKM24.
Please continue to follow this Thread in the Lufthansa Forum.
Thanks..
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Welcome to Flyertalk and the M&M forum, JKM24!

You can try to check in as early as possible but normally exit row seats are already taken by SENs who can reserve them in advance. Do you have a friend who is UA 1k and can gift you a SWU? These can be printed for the use on LH metal. Alternatively you can also use miles to upgrade.

Enjoy your flight (if this is actually possible in Y on a red-eye flight)!

I'm 6'3 and flying JFK-Munich next week and would like to get better seats with at least more leg room.

Unfortunately there is no way to guarantee to get an exit seat.
I once was able to check in a friend whose reservation was under the same booking code as mine.
You could ask Lufthansa if they can sell you an additional seat. Not really helping with height but you could place yourselve in a more diagonal way.

Extra seats come at a reduced rate without taxes and services charges, only when they are available.

Best of luck!

as you don't have any LH status, ask if they sell upgrades for cash. Sometimes LH does it and they target non-status pax.

good luck

as you don't have any LH status, ask if they sell upgrades for cash. Sometimes LH does it and they target non-status pax.

good luck

Would you be able to give me an estimate at around how much an upgrade would cost? Is it also cash only or is CC acceptable too?

It doesn't do any good for sitting, but on SFO-MUC flights, my friend and I have gotten lucky getting 4 middle seats to ourselves and take turns sleeping 3 across. OTOH, you do get free scotch in LH economy ^ even if it is just Dewars. :rolleyes: It could be Teachers. :eek:

You may want to check a couple of threads on the topic.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles-more-lufthansa-austrian-swiss-other-partners/711432-lh-north-america-official-upsell-programm-paid-upgrades-us-station-merged.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles-more-lufthansa-austrian-swiss-other-partners/627665-long-haul-cash-upgrade-gate-merged.html

The exact price seems to depend of the fare class of the paid ticket. If "upsell" is offered it only seems to be offered to certain fare classess or fare buckets (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/9554627-post14.html).