Miles & More (Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, and other partners) - The lost opportunities/AB beating LH?

a subject that has been bugging me for a while....
Air Berlin is truly trying to transform themselves into a serious alternative to LH. more connections, improved connectivity and adjusted schedules, the ff program, etc.

as a result of all this i have started using AB more and more lately, and while as an objective observer i cant tell much of a difference between AB and LH (save for the fact that i still prefer whatever dull sandwich over sponsored Bifi rolls or "Studentenfutter", or even worse "real,-" sponsored chocolate cookies), i do have a loyalty for LH for a number of reasons. network, redemption possibilities, ground experience, status ( when .... happens), frequencies, etc..

The reason though, and the point for this thread, why i fly more and more with AB is there presence in Germany. Historically as a charter operator, they would fly from smaller airports. Nowadays, even these airports with thin volumes, offer connections via TXL, DUS, HAM or VIE. in my case, FKB, which happens to be at my doorstep offers such services conveniently.

While i still have the opportunity to depart on LH group from STR (which is a pain reaching it via the A8 motorway, and not terribly well linked by rail) or FRA (1.5 hrs by decent train connection), i nowadays have the option to take AB from FKB (20 minutes by car) with a onestop connection, same as STR on LH (and nonstop from FRA), at typically 50% of the LH cost.

Maintaining one´s yields is a valid (and scientific) exercise, so not diluting it by introducing cheaper fares from neighbouring airports is understandable from an LH perspective. But the combination of not offering a service (from certain airports) and maintaining high fares is a vicious combination.

This is more so irritating, when LH as a group, with all its subsidiaries, should really have the tools at hand, to address this. With LH, SN, OS, LX, BD, LH Italia, LG in the mix, what i would truly like to see is an attempt to spread
more into the "regions". in other words, a group strategy to cover more departure airports. I dont expect to see LH operating FKB-MOW for example nonstop, but since i need to connect anyways, why not find a pattern that say, OS handles FKB via VIE, LX handles RLG via ZRH, DTM is covered by SN and FMM is done by BD. These are of course wild examples but i hope you get the point. the potential exists within the group, the question is, whether LH is actively working on expanding its domestic reach, or whether it is willing to concede to the competition on certain markets.

Rant Off. not that it was much of it, but it would be nice seeing LH more proactively leveraging its potential and feeding me sandwiches, than having to choose between BiFi and "Studentenfutter".

The way LH has headed it makes a lot of sense simply to purchase tickets based on price and schedule. AB is a decent airline with a pretty solid FFP. What I don't like is the seat pitch on the new planes. I flew a lot of DBA before they were taken over ... their seat pitch was just fine and they had a Playboy to read on top of that.

... i nowadays have the option to take AB from FKB (20 minutes by car) with a onestop connection, same as STR on LH, at typically 50% of the LH cost.

Is the difference really 50%? If thats true than its a no brainer.

It is pretty true from the regional airports. On the main routes, AB is normally way cheapter if you book (a) far in advance (58 Euro) or (b) on very short notice. In between this there is a time window when LH can be cheaper due to the availabiltiy of E class.

Service in Eco is better than on LH. The seat pitch issue can be solved by reserving an exit row (which can be for free for their Gold elites). They quite often often offer real planes when LH offers regional jets and their FF program is way more generous for economy class passengers. The lack of lounges, though, is a big minus.

Give them lounges, a (real) worldwide network besides the major tourist destinations (alliance for that matter) and I'd switch.

thanks guys for all your comments....so Rambuster, if LH introduced the Playboy would you stick to LH then?:D

i agree, with a 50% price differential i can accept the slightly inferior connections, the absence of lounges and BiFi on top. This is particularly true to Scandinavia, where LH/SK have obscene pricing in place.
What AB has been doing lately, and i must say succesfully so, is connecting the dots and truly trying to introduce the concept of hubs.
And that gets me back, plain simple to my original point. LH as a group has all the assets. Are they working on a plan to stop the "bleeding" to AB? Are they thinking about eliminating overlaps at thinner origins and destinations in favour of spreading the network?

BTW, with all the improvements going on at AB, one thing i still dont get my head around is their pricing/revenue management.
I see a lot of lost potential there. Why offer me a 50% cheaper option vs LH, when booking at short notice? That is much more incentive than i need. They should accept LH as the price leader and primary choice, but linking the price to LHs pricing curve with a 20% (or whatever) gap would do the trick AND increase RASK.

yapak2

Give them lounges, a (real) worldwide network besides the major tourist destinations (alliance for that matter) and I'd switch.

+1

I think LH do compete strongly with Air Berlin - particuarly on price. I tend to book 1-2 weeks in advance and Air Berlin is never cheaper for flights out Friday and back Sunday (i.e. Saturday night stay).

Easyjet on the other hand, consistently have return fares below €100, even just 1 week in advance. No contest compared to LH if you fly based on price alone.

. This is particularly true to Scandinavia, where LH/SK have obscene pricing in place.


yeah.. another thing I see is the LH grup (LH,OS,LX) are all trying to becoming something of a monopolistic in some regions.. for eg.. till last year there were multiple airlines flying between Prague and Vienna and return fares were acceptable thoug high (abt eur 200 return for a 30 min flight).. then these other airlines went off this route and now only OS flies there in this route.. I seldom see any ticket priced at less than 350-400 Eur return.. whereas if I choose to take that same connection to VIE for onwards to Delhi, it will cost me only 250 Eur more.. so for a 30-40 min flight they r charging me abt Eur 400 return, whereas for a 8 hr flt its only 650 Eur return !!!
Its all how much they can extract from whom.. all other costs considerations are thrown out..