senegrom

Hello,

starting next year I will have to commute weekly (at least for 1-2 years) between London (no preferred airport as of now) and Munich. Commute will be almost exclusively Friday night LON-MUC and Monday morning MUC-LON. Are there any airlines which offer special fares/options for this type of schedule? It's not just about the price - simply saving the 52 booking processes per year would help a lot. I'd be happy to take the same flight/time and carrier every week and buy all 52 return trips a year (though a slightly more flexible schedule for an extra cost is fine too). Any hints for me? Thank you very much in advance!

lhrsfo

Don't know about bulk buy deals but you will pay for flexibility, with Easyjet generally cheaper than BA or LH. Conversely you should be able to get status and lounge access on BA or LH which would make things better.

Ultimately your decision will probably be most driven by which London airport has the most convenient (and reliable) commute.

Romelle

What happens if you use Multi-City and try to set up a month's worth of the flights?

If it works, might not be as onerous as booking weekly. And wouldn't have the risk of a whole year's commitment (things do change).

Some brick and mortar travel agent might jump at the chance of your nice steady business, assuming it didn't cost you too much in additional fees.

I did a similar distance commute in the US every two weeks for seven years. You might find yourself whimpering at the sight of planes. On the other hand, you might train yourself to go to sleep on take-off.

televisor

In addition to those points I'd also add security, i.e. the factors I'd take into account are:
- Airport commute
- Bypassing security (easy with status, not sure what Easyjet offers) - this also lets you reduce your commute and makes things much more predictable
- Maybe lounge access (but that's probably less important if you time your commute well).

Tbh I find LHR a complete pain in between the noisy HEX, the elevator-obsession (more waiting...), and long walks if you're in T2 (for LH) - but that might be the fastest option if you're close to paddington or the picadilly line. I've not been in LCY in a while but it was a way nicer experience, as long as the tube connection is workable.

SwissBritMiss

I feel your pain. I did this commute as well for a period, but thankfully not quite as frequently.

You only have 3 real options and when you need to leave on Friday and arrive on Monday will also be a big determinant. Personally, I stuck to LH because the flight times were better (I didn't have the flexibility to leave early on Fri / arrive later on Mon) and at least anecdotally, my fast track at T2 was much quicker than the BA at T5.

Watch out for the very latest flight into MUC - the landing restrictions at night are tight, and overnight delays or diversions into alternate airports do happen.

SwissBritMiss

There are no direct flights from LCY to MUC anymore - AF / KLM do a route with a stop in AMS which works OK on the Friday night (doesn't save time but saves the cross London rush hour trip), but the Monday morning timing is horrible. If the OP is flexible with timing, the LX flights from LCY via ZRH are a pleasant option too (ZRH to MUC being beautifully scenic).

senegrom

Thanks a lot already for all the valuable info here.

A few remarks:

I already thought of doing that. However, if I miss one weekend trip, could the rest of the "monthly pass" be forfeited, as I did not fly all trips in the order booked?

The first would probably help a lot and I'll keep that in mind. EasyJet, as far as I can see, has "fast lane" on all "FLEXI" tickets.

Also, the last time I did this commute (2010, though only for 2 months) I always used LCY, but security was quite a nightmare. Has this improved since then?

Early Friday is not really an option, but Mondays are a bit more flexible. Did you have any problems with the (in my view rather frequent) strikes from LH?

So far, I've only considered non-stop, but thanks for the suggestion! Though I'm slightly afraid that I will miss my connection in ZRH on a regular basis using this.

Sam Bee

BA now offer a flight pass which seemingly perfectly fits what you're looking after: http://www.britishairways.com/flightpass/

There is lots more info on the BA Board (you'll probably need to search as it was launched about a year ago from memory). I don't know much more about it.

These are your post 18:00 options:

STN MUC 1815 2100 U23073
LGW MUC 1835 2125 U25385
LHR MUC 2025 2310 LH2481
LHR MUC 2025 2315 BA 958

Returning - is that first BA flight early enough for you?

MUC LHR 0705 0810 LH2470
MUC LHR 0755 0910 BA 947
MUC LHR 0840 0945 LH2472
MUC LGW 0940 1035 U25382

Edit - just had a look - and you can lock in flights for £60 o/w (if you book 20 flights 90 days prior) - BUT - appears only currently runs until 31 Dec 16 - so probably worth checking if they plan to extend.

Romelle

Whatever options you try, do make sure you are signed up for the frequent flyer programs.

A direct flight is about 1,200 miles round trip. The airline status programs vary, but with Delta 25,000 miles will net you Silver status and maybe a US domestic ticket. You'll do that your first quarter.

In fact, as well as checking out the kinds of issues others have posted here (excellent suggestions), you might look at the airline status programs to see what would work best for your particular situation.

senegrom

short update: Lufthansa says "ErrorYou cannot define two identical segments (Origin/Destination). Please modify your last selection and resubmit your request. (10206)"; so no multi-city option there.

Thank you very much already though for your great comments!!

senegrom

The BA options would be nice, including the flight pass. I have seen the same 31 Dec 16 limit though :-( Let's hope they extend.

StartinSanDiego

Moderator note: I'm going to move this to Europe Forum, where additional suggestions may be forthcoming. Please follow the thread over there.

senegrom

Ok, thanks a lot for all the info so far. It seems that I will mainly have BA and LH as options. Though it will probably end up being LH given that the Monday flight from BA is a bit later... And Sam Bee's flight pass was exactly what I was looking for - if only LH had it!

mfkne

With Flying Blue he'd qualify for silver within the first month, gold after month 2 and platinum after 4 months. All this through segments of course.

SwissBritMiss

2x a week for a month: 8 flights in a month won't get you anything on FB


Eta: apologies, realised you meant with the Ams connection both ways. Doh, because I even considered this when I was doing this route!

But seriously, I think I travel well - but I couldn't do that Monday morning flight with a connection.