Originally Posted by
TRAVELSIG
I pay all the time for short haul premium where there is actually a premium product- in the USA, Canada, and Asia (particularly with CX, TG, and SQ) I buy business class tickets for 2 hour flights. Why?
1) Better Seat- i can actually work on confidential information without people reading what I am doing- in this way alone the flight is "auto financed"
2) Food- I can eat something decent if at a meal time and I have no other choice
3) Very good lounges in Asia- worth paying for. Sorry Lufthansa but your "business class" lounges are really very poor in comparison. Not as bad as UA but you are certainly in the running at this point.
4) Real Fast Track- send some LH staff from FRA to BKK and let them see the passport fast track areas- then send them back to FRA and look at the disgrace that is Frankfurt. It is not acceptable to over and over say "it is not our fault it is ...."- fix it. Get a real Fast Track and make it available to people who pay for the service. I would do it for sure- Lufthansa has been promising this over and over with the "new Aplus" which did absolutely nothing except make for longer walks and larger queues.
5) Flexibility- with CX and SQ for example I can change my business class tickets without any charges. Not like your hidden D fares that rebook in J for 2000 EUR more (which I consider a very very bad business practice and frankly a rip off).
Just some ideas. It is not the customer that is the problem here. It is the company that wants to have LCC policies and product with Singapore Airlines pricing.
Don't even get me started about areas like priority boarding and checkin which frankly if you are not a HON circle member just don't exist.
I agree with a lot of what you are saying. The security and passport control in Frankfurt are managed by Fraport. And quiet frankly, Fraport is a lousy airport manager. Not really Lufthansa's fault. The few areas they manage, like the FCT work pretty well. If Fraport would support their biggest client better then LH would be able to also offer Non-Hon's a better service (at Dublin Fast Track works well with LH and also the Priority Boarding does).
In the case of SQ I have to disagree - had to pay in several instances the fare difference when my original booking class was not offered anymore. This is becoming standard these days. I still think LH is pretty good in short term changes and I have not been left behind ever. this can ge pretty different with other airlines. In particular BA is pretty bad when rebooking late in my latest experiences.
Please dont misunderstand my post - I dont want to glorify LH or what they currently do - but as you are enjoying the Hon Circle perks - LH delivers a good transportation product that gets you efficiently from a to b (without having a stop in the middle of the journey, for which reason I hate EK and the likes) that is reliable and of acceptable standard. In First, they offer one of the best products in the world. Also on the Classic seats I sleep very well.
Most flights I have been on recently where full in all classes. So their strategy seems to work.
I also recently think the FCT is less crowded. You will see some additional benefits for Hon Circle members next year (now that the program starts to be again a circle). LH is going to get better is what I think.
I also believe that there is still room for a premium segment on certain routes in Europe. But to compare Asia with Europe is not correct. Most airlines in Asia operate widebodies and the few narrow ones have relatively small premium sections. A cabin with just 12 C seats would not work on most European business routes. Widebodies would be non economical in Europe. For me the middle seat free is already good on flights below three hours and gives me the enhanced privacy you talked about. Most of the times the third seat in my row is blocked off and only released if they are full. Food could be better for sure and the Lounges outside of the hubs could be better. But this is minor compared with LH's flight frequency, flexibility and reliability. Lots of people are happy to pay for that.