johnirvine

I fly from LCA to TXL return every second weekend and prefer to fly in discount C. At present, you can purchase P class business return tickets on OS for €390 yielding 100% mileage. For an inferior overall service (which frequently involves negotiating rugby scrums due to disorganized boarding and remote sites at ATH) A3 is routinely trying to charge more than 100% more. The Aegean value proposition is absolutely crap unless you are a radical Hellenist.

KLouis

I really don't understand why you insist on complaining (and have been doing so for quite some time). If you think that the price you pay for an inferior service is too high, simply fly the competition. As simple as that!

PS By the way, I just compared the prices for tickets for a stay of 5 days in Cyprus on 3 random dates in November on OS' site: tickets on both business and economy on OS were much, much more expensive on OS than on A3.

PS2 I am certainly not a radical Hellenist. Check the meaning of the term here!.

giorginho

I think 2 C Tickets at 390€ is an absolutely great price and 2 C tickets at 390€ a piece is a very normal price.
PS. You will never find a C ticket with Aegean to Germany for 195€, no matter how much you rant about it. If you like to fly business, then pay the higher price! If you don't think the regional C offers much over the economy, then wth, just book a much cheaper economy, especially if you fly that often.
PS2. "Has lost it" implies there has been a dramatic change in their fares. There hasn't been any change,so did you just start flying?
PS3. Emirates has lost it with their F class fares

Air Rarotonga

So feel happy to fly OS with your LH-Group FTL Status! Just be consequent and stop to use your A3 *G benefits, if you're sooooo unhappy with A3 - everything else would be a fake of yourself!

johnirvine

Did I just start flying? I currently have 850k miles in my Aegean account - how many do you have?

If you had any recent experience with LH group flights, you would see that the C class cabin on intra-Europe flights is normally 2-3 times the size of A3 flights. Why? Because they provide a service that people want at a price they can afford.

Your argument that 'has lost it implies there has been a dramatic change in their affairs' is a non sequitur. What has actually happened is that LH Group has significantly cut their fares, at least out of Cyprus, and Aegean has not followed. The business seating in both A3 and LH Group is little different than economy apart from the blocked middle seat and it should therefore be possible to make a profit at far less than the usurious price Aegean is attempting to sell C class seats for.

You say 'if you like to fly business, pay the higher price!' Fortunately, out of Cyprus there is a functioning market and I can fly business at a price that I can easily afford.

Aegean have squandered their previous strong hub position in Larnaca due to poor management.

johnirvine

Actually, I normally use my black TK Elite Plus card because other *G airlines understand that this is a serious FFP card that you have to do significant flying to retain, not a mere 12,000 miles. If flying economy, I use the A3*G card since I currently like the idea of Aegean paying for my lounge entry.

To get an LH FTL card, you actually have to fly 35,000 miles or 30 sectors so most holders of this card feel they have earned it and, unlike A3*S, it does give limited lounge entry. The reason for having the FTL card is merely to get mileage for restricted K, L and T fares that rarely receive mileage credit. As with many other LH Group FTL holders, a *G card is used to obtain pre-flight benefits and then mileage credit is changed later. So why is it 'fake' to game the rules? Why do you not say the same to all the posters on the Flyertalk Aegean thread who appear to maintain their gold status by flying on highly discounted SAS fares? I earn my A3*G card and TK*G card and LH*S card the same as everyone else!

By criticizing Aegean, I hope that the airline will improve. I have everything to gain, and nothing to lose, from there being a worthy *A competitor to LH Group flying from Cyprus. At present there is not, apart from the excellent TK which flies from Ercan/Tympou.

FlyerTalker688786

Yes I did too notice some routes A3 business class fares are out of touch. Basically for a European Business class (or Premier Economy), whichever way you look at it, €200-€250 one way is the expectation. Any amount above that threshold is somewhat above the promotional fare normality.

But if A3 is able to charge double that amount, good for them. OP just needs to find a product that matches his expectations, on terms of service and cost, and value.

bearchemist

To each of its own. Aegean doesn't need to value your personal perspective simply because the number of miles in your M&B account -- it could very well be from a together account or come from flying other SA airlines which does not bring direct revenue to Aegean. Each airline has its own marketing strategy, varying to different markets and targeted customers. It seems like your travel pattern (LCA to TXL on discount J) is not that important to Aegean. Many people prefer A3 Y because of the service level, you get a real meal instead of two pieces of bread so-called sandwich on LH. Even in J I am sure you are aware of the recent catering snafu on LH, how about posting something belittling LH and 'hope they can improve'? Apparently, LH is too big to fail and has lost it, isn't it? You must also be aware of LH P fare earns nada on many programs. One can argue all day which airline does better on what, but in the end you are just a customer, not revenue management. I do appreciate when airlines seriously enforce carry-on rules

By the way, 36k miles can get you LH FTL, at the same time can also make you *G on A3. I would say the benefits of A3 Gold is the same as LH FTL + TK gold + 10 more *G status from other programs. And, good luck on the upcoming changes in LH status qualification requirement.

KLouis

Can I offer some alternative explanation? How about Germany has a population of >83 million vs ~10 million for Greece. If one adds the non-German regions within two hours (surface travel) from FRA and MUC one comes up to more than 100 million potential customers as opposed to still ~10 million within easy access to ATH.

bearchemist

I also want to add that many people in intra-Europe LH J cabin are connecting to/from long-haul flights. As someone wrote recently in the LH forum, difference between J and Y intra-Europe is negligible even before the recent catering issues. His/her comment may be tongue-in-cheek, but true in a sense -- people taking intra-Europe J are either on feeder flight, or their tickets are paid by employer, or are super rich, or are idiots.

yauee

If A3 J selling only €200-€250 , the 4 upgrade coupon sounds like toilet paper. The availability must be a disaster, the 4 upgrade coupon sounds like toilet paper again.

lhrpete

In my memory of this board the OP told us he was never flying A3 again and wouldn't fly TK because he had his car vandalised at ECN - something that has never happened to me or anyone I know and we have a property on the coast near Kyrenia and visit regularly.

Now he's cross again about A3 fares but their aircraft seem pretty full any time I'm on them (so perhaps others think the fares are good value) which is more than I can say for OS and equally he now tells us he has a TK Elite Plus card so perhaps flying from ECN after all. I can't think why you would retain status with A3 when you have it with TK and avoid A3 because of the high fares.

I think this is just an opportunity for a rant.

johnirvine

Perhaps you should check what you previously read: I have never said that I would not fly A3 again. After this, you can apologize.

Yes, I have had my car vandalised at ECN and this is not as uncommon as you think. Nevertheless, I still use ECN occasionally and have not had a problem there since.

The reason I have a TK Elite Plus card (which has always been listed on my profile) is that I make around 4 Germany-Asia trips per year - it's dangerous to come to unwarranted conclusions! The cards get renewed automatically because I fly a lot (mainly on TK and LH/OS) and the A3 card is actually almost a giveaway. The main use of the Aegean card is, in fact, to collect and use Alpha Bank miles.

The reason I started this thread is not to rant but to point out the uncompetitive nature of A3 business fares. This week, I booked two return business fares from LCA to TXL for next year. These cost around €390 compared to more than €800 on Aegean. If you think this is irrelevant, fine. But don't make statements about others that have no basis in fact.

Yreal

So are we supposed to be in awe over your collection of *g?

LTN Phobia

Airlines are business. They charge certain fares because they can still get people to fly at that fare. If they can't, they start dropping fares.

If A3 are charging €800 for LCA-TXL-LCA consistently, then they must be able to charge it and still have people buy the ticket at that fare.

Not much good will come from complaining about it - the only thing you can do is to vote with your wallet and go with an airline that can provide you with the service at the price you are willing to pay, as you seem to be doing already.

In terms of the value of flights, personally, I think €390 LCA-TXL-LCA seems ridiculously cheap. €650-700 is perhaps feels more 'normal'. €800 is perhaps a tad expensive but not very expensive...

Pragmatism and not getting annoyed with fares will go a long way towards making one's life more pleasant. I can't imagine getting annoyed at some of the fares I sometimes end up paying - my blood pressure would be sky high.