I am travelling to Rome for a cruise next May. Flying YOW to FCO returning via Barcelona (BCN) to YOW.

I booked 2 business class seats with Aeroplan points via Frankfurt ( one stop only) so I could sit in the AC pods. 2 tickets cost me 160,000 miles. Only problem is all legs are Business class except for one seat from YOW to FRA. I called aeroplan ( even though I check on-line constantly) to see what other options may be available to ensure we have the flatbed pods on the long haul flights. The aeroplan agent I got yesterday was very experience ( been there 25 years) & suggested I try to Lufthansa first class via Montreal. Claims first class on Lufthansia has flatbeds, gourmet chefs, limo service to plane from lounge, massages in lounge etc and well worth the extra points much better than Business class on AC.

So I would have to have 2 stops now instead of a stop each way, pay a $180 change fee + pay an extra 20,000 each person or 40,000 points.

Can anyone provide an opinion if First class with Luftansia is worth the extra Points or should I stick to my Business Class AC flights with only one stop and keep trying for a busines class seat to be released?

http://www.lufthansa.com/de/en/First..._p=DE&blt_l=en

Thanks

IMHO First is almost always better than Business. LH F is middle of the pack for *A F, but certainly several notches above AC Exec First. The best choice out of YUL would be LX F to Zurich. Swiss has a great F product...the only place where LH might score higher is the ground services/lounges at FRA & MUC.

Is it worth the extra points? For me it certainly is.

If you make the switch you will get a refund for the nasty fuel surcharge you have paid for booking an AC flight over an ocean.

Interesting did not know about the fuel surcharge refend, that may wipe out the change fees-thanks for that!

This would be a classic case of what we went through booking our trip to Orlando coming up December 15th for three weeks.

The choices right up til the booking didn't feel right.. I was on the phone and checking online constantly.. At one point, I've could have got first class seats on the perfect dates, and burned double the amount of miles. Seemed perfect, didn't feel right, because we could have two trips on coach for the same amount of points.. That means two seperate trips to Disney World eventually. My gut feeling at that time was to book coach on AE points, still no luck.. but my gut feeling was to stick to my guns. Then I looked into paying for Coach tickets, and they were good half decent deals, and I still didn't pull the trigger for awhile.. I was into the screens online adding passport info, and decided to sleep on it for another day and explore options.. Next day, budda boom budda ching, flights YYC-MCO $320 including taxes and fees round trip Christmas break.. booked 3 tickets right away.. Saved the points, and at this price it was an unbelievable deal.

Go with your heart.. You've got a flight already, so that's your backup..

You really got a great agent, he was right except for the massage: You�d have to fly via BKK in TG F to get a free massage, LH�s massages are not free AFAIK

IMO the chances that another award seat in C on the YOW-FRA flight opens up aren�t that great: only serviced by a 763, only one flight per day on this route and comparably high demand for revenue C tix (upgrading on this route can be harder than YYZ-FRA)

I�d definitely go for the LH F option: While LH F hard product is somewhat outdated (but seats do turn into flat beds), the service and ground product are excellent.

You�ll also save some fuel surcharges, as AP only charges fuel surcharges on AC metal.

Regarding Y/C/F my standpoint tends to be:

Y: avoid for long-haul flights, if at all possible
C: eliminates the hassle of C, you get some decent food, good service and a comfortable seat (flat bed on AC, mediocre lie-flat on LH)
F: usually excellent service and tasty food and decent wine/champagne, more privacy and a much better ground experience; a nice experience once in a while when travelling for leisure

I have heard nothing but mostly positive feedbacks regarding LX F. So if one can snag award seats from them, you'll likely be in for a excellent treat, especially the YUL route that is scheduled for daily F on the new F cabin.

LH first class will give you a great ride. Great food, great service and they certainly treat you right on the ground. Not to mention the First class lounge that you'll be able to access.

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So just to clarify, are you saying the AC flatbeds are better/more comfortable than the LH flatbeds in first class?

Sorry for the confusion, no I was saying AC C > LH C, but LH F seat is (slightly) better than AC C

If you have the points, go for it. The seats are good on LH but the service is the real bonus of the experience. I am a big fan of AC's Exec pod seating but their service can not compare to LH F. Do it!

Another vote for the do it camp. I say go for it for sure, I've been on LH F twice and really enjoyed the experience - I still love AC pods but I would pay the extra points for the first experience. The First Class Terminal in FRA is simply awesome.

I was in a similar situation for my next trip on points next year, only MUC-YUL was available in F but I still booked hoping F would free up (and thought even one way the extra points were worth it) on the way over and it did for YUL-ZRH on LX so pretty excited now for that. (gladly paid the change fee)

One other thing to consider is if you are travelling 2 people together it will be easier to talk on LH F or LX F most likely as you can get 2 seats side by side vs the pods for AC that are great for travelling by yourself but hard to talk to a travelling companion.

The other factor for myself with the first vs. business choice was that there is always the chance work wise of the odd trip in business, or maybe (fingers crossed) some day an op-up to business on AC. However, short of winning the lottery or gaining status on another airline (no plans) this was really the only way I would get to experience true first class.

It's at the end of the day relative.. Points has value, and if you see the value in the product/service received, then you should go ahead and pull the trigger. If not, then like anything else in life, weigh the options, and make the best possible decision you can with the limited resources that you have.

Thanks to everyone for all your replies and experiences, appreciate it.

My husband is still debating spending more points since we are getting low on points (we book several aeroplan flights per year) & wanting to book 2 flights from YOW to YVR in the next few months. But like it was said, we will likely never have a chance to experience first class ever again (I fly AC business class overseas often) so might be a rare chance to experience it.