Genouver

I'm starting to piece together award flights Canada-Germany. Is there an easy way to identify all non-stop, Star Alliance TATL flights?
Thanks,
G

EdmFlyBoi

If you are referring to non-COVID times, YYZ, YUL, and YVR have nonstops to FRA and MUC. YYC and YOW have nonstops to FRA.

Adam Smith

No, there's not.

*A hubs that may be useful for Canada-Europe travel are:

• AC: YYZ, YUL, YVR, YYC
• UA: SFO, ORD, EWR, IAH, IAD, DEN
• LH: FRA, MUC
• LX: ZRH
• OS: VIE
• SN: BRU
• SK: CPH
• TP: LIS
• LO: WAW
• TK: IST
• A3: ATH
• OU: ZAG

Not all *A carriers offer much, or any, TATL service. A3 and OU are regional carriers, no TATLs. LO is fairly small. TP, OS, and SK aren't either. But you may find options from those guys that work for you. IST may or may not be over MPM (or whatever MPM-like rule is in place these days) for what you're looking for, I don't know. LHR is not a *A hub, but has lots of service on *A carriers in both directions, so may be a useful connection point. You may even be able to build decent connections at other non-hubs like CDG or MAD (not that CDG is a nice airport to connect in).

But altogether, there must be dozens, if not 100+ *A TATL flights (in non-COVID times).

If you're looking for advice on putting something together, it might be helpful if you shared some more details on your origin/destination and what you want and don't want. Otherwise the question is just too broad.

24left

One useful site to use is GF (Google Flights). You can search for *A routes. Of course, if you didn't know the routes, you'd have to guess, or read AC FT .

(I would also use EF (ExpertFlyer). Others may use different resources)


Since you mentioned Canada-Germany.....I started with a route I know YYZ-FRA.

On GF, you can select *A filter

Since flights are limited to non-existent now, I searched random dates in Oct 2021




And then you can see which airlines have direct flights. Obviously we're talking AC and LH.

These are the random routes I searched.








And so on.

I thought about going to AC's site first, but it's just too slow for me and I'd have to guess to see if the route existed.


Adam is also right.


So we post on AC FT and people help. ​​​​​​​
.

Genouver

Thanks for the information. We're starting the trip in Berlin. Two of us are on the south coast of BC, the other in Toronto. Flying J Class and very strong preference for proper lie-flat which if I understand correctly means AC, LU or LX? I used to go with LX ex-YUL but things have definitely changed -- you can fly AC ex-YYZ without paying hundreds of dollars in YQ each way?! Any pointers appreciated (here or PM).
Thanks,
G

Also, do you no longer pay through the nose flying via LHR?

Adam Smith

I'm going to quote you out of order because I think it makes more sense.

YQ is dead now. Mileage prices have mostly gone up, and there's a $39 fee for any itinerary including segments on partner airlines. But only true 3rd party charges are now applicable.

FRA and MUC are probably your most convenient options. Lots of flights from BER, then direct to both to YVR and YYZ. Going to YYZ, ZRH, BRU, VIE, CPH, LIS should all have one-stop options, albeit of varying convenience.

Are you looking to keep the group together as long as possible?

What's a "proper" lie-flat? The old UA product wasn't very good, but have you tried Polaris? I think they've used Polaris 764s on EWR-BER in the past? In which case maybe BER-EWR-YVR/YYZ is a good option. Some would prefer AC's seat to LH's, but those travelling as a couple who like to hang out together may prefer LH.

This part is really pretty subjective.

I don't think UK APD has ever been applicable if you're just in transit through the country.

thedoraemon

I prefer to use Google Flights search for this. Here are the steps:

1. Go to Google Flights
2. Change from Round Trip to One Way
3. Set your origin airport, leave the destination airport blank
4. Set your desired travel date (if you need to approximate, try to select the same day of week since flight schedules are typically weekly)
5. Click Search. This will bring up a map view of all possible destinations.
6. Set Filter: Stops = Non-Stop, Airlines = Star Alliance

Now you have a map with all possible Star Alliance routes around the world from the origin airport

Genouver

Hi Adam: thanks for the info. See here for details: https://www.seatguru.com/charts/long...ness_class.php

Adam Smith

Not sure that helps, as every *A carrier that flies TATL is there, and it includes seat maps for things that are decidedly not what you're looking for, e.g. rouge 763s, LX CS3s

What I was getting at is that every *A carrier that flies TATL offers a lay-flat of some sort. What makes it "proper" is very personal. I hate anything that's not all aisle access. That would rule out LO, for instance. But maybe you don't mind that layout and like the look of the seats.

Genouver

Adam: I mean angle-flat versus flat bed, eg, TAP has "full flat" on 330s and 321LR but angle flat on the 321LR.
https://www.flytap.com/en-us/booking...6-01a6bbd98f85

EdmFlyBoi

I would agree with Adam that J class is very subjective. I would also agree that all aisle access is preferred. Pretty sure that TAP only flies LR's across the Atlantic which have both paired and single seats, and are fully flat. The TAP A339 is all aisle access while the A332 has some paired seats. Of all the *A carriers across the Atlantic only AC has all aisle access across its entire fleet. UA, LX, LH, OS, LO, TK, and TP all have some aircraft with 2-2 seating, with LH not having any aircraft without them. UA is getting there, but still have the 764's and many of the 788's and 789's left to go. The carriers that have "throne" seats, tend to reserve them for elites (especially LX). I really don't like the seats on any of LX or OS - they are the Thompson Vantage seat that may consider to be "coffin" class. The LH seat has the unfortunate characteristic that you may be playing footsie with a seat mate. The airlines with D&O catering seem to have the best food (OS and TK). Like Adam said, it is very subjective.

Adam Smith

I'm confused. That link shows the 321LR as having the same full-flat seats as the 332...

If you want to dig in to the details of each airline's hard product and whether it will meet your needs, you'll likely have better luck looking at reviews on blogger websites (many of them have tons of photos and videos) or asking in the individual airline forums.

But I had asked earlier whether the four of you were wanting to travel together, or whether you're travel two and two separately. If you all want to fly together, this may limit your options significantly, as it's far more difficult to find four award seats on the same flight than it is to find two. (With the new program, there's expanded access to AC seats, so it shouldn't be hard to get four seats together on AC, just a matter of price. But if you get your heart set on flying LX J, for instance, you may have to be much more flexible on dates or connections.)