NA-Flyer

I am having also a lot of difficulties in finding A fare bucket on this route

This route is not just popular because of the 170k miles needed to get an award ticket but because it a very popular route for premium revenue traffic.

daumueller

You only have to book with a US POS -A is almost always wide open

JohnRain

What do you mean by "US POS"?

EDIT: I'm looking for award tickets, not revenue tickets.

Lack

Point of sale.

malmostoso

Point of sale. If you pretend to be in the US you can find different fares.

JohnRain

You mean that if I log into my M&M account through a VPN with a US IP address I will find different fares? Other than that, I don't see how I could pretend to be in the US.

Lack

You can call the US M&M line. But it was about revenue A fare class, which is supposedly easier to get from an US POS then DE POS.

JohnRain

Thanks, but revenue class isn't what I'm interested in, I was talking about awards. (I know that you didn't start the A fare class discussion, I'm just saying).

Lack

Well, you're question was quoting a pare of the A fare discussion.

For O class, US POS actually works against you.

JohnRain

That's correct, apologies if I wasn't clear. It's just that this whole thread is about F awards and I was wondering why they're next to impossible to book to the West Coast.

Khaleesi

My apologies if I should be posting this over in Aeroplan instead, but my question concerns Lufthansa specifically.

Has anyone else been noticing a dramatic drop in premium cabin award availability on Lufthansa?

In July & August I used Aeroplan.com to look at Lufthansa First and Business availability on the IAD-FRA and IAD-MUC routes. My method was to look at almost every date within 14 days of my search date (because this is when Lufthansa releases First awards to partners). I monitored this stuff for a couple weeks, and was pleasantly surprised that there was tons of availability for biz and first.

Now I'm doing the same type of 14-day-out monitoring (in anticipation of a trip I'd like to take in mid-October) and there is MUCH less availability. First is unavailable most days, and there are many days where even Business isn't available.

Is this an Aeroplan problem? Or do you think maybe Lufthansa is using their revamped cabins as an excuse to restrict award availability?

Thanks!

TheBOSman

(Bolding mine)

The parts I have bolded are the relevant parts of your post. Corporate travel bookings, the main driver of business and first class bookings, are reduced in summer (particularly for European carriers, whose home countries are much more generous in vacation policies than the USA). LH will generally release a number of unsold seats as awards, depending on how many seats are sold. In summer, fewer seats are sold, so more seats are released as awards. During autumn, more seats are sold, hence fewer are released as awards.

Also, I checked on United's website, and LH F IAD-FRA is currently available 3 October, 5 October, and 6 October, for dates within the next two weeks. As well, business seems to be available for at least one seat almost every day. If Aeroplan's website is different, then perhaps LH is restricting specifically to Aeroplan. However, I doubt this, and am guessing it is simply that fewer awards overall are being released, due to higher numbers of paid ticket sales in first and business classes.

Khaleesi

Thanks, TheBOSman! That makes a lot of sense. I appreciate your reply!

As for that IAD-FRA availability in F, I should have written that I'm actually traveling to VIE (so I was searching for IAD-VIE, which on LH will inevitably connect in MUC or FRA). I had assumed that the limiting factor would be the transatlantic -- but actually, you're right, there's more F availability when I eliminate the VIE leg. Hmm, weird. Time to get creative.

TheBOSman

You're quite welcome!

Best thing in my opinion to do is to sign up for either a 5-day trial or pay for an unlimited month of ExpertFlyer. Then, check the current F loads on IAD-FRA/MUC for your desired travel dates. If any date is F7 or F8, you've got an excellent chance of booking 1 or even 2 (or even 3) F awards if you stay on top of it. F4-F6, still a decent chance. F3 or less, it will be tough.

Also, don't discount IAD-VIE nonstop in business class on Austrian, they're pretty solid in business class. I've yet to fly them personally, but they are on my list when I can get some time off.

Finally, since I searched earlier, an F award has appeared on IAD-FRA on 28 September. So, search frequently as availability can change quickly!

ASUDan130

In general Is flying New Years Day usually busy F route back to the USA from FRA or is it usually pretty light? I would think pretty light but you never know.