Anyone been invited to a HON activity by OS recently?
#16
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: ORD
Programs: BA, AA, SQ, UA, AC, WS, MR TIT
Posts: 8,658
I met Mr. Franz once when he was the CEO of LX. I sat next to him on the early morning flight from ZRH to FRA in the C class cabin. He looks to me as an attentive listener.
He took a note of all the things I mentioned to him about LX especially the FCL location and how it is hard for connecting passengers through ZRH to visit it. However, still nothing has changed
He took a note of all the things I mentioned to him about LX especially the FCL location and how it is hard for connecting passengers through ZRH to visit it. However, still nothing has changed
#17
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: VCE
Posts: 14,165
I met Mr. Franz once when he was the CEO of LX. I sat next to him on the early morning flight from ZRH to FRA in the C class cabin. He looks to me as an attentive listener.
He took a note of all the things I mentioned to him about LX especially the FCL location and how it is hard for connecting passengers through ZRH to visit it. However, still nothing has changed
He took a note of all the things I mentioned to him about LX especially the FCL location and how it is hard for connecting passengers through ZRH to visit it. However, still nothing has changed
#18
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: STR and the rest of EMEA
Programs: LH HON, Marriott Platinum, ...
Posts: 731
I was at the LH Event in Stuttgart last week and the sales director was listening, although he didn't like what I was telling him But at least I got him to agree that giving HON miles to at least Y and B would make sense... not that he agreed to do anything about it...
#19
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: VCE
Posts: 14,165
Nice work alfahund. Even more than HON miles in Y I would really like them to restore 200% to Z class- I can understand P class- however given where Z fares are now to devalue the miles seems a bit too punitive. Good luck however.
#20
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: In transit TATL
Posts: 230
Given the past several years' pattern of devaluation of HON and the neglect toward SEN, however, one has legitimate reasons to question whether any reality-check news from below can pierce the ego bubble around the CEO (a corporate management syndrome not limited to LH, by any means).
In a larger sense one wonders what impact any parallel messages from North American HONs can have on enhancements that will most affect HON renewals from here (e.g., restoring Z fares to 200% mileage credit, HON credit for Y and B fares).
Certainly LH hasn't given up on the TATL market: LH still flies to a score of North American cities and is willing to use the newest equipment on some routes. Yes, we still have an exemplary, fully-staffed HON service center (now under the LH Private Jet rubric).
However, contrary to previous FT'er estimates of HON numbers, one wonders if we in North America have a critical mass to get top management to pay attention to similarly-expressed concerns from this side of the Atlantic. Canadian HONs on this forum may have a sense of how many they are. Ditto for MEX. Are there even 300 HONs resident in the U.S. (including European HONs registered -- legitimately under M&M terms -- at their U.S. business addresses)? I may be missing something but as far as I can tell from various LH-staff comments the New York region has ~100, L.A. area ~70, Washington, DC and Southeast ~30, Chicagoland ~20. SFO, IAH, DTW? The regional sales director in our area does an excellent job of inviting area HONs and SENs to functions two-three times a year. Yet it's not clear that any constructively critical feedback makes it to the top or has had any effect.
#23
Formerly known as koeche
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Switzerland
Programs: LX HON, QR Plat, Hilton Diamond, Windows 11, Adobe Creative Suite
Posts: 329
I think they're currently not doing any events because they already know exactly what they're going to hear... Doing ego events like those only make sense if the sun is shining, no?
Last edited by CheckInPeach; Jul 23, 2012 at 3:34 am
#24
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: VCE
Posts: 14,165
#26
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 48,123
On May 31 they invited more than a thousand German customers to FRA. When I joked with the two M&M heads on how they made it to the lions den in the midst of the changes that will hurt those present the most, both said that they have no problems talking/listening to customers to explain their reasons.
#27
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: STR and the rest of EMEA
Programs: LH HON, Marriott Platinum, ...
Posts: 731
Yeah, it's easy to listen and ignore