N1003U

What more would you like to hear? The food was good but not great...the shuttle busses were on-time...Mr. Weber thinks 4U Best is as good or better than LH Kont C (surprise!)

oliver2002

Over in VFT I read that rcs85551 will compile participant feedback and LH made notes, so hope springs eternal. Still upset that I couldn't make it

NewbieRunner

I was sorry you couldn't make it either.

What more do you expect from our collective memory? rcs85551 emailed the participants asking for additional feedback on the face-to-face conversations we had later in the evening with the various Lufthansa staff. He said a short summary of our conversations would complement the transcript of the general Q&A that would to be posted in due course. I haven't seen anything on VFT but expect whatever he posts there would also be posted on FT.

NewbieRunner

No, the second shuttle bus was late because they were waiting for someone who was already at the venue. The last shuttle bus back to the airport left quite late - a lot later than originally planned. ^

As someone already mentioned Mr Weber seemed to be asking each participant if they had flown on 4U. I told him I hadn't but said that I had noticed a new check-in counter in MAN. He seemed impressed and said it had only opened on Sunday. I also told him that all my air travel was personal (I refuse to call it 'leisure travel') and that I had just re-qualified as SEN. He seemed impressed but it may be because he is a nice man who shows interest in whatever you tell him.

He seemed convinced that 4U's pricing structure is simple and easy to understand. I had to agree Basic, Smart, Best were easier to understand than b.light economy, b.flex economy+, etc. He was disappointed his name badge said Lufthansa and not Germanwings.

On the subject of J vs C, Mr Spohr implied that LH would have preferred to keep C as the fully flexible (highest priced) booking class but IATA rules wouldn't let them. Check this thread from 2008.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...08-u-y-cl.html

My question to Dr Huber after the moderated session was about LH's plans when they get two daytime slots at HND next year as expected. To my surprise he said LH could use more slots to TYO though he didn't rule out the possibility of some operation transferring from NRT to HND. (At least that was my interpretation of his reply.) Subsequently I've found that LH's daily flight from FRA to NRT which was the launch route for the A380 will continue to be operated by the 744 in the summer 2014 season. I wonder if this might be part of their revised plan for flights to TYO.

My other question about whether LH had any say on the arrival/departure gates in FRA esp. of shorthaul flights drew a blank from a couple of people I talked to. During the visit to LH's operation centre in MUC a year ago, we learned that LH and the airport authority cooperated in deciding arrival and departure gates there, but nothing like that seems to happen in FRA. I am convinced however that arrival gates are determined by the aircraft's next destination.

So what did we get for a (not so) small fortune out of pocket travelling to FRA and back and overnight hotel stays (yes I had to spend two nights away ) plus two days off work? Apart from an interesting evening, mediocre food, a chance to meet FT/VFT friends old and new, an after party in the Sheraton lounge and 2501 award and status miles, all I got from LH was a small bag of 'Nonstop you' cookies they sometimes hand out in C.

Maluku_Flyer

They should have handed out t-shirts with that inscription.

NA-Flyer

Very cheap airline

weero

Look at it as a chance for a personal cool-down period!

I too was terminally miffed when LH stopped inviting me to SEN events ... and look what a balanced and unbiased poster I have become after a few years ...

Rambuster

Your anger management therapy has worked out really well!

sunseeker

getting angry...

sunseeker

i am far from being impressed by what came out of this event.
some b s questions answered, a few serious questions answered with more b s and pussyfooting from ft "legends" who where part of this ...

great!!

N1003U

Did you have a particular expectation? If so, do share, perhaps one of the folks who were actually there can help you out...many of the questions asked were exactly the ones that were asked here.

I think the LH management team made it very clear that they are confident in their course of action (OK, maybe Huber is not as confident as the other two), and that they have analyzed the situation, and they believe they are moving back onto a sustainable business path. They noted the input of the FT/VFT crowd, and I am suppose if their current plans do not meet expectations, they might take a look at some customer input and adjust their product offering accordingly in the future.

We said we thought it sucked that they are picking out pockets at check-in and nickel-and-diming us to death on board and with the M&M program. They said such actions are necessary in the business situation as they see it to remain viable. What is not to understand?

As customers presented with what we learned at the event and what LH has announced publicly, I suppose now we have a (slightly) better idea on how to plan our air travel in the immediate future.

For me it was worthwhile to look the LH team squarely in the eye and get a feel for what they are really thinking. Not much more to be done with alpha chimpanzees who think they are right...@:-)

TRAVELSIG

Thanks for the post as it was far from clear up until now that we are actually all at the event to report back to you boss.

Post of the year.

Keep at it chief!

seat 1a

Hoe hoe hoe , easy does it !

Besides N1003U's quick summary of a few points (thank you ) I believe we were led to believe by mods and others that there were to be notes and transcripts presented in the Forum .
This has nothing to do with hierarchy , but that you were representing the forums view . Even a special thread was opened prior to the dialog to solicit questions from other members .

A well thought through and organized feedback from the participants is the minimum that could be expected from us that did not have the opportunity to participate .

TRAVELSIG

You are correct on the easy does it- perhaps I am a bit "snappy" on a beautiful sunday morning.
I think there were some notes being passed around- I do know I sent my additional comments to the mods.
In reality I think everything that was discussed is in 99% already here- while we all would have welcomed a chance to go more profoundly into the situation there just was not that much to go into.
Lufthansa in summary is pursuing a strategy where we will pay more for our tickets if we want flexibility. At the same time they will reduce both the benefits to Miles&More and also to a higher degree to the Star Alliance where they are contractually able to do so.
While probably that is not the news anyone wants to hear particularly on Flyertalk where there is some passion about frequent flyer programs that is the strategy and it is being deployed coherently even if we believe it defies logic.
And lastly- we did learn about the "Status Stars".

Anyway good point that I certainly did not want to get carried away and mean no offense to sun seeker or anyone else- it is just that the news is not that good.

Rambuster

Most of the questions were asked and answered.
However, we never got to ask about the 737 spare tyre situation in HAJ, as requested by one forum member... :doh: