FelixB

It's quite bizarre. LH is undoubtedly one of the most influential airlines in *A and probably the driving force in its expansion, yet airlines like TK and A3 have turned out to be a problem for LH, each in their own way. Was Lufthansa so short-sighted as to not see what was going to happen?

starflyergold

More and more I get the sense that the current LH leadership (I use the term lightly) has lost faith in Star Alliance. Non hub traffic is being shunted off to 4U with no connection to Star Alliance and no passenger benefits and now TK is being punished for being too successful and those passengers who dare to fly with TK are being punished by the withdrawal of status miles. It's all a bit petty and ridiculous but that's how LH has developed.

For years LH moaned about the "unfair" competition from the Gulf carriers, now it is facing new competition from the Bosporus. Well though. I'm by no means a TK fanboy but you have to wonder why passengers migrate to TK in droves. They offer a superior service (most of the time) at a better price and offer a wider network. Once the new IST airport is ready things are gonna get even more competitive.

This latest action is just so typical of LH, behaving like a spoiled petulant child. It is rather pathetic.

So Gulf competition was "unfair", Turkish (real economic) competition is not welcome either at LH HQ. So which kind of competition would LH like? The one where nobody actually competes?

Anyway, rant over (TK still offer a status match if anyone is interested )

oliver2002

Well, *A always was a quirky kind of friendship. Recall how US (before Doug Parker and America West (HP) swallowed it) were invited into *A by UA because UA wanted to swallow them but then got into ch11 itself. When HP grabbed US, LH & UA didn't know what to do with it and till today its an oddball. JJ was a similar situation, the same goes for OZ. SQ is a different story all together, I'm sure founding partner TG wasn't and isn't too excited to have them.

My point is having a *A alliance partner doesn't mean they will not compete with you. OWs approach to the matter is completely different, they integrate all partners, to such an extent that all partners can issue tickets or rebook you.

stargold

One petulant child-like member does not a demise of Star make.

Clearly LH feels they can do whatever they want, given they pretty much control the entire European base within Star. However, singling out TK just makes them look incredibly petty.

And LH M&M customers who have been splitting their flights over LH and TK might finally realise that you can get *G on TK for a fraction of the requirement for SEN, and switch even more of ther flights to TK.

dj_jay_smith

The story in English on business traveller;

http://www.businesstraveller.com/new...ommercial-rift

I must admit, I really see that * A has gone down hill and I don't really see advantages for the frequent flyer anymore with partners.

For most partners you get little (and reducing), miles.

* S only now officially gives you waitlist and standby priority. Sorry, but in my 16 years of travelling I have NEVER been on standby and been put on a waitlist twice. So this is useless.

* G gives you boarding and check-in priority, and lounge access. But if you have a C ticket then this gives you basically nothing! For example in FRA there is no point in walking the extra 20m from the C check in to the F checkin 90% of the time as C checkin is very efficient and you can get served quicker than the time it take you to walk there. Especially if you then travel from the B or C gates and have to walk to 20m back. And if you have hand luggage only and checkin online, then there is no benefit!

(OK during IRROPS you do get dealt with much quicker, but that is basically the only real benefit and IRROPS and just that, so happen very infrequently)

Otherwise the only benefit for * A I see now is that most of the airlines have commerical agreements. Or as I call it, price fixing!

FelixB

Well UA is doing its share of anti-*A policies. Partner award increases, PQD...

oliver2002

Airline alliances are more than (in their eyes petty) mileage earning/burning reciprocity schemes... if you look at the *A site, its all about network, using your status, followed by earning and redeeming loyalty points.

http://www.staralliance.com/en/benefits/

Neither has been affected by the 25% change. AFAIK LH & TK both allow *G access to their lounges and you earn and redeem on both LH & TK

PaxCGN

This is more narrowminded than I would ever have expected from LH.

As their frequent customer I can no longer fly LH from my home airport CGN or even by driving to DUS. I have to fly 4U, which is not a Star Alliance member, so flights will not be creditted outside LH Miles&More.
They have ignored lie-flats in long-distance Business for 15 years, relying on their strong brand.
LH has been crying about competition from Low-cost-carriers and the middle-East 3 since years. If they obviously can not reduce their cost base, they must offer more service. But instead of investing into service, they boycott TK, their natural partner to counter the ME3.
What does LH think I will do for my business trips to Istanbul? If they close my Option to fly TK directly, will I Transfer on LH in FRA or MUC or fly Oneworld or Skyteam with Transfer in AMS, CDG, PRG or LHR at a lower rate?
And if these Istanbul trips are missing from my status renewal and better service at lower price Long distance connections with TK (from which LH could have benefitted, before ending the codeshares) are banned at Miles&More, why shouldn't I concentrate on Air Berlin, Oneworld and Skyteam?

LonLH

I had completely missed this "enhancement"- shame on LH to sneak in changes like this I have a trip coming to BUS in Jan 2014, TK is the only decent option (other than a long taxi ride from TBS). Now it will be 2000 miles instead of 8000 if I credit this to M/M.
Maybe time to Status match my OW status with TK- at the rate TK has been growing they will soon be bigger than LH. If only they could get their act together on the ground.
What will be the next enhancement- deduct miles from your account if you dare to step foot on a competitors plane?

kanor

I think TK is fairly liberal in matches and would simply match LH statuses too. Though interestingly there are no reports (neither match, nor deny) of this on statusmatcher.

swiss_global

Only two remarks:

(1) Alliances are slowly but surely falling apart. Joint ventures are the "new" thing. It started with QF preferring EK over their OW mates, SU virtually excluding AF from their benefits, DL excluding KE from earning status qualifying miles etc. And now LH and TK. Just another brick in the wall.

(2) LH group is slowly but truly loosing the game. High fares and sub-par service are not combining well.

The bottom line is clear, looking at my own bookings: LH/LX/OS: none, TK: 3; *A (incl TK): 5; OW: 7 (incl EY), ST: 1. Any questions, LH?

Maluku_Flyer

Hmm, just look at what happened to the BA/QF marriage when EK showed up.

Kacee

I will point out that LH has screwed up the UA earnings. They are treating a UA E fare as deepest discount, with only 25% earnings, when in fact it is the fourth highest economy fare class (after Y/B/M).

TPJ

Please visit TK forum. There are many reports of successful matches (including mine - US*G matched to TK*G).

oliver2002

Just wait and see what will happen to Skyteam and OW if EY ever gets their act together and starts using their equity stakes in 38 airlines to patch something together