VictorXray

Got a letter today from LH, actually asking me to login into Freddie awards page and vote...for them! Is that normal??

To be honest, I did not not gave LH a single vote, since I truly believe they do NOT fall into any category, such as "Best loyal program", "best redemption" and "best cust.service"... And they have the testicles to actually ask pax, whom they keep bending over and over....

imverge

I'll vote them Worst Business Class seat in a A380! Worst Food in Business Class too.

vbroucek

I think it is normal... While I did not get it from M&M (yet), I got similar request from most other programmes I am member...

Ghentleman

I got it via e-mail. I think it's borderline acceptable.
Didn't vote.

TRAVELSIG

This reminds me of the "facebook" joke that has been circulating for about a year where it shows a picture of a "nerd" and a supermodel and has the quotation below "If Internet Explorer has the nerve to ask to be your default browser surely you have the nerve to ask her out....".

vbroucek

Not funny mate... Have a look at the stats and where IE stands... Hate pointless Microsoft bashing without substantiated reasoning...

TRAVELSIG

I actually quite like Microsoft- however the joke wasn't mine- it was just a big hit on the "Internet"....

http://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHu..._brave_enough/

vbroucek

Borderline acceptable? Rubbish? So why are you member of M&M and "proudly displaying" your FTL status? Are you by any chance borderline yourself?

RTW1

These "awards" are rubbish anyway. Promoted by those with financial motives, heavily sponsored and with so many prizes everyone is a winner... it's a feel good moment for those in the industry or those standing to gain from it.

And since not many people would be able to compare programs/companies in a reasonable way, it's nothing more than a popularity contest where most vote for the program/company they know.
That's why programs send out these shameless e-mails. Did you even notice why M&M thinks you should vote for them:

Extraordinary campaigns as part of our 20-year anniversary, a large variety of travel and shopping awards as well as other exclusive partner offers – it is our goal every day to make the Miles & More programme even more attractive for you.

I must have missed those extraordinary 20-year offers (I think I got a few thousand miles extra), and now know I should spend my miles on shopping since there is so much variety (anyone notice they never make the claim that these are a good deal, just that there is so much). And I don't even know what those exclusive partner offers are... 500 miles for a Hertz booking I guess or 20.000 miles for a newspaper subscription for a Thai convict :-).

They don't even bother to mention their primary usage since they know it's been enhanced to a mediocre level anyway.

Ghentleman

???
No need to flame Vlasti.
If you really want to know, I'm a member of M&M because that's the FPP that makes most sense to my location and flying pattern. Doesn't mean I'm a "fan" or that I "like" them.
With "borderline acceptable" I mean that the action taken by M&M (sending email to members asking to vote for them) is just within the borders of what I feel is acceptable behaviour, but almost feels like spam (only value for M&M, no value for me). If I "liked" them on Facebook, I would have no problem with it. The other FFP's probably do the same thing.

vbroucek

Sorry, did not mean to flame...

VictorXray

Yep, I as well, consider myself a "hostage" of the FFP and LH. Having 65-70% of my flights originating in LED to EU (Germany & Switzerland) I have no option but to fly LH or LX. Granted, if I would be a complete masochist, I'd fly all those (direct) routs via MOW on ScaryTeam but...we must draw the line somewhere

There is a great saying in Russia, that goes something like: "Understanding comes through comparison" (or "Who has never tasted bitter, knows not what is sweet").

And 10 years ago, I thought LH was really cool airline. Then I thought, LH is really cool airline when flying business, then it was: BA is amazing, then came Emirates, then... well...you've got the point.

And still, due to geographical location, I am taking extra time, effort and money, just fly with LX (no LH for me, thank you). And everytime forking out 1200 euros for a local, EU flight, I ask myself: "is it worth it"?

gojko88

That's the whole point - LED to ZRH shouldn't be considered a "local" flight. We've been trained to consider it as such.

oliver2002

I've done 3.5 h flights inside the US in a CRJ with no catering whatsoever operated by Republic/Pinancle/Skywest etc for UA/US/NW where the crew got paid near minimum wage. Give me a LX A320 series aircraft with NEK anytime instead.

TRAVELSIG

Fortunately the US Airlines are waking up to the fact that the CRJ is not a good medium-haul solution. Delta has been quite vocal on the reduction on CRJ use for example.

Oliver2002 I do completely agree with you that the situation for a great number of airline employees and customers in the USA is not acceptable- also witness Canada where United has just announced they will outsource their entire front line ground operations in YVR, YYC, and YYZ. Hardly a customer nor certainly employee friendly move.

Returning back to the Freddie Awards- I am looking for some silver lining in the clouds for the frequent flyer and the Miles&More program- perhaps the only area I can think of that possibly may offer a benefit to the frequent customer is the reduction on who can book LX F class awards- meaning there will be some availability left? I don't know if that is a good idea to applaud as this may simply lead to more cuts due to "customer request".

Given it seems that in general many people seem to be most upset with STAR carriers- it will be interesting to see how they do in general as they were the group who most enhanced rewards in the last year.