Lufthansa’s latest way to annoy customers: constant seat changes
Jun 22, 2019, 3:56 am
#16
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London, UK.
Programs: SQ LPPS, A3 *G, BA Silver aiming for Bronze
Posts: 1,506
Lufthansa have been doing this all the years there have been moveable cabin dividers and I guess it isn't going to change any time soon. Yes, if you want more room, pay more money otherwise we'll make it as much like Ryanair as we can for you even though we are charging far more than they do.
And then they wonder why they are losing money.
And then they wonder why they are losing money.
Jun 22, 2019, 4:23 am
#17
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 66
Wat?
LH group expects an EBIT between 2 and 2.4 billion in 2019. That's not losing money. It's still a sizable profit. That's nothing to sneeze at when you look at the sector as a whole and forces such as oil prcies dragging down the sector in its entirety.
Furthermore, the main problem at LH group is not LH. (It's EW.)
LH group expects an EBIT between 2 and 2.4 billion in 2019. That's not losing money. It's still a sizable profit. That's nothing to sneeze at when you look at the sector as a whole and forces such as oil prcies dragging down the sector in its entirety.
Furthermore, the main problem at LH group is not LH. (It's EW.)
Jun 22, 2019, 4:54 am
#18
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Join Date: May 2012
Location: Munich, Algarve, Sussex or S.F Bay Area
Programs: Mucci, BA Gold, A3*Gold, AA Plat, HH Gold, IHG Plat Amb, Marriott Plat
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Thanks for all the repies here. It seems I’m not the only victim of this. I used to be SEN for at least 10 years but that lapsed at least 8 years ago when the first wave of M&M devaluations came along and the writing was on the wall. I reduced all my Star Alliance flying but did actively avoid LH. It’s still enough to easily maintain *G with A3 though.
Since then and particularly now that AB has been wiped out, some routes leave me with no choice of airline. The MUC-FAO sector is one example where I have the choice of LH or EW. I exclude TP via LIS as they are incapable of maintaining a schedule. I pay more for LH trying to avoid the sardine-factor of EW but recently get confronted with this cabin-shrinking antic. The crew told me it was new and that they’d pass on my message of disatisfaction. The pursor came and told me it was for trim reasons. Being a private pilot myself and knowing that this exact same aircraft flew quite happily for years before these antics started I spoke to the Captain after landing. His response was the the “back office” make the curtain call and that if he was to optimise for trim that he’d want more passengers over the wings rather than at the rear.
Flying has become tedious enough anyway. I never expect free upgrades or even free middle seats, but I do not expect any airline to willfully discomfort me for any reason. If the load is lower, then at least let the existing passengers benefit from that. You might find they fly you more often.
I am really so annoyed that my next trip will be on IB via MAD. I am not sure it will be any better but if it weren’t for these antics, I would never have considered trying it.
Since then and particularly now that AB has been wiped out, some routes leave me with no choice of airline. The MUC-FAO sector is one example where I have the choice of LH or EW. I exclude TP via LIS as they are incapable of maintaining a schedule. I pay more for LH trying to avoid the sardine-factor of EW but recently get confronted with this cabin-shrinking antic. The crew told me it was new and that they’d pass on my message of disatisfaction. The pursor came and told me it was for trim reasons. Being a private pilot myself and knowing that this exact same aircraft flew quite happily for years before these antics started I spoke to the Captain after landing. His response was the the “back office” make the curtain call and that if he was to optimise for trim that he’d want more passengers over the wings rather than at the rear.
Flying has become tedious enough anyway. I never expect free upgrades or even free middle seats, but I do not expect any airline to willfully discomfort me for any reason. If the load is lower, then at least let the existing passengers benefit from that. You might find they fly you more often.
I am really so annoyed that my next trip will be on IB via MAD. I am not sure it will be any better but if it weren’t for these antics, I would never have considered trying it.
Jun 22, 2019, 5:11 am
#19
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London, UK.
Programs: SQ LPPS, A3 *G, BA Silver aiming for Bronze
Posts: 1,506
Wat?
LH group expects an EBIT between 2 and 2.4 billion in 2019. That's not losing money. It's still a sizable profit. That's nothing to sneeze at when you look at the sector as a whole and forces such as oil prcies dragging down the sector in its entirety.
Furthermore, the main problem at LH group is not LH. (It's EW.)
LH group expects an EBIT between 2 and 2.4 billion in 2019. That's not losing money. It's still a sizable profit. That's nothing to sneeze at when you look at the sector as a whole and forces such as oil prcies dragging down the sector in its entirety.
Furthermore, the main problem at LH group is not LH. (It's EW.)
Agree about EW though, that's the problem and the widespread routes it's offering many of which should be mainline to attract business.
Jun 22, 2019, 6:09 am
#20
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Stoke on Trent, UK (MAN ), BUE, BKK, DBV
Programs: LH HON***,UA,BA.EK Gold,AV.
Posts: 11,637
. I pay more for LH trying to avoid the sardine-factor of EW but recently get confronted with this cabin-shrinking antic. The crew told me it was new and that they’d pass on my message of disatisfaction. The pursor came and told me it was for trim reasons. Being a private pilot myself and knowing that this exact same aircraft flew quite happily for years before these antics started I spoke to the Captain after landing. His response was the the “back office” make the curtain call and that if he was to optimise for trim that he’d want more passengers over the wings rather than at the rear.
Flying has become tedious enough anyway. I never expect free upgrades or even free middle seats, but I do not expect any airline to willfully discomfort me for any reason. If the load is lower, then at least let the existing passengers benefit from that. You might find they fly you more often.
Flying has become tedious enough anyway. I never expect free upgrades or even free middle seats, but I do not expect any airline to willfully discomfort me for any reason. If the load is lower, then at least let the existing passengers benefit from that. You might find they fly you more often.
Jun 22, 2019, 6:26 am
#21
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 11,578
Interesting, this happened to me once or twice but I posted that I was bumped from 11C to exit at the back, 23F I think. I guess in your case the MCD was moved at a later stage and/or the rear exit was already taken.
Jun 22, 2019, 7:36 am
#22
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Join Date: Aug 2014
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He isn't asking for a free upgrade to J. So it's really not the same at all as what you're proposing. If the flight happens to go out half full, why shouldn't coach passengers benefit from the unexpectedly light load? They aren't paying for Y and getting C, they just might have an empty seat next to them since there aren't many pax.
. I guess this issue doesn't happen in US airlines because there are no moveable curtains (plus US airlines do complimentary upgrades of Y passengers with status, until the F cabin is full). I can somewhat see the argument of cabin exclusivity, but this would justify maybe 1-2 rows of empty J rows, at the most. In fact, it seems that this may even be a flying hazard in terms of weight distribution, or at least against trim optimization. It looks like some "brilliant" mind decided to burn more fuel and loose money, and "sardine" the Y passengers, until they start buying more J.Unfortunately they also seem aware that most of their flyers are captive audience and the lack of serious competition allows them to do these things...
Jun 22, 2019, 8:58 am
#23
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: LH M&M, BA EC, DL SM
Posts: 5,721
Expertflyer showed a full C cabin in the way back, so at least they were not lying.
Jun 22, 2019, 9:03 am
#24
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: LH M&M, BA EC, DL SM
Posts: 5,721
I have seen it, but only internationally on narrow-bodies. Have done about a dozen domestic legs in Y this year and seat blocking always worked except for once, when the whole plane was packed in all classes (Friday evening). Usually quite a few empty seats in Y.
Jun 22, 2019, 10:20 am
#25
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Yes, I was talking narrow bodies, one can only wish for one of those next to you in Y 😁 Glad your doing so well with the seat blocking, I’m not taking the risk... and most of the flights I’m taking are pretty full.
Jun 22, 2019, 1:25 pm
#26
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: LH M&M, BA EC, DL SM
Posts: 5,721
I take my chances on flight of 60 mins or less and have been doing OK recently. Some of my recent flights were fairly short notice and C tickets quite expensive.
Jun 22, 2019, 2:00 pm
#27
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold, Marriott LT Platinum
Posts: 2,333
Y booked, Y received.
Guess no long wait to leave aircraft after arrival as Business was empty. What’s the issue here?
If OP is so keen on a low row number I suggest to book Business.
Given that the work ‘mean’ was used earlier in this context I do strongly recommend to use AA etc a bit more...
Guess no long wait to leave aircraft after arrival as Business was empty. What’s the issue here?
If OP is so keen on a low row number I suggest to book Business.
Given that the work ‘mean’ was used earlier in this context I do strongly recommend to use AA etc a bit more...
Jun 22, 2019, 2:22 pm
#28
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Stoke on Trent, UK (MAN ), BUE, BKK, DBV
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Tell them, Getsetjetset!…. I guess this issue doesn't happen in US airlines because there are no moveable curtains (plus US airlines do complimentary upgrades of Y passengers with status, until the F cabin is full). I can somewhat see the argument of cabin exclusivity, but this would justify maybe 1-2 rows of empty J rows, at the most. In fact, it seems that this may even be a flying hazard in terms of weight distribution, or at least against trim optimization. It looks like some "brilliant" mind decided to burn more fuel and loose money, and "sardine" the Y passengers, until they start buying more J.
Unfortunately they also seem aware that most of their flyers are captive audience and the lack of serious competition allows them to do these things...
. I guess this issue doesn't happen in US airlines because there are no moveable curtains (plus US airlines do complimentary upgrades of Y passengers with status, until the F cabin is full). I can somewhat see the argument of cabin exclusivity, but this would justify maybe 1-2 rows of empty J rows, at the most. In fact, it seems that this may even be a flying hazard in terms of weight distribution, or at least against trim optimization. It looks like some "brilliant" mind decided to burn more fuel and loose money, and "sardine" the Y passengers, until they start buying more J.Unfortunately they also seem aware that most of their flyers are captive audience and the lack of serious competition allows them to do these things...
This is LH J Intra EU we are talking about, same seat as Y, catering has been driven down to the lowest possible denominator, only thing going for it is the blocked adjacent seat.
Yes, some brilliant mind does seem to want to burn more fuel, very much at odds with the CEO’s stated desire
Jun 22, 2019, 2:26 pm
#29
Join Date: Sep 2015
Programs: A3*G,BA Silver
Posts: 2,010
On a recent flight (A3) the cabin crew moved the curtain from row 4 to row 2 as it was positioned wrongly. The whole thing took less than 1 minute and it happened during boarding. So the argument "the return flight will be full" doesnt really make much sense.
Jun 22, 2019, 2:40 pm
#30
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: SJJ/AMS
Posts: 4,647
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