Concerto

The next glorious idea, not that so far down the line, will be to make food and drink (maybe more premium items) payable in the lounges. Whoops...better not give them ideas! But when the cost cutting starts, it rarely stops. And the main problem with LH Group, as always, is that there is no competition. So they can, and will, do just whatever they want.

miamiflyer8

Ah yes! I look forward to the Admirals Club concept in the SEN Lounge. Pre-pandemic I detested the free beer, pretzels and other goodies!

flyertalker28120

This is just mind-boggling. Wasn't aware that AA charges some people who get into the Admirals Club for bottled water or an omelette. I only knew they charge for premium beverages.

miamiflyer8

The AC's have improved quite a bit over the years with proper snacks which aren't bad but the paid menu is still there. However, OWS and higher get access to the Flagship Lounge on any departure and AA Elites on any itinerary outside North America where the offering is very good.They basically changed the concept to have paid members and credit card holders use the AC and premium Intl pax sent to the FL.

flyertalker28120

(Caution, my reply is a bit of a rant only inspired by the post above.)

I know the AA Flagship and UA Polaris lounges are excellent. But there are 5 of them each in the whole world (AA has announced 2 more, UA 1 more). I hope this is not the way forward for Lufty. To me, the DL model would be more useful. Sure, the Sky Clubs aren't as nice as Flagship or Polaris lounges. But they are better than AC's and UC's and there are a lot to them.

You know, if there were positive developments with respect to the LH group lounges, I would have more understanding for BoB. But to announce the permanent closure of three German LH lounges along with the elimination of contract lounge access along with the enhancement of the second meal on long-haul.... All within a year. That's not it.

What I would like to see from LH group, at least selectively, are solutions that improve the customer experience. For instance, DL has just extended their blocked-seat policy until March 2021. AA has just made some positive changes to basic economy fares. SAS is giving its elites free WiFi on short-haul flights. AC has just introduced some very attractive options in Aeroplan.

Some of these airlines serve different markets, sure. I'm not saying LH group should copy them. That's unrealistic. I am saying LH group should give us some sign they care about anything but cutting costs and raising revenues.

It has been SOOOO long since they improved anything. Every change, be it fine-grained pricing that replaces the traditional booking classes, the suspension of contract-lounge access, the fees for throne seats, or the introduction of HBO for long-haul. It's a long list and I'm sure I've forgotten a few things. Now make a mental list of recent changes which allow LH group to serve the customer better. Except for the much-delayed new C, nothing comes to mind!

fil_87

Meanwhile, it seems like British Airways discontinued BoB on European flights.

Concerto

For the moment, anyway. If they hadn't made such an utter mess of the whole thing, it might have been a sort of success (is taking full service away ever going to be a "success" story?).

ISTFlyer

BA has discontinued BoB for a temporary period back in the spring.
However, when they are able to find a new provider and set up the structure, they would resume BoB.

FYI, BA and M&S are no longer partners and the new BoB partner of BA hasn't yet announced.

oliver2002

LH is waking up from its winter hibernation and published some details on the new BoB, it seems the partner is Dean&David, coffee/tee from Dallmayr, cake from GateGourmet:

https://www.lufthansagroup.com/en/ne...h-quality.html

Nick Art

This actually sounds and looks really good. I'm wondering how good it actually tastes!
Birchermüsli is actually my Go-To breakfast menu here at the university (which offers quite a good one), so I'm looking forward to cross tasting this!

I'm really looking forward on how the Business Class Meals will look and I'm wondering how they try to achieve them to be better than what is available in the BOB, because right now I'd rather take the Birchermüsli, the carac or the crunchy chicken salad from the BOB over what is usually served in Regional LH Business Class.

Dave_C

Interesting that they seem to be going for an order on-board offer, as distinct from the re-launched BA offer which is now pre-order only.

Given Germans are still crazily mainly cash-only, it'll be interesting to see if they opt for a card-only approach. If they do go for order on board, *and* choose to take cash, I can see the service being a total ****show.

oliver2002

Condor and Air Berlin have/had BoB since quite some time and managed nicely with cash. No worries

Dover2Golf

Interesting. Can you update us on how it's going at Air Berlin?

hugolover

What matters is price. Portions will be small.

ISTFlyer

LH did accept cash for their Inflight Shopping in the past so why shouldn't they do it for BoB.
With most likely offline point of sales onboard, I would prefer to pay cash in Euros rather than to pay more due to the foreign currency exchange rates that banks are famous with.