yst33

To share another experience, I will be flying the 4Y TPA-FRA route in a few days on an econ award ticket (booked via UA), and had the same issue looking up any seat options online - UA and LH said it's not possible, and the other relevant wesites, Eurowings or Finnair, couldn't locate the booking at all. However, I was just able to call their German call center at +49 (0) 30 915 88 620 right when it opened, got a live agent in 10 seconds, and they said they could assign me any of the free-of-charge seats over the phone, and said there were many open. I could never find any seat map to look at, but at least they got me an aisle in the front half. The agent told me that if I wanted any premium seat like row 41 or for any potential upgrade, that I could call Finnair directly, since I would have to pay for the seat through Finnair as the operating carrier. I'll try that later too for curiosity, and at least see what they're offering and at what price.

edit: Well, after calling Finnair, and sitting on hold forever while a supervisor tried to find my reservation via eticket# and all booking codes, they determined that Finnair has no passenger reservation access for 4Y flights, and said nothing more I can do until the airport check in. This Eurowings Discover setup sure is a convoluted mess...

FlyerTalkUserName

It really is. Trying to have any type of in-depth conversation about the LH then 4Y then LH operated by AY now 4Y operated by AY flight is so confusing. Even discussing it with seasoned travelers is a mess.

59Impala

Finnair cannot have any reference to this booking as it is not a Finnair flight, it is a wet lease to LH/4Y. This also explains why you cannot book seats in advance probably, as LH has not reflected the seating layout of this (for LH) unique aircraft in their system, as it‘s only a temporary wet lease, and the costs would not justify it. The layout of the AY 350 will not be the same as the LH 350, which is reflected in the system, but hence cannot be used.

OH-LGG

Why You think someone in trouble?

4Y needed capacity and AY offered it, nothing to with alliances.

59Impala

you only request help from a biggest competitor (1W in this case) if you are really desperate and in dire straights. What LHG is experiencing now confirms this.

also, the AY hard product in the 359 is in my opinion superior to LH, and definitely better than 4Y. So it is pretty risky for LH to offer a better product.

curt

No. It‘s a normal business decision. 4Y needs capacity, AY has spare capacity they want to sell on the market. Contract concluded… And btw, why is 4Y desperate? Using your logic, AY is desperate as they are selling capacity to their biggest competitor…

Fabo.sk

I would think SkyTeam in general and AFKL in particular is a lot bigger competitor to LH Group than OW/AY.

And yes, it's tragicomical that all the wetleases and order takeovers that LHg do come with better hardware than LH itself has, in J anyway, but then you'd be hard pressed to find anything on the market that is not better than LH offering... Maybe the 777s from EK that still fly with 2-3-2 recliners...

FollowTheSun

4Y and AY (not 1W) have made a contract with each other based on purely rational decisions. 4Y needs capacity, AY has lots of spare capacity due to the closed Russian airspace. It's purely economical and to both side's advantage.

You don't seem to know what you're talking about, as the hard product on LH and 4Y is identical.

YYCCL3

In what class of service? The business cabin on AY A359 is leagues ahead of LH A359...

FollowTheSun

Suggest you read and understand before you comment.

YYCCL3

The post that you replied to stated that AY (which is contracting to 4Y) has a better cabin than 4Y, which you correctly identified as being the same as LH's hardware. No one in this thread except you cares about 4Y vs LH. They are both sub-par, and almost everyone would agree that it is risky of LH (through 4Y) to offer a better temporary product via wet lease than their own aircraft.

59Impala

of course it is normal business, but going to your competitor is the last refuge.
and yes, AY may be desperate, too. But this is the LH forum, not AY.

59Impala

i think you should read my posts better I never said that LH and 4Y products are different.

and yes, I do know what I am talking about, having worked 3 decades in the airline industry.
I will end my comments on this topic.

Fabo.sk

The idea you seem to have that AY is the biggest competitor to LH does not give much credence to that.

59Impala

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fabo.sk

The idea you seem to have that AY is the biggest competitor to LH does not give much credence to that.

you don‘t seem to know how to read my posts. Where have I said AY is the biggest competitor? Read again.


I see 1W far superior to Skyteam and hence the bigger competitor for *A.

so, definitely no longer commenting on this