mjm

I am flying in May from Vienna via Frankfurt on to Tokyo on a business class award ticket booked via UA. If there is a strike I will be in less than an ideal position to argue for a rebooking a day later in business especially given the pent up demand we are seeing lately.

My question is what to do.

Two obvious answers are to book via somewhere other than Germany or to buy a revenue ticket that gives me that extra level of protection.

I can and might do that, but am curious about what those who read and listen to German news on a daily basis feel is likely. I realize nobody knows, so please do not simply restate that obvious fact. What I am after is your informed opinion, accepting fully that those opinions may be wrong.

Will the unions and companies find a satisfactory solution soon? Will this be a long and drawn out battle between labor and management?

What are your thoughts?

Thanks,

Mai

shipsmail

I do not expect strikes until May, but who knows. I always try to have bookings via Zurich, which is the better airport and also because I prefer LX over LH both in business and first. Maybe you can change your award flight to a connection in ZRH.

mjm

Was in ZRH in Dec. and am still working my way through all the chocolate I brought home. Definitely better than FRA. I decided to rebook via HEL and try the new Finnair product. Decent prices and I'll use the UA miles next summer so it all balances out. Thanks for the feedback and the tip.

SK AAR

In the unlikely event that there is a strike on your travel dates, you contact UA and let them deal with it/rebook you.

mjm

Yes, this would be how to do it, but seats are few and far between. An extended delay in returning home, despite the delight of more time in Austria, would upset my boss. Having to fly economy to get home faster would upset me. Sans a crystal ball, best to avoid Germany this spring/summer until the issues get resolved. Good news is once new contracts for labor are achieved FRA should be a breeze

SK AAR

VIE-HEL-TYO? What a detour! (try to have look at the flight path for HEL-NRT/HND as AY can't fly over Russia).

mjm

I know what the flight path is I’ve only been living in Japan for 30+ years. everything from Vienna back to Tokyo with the southern route folds back on itself and anything between 2 to 4 hours, i.e., double the amount in any direction if I fly to Paris or Madrid or London or Frankfurt or Amsterdam or Stockholm or Helsinki. when you look at the prices that are charged for business class on airlines flying to Tokyo from any of those places the cost performance equation lands with Helsinki. I won’t fly on any of the Middle East airlines and the EVA option doesn’t really appeal either. Given that I haven’t flown Finnair before I’m kind of keen to try something new and the extra time in the air isn’t going to offend me as a Flyertalker. :-)

chris63

Personally, i don't ever see FRA becoming a breeze.

MUC & ZRH already are

mjm

That is a VERY fair point

Unterwegs

If you have a choice I would try to avoid connecting in France and Germany for the next few month.

airoli

ZRH. Really, ZRH.

boycruz

How about having frankfurt as a destination? and departure for return?

still seems risky

chris63

As in very

frappant

Is this expected to be a few days action, like you see often in France and Italy?

Or are they expected to strike for an indefinite amount of time, until the unions can get a new contract?

boycruz

scheduled one day mar 27 for frankfurt
munivh 2 days mar 26 and 27

although 2 of us had Austrian flights canceled for Mar 28 due to a "company wide meeting"