ty97

It appears that LH has begun updating the winter schedule, at least the intercontinental schedule (I haven't checked the intra-Europe schedules). I expect a full list of the changes will be posted on aeroroutes within a few days. Based on last year's experience, I expect there should be another update in August with perhaps some minor tweaks in September/October.

A few things I noticed are below. I didn't check many routes, but definitely saw they loaded changes to several routes at some point today (I used November 11, 2023 as my reference date)

FRA-IAH: 333 --> 748
FRA-MIA: 346 --> 748
FRA-ORD: 1x 748, 1x 343 --> 1x 346, 1x 343

It is possible they are still loading changes, I can't be sure. No changes to the FRA-JFK/EWR/IAD planned equipment as of right now. I did not check any MUC routes.
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ETA: A couple of hours later and I see FRA-IAH as a 333 again. I don't know if I misread something originally, or if LH is still in the process of tinkering. The FRA-MIA and FRA-ORD changes listed above are still correct, as of now at least.

flospi

Overnight I got two minor time changes on GOT-FRA in December and BLQ-FRA in February.

Unterwegs

I also got several emails with minor changes to german feeder flights.

hugolover

It was like I was being spammed by a mailbot when I checked my inbox this morning, a lot more canx than I expected.

chris63

When did Carsten stop sending you a hand written note ?

phkc070408

Our LH flight, ORD-FRA on 28-Mar-23, just changed from a 747-8 to an A340-600. Is this a standard seasonal change and will it change back to a 747 by late March? We booked this flight specifically for the 747. If not, I'm going to try and change our flight.

ty97

LH just updated their winter intercontinental schedule and equipment assignments on Monday. It is possible (probable?) that there may be additional changes to the winter schedule, most likely sometime in August. This may or may not affect your route. The North Winter 2024 (NW24) schedule runs through, I believe, March 30, 2024.

As of right now, the 748 is scheduled for NW24 on EWR-FRA, IAD-FRA, MIA-FRA, LAX-FRA, SFO-FRA. (JFK-FRA is the 744 for NW24). As with the above, these equipment assignments may still change! It's possible the 748 is on other US cities, I haven't checked all of them.

Note that if your return flight is on/after March 30, 2024, that will be part of the Summer schedule which will not be firmed up for many months still.

I would not make any changes to your reservation yet since I do expect there may be some more updates to the NW24 schedule still Last year there was a big update in July and a then another big update in August, following by minor tweaks only after that. By September, you should be relatively safe, though things can always change at any time.

phkc070408

Thanks for the info, especially that of the possible additional updates. When we booked, it was a choice of either a UA flight with the Polaris Seats or the LH 744. (Ua ticket, PHL-ORD-FRA-NAP. Our return is entirely on UA mettle, so that's not an issue.

As long as we're on the subject, hypothetically, the aircraft remains an A340 and I'm unable to convince UA to give us a comp schedule change for the middle flight. Are there any advantages to sticking with the LH flight?

ty97

Here is the aeroroutes summary of this week's changes, actually not all that many of them.

https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230719-lhnw23inc

chris63

The hard and soft F product is exactly the same on the A346, very little difference to flying 748 & massive difference at FRA prior to your NAP flight, you can use FCT.

Brostman

I thought that access to FCT at FRA was determined based on the class of your tkt for your next outbound segment... in the OPs case, don't you think that the FRA-NAP segment would be Business since it is intra-Europe??

chris63

No, a F inbound BP gets FCL access for the entire day, so for NAP you could use FCLA & you would be driven to the plane if it leaves from an outside position, otherwise walk to A gate. on a through ticket, you can go to FCT & be driven to the plane.

If the NAP flight was on a separate ticket, FCT access could be denied.

FamilyOf6

I am booked LHR-FRA-SIN-SYD next March.
LH778 has been brought forwards 10 minutes, was 21:55 now 21:45.
My inbound from London arrives 20:05 (It's often late, but I doubt that is taken into consideration)

I received an email saying that a change the the schedule means I will no longer be able to make my connection, however when I called the service centre they advised the MCT at FRA is 45 minutes.
They reiterated this twice, but the email implies that if I don't take action, my entire booking MAY get cancelled.

Any advice here?

chris63

Check to see if they are still selling that connection, if not you know there is a problem.
Contact customer services with a copy of the email you received & ask them to confirm all is ok.

They do hold LH778 for connections but 50 minutes will not be a relaxing transfer at FRA

FamilyOf6

Thanks - yes, they are still selling the same connection which is a start.
Why 50 mins? Should be 1h 40? albeit with 4 kids in tow
I'll try to find the email address, person on the phone wasn't reassuring me too much