Settimana prossima devo andare a Parigi a Friedrichshafen. Che alternativa mi trovi?
STR con AF, e poi IC (o ICE, ma dubito che arrivi fin lì)?
Settimana prossima devo andare a Parigi a Friedrichshafen. Che alternativa mi trovi?
Ma voi credete davvero che il consumatore si renderà conto della differenza e vi sarà un calo effettivo negli affari di LH :doubt:? Come la vedo io, e già vissuta personalmente in altri settori, LH è stata la prima e gli altri (chi più chi meno) tempo massimo un anno e/o quando si è sgonfiata la storia seguiranno a ruota senza più tutto questo clamore. Non è forse successo così anche quando era stato introdotto il supplemento carburante? Il primo dovrà pur sempre esserci.
http://travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2015/06/18/54603/its-war-opponents-round-on-lufthansa.html‘It’s war’: Opponents round on Lufthansa
By Ian Taylor |18 June 2015 at 07.31 GMT
A senior industry source described Lufthansa’s plan to impose a €16 fee on GDS bookings as a “declaration of war”, as the carrier declared its intention to “save money on the GDS”.
Opposition among corporate travel buyers and industry associations appears to have solidified, with several groups studying grounds for legal challenges under competition law and price-transparency regulations.
The industry source suggested Lufthansa is already paying a price in lost bookings, saying: “Big corporates are instructing their travel management companies to book away from Lufthansa.
“They say they are not going to pay [the fee].”
The German carrier took the industry by surprise when it announced the fee on June 2, two days after the expiry of a full‑content agreement with main GDS partner Amadeus.
The charge will apply in all markets and on all Lufthansa group airlines – including Swiss, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines – from September 1.
Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr told fellow airline chiefs at Iata’s annual general meeting in Miami last week: “We thought it time to act, not just talk. Let’s save some money on the GDS.”
A leading industry figure told Travel Weekly: “Lufthansa declared war unilaterally. How it plays out will be determined by the market or by the regulator. It doesn’t seem to be going down well by the reaction from buyers and agents. If corporates start booking away, if buyers react strongly, things could look quite different by September. I don’t see how it will be sustainable.”
However, the source added: “It could take a lot of time to sort out.”
Another source described Lufthansa’s move as “an attempt to force a new model on travel agents and buyers”. For it to work, the carrier must hope agents and buyers accept the fee and book direct or other carriers follow its lead.
However, industry sources queried Lufthansa’s ability to impose the fee outside its German home market, saying: “How can Lufthansa maintain this kind of control in markets it is not strong in?”
A senior international agency source said: “Lufthansa sells 70% of its tickets and takes 80% of its revenue through travel agents. It gets sales in areas of the world where it would not have a chance without a GDS.”
Other carriers have expressed enthusiasm for Lufthansa’s move, with 96 out of 120 airline chiefs suggesting they were considering following suit in an electronic poll at the Iata AGM (Travel Weekly, June 11). But Iata members are unlikely to pile in immediately. Rivals will not only hope to pick up business from Lufthansa, but also remain locked into full-content agreements with GDSs.
Paul Wait, chief executive of UK travel management company body the GTMC, warned the airline that operating without a GDS “cannot be sustainable”. He described Lufthansa’s new web portal for agents, which the carrier offers as a way to avoid the €16 fee, as “not fit for purpose”.
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), which represents major corporate travel buyers and TMCs, called on Lufthansa to reconsider, saying it “strongly opposes” the fee. It said the fee would “negatively impact corporate travel programmes”, “cause fragmentation of existing distribution processes”, and result in “significant increased costs” and “decreased price transparency”.
Lufthansa remains engaged in talks with trade representatives as it seeks support, but Travel Weekly understands the carrier has no talks scheduled with main GDS supplier Amadeus.
Metto qui: anche Lufthansa cambia il metodo di servire il pasto in business class:
Lufthansa Restaurant Service to start in August
03.08.15
A new travel experience in Business Class on long-haul flights from 1st August
From August onwards, passengers in the Lufthansa Business Class can look forward to a completely new service on board long-haul flights. The flight attendants will now adapt their service more strongly towards the rhythm of their passengers in order to individually respond to their guests' needs and requests just like a top-class restaurant. After the flight attendants have welcomed 'their' guests on board in person and by name, they take their orders and set the table with ceramic crockery. Meals are then served directly from the galley. Trays and flight trolleys are replaced by service plates.
After the introductory flights in June and July on the Airbus A380 routes to New York (JFK) and Miami, the restaurant service will now be launched on the A380 services to Houston, Johannesburg, Los Angeles, Miami, Delhi, New York (JFK), Beijing, San Francisco, Shanghai, Seoul and Singapore from 1st August onwards. The service will then be introduced on flights with the Boeing 747-400 and 747-8 from Frankfurt on 1st October and the Airbus A340 fleet from Frankfurt and Munich to Asia and the Middle East on 25th October.
Special service training courses for around 4500 flight attendants have already been running since May this year. The around 130 flights on which the new concept has already been tested received an extremely positive response from Business Class guests. With its new restaurant service, Lufthansa is taking another important step towards becoming the first five-star airline in the Western hemisphere.
Comunicato stampa Lufthansa
Ultime dal fronte del risparmio LH: sul breve, si guadagnano più miglia a volare nelle classi B, M e Y in economi che in classe P business; sul lungo, si guadagnano più miglia nella classi E e G dell'economy premium che in classe P business.
Non è una rivoluzione copernicana ma diciamo che è raro, l'idea prevalente rimane che la classe superiore più bassa deve essere almeno qualificante come l'inferiore più alta.
Oppure potrebbe avere a che fare coi prezzi: economy Y e premium economy G costano spesso più di una business P.Per quanto riguarda l'economy premium credo che queste miglia extra siano temporanee e dovute alla promozione per il lancio di questa nuova classe di viaggio