Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian follow British Airways with a new short-haul fare structure

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• RIccati says:

  27 May27 May 05:45

  Hand luggage fares to GVA and ZRH have been on Swiss for years. But now you can’t select a seat on HBO fare! This is more restrictive then before.

  My sense of fairness struggles: when you purchase a ticket it comes with a seat. The seat stock is tightly controlled and everyone is seated (unlike trains and other transport with seat reservations). Now, there are desirable seats with legroom, for which some airlines charge extra (American, United, Singapore) — that is understandable. However, making to pay to choose among all the same seats… it’s making people to pay for something that has no benefit to them.

  • Callum says:

    27 May27 May 10:49

    If it has no benefit to you, why would you pay at all?

    • flyforfun says:

      27 May27 May 12:12

      So you don’t get stuck in the middle seat!!

• Britbronco22 says:

  27 May27 May 05:53

  Could be wrong, but I think German Wings actually set up this fare structure before BA

  • DaveX says:

    27 May27 May 21:30

    Hardly a stroke of genius in the first place, I hope you’ll agree.

    Different fares offering different benefits.

    Hmmm…

• Wyvern says:

  27 May27 May 05:59

  At least Lufthansa’s offering is sensibly named, they are being fully upfront about this, and unlike BA, Lufthansa doesn’t have two levels of ‘classic’ fare with differing status points (where the upper level can’t be booked online on the airline’s own site).

• Idrive says:

  27 May27 May 06:30

  On my last LH flights to MUC and FRA I was just offered a sandwich and a drink. On a partner,AIr Dolomiti, even a glass of prosecco in a real glass!

• Paul says:

  27 May27 May 06:51

  Not just easy jet. Ryan air must be cock a hoop and these changes. All the genuine low cost carriers must be laughing all the way to the bank.
  There will be no real competition or customer service improvements until a new airport is built and or Ryan air and easy jet are given unfettered access to fortress Heathrow.

  • Callum says:

    27 May27 May 10:55

    The average cost of a Ryanair fare is about £55. The Heathrow airport charge for Europe is over half that – I dont think they have the slightest desire to use Heathrow.

    Easyjet say they’ll fly out of Heathrow if it’s expanded. Whether they could sustain a proper hub there is another matter!

• Juha says:

  27 May27 May 07:22

  I would agree that the food on Lufthansa short haul business is poor but I have found the food in economy far superior to BA. Plus, Lufthansa will give you (cheap) sparkling wine in economy if you ask.

• Roger says:

  27 May27 May 09:00

  SWISS used to have a no-brainer USP: first item of winter sports equipment free in addition to regular baggage allowance, whether skis, boots or whatever. No longer on Economy Light but still a better deal on other fares.

  I prefer SWISS Y catering – fresh cheese or ham roll superior to birdseed. At least the chocolate bar remains as the Swiss USP (doesn’t it?).

  • Stewie says:

    27 May27 May 09:44

    Chocolate bar remains.
    And I must have different sensibilities to Raffles, as I prefer the LH T2 lounge to GC at T5 – it’s clean, for a start, the toilets don’t look like something from the M5 services on a bank holiday weekends, and the scotch selection is miles better!

    • Lady London says:

      29 May29 May 00:17

      + 1

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