Category Archives: Lufthansa

Barclay’s Best Offers and How They Can Be Improved

Posted on May 22, 2013 by | 9 Comments

Barclay’s currently has four credit cards that I have or want–up from one last year. That’s a big improvement by Barclay’s in the travel rewards card arena.

The Lufthansa Premier Miles & More World MasterCard with 50,000 Miles & More miles after spending $5k in three months.

The Barclaycard Arrival World MasterCard with 40,000 miles ($400 toward travel) after spending $1k in three months.

The Frontier Airlines World MasterCard with 35,000 EarlyReturns miles after spending $750 in three months.

The US Airways Premier World MasterCard with 30,000 Dividend Miles after first purchase.

Continue reading about Barclay’s best offers, how you can make the most of them, and how Barclay’s can improve.

Continue reading →

→ 9 Comments

Posted in Barclay's, Frontier, Lufthansa, US Airways

Tagged , , , , ,

The Best Value Destination for Lie Flat Seats? Peru

Posted on May 20, 2013 by | 18 Comments

The best value destination for people who want to use their miles to travel in flying beds is Peru.

My favorite South American country is the perfect sweet spot of being far enough away for two airlines–LAN and United–to fly fully flat business class seats from six American cities, and being close enough that the flights are a steal with American and United miles.

Usually with miles, there is a “but.” In this case, I don’t see one. The award space is great, the products are fantastic, the miles can be earned easily, and Peru is my favorite country to visit in the world.

Continue reading →

→ 18 Comments

Posted in AAdvantage, LAN, Lufthansa, onewolrd, Star Alliance, United, US Airways

Miles & More Program Primer & Six Great Uses (and Two Bad Ones) of the Lufthansa Card’s 50k Sign Up Bonus

Posted on May 7, 2013 by | 32 Comments

Or: Roundtrip Business Class to Europe from One Sign Up Bonus

A few days ago I wrote about the new 50,000 mile sign up bonus on the the Lufthansa Miles & More World MasterCard from Barclay’s.

At the time, I laid out two great uses for the sign up bonus for people not very familiar with the Miles & More program. Unfortunately the Miles & More call center in the US was closed all weekend, so I couldn’t investigate further.

I called today and priced out several more awards, so I can now recommend six great uses (and unrecommend two bad uses) of the sign up bonus.

This post is a full primer of the Miles & More program for people who don’t know much about it, plus those six great uses including roundtrip business class for 55k miles and low taxes, how to book online and by phone, three ways to save miles on a Miles & More booking, and comparisons between Miles & More and United MileagePlus and US Airways Dividend Miles.

Continue reading →

→ 32 Comments

Posted in Barclay's, Best Of, Lufthansa

Tagged , , ,

The Two Best Ways to Use the Lufthansa Miles & More Card’s 50k Mile Bonus

Posted on May 5, 2013 by | 18 Comments

The Lufthansa Miles & More card from Barclay’s is currently offering a 50,000 mile sign up bonus!

  • 20,000 Bonus Miles on First Purchase
  • 30,000 Bonus Miles after $5,000 spending in 90 days
  • 50,000 Bonus Miles total
  • $79 annual fee

Application Link: The Lufthansa Miles & More World MasterCard

This new sign up bonus is major news and represents a major upgrade over the standard sign up bonus–a paltry 20,000 miles.

I plan to open the card for myself to take advantage of one of the two best ways to use 50k Lufthansa miles.

Continue reading →

→ 18 Comments

Posted in Barclay's, Lufthansa, Swiss

Tagged , ,

How to Earn Lufthansa Miles Shopping at Amazon

Posted on January 3, 2013 by | 7 Comments

Right before Thanksgiving I posted an article on earning Hawaiian Airlines miles by going through their shopping portal and making purchases at Amazon.com. For many this was old news but still a helpful reminder. Though shopping portals are one of the easiest ways to earn miles, Amazon only partners with Hawaiian…..or so we thought. Reader Vera recently tipped us off to to another site that (indirectly) earns you Lufthansa miles for Amazon purchases: Payback.

This was an exciting scoop, so I had to find out for myself. I logged on to the Payback website but was met with only German text. I use Google Chrome as my web browser of choice, so it has a handy translate feature. Without it, I would have been lost.

After translating most everything to English, I clicked on the “New Customer Registration” at the top of the screen.

It then asks for your basic information and address. Unfortunately, the site only accepts German addresses. I created a dummy address using the street name from my favorite hostel in Munich. (Decide for yourself whether you are comfortable doing this.)

After clicking “Weiter,” I was taken to a privacy policy page. I opted out of marketing communications (or at least I think I did) and clicked “Weiter” again to receive my personal account number. If you were successful in registering, you should get a screen like the one below.

Now that I was logged in, I immediately typed “Amazon” in the search box at the top of the page. The Amazon.com portal was the first search result that popped up. I clicked on the link “Amazon.de Shop-earn points on Payback.”

After clicking the link, I was brought to the Amazon portal page. The Payback website actually included some handy terms and conditions. At first, I thought I could buy a cheap book for my Kindle and earn Payback points that way. Unfortunately, book and ebook purchases are specifically excluded from earning Payback points.

There are other worrisome terms and conditions included above. Only items that you place in your cart after entering Amazon through the Payback portal will earn points. Also, the terms warn that you should not press the “forward”, “back”, or “refresh” buttons while shopping! It sounds like you need to have something clearly on your mind before shopping. When you are ready, click “Jetzt Shoppen” to enter Amazon.

I searched for a Blu-Ray movie that offered discounted shipping and bought one for about 9 Euros. I fully realize it probably won’t play properly, but the purchase was for the good of the experiment!

Once the points post to my Payback account, how do I redeem them for Lufthansa miles?

The first thing you need to do is be sure you’re logged into your account. From the Payback home page, hold your mouse over “Punkte Einlösen” at the top right. If you are having trouble, it’s the blue tap second from the right.

You should get a pull down screen. Click on “More Redeeming” which is the second option from the bottom on the right column.

After clicking on “more redeeming” scroll to the bottom of the new screen and click on the “more information” link next to the Lufthansa Miles & More logo.

After clicking “more information” you will be taken to the main Lufthansa transfer page. Click the red button at the bottom left to initiate a transfer. You will need an active Miles & More account before completing the transfer.

What is the minimum transfer amount?

You must have 200 points in your Payback account to transfer to Lufthansa. They will transfer at a straight 1:1 ratio.

What is a mileage subscription?

Forgive my interpretation of Google’s translation, but you can actually link your Payback account to your Lufthansa Miles & More number. Every March and September (if you have accrued 200 or more Payback points) your Payback points will be automatically credited to your Lufthansa account.

Can you just manually credit your Lufthansa account instead?

Yes. Just make sure to uncheck the “mileage subscription” box before initiating the transfer. The box is located directly above where you input your Lufthansa frequent flyer number. See below for more information.

How long does it take for the miles to appear in my Lufthansa account?

Reports actually vary on this old FlyerTalk thread, so it’s hard to say how reliable the information is.

Is this all worth it for US residents?

Given that purchase need to be made on Amazon’s German website, I would say no. Shipping on the items I tested out was pretty expensive, and DVDs and videogames were all European versions. I would worry about playback ability on North American DVD and gaming systems.

Are there any other good strategies for leveraging Amazon purchases for miles?

Yes. Amazon gift cards are sold at places like grocery stores, drug stores, and office supply stores.

The American Express Premier Rewards Gold card earns 2X points at gas stations and grocery stores. The American Express Hilton HHonors Surpass card earns 6X points at drug stores, grocery stores, and gas stations. Feel free to leverage this strategy with any of the above cards.

If you had to choose, would you opt for Lufthansa Miles or Hawaiian Miles via the Amazon/shopping portal method?

Though each program’s  usefulness is primarily defined by its route network and your individual travel goals, I would lean towards Hawaiian miles. They transfer to Hilton HHonors at a 1:2 ratio (check out Scott’s post Transferring Hawaiian Miles to Hilton). They also have excellent West Coast coverage to Hawaii.

Hawaiian even recently announced an intriguing new route from Honolulu and, according to Scott, their economy product isn’t too shabby.

Lufthansa, on the other hand, is famous for its amazing first class cabin and ground service/First Class Terminal in Frankfurt. Tahsir’s epic trip report is further evidence of that.

Lufthansa does impose hefty fuel surcharges on awards like many other European carriers, and their award chart is pretty pricey compared to other Star Alliance charts like United. For example, a North America <-> Europe award in first class is 135K miles using United miles. The same award is a whopping 170K redeeming with Lufthansa, and that’s not even factoring in the fuel surcharges!

If I can just use United or US Airways miles to book Lufthansa flights, why even bother with Lufthansa’s program to begin with?

Primarily for the access to Swiss business/first class award space and Lufthansa first class award space. Scott actually wrote a post about securing Lufthansa first class seats with United miles (The Poorly Kept Secret to Finding Lufthansa First Class Availability with United Miles). Unfortunately, that method requires lots of patience and flexibility.

Premium cabin awards on Swiss are rare using United nor US Airways miles. United.com is actually a great place to look for Star Alliance availability (Free First Class Next Month: Star Alliance Award Searches on United.com). However, looking for direct flights on Swiss is disheartening. Swiss simply doesn’t release first class space to its partners. Not a single day has first class seats and business class availability is tough to find!

Economy space is a bit better, though. Here are some sample searches for September/October for two travelers.

Miami -> Zurich (economy space in yellow, business in blue, green for both)

Boston -> Zurich

New York-JFK -> Zurich (wow, lots of business on Swiss!)

My dream is to redeem for Swiss First Class! How to I get more Lufthansa miles?

You can always transfer Starwood Preferred Guest points into Lufthansa miles. For every 20K Starpoints you transfer to Miles & More, Starwood will kick in an additional 5,000 miles. There’s currently a 25,000 Starpoint sign up bonus on the American Express Starwood Preferred Guest card.

There is also a Lufthansa MasterCard issued by Barclay’s. The card comes with a $79 annual fee. The standard signup bonus for this card is 20,000 miles, but back in April of 2011, Barclay’s actually offered 50,000 miles for new card members.

Recap

Payback is a perfect opportunity for EU citizens to earn Lufthansa miles for everyday purchases on Amazon. The deal makes less sense for those of us in North America due to shipping, purchase restrictions, and playback issues with movies and video games.

Lufthansa miles are strategically useful for Swiss and Lufthansa first class redemptions, though you are really paying for the access with a pricey award chart and fuel surcharges on award tickets.

When it comes to maximizing miles on Amazon, it makes more sense to purchase gift cards using a credit card with a category spend bonus (such as the Chase Ink Bold at Office Depot or the American Express Hilton HHonors Surpass at drugstores or the AMEX Premier Rewards Gold card at grocery stores). You can then apply the gift card balance to your Amazon account and shop as you normally would.

→ 7 Comments

Posted in Lufthansa

Tagged

The Amazing Race: Frankfurt-Tokyo on Lufthansa A380 First Class

Posted on January 2, 2013 by | 11 Comments

This is a multi-part trip report that started here.

After being escorted to our seat from our stellar private car ride, we met two pursers who were extremely friendly and professional. They both offered to show us to our closets and because the flight was 4/8 full today, they insisted that we use the window seats to watch the takeoff and the middle seats to sleep in.

Personal Locker

After sitting down in a window seat, the purser came by and handed me my Ginger Ale and Macadamia Nuts. Both were delicious as usual. After the doors were locked, the attendants came around and handed each of us a pair of pajamas. She asked if we needed anything else and promptly proceeded to fill my glass up with Ginger Ale again. Unlike the 747, this flight didn’t run out of Ginger Ale!

The A380 First Class is what Lufthansa calls their “New First Class.” Lufthansa has changed their first class multiple times over the past few years and although I didn’t understand why they didn’t put beds in all of the planes, I soon realized why people prefer the new layout over the older one. The seats on the A380 are actually very comfortable. They’re made of the same material as the 747 seats but have a bit more padding. There is an ottoman at the end of the seat and it can be controlled to move forward for shorter people like me. The ottoman also acts as a massive storage unit that can fit a purse, camera or other essential items.

The Storage Ottoman

I started playing with the seat controls and throughout the entire plane ride; I couldn’t figure them out fully.

 

The Seat Controls

Extra Storage

The captain came on the air and said that today’s flight would be about 10 hours and 20 minutes. That gave me ample time to sleep, eat, and watch movies. Unlike the 747, the A380 has a bigger multimedia system. There were more songs, movies, and TV shows. However, the coolest part of this plane was the tail view camera. This camera was showing the plane in real time and I got to watch the entire takeoff roll!

 

The TailCam

The A380 also comes with Bose noise cancelling headphones. This is a major plus compared to the other headphones supplied in Lufthansa planes.

Although I forgot to take a picture of it, the noise cancelling curtains ACTUALLY work. I don’t know what it is made out of but it works wonder because you don’t hear the constant clamoring of the galley right behind First Class.

Soon after pushing back, we were cleared for takeoff and got into the air pretty quickly. After the seat belt sign was turned off, the attendants sprung into action. They brought by menu cards, which didn’t have anything appealing in it. They also continued to refill my glass of Ginger Ale and offered me more Macadamia Nuts.

The First Class Cabin

Automatic Window Shade

I went into the bathroom to change and was immediately blown away by the sheer size of it. Someone can actually sleep on the bench that is in the bathroom! The A380 bathrooms are huge. The sink is also quite massive and so I had no problem washing my face without fear of water dripping everywhere. There is a covered urinal in the bathroom that no one uses. The toilet is my only gripe with this plane because they made it feel extremely cheap. The bench that is lined across the entire wall is a nice place to just sit and ponder at how this bathroom is so big. LEDs light the bathroom and it looks amazing!

The Massive Bathroom

After getting over my initial shock, I walked out and saw that the purser was taking orders for dinner. She insisted that I eat with my sister by using the ottoman as a chair. I didn’t even know that was possible, so it was surprising to me that two people can eat together almost like a restaurant table.

Things went from cool to weird in a matter of seconds when the flight attendant gave our “table” a rose and said “all you need now is a candle.” I don’t know about you guys but I’m not one to go to candlelight dinners with my SISTER.

Soon after taking our orders, I started to get sleepy. The purser kind of noticed this but still brought out the courses one by one. EVERYTHING on this flight was disgusting. The worst of all the courses was the “Air dried beef.” Honestly, I have no words to describe this. I didn’t keep track of the menu because it was taken away as soon as our orders were placed. The following are pictures of all the courses:

Seared Salmon

Prawn Sprinkled with Saffron & Kimchi

“Air Dried” Beef

Sushi Sampler

Beef Tenderloin

After eating bits and pieces of bread, I was off to sleep. At first, I didn’t like the A380 cabin because I thought it lacked privacy. This was my initial thought when I chose the middle seat because you have a clear view of the person next to you.

Not Too Much Privacy from People Who Stare

When I asked to have my bed made, the purser and another attendant came and started pushing buttons. Before I knew it, my seat had magically turned into a suite. The middle partition had come up and so had the side partition. By the end of the process, it was actually more private than the 747 seat! The bed is supported by a separate mattress cover that is put on by the attendants. The blanket is actually a duvet!

Before Privacy Dividers

After Privacy Dividers

I slept for a good 7 hours and was awoken by the attendant for breakfast service. I never have slept longer on any other flight! The breakfast was a little bit more tolerable than dinner because they had fresh eggs and cereal. I still wasn’t in the mood to eat much after dinner left such a bad impression. I asked for some orange juice and one glass became five.

With 30 minutes left to go, I changed back into my normal clothes and sat at the window. The purser came by and thanked us all for flying Lufthansa and took some time to talk to me about my crazy journey.

I watched the A380 approach Tokyo-Narita from the tail cam and soon after, we were parked next to the Thai Airways 747 that was to take us to Bangkok. Deplaning was smooth as we had our own door to exit. We left the plane and headed through security to the ANA Suite Lounge.

Overall, I would definitely recommend the A380 product over the 747. The plane is just so much quieter and more comfortable. Even the pillows and blankets given on the A380 are better than the bedding set on the 747.

Stay Tuned for my next post!

 

→ 11 Comments

Posted in BengaliMilesGuru, Lufthansa, Trip Report

The Amazing Race: Frankfurt First Class Terminal

Posted on December 27, 2012 by | 7 Comments

This is my third post of many which reflect my ongoing winter trip! The trip report started here and links to all the posts.

I was hoping that when we landed, we wouldn’t be assigned a gate. The reason behind this was that if you arrive at a non-gate position, you are entitled to a private car transfer to the arrivals hall.

When we landed, I noticed that we turned away from the terminal and parked at a non-gate position. Score!

Our Private Van Transfer Service with an ANA 787 in the background!

Our 747

After getting off the plane, we were ushered to the First Class Van that was to take us to the arrivals hall. It’s important to note that this van will not take you directly to the First Class Terminal. The driver was nice enough to take my parents along with us in the van even though they were in Business Class.

Before leaving, I noticed that we parked next to an ANA 787 and a Lufthansa A340. Driving on the tarmac is such an amazing feeling because you realize how big these planes really are! The drive to the arrivals hall took about ten minutes and afterwards, we were taken to the immigration line. After clearing immigration, I followed the drill of just exiting and staying to the left. Eventually, we reached the holy grail of terminals.

At The First Class Terminal

Because I arrived with Lufthansa and was also departing in Lufthansa First, I was entitled to use the First Class Terminal. If you arrive in LH F and are departing on LH Business, I believe you can also use the Terminal as well.

TIP: The Lufthansa First Class Terminal/Lounge let’s you bring in one guest as long as they are traveling on the same flight as you. This was important because my parents were in business while my sister and I were in First.

I had originally been booked on an ANA 777-300ER First Class but my friend Amol from Points to Point B convinced me to switch to the Lufthansa A380 First Class.

After reaching the entrance to the FCT, we were greeted by our own personal assistant. She was an awesome assistant and made sure we were always taken care of. After entering the FCT, we went through what was probably the nicest security ever. The security agents actually smiled! Once we were cleared, our assistant showed us around and offered to set us up for showers. This was the highlight of my trip because all I wanted out of this was the Rubber Ducky! Note that there are only 2 shower rooms that offer the rubber duck. You have to ask for one with the bathtub.

The Lufthansa Holiday Duck

After showering, I headed to the restaurant. The FCT has it’s own restaurant with a full-fledged menu! It’s also all complimentary. We arrived when they were serving breakfast and left when they started serving lunch so we got 2 meals in. The food ranged from fresh eggs to a selection of cold meats. We all elected to sit in our private area and eat instead of eating in the restaurant. While eating, I noticed a sign that stated that the FCT had wireless chargers for phones. I went to our assistant and she took my boarding pass in exchange for a round wireless charging plug. I then looked around and found a place that said “Wireless charge point” right next to the massage chairs. It worked pretty well until the white plug got so hot that it burned me!

The First Class Terminal Restaurant

The Menu

A Few Options…

The Interior of The FCT

The Shower Room

After doing everything possible in the FCT, we just sat around and caught up on emails and work. At around 12:40, our assistant came and told us it was time for boarding. When we went downstairs, there was combination of Vans, Porsche’s, and Mercedes. I was put into a Mercedes S-Class while my parents got the Van.

My Ride to The A380

Private Walkway to the A380

The drive from the FCT to the plane took all of 2 minutes. The A380 as I’m told never receives an off gate location. We took our bags from the car and proceeded to follow the agent to the elevator up to the plane. She walked us all the way to our seat on the A380 and put us in the hands of the most professional crew on the trip.

Awesome Crew!

Stay tuned for more posts!

→ 7 Comments

Posted in BengaliMilesGuru, Lufthansa, Trip Report

Tagged ,

Book Now to Europe for Next Summer: Business

Posted on December 27, 2012 by | 29 Comments

Want to book a dream summer vacation to Europe? The time is now. Award space is still very good on a number of great routes on great products and will deteriorate in the coming months.

Here’s how I would go about booking my dream award. Step one is the miles–more on getting those at the end of the post. You need:

  • 60,000 miles for a roundtrip economy class ticket
  • 100,000 for a roundtrip business class ticket
  • 125,000+ for a roundtrip first class ticket

Business

This post will focus on booking a business class award for next summer. The next installments will focus on economy and first class.

I recommend collecting United or US Airways miles to book a business class award to Europe for next summer. Both are members of the Star Alliance, so both type of miles can be used on the same flights on the following Star Alliance options to Europe.

  • United (flat beds)
  • US Airways (flat beds on A330)
  • Lufthansa (flat beds on 747-8)
  • Austrian (flat beds)
  • Swiss (flat beds)
  • Brussels (flat beds)
  • Air Canada (flat beds)
  • Scandanavian (angled beds)
  • TAP (angled beds)
  • Turkish (flat beds on 777-300ER)
  • LOT (flat beds on the 787 Dreamliner) <– secret weapon

When to Use United Miles and When to Use US Airways Miles?

Not only does the Star Alliance have the most space, but it has the most options in lie flat business class beds, the goal when you’re shelling out 100k miles for a roundtrip.

When booking an award in business class to Europe, I follow a simple procedure.

  1. Find transatlantic space in both directions.
  2. Find domestic US space to/from transatlantic space.
  3. Find intra-Europe space to/from transatlantic space.

The first step is to find the transatlantic space. All the airlines’ space we want is searchable on United.com, so I head there.

I use wikipedia to determine possible routings before searching. See How to Use Wikipedia to Book Awards Like a Pro.

Then I fill out the form on united.com for a oneway flight on a route that I expect to have award space. If I wanted to search united.com for award space from Chicago to Frankfurt on Lufthansa or United, I would search like this:

Now we can easily use the award calendar at the top of the search screen to see what’s available when. (Don’t forget that sometimes you need to trick the award calendar to get it to show what you want.)

Here are some routes’ availability this summer. Keep in mind that yellow denotes economy space, blue denotes business or first space, and green denotes both. White means there is no saver space on the route that day in any class. (Saver space is space at the 100k miles roundtrip price point.)

Chicago to Frankfurt

Chicago shows strong availability if you have even a little flexibility. About half the days in July and August have space on direct flights on United or Lufthansa. Click a date to find out which of United’s two flights or Lufthansa’s two flights have space.

United’s flights depart at 2:20 PM and 6:15 PM. I saw more space on the earlier flight and more space in first class than business class in general.

I would prefer United’s fully flat bed to Lufthansa’s angled beds on the 747-400 in business.

Overall Chicago to Frankfurt has excellent space in business class at the moment for next summer.

New York to London

Without a Star Alliance partner in London, only United serves this route with five daily departures, all from Newark. Space is limited early in the summer, but readily available by July.

Here are United’s five flight times–four redeyes and a daytime hop.

Four of the departures fly a 757 with the fifth on a 777. All the planes are configured without a true first class, but the business class seats are lie flat beds.

The most common business class space was on the daytime departure, leaving at 9:00 AM and arriving at 9:30 PM. Not taking the redeye would have its advantages and disadvantages, but this is certainly the hardest flight to connect to if you don’t live in Newark.

San Francisco to London

What about us West Coasters? It’s normally much tougher to find transatlantic award space from the west coast to Europe than from the East Coast, but San Francisco to London on United has incredible space for Summer 2013 on its two daily flights.

There is generally more space on the 1 PM departure than the 7:40 PM departure. The 1 PM departure can be tough since you land at 11:10 PM San Francisco time.

Miami to Zurich

Swiss business class is a holy grail for some. I usually search for it from Miami, an odd route since Miami is not a Star Alliance hub. Space out of Miami is bad, but there are a few days this summer when you can hop on a Swiss bed.

Mondays in July are the best bet.

Here’s a video of Swiss biz to whet your appetite; definitely a product on my bucket list.

The other thing I noticed for Swiss biz out of all of its gateways–New York, Newark, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami–was that there was some business class space this week. Swiss opens up business class seats at the last minute, which may be your best chance to get on board.

Chicago to Vienna

Austrian’s new business class looks world class. It impresses me enough that I booked a flight in October from Vienna to Chicago on it instead of a direct flight from Munich to Chicago on United. There is incredible business class space on the flight five days a week this summer.

Here’s how I got a seat in Austrian biz as part of my best award ever.

The flight leaves Chicago at 4:00 PM and touches down in Vienna at 8:40 AM the next day.

Philadelphia to Rome

US Airways flies most of its European routes with an A330, on which it has a worldclass business class bed that it calls an Envoy Suite. Availability isn’t great to Rome, but it is worth a look.

If you’re flexible, there is space early in the week.

Domestic Space

To get to the gateway of the transatlantic space you find, you can search united.com for domestic award space. You should find plenty as United offers the most domestic award space of any legacy carrier in my experience. Remember that both United and US miles can access this United space.

Tip: You are entitled to domestic first class (or business on three cabin services), but you can also use economy class space if the times work better.

Intra-Europe Space

I think you’ll find this incredibly easy to find on united.com. Many of the European airlines release space on seemingly every flight of theirs. Intra-European business is the exact same seat as coach, so don’t hold out for business if economy space is the only thing available.

Putting it all together

If you book with United miles, you should be able to easily book online. If you can’t easily book online, you can book by phone for free using this trick.

If you book with US Airways miles, write down all the flight dates, numbers, times, and cabins and call US Airways at 800-622-1015. Partner bookings do not incur a phone fee.

Tricking it out

See here for more information on adding free oneways to United awards (article, video) and US Airways awards (article, video).

Getting the Miles

There isn’t quite a quick way to rack up 100k US Airways miles. You can get 30k US Airways miles on first purchase with the Barclay’s US Airways MasterCard, but the card has an $89 annual fee the first year. You can also get the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express with a 25k bonus that transfers 1:1 to dozens of airlines with 5k bonus miles for every 20k points transferred.

Application Link: Barclay’s US Airways MasterCard

Application Link: Starwood Preferred Guest American Express

Recap

Space to Europe in business class for summer 2013 is excellent right now. I recommend booking now before it deteriorates as it certainly will. I ran through the process to book, specific routes with great availability, and specific fantastic beds.

I even told you how to get the miles for a roundtrip business class ticket with two credit card applications on the same day. Now it’s your turn to live up to your part of the bargain: I do the work. You do the travel.

→ 29 Comments

Posted in Austrian, Lufthansa, Swiss, United, US Airways, Video

Tagged , , ,

The Amazing Race: Denver – Frankfurt on Lufthansa First Class

Posted on December 23, 2012 by | 5 Comments

This is the second post of ?? many about Tahsir’s around the world trip. His first post was here, and I’ll keep that post updated with links to all the posts.

After departing the gate, the flight to Frankfurt officially began. We were offered pajamas, amenity kits, and a pre-departure drink with macadamia nuts. I don’t drink alcohol but I’m an avid fan of Ginger Ale. I’d like to report that the Ginger Ale was amazing! It was so crisp and fresh. After asking for my fifth glass, the purser notified me that I had depleted the amount of Ginger Ale for First Class!

I looked around and noticed that the cabin was actually really wide. The middle portion of the plane was just there to stand around and mingle.

The seat was also pretty nice. There’s a storage shelf by your foot and a lot of storage by the seat behind you. The seat doesn’t fully recline but it reclines to a very comfortable lounging position.

There is a shoe storage are on the left side of the seat. It’s almost hidden until you push a part of the bottom seat to where the storage pops out. There is also a lot of storage in your left hand console. I was able to store my laptop and other accessories there.

The power outlet is on the right hand side of the seat. It’s kind of hard to find at first, but it’s there.

The one thing Lufthansa didn’t think about when placing the television was that people might want to watch TV from the bed. I was lying down and couldn’t see anything due to the TV facing the seat. There is no swivel for the TV to turn to the bed. It didn’t matter anyways because their system had nothing good to offer.

The bathrooms on the 747 are extremely cramped and it was hard for me to change into my PJ’s in the bathroom. The bathroom however, did smell good!

The New Lufthansa 747-400 First Class

The Men’s Amenity Kit

The flight was relatively full with 6/8 First Class seats taken. There were three other points aficionados. We all took pictures of the cabin after the one person who looked like he flew this flight a million times went to change! I made the mistake of selecting the first two seats for us because we kept taking a lot of pictures and I felt bad!

The First Class Cabin

The actual time from gate to take-off was about 10 minutes. We left at around 3PM so we got amazing views of… the sky.

Menu cards were soon handed out and today, our meals were inspired by the Mandarin Oriental’s New York chef Toni Robertson. Our options for appetizers are as follows:

  • Caviar with the traditional Garnishes
  • Nantucket Scallop with Ham and Split Pea Puree
  • Seared Beef Tataki with green Papaya and Peanut sauce (I chose this)
  • Beet Ravioli stuffed with creamy Goat Cheese and toasted Pistachios.
Our options for dinner were as follows:
  • Tenderloin of Beef with Sweet Potato Hash & Ginger Plum Chutney
  • Poached Lobster Tail and Claw in Saffron Reduction with Simmered Mushrooms & Butternut Squash (I chose this)
  • Semolina Potato Cake with Tomato Cream Sauce
  • Braised Chicken Breast with Tamarind Sesame Glace
All were served with salad/leaves and a “delicious” dressing.
For dessert, there was:
  • A Variety of Cheeses & Grapes
  • Warm Chocolate Cake with Yogurt Ice Cream (I chose this)
  • Creme Caramel

All of this sounded really, really gross. I don’t know about you guys but what’s up with the Lufthansa menu these days! I’ve heard in the past that Lufthansa tries too hard with catering and this is one case. I know there are people that enjoy this type of food but I’m more of a KFC guy ;) [Scott: Maybe you should fly JAL economy and let us fly Lufthansa First then ;) ]

Before handing out any appetizers, the purser came around and gave us all a seared salmon plate with cucumbers. It was so bad I had to hold my breath and eat it.

Seared Salmon with Cucumber

Table Setup

Beef Tataki

Salad/Leaves

Poached Lobster Tail & Claw in Saffron Reduction

 

The dessert was actually the best part of the entire meal because they had an amazing chocolate cake! The ice cream was good too!

Chocolate Cake with Yogurt Ice Cream

After dessert, I decided to get some sleep. I got into bed, which is still such a weird thing to say 35,000 feet in the air, and I started to fall asleep. About three hours later, I woke up because my face felt super dry. I called the purser and he brought me some water. It’s kind of weird because Lufthansa doesn’t really have a snack menu or anything. When someone wakes up and asks for snacks, they’re a bit perplexed as to what to do. The purser did find some cookies from business class that he brought up with my water. I couldn’t sleep so I laid down and had one of those life moments. It’s crazy how you can lie in a bed at 35,000 feet and just look at the stars with such clarity. It was such an amazing sight and I wish words were able to capture just how much that one moment meant.

I stayed awake for the rest of the flight no thanks to the entertainment system. The selection of movies and video is very limited on this flight. I don’t know why but there were only about 10-15 movies total.

About an hour and a half out from Frankfurt, breakfast service started and had the following options:

  • Yogurt with Dried Fruit
  • Cereal Granola Mix
  • Cornflakes and Milk
  • Smoked Salmon, Turkey Pastrami and Grilled Chicken Breast
  • Scrambled Eggs Freshly Prepared on Request
I wasn’t too hungry so I chose the cornflakes and grilled chicken breast. Both of those were good!

Cereal

The fresh squeezed orange juice hit the spot! It was really good and very pulpy. The purser kept coming to us and checking if we needed anything else. Note that the pretzel bread on these flights are really good! I took 4-5 pieces of pretzel bread.

Fresh Orange Juice

After breakfast, I changed out of my PJ’s and sat back in the chair. I started to speak to the guy behind me about his travels and points adventures. I found out that he was going on the brand new Thai A380 from Frankfurt – Bangkok! Eventually, we were told to fasten our seatbelts. Upon landing, the purser and other attendants came by and thanked us once again for flying with Lufthansa.

Overall, this was an amazing flight and such a technological advancement over other First Class cabins. Other than the food, this is a solid way to get to Europe and beyond! I plan to fly this flight another day!

Stay tuned for my next post!

→ 5 Comments

Posted in BengaliMilesGuru, Lufthansa, Trip Report

Tagged , ,

The Amazing Race: Denver Departure Services

Posted on December 21, 2012 by | 4 Comments

Tahsir’s Itinerary Around the World in First Class is too long for one post. Here’s the first installment.

Lufthansa First: Denver to Frankfurt

Lufthansa First Class Terminal

Lufthansa First on an A380: Frankfurt to Tokyo

As a child, I was (and still am) fascinated with the idea of going around the world. I used to look at the TV and tell myself that one day, I too would be able to do what those contestants were doing on The Amazing Race. Today, I’m fulfilling one of my dreams and crossing something off my bucket list. I’m going around the world in First Class!

Many of you will agree that it takes a lot of work to get enough points to travel comfortably. As the son of an airline employee, I would travel in economy and wonder when I could get to the front of the plane. Although I was never ashamed or even sad to travel in economy, I always wanted to experience what it was like to travel in “style.”

A few days ago, I wrote about how to book an aspirational trip. In that post, I wrote about how I was going on 3 different First Class products; United, All Nippon Airways, and Thai. A few things changed 2-3 days out and my itinerary was switched to reflect something else: Lufthansa First & Thai First. There was some space that opened up on the routes I wanted to take and I decided to bring my sister along with me.

Today, I was going to fly the somewhat new Lufthansa 747-400 in First Class. This plane is special because the First Class product has a separate seat and bed. I’ve been talking to my friends about this for days, but it’s really something you have to experience for yourself. Lufthansa has done an excellent job with their entire premium cabin, and I was eager to try it.

I flew into Denver the night before this flight because the 747-400 currently flies from Denver, Chicago, New York, and Boston. Note: Denver runs the new 747-400 on a 50% capacity so you have to check the seat map on that particular day to see if it’s the new First Class.

In the days prior to this flight, I noticed that Boston and Denver opened the most award space. It can be tricky to get to Denver with United because they don’t have that many flights into Denver before the 2PM departure of this Lufthansa flight. In addition, the flights I wanted into Denver didn’t release any premium cabin seats. This was an issue for me because my family had a ridiculous amount of suitcases to take to our final destination (Dhaka) and we needed three bags per person.

If you ever find yourself in a situation where you need excess baggage with Star Alliance, you should try to book your originating flight with United. The reason behind this is that United allows you to check in 3 bags that can weigh up to 70 pounds for free if you fly in Business or First. In theory, that means you can get three free bags all the way to your destination even if you fly in business, which usually allows two bags on all other airlines. I found out the hard way that this isn’t the case.

There are two regulations with check-in baggage that airlines must follow, but they both contradict each other. One states that the original marketing carrier’s baggage rules should apply to the entire itinerary. This means that your FIRST flight’s baggage should apply to your entire reservation. The other rule states that the baggage rules of the flight that flies you over the ocean should be the one to follow. In Los Angeles, United checked three bags each for our family of four. However, they couldn’t check it all the way to our final destination because United and Lufthansa have an interline agreement that only applies for 13 hours. The next day, we got to the Denver airport and picked up our baggage from the lost and found area of United.

TIP: A United agent told us not to touch our bags and let them stay in the carousel so that United can take them and put them in lost and found. This is super helpful if you have a 23 hour layover and want to check out the city for the day. In essence, you don’t have to take out your checked bags until after you try to check in for your next flight. Many of you might wonder why this matters if you can check a bag through to your final destination. As I stated, our bags were past the 13 hour interline agreement and so they had to be separately checked in the next day. It might not be a big deal to people who check in one or two bags but we had 12 checked bags plus carry-ons.

Once we retrieved our bags, we went up to the Lufthansa counter. It’s important to note that Lufthansa shares its counters daily with AeroMexico and Icelandair. We approached the counter and were greeted by what seemed to be an AeroMexico/Lufthansa agent. Before even looking at our itinerary, she stated we wouldn’t be able to check in three bags. After calling the supervisor, this agent kept coming up to our counter and saying things to the supervisor like “I was right, right?” She even started helping a Business Class passenger and left them to come to our counter and listen in. It was really unprofessional and at one point, I saw her point us out to someone else with a disgusted look. After reading more on the Denver check-in, I’ve actually seen that this agent has come up multiple times in complaints. I’m not naming names but if someone without a Lufthansa emblem calls you to check in, respectfully decline and wait for someone else.

The supervisor and another agent were really helpful, and they actually helped us get everything sorted out. In the end, all our bag fees were waived and we finally checked them into our final destination! We even got some First Class Jackets for my parents who were traveling in Business. Don’t worry about my parents “stuck” in Business while I’m in First and vise versa, we’re taking turns. In March, I was in Cathay’s Business while they were in Cathay’s First Class.

The lounge situation in Denver is quite grim. The only lounge you can access as a Lufthansa First & Business passenger is the United Club. To make matters worse, Lufthansa departs from Concourse A and the Club is located in Concourse B. The United Club is nothing to rave about as it is a regular domestic lounge. The food offerings are cookies and crackers with the occasional bag of carrots. Other than that, there’s nothing to report. Let’s move on.

The flight was scheduled to leave at around 2:55PM but from past history on flightaware, the on-time departure was a measly 1.5/5. We got to the gate about 10 minutes before boarding. Boarding was called at about 2:30. We actually left the gate around 3PM so kudos to Lufthansa for boarding a 747 in 30 minutes!

Stick around for my next installment!

→ 4 Comments

Posted in Award Booking, BengaliMilesGuru, Lufthansa, Travel Style, Trip Report, Uncategorized, United