[KSHaggag]

Hi FormerlyDOS,

As promised ..all my best regards to you from the LH FCT in FRA …still outstanding ,sleek ,elegant ,soothing and relaxing …however by today s standards (2013) ,I believe it lacks a CD library for music listening and a jaccuzzi or sauna ..it was incepted in 2004 so I understand ..when i visited it a few years ago ,it was indeed contemporary .

Let s enjoy LH s outstanding service as long as it can still provide it !

Cheers,

K

[MartynSinclair]

Hey K, you in FRA – miss you by 1 day! You should have mailed me…

[KSHaggag]

Hey ….nice to hear from u …pls shoot your email and I will keep you posted next time .my email is <a href="mailto:[email protected]“>[email protected]

Cheers

K

[Swissdiver]

Karim: side note. You work in the hospitality business, right? Is it possible you know a certain Gilles in Geneva because you then worked in the same company? That would be another demonstration how small is this world 🙂

[FormerlyDoS]

KSHaggag – 15/10/2013 15:37 GMT

Hey Karim, hope you had a really pleasant and stress free journey.

[KSHaggag]

Hey FormerlyDOS,

Thanks a million for your concern…yep…the FCT was a treat ,though I need to iterate it needs a touch to make it more contemporary ..nothing changed there since 2004,,,,,!!!!!….conservatism ? Or just resting on their laurels?,,,,,I am writing to LH …will keep u posted !
Cheers,
K

[KSHaggag]

Hi Swissdiver !

Many thanks for your side note.I do appreciate it a lot!

Well I have spent mordant than 20 years between airlines and hotel sales but have just switched to the World of Luxury Drinking Waters from across the Globe 6 months ago ,being based in Qatar .

I know more people in my almost second home Switzerland than in any other country .are you evoking Gilles Clinquart???….otherwise I am not quite sure which Gilles that could be …more details please???
May I ask you without being intrusive where in CH you come from ?
My pleasure always!
Karim

[Swissdiver]

Hi Karim,

So you have not yet updated your LinkedIn profile 🙂

Gilles: Indeed. But he moved to the dark side of the force…

Have a great day

[KSHaggag]

Hi Swissdiver ,

Have not yet updated my profile .

What do you mean by indeed ??? It s him ? Clinquart ?

Cheers

Karim

[Swissdiver]

Yep…

[Senator]

Dear all,

Sorry for the late response, I’ve been busy on other forums 🙂

First of all, thanks to all for the kind comments regarding my post. Whilst I’ve done quite a few trips in Business/Club over the years, my total First Class experience is probably around 12 flights so I still approach this with a certain childish jubilation. I am planning to respond to the Swiss team in Zurich directly. I have however, already shared my gratitude with the local Nordic team; some that I have met over the years.

In terms of pricing, I have learned a few tricks over the years from doing my own research. First Class fares with the Star JV or the OneWorld JB tend to be very competitive and easily matched. So when BA runs a sale, the Trans-Atlantic will typically include AA/IB/AY and these are quickly matched by LH/OS/LX/UA/SN/AC. I don’t find as many good bargains to Asia I am afraid.

So, the LHR-ATL fare was matching the BA sales price in First Class. The interesting bit was the there are some heavily discounted, restricted First Class fares loaded in the system with worse conditions over the cheaper sale fare conditions. For example, no stopover allowed.

Currently, there are some stellar deals exARN and exCPH to North America with 28 days advance purchase on both OneWorld and Star. The following destinations are available with prices ranging from £2,900 to £3,300 in First Class:
BOS
ORD
SFO
LAX

Specially SFO with prices from £3,060 return is quite the bargain from Stockholm-Arlanda.

I spend a reasonable amount of time each week to look for decent fares using a combination of ExpertFlyer and ITA Matrix.

Swiss and Lufthansa does have similar fares exLON to SFO, slightly higher due to APD but with 42 days advance purchase requirement.

These fares tend to be very restrictive in terms of cancellation and change fees.

The exARN fare has a €400 change and cancellation fee, and the exLON is non-refundable and carries a £400 change fee.

Hope this is useful, I am now planning to buy some of this restrictive fares once or twice annually from now on.

[KSHaggag]

Hello Senator ,

Thanks for your superb quick,to the point elaboration ..I am sure everybody will appreciate it .
If I may just add that airlines have realized that full fcl fares are extortionately high Nd their cabins go empty which does not make good biz sense ,hence the actions and promos ,especially in the UK where the national carrier is quite solid in Fcl sales offering direct flights…just accept a connex via Zurich ,Frankfurt ,Munich and you will be happy to pay a fraction of the fare in regular F ….the transatlantic JV is working superbly well for us ,consumers ….indeed ..
I expect airlines to go softer and softer on Fcl pricing as the economy continues to suffer and feels the pinch of the crisis …they want to fill their F cabins at the end of the day ….

[AnthonyDunn]

@ KSHaggag – 16/10/2013 11:18 GMT

I don’t think that things are quite as black and white. With Germany (and its satellites in the Netherlands and Austria) and the economies of the non-€ zone northern Europeans (including the UK) showing signs of coming out of the deep-freeze, I would anticipate that some premium cabin prices will remain soft whereas others are showing signs of hardening. And this appears to be the case when I have been doing some background pricing research for Snr Management’s trips to Asia and now S. Africa. It is noteworthy just what deals there are from points “southern” like Milan via hubs such as LHR, AMS and FRA.

[KSHaggag]

Hi AnthonyDunn,

Thanks for the input ..you are indeed right when it comes to countries in Europe with traditionally softer economies like Italy and Greece and how much you can save by flying from there …traditionally Swiss citizens especially from the Ticino region used to cross the border to Italy and start their journey in Milan for a fraction of the fare ..this is still the case for some time to come…

[Senator]

So more good news from my summer adventure with Lufthansa and Swiss First.

Yesterday, a parcel was delivered to my home from Lufthansa thanking me for flying in First in 2013. Included in the parcel was a stylish money-clip in what appears like high-quality steel. Another quality mark for the Lufthansa Group and good use of CRM. Makes me want to head back to Lufthansa (and Swiss) First assuming I find more brilliant deals like last summer.

[Author]

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