$132 RT flights on Lufthansa
I just read in my Budget Travel magazine that Lufthansa has just announced a new program with round trip flights within Europe starting at $132. I looked around on their web site and but didn’t find any mention of it(so maybe you have to complete the quote machine to get the fares- so you might want to try it). I’m pretty sure that the round trips will be to and from Germany, so it will be of use to a limited number of people, but it’s worth a try).
While I was there I tried a search to see what fares looked like from Raleigh/Durham to Athens for the dates I was flying on Delta(Sept 9-27). I found flights for $937 on Sept 6-25 which isn’t bad($580 + tax). I paid $930 including tax(but that was a net fare with no markup). I prefer the flights(even though I don’t prefer the airline), because Delta has a nonstop from NY while Lufthanas has two connections making the trip a little longer and a little more wearing!
Just for “fun”, I tried to book the Lufthansa flights on my Sabre Reservation System but didn’t find that fare… the lowest Lufthansa fare I found is $1572! So Lufthansa is also playing the little ease out the agent trick(They give us a 4% commission on a lot of our tickets, but it looks like we have to make a decision to sell a ticket for $1550 and make 4% while hoping that the client doesn’t realize that they could go directly to Lufthansa and get a ticket for $937.
I get the feeling that the airlines are waging a public relations war and trying to make the agents look like the bad guys! As I learn more about the major airlines I’m realizing that no matter how much they work to present themselves as a rocksteady Giant in the Sky… they are all racing around like desperate rats trying to develop a formula that will increase their profits.
I think that they are envious of Southwestern Airlines which is a very profitable airline with a model that has produced loyal customers and no outside sales agents. The only problem is that the larger airlines don’t offer the service that Southwestern does, nor the loyalty. How do they expect to get loyalty from passengers, if they have no loyalty of their own to offer?