One of the comments I have had a lot recently is what to expect onboard when you travel again. I will be bringing a photo story about BA’s offerings later this week, but in the meantime let’s take a look at Lufthansa.
In this post:
Lufthansa & Swiss reveal onboard service
As we begin to see glimmers of hope emerge about travelling again, if you are considering booking a premium class flight, you need to consider what you are getting for your money. All airlines have adjusted their onboard service to reduce the risk of transmission of coronavirus. However, for some this means a large reduction in what they are offering – currently British Airways and Turkish have substantially cut back on what they are offering in premium classes.
Lufthansa has now revealed what they are offering and the good news is that they are offering a service very close to what you would expect. They have also set an end date of 31 August for the revised service. They may not be one of my favourite airlines in terms of handling refunds, but they are handling being open about what you can expect very well.
Lufthansa Business class – short haul
There is no change to the food service. No pillows are available in Economy Class and Business Class. Instead in Business Class you will receive a freshly washed blanket on night flights. There are no magazines or in-flight duty-free.
Lufthansa Business class – long haul
On flights of more than 10.5 hours, mattresses are available as usual in Business Class.
Here is an example of a medium haul route:
The world has truly gone crazy (well the airline catering world during COVID-19 that is). Lufthansa are offering a better product than Turkish Airlines. ? That has never happened before. Exhibits A and B (medium haul, for long-haul the difference is even more extreme) pic.twitter.com/SkQYCZWMO6
— starflyergold (@starflyergold) June 6, 2020
Lufthansa – First class
In First class, there is virtually no change:
The Lufthansa Magazine, as well as the WorldShop catalogue and the in-flight sales magazine are currently not available.
It is not explicitly stated but it seems like alcohol is available.
Swiss
There is virtually no change to business and first class apart from the delivery of the service which minimises contact, and no magazines. Pillows and blankets are available the same as before.
However, despite Lufthansa Group now being bailed out with a government loan, I would still be cautious about booking with them given their track record over refunds. Swiss told Roving Reporter when he eventually got through to them that he could have a refund at some point after leaving him stranded in India as a First Class passenger. But currently the refunds department was closed and it was not likely to open before the end of the summer!
They also recently refused to pay a refund for a cancelled flight in the US on the grounds that a travel ban for the destination came in AFTER they had cancelled the flight. So if they had operated the flight, the passenger would not have been able to travel on it!
How does the food compare with other airlines?
Lufthansa comes out pretty well. Here is a very rough summary of what airlines are doing:
- Emirates – normal food served with minimum interaction
- Etihad – normal food with minimum interaction
- Turkish business class – cold food boxes, no hot drinks, no second meal
- British Airways – All classes long haul – bag with sandwich, snacks and water, soft and hot drinks. Pizza slice on longer flights
Here is a look at the bag that was given on the way back from Singapore:
- Qatar – normal food served on one tray – menus and usual choices. Alcohol served (see here for a review of the current onboard service)
7 comments
Really do hope people vote with their feet this time, but sadly it probably won’t happen
Cold food is surely much more risky than hot food. This is just blatant cost-cutting. Airlines who want to encourage long-term brand loyalty should take care of their customers whilst travelling is not such a pleasurable experience.
Thanks Michelle – this is such a great update – I’ve got a Swiss 1st booked for December this year – their offering certainly looks better than BA’s pizza slice and a kit-Kat….
I do feel that people must now vote with their feet – just look at what other airlines are offering meal wise, particularly for premium classes and then look at the BA offering.
There is no defending them for this totally stripped back level of service, compounded with the treatment of their employees at present – it’s so frustrating to see this happen. I’m a silver card holder and have been for a few years now – my support for BA is now out the window, and I hope others follow suit. It saddens me.
If it wasn’t for their stranglehold on LHR operations I believe they’d have vanished a long time back.
I have a premium class flight out to Orlando on 14 August and a business class flight booked for the return on 28 which was booked before all this started. I am disgusted with what BA are offering in terms of catering as there appears no justification other than cost cutting especially considering what I have paid for 4 of us. They don’t even seem prepared to consider my daughters dietary needs. I would cancel but I’m not sure I would get the money back.
I am due to fly First with Swiss in November, I recently check my outbound flight Manchester-Zurich-Delhi and discovered that my actual routing was no longer bookable, the connection was tight in Zurich (50 Minute). I think that at the time of my booking (Jan 2020) minimum connection time was 40 Minutes this seems to have been changed to 1 hour now. On discovering this I rang Swiss and was really surprised to have my call answered almost immediately, explaining the situation I was allowed to change my outbound flight free of any charges to Manchester-Frankfurt-Delhi which I believe was a very fair resolution given that my fare was booked during their companion offer, just thought I would share some positive news
Thanks Craig. It’s always good to have some reader experiences to see how they are doing now.
I loved SWISS First Class product, however, I will not be using them or any of the Luftansa Group Airlines based on the treatment I have had from SWISS with regard to getting a refund for a flight in April that was cancelled due to COVID-19. I am still waiting for the disputed charge to be settled as they are making it quite difficult. Appalling service, especially when BA, Iberia and Qatar have all provided me with my refunds.
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