Bleh: Lufthansa Group Rolling Out Punitive, Basic Business Class Fares

Lufthansa Group has just rolled out some changes to its fares, which customers will no doubt be unhappy about (though I trust the airline will try to spin this as a positive).

Lufthansa introduces basic fares in premium cabins

Travel-Dealz was first to report that Lufthansa Group has just rolled out new basic (or “light”) fare bundles for premium cabins. This applies across Lufthansa Group airlines, including Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, and Discover Airlines.

While the airlines have long offered these in economy, this spreading to business class and premium economy is new (these aren’t coming to first class… for now). So, what can we expect? Here’s what these new fare bundles include:

• The basic business class fares include one checked bag (instead of two), a seat reservation fee of a minimum of around €80–€120, and a higher change fee than before
• The basic premium economy fares include one checked bag (instead of two), a seat reservation fee, and a higher change fee than before

The changes in business class and premium economy are identical, except business class gets new fees for assigning even standard seats (meanwhile in premium economy, you already had to pay for those, so nothing is changing).

Initially, these fares are only available on select routes to and from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Central America, and South America. North America, and many parts of Asia (China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, etc.), are initially excluded.

With Miles & More now having dynamic award pricing, I imagine it will be possible to redeem miles for these “light” fare bundles, with extra restrictions. However, I hope that partner award tickets aren’t subject to these new rules.

What’s perhaps most punitive about these new fares is how some elite perks won’t apply. While Star Alliance Gold members still get an allowance of an extra bag (for a total of two bags), no elite members will receive complimentary seat assignments on basic fares. That’s right, even top-tier Miles & More HON Circle members will be asked to open their wallets if they want to assign seats.

How bad are Lufthansa’s new basic business class fares?

When airlines introduce “basic” fares, they market that it’s intended to give customers more choice, including introducing more affordable fares with fewer inclusions. So, is that what’s going on here? Has Lufthansa lowered business class fares with the introduction of “light” fares? Well, since I knew these fares were coming, I did a little research.

I picked five long haul business class routes at random, and I looked at the fares yesterday (when “saver” was the cheapest fare bundle), and then again today (now that the new “light” fares are available). What have I noticed? Well, in all cases, the old saver fare is the same as the new light fare, and the new saver fare has just up in price.

Take the below Copenhagen to Bogota roundtrip business class ticket, which yesterday cost 26,632 DKK for a saver fare, and now that’s the price for a light fare, while a saver fare now costs 28,574 DKK.

As another example, take a Madrid to Dubai roundtrip business class ticket, which yesterday cost 2,092 EUR for a saver fare, and now that’s the price for a light fare, while a saver fare now costs 2,202 EUR.

Of course let me acknowledge that airfare isn’t static, and does change over time. Ultimately airlines price based on what the market will sustain. But at least initially based on my searches, this is a blanket fare increase, whereby you have to pay more if you want the same inclusions as before.

My take on Lufthansa’s new “light” business class fares

I’d argue that Lufthansa Group’s new premium basic fares are really punitive, at least in some ways. Not even allowing elite members to assign seats on these basic fares is rough — clearly the company is worried that if it doesn’t make these fares undesirable enough, it won’t be able to convince elite members to pay extra to avoid them, and this is intended to be a fare increase.

At the same time, in some ways the fares maybe aren’t that bad. For example, unlike some other airlines, at least Lufthansa still offers lounge access on basic fares. Furthermore, with Lufthansa moving to Allegris, non-elite members having to pay for most seat assignments is also becoming the norm.

I’m of course not happy to see these changes, but I don’t think anyone should be surprised to see these roll out, as this was bound to happen. Keep in mind that Delta also plans to introduce basic business class soon, and I expect that American and United won’t be too far behind.

As you can see, these basic fares don’t initially apply on flights to the United States, and that’s because Lufthansa Group operates as part of a joint venture with Air Canada and United. So presumably that will only be rolled out once all airlines are on the same page, given that they coordinate fares. That’s another reason to expect that the joint venture partners are headed in that direction as well.

Bottom line

Lufthansa Group has introduced new “light” fares in premium cabins, which means we’re now seeing basic business class at the airline (along with basic premium economy). The restrictions aren’t too bad, except for the fact that all basic business class passengers have to pay for seats, including the highest tier elite members.

Make no mistake, though, this isn’t a new fare option that adds flexibility. Instead, it’s a fare increase, whereby you have to pay more to get the same thing you received included before.

What do you make of Lufthansa’s basic business class plans?