Alitalia777 From United States, joined Nov 2001, 459 posts, RR: 1 Posted (1 year 7 months 3 weeks 3 days 2 hours ago) and read 399 times:
Hello,
I'm going to be moving to Germany (well at least living there for 1-1.5 years) in August and have begun looking at flights. Prices have been very volatile, but right now Lufthansa is surprisingly the cheapest. There are flights from both JFK and EWR. The options are either a 747 or an A340-300. Which aircraft do you recommend? Leaving late August, would Lufthansa be operating different aircraft (ie A340-600) for that busier time?
Regarding price volatility, British Airways and KLM at times have been the cheapest as well. Would you recommend any of these airlines over Lufthansa. My flight route is NYC-STR. Thanks!
LHboyatDTW From United States, joined Jan 2007, 1003 posts, RR: 6 Reply 1, posted (1 year 7 months 3 weeks 3 days ago) and read 393 times:
KLM is much better than Lufthansa, but if convenience is what you're going for, fly Lufthansa. With the lack of PTVs I found it a bit easier to sleep as long as you have some eyeshades to block out light from the overhead screens as even with my eyes closed, I was still able to make out figures because there was that much light. I have flown the A343 and A333 which are much better comfort wise than the 744 due to the configuration. With an arrival into FRA, you can easily take a train into Stuttgart and be on your way. However, I have flown both the Bae 146 and A320 between FRA and STR, it's not too bad of a route.
Viel Glueck / Good Luck
PS: I was an exchange student in Esslingen, a town nearby Stuttgart. I loved that place and missed that place with all the friends I made be it my age or my host family. What shall you be doing in Stuttgart out of curiosity? Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have bee
HT From Germany, joined May 2005, 4439 posts, RR: 20 Reply 2, posted (1 year 7 months 3 weeks 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 384 times:
Quoting Alitalia777 (Thread starter): I'm going to be moving to Germany (well at least living there for 1-1.5 years) in August and have begun looking at flights. Prices have been very volatile, but right now Lufthansa is surprisingly the cheapest.
Are you looking into one-way fares or a return fares ?
A return fare for which you might skip the return leg, might be cheaper than a one-way fare across the pond ...
Quoting Alitalia777 (Thread starter): The options are either a 747 or an A340-300. Which aircraft do you recommend?
The Airbus, as it will have a 2-4-2 seating preferred by me over the 747s 3-4-3.
Quoting Alitalia777 (Thread starter): Leaving late August, would Lufthansa be operating different aircraft (ie A340-600) for that busier time?
Rather unlikely.
Quoting Alitalia777 (Thread starter): Regarding price volatility, British Airways and KLM at times have been the cheapest as well. Would you recommend any of these airlines over Lufthansa.
BA: At all costs I would refrain from having to transfer at LHR. The hassle has become too big, especially when compared to alternatives like AMS and FRA (CDG T2 would come next, but is not preferred by me).
KL: It is an alternative to LH, but like "LHboyatDTW" said, you could fly to FRA and then take the train to Stuttgart (but with lots of luggage a flight to STR would be my preferred option).
KL-codeshare partner NW is launching flights out of BDL to AMS this summer in case that is an alternative to NYC-airports for you ...
LX or SK would be more options to STR with only slightly longer flights.
From a routing perspective it would make no sense to fly DL JFK - ATL - STR, or ?
-HT
Carpe diem ! Life is too short to waste your time ...
Is that non-stop? If so, take that definantly. FRA is not that nice...
BA: Great airline, better IFE than LH, but an aweful hub (LHR), I don't think it is worth it.
KLM: Also a great airline, however I would keep to the LH A343, unless KL is with a 777 or A330 (due to IFE). Additionally, AMS is a much better connecting point than FRA or LHR.
However, LH is a good airline, and it will be a good flight.
I just checked on LH and if you fly on LH411 JFKto MUC you´ll get a A340-600 !
With a connection time of 75 minutes at MUC it is a perfect connection.
Marquis From Germany, joined Sep 2005, 222 posts, RR: 1 Reply 5, posted (1 year 7 months 3 weeks 2 days 9 hours ago) and read 335 times:
In case you should opt for Lufthansa as your blue chip carrier across the pond, I would suggest to book a seat on the EWR-MUC route as MUC is far better than FRA speaking of connections in my opinion.
Alitalia777 From United States, joined Nov 2001, 459 posts, RR: 1 Reply 7, posted (1 year 7 months 3 weeks 2 days 6 hours ago) and read 320 times:
Although this probably makes little to no difference, would you recommend taking Lufthansa out of JFK or EWR. Both operate A340-300's on the route (there is only one flight each out of EWR and JFK (403 and 401, respectively) that qualify for the fare, so there is no opportunity for MUC or A340-600)? Thanks for all of your input thus far!!
-Alitalia777
KLM is operating both A330s and 777s, but as of right now, they aren't the cheapest. Should I really wait to see if they are, or is Lufthansa and ICE to Stuttgart the best bet?
HT From Germany, joined May 2005, 4439 posts, RR: 20 Reply 8, posted (1 year 7 months 3 weeks 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 289 times:
Quoting Alitalia777 (Reply 7): KLM is operating both A330s and 777s, but as of right now, they aren't the cheapest. Should I really wait to see if they are, or is Lufthansa and ICE to Stuttgart the best bet?
With May approaching now, I would book now and not wait much longer.
Chances are that the fares you might get now sell out and you end up with higher fares.
A flight with LH to FRA with a connection to STR should be not considerably more expensive than the flight into FRA itself.
If timings are okay, you should fly from FRA to STR to avoid having to drag your luggage onto the train.
However, in case that the connection is not too favourable, a train ride is okay, too.
Beware: LH is also using the train to STR and assigns a LH-code to it. "Flights" between FRA and STR with a LH 67**-number are in fact trains but no aircraft.
P.S. No coomment from my side on JFK vs. EWR.
-HT
Carpe diem ! Life is too short to waste your time ...
Alitalia777 From United States, joined Nov 2001, 459 posts, RR: 1 Reply 9, posted (1 year 7 months 3 weeks 12 hours ago) and read 255 times:
I've been searching for fares using Lufthansa's 'GenerationFly.' The cheapest one way fare has been $358 (JFK/EWR-FRA then ICE to STR), but now it is gone!! I only saw it up there for a couple of hours. The current price listed is $484 with an actual flight to STR, not the train. This is still the cheapest fare of everything else that I've searched. Do you think the Lufthansa fare might come back sometime in the middle of the week? Or would you guys recommend that perhaps if that fare isn't back (358) next week, I should just buy the Lufthansa flights? Thanks once again for all of your help. Thanks for helping me settle on the A340 as opposed to the 747. And any thoughts on JFK vs. EWR?
MidEx216 From United States, joined Jun 2005, 379 posts, RR: 3 Reply 10, posted (1 year 7 months 3 weeks 9 hours ago) and read 250 times:
If you're flying Y, I highly recommend AGAINST the 747. I had a nasty experience flying a LH 747 IAD-FRA. The service was nice, but the seat in front was in my knees, and thusly also no room to recline, no air, etc... The A340 trip MUC-ORD was much better.
As for airlines, I don't keep up on prices that much, but when I flew ORD-DTW-FRA last month, I got it for $440 on NW. I'm not sure if they're still going, but it's worth a look.
(P.S. - Just looked, 8. August, JFK-FRA on SQ, FRA-STR on LH. $692)
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