NEWS FLASH
Lufthansa, one of the largest carriers operating within the former Yugoslavia, has rolled out complementary tea and coffee in economy class on its short haul flights. The German carrier suspended complimentary snacks and drinks in economy onboard its intra-Europe and North Africa flights in 2021 to save costs. Passengers still received a bottle of water and a piece of chocolate without a fee. It is now trialling the free service for the two hot beverages for the duration of the summer season, which concludes on October 26. All other drinks and meals will still be available for purchase as part of its “Onboard Delights” menu. Lufthansa is bringing back the complimentary hot beverages in response to plummeting customer satisfaction since wide-ranging cost cutting measures were introduced three years ago. Hot drinks onboard Lufthansa cost between three and 3.50 euros, while the popular tomato juice costs 3.20 euros.
Legende. Onboard Delights.
ReplyDeleteAegean, Air France, KLM and Turkish offering full meals with complementary alcohol on certain flights meanwhile Lufthansa can't be bothered to offer coffee and tea
DeleteLH offers full service to Tel Aviv and Cairo. Checked.
DeleteI wonder if they complain on Ryan air?
DeleteThey get ripped off and driven like cattle.
Now that justifies a 600€ flight.
ReplyDeleteSide effect of cost saving is damaged reputation. Price sensitive passangers would not bother with it, while others do not bother too. Was cost saving exercise worth the tarnished reputation?
ReplyDelete"Lufthansa to trial complimentary tea and coffee"
ReplyDeleteThis used to be the norm not too long ago!
This amount of generosity will lead to the downfall of the entire company. Be careful Luftika.
ReplyDeleteA3 and TK service put these 🤡 to shame!
ReplyDeleteThis a revolution in air travel.
ReplyDeleteAn absolute game-changer.
The Germans are back!
They will soon regain 5* by skytrack.
DeleteOU will hopefully now copy them.
ReplyDeleteI flew with LH several 5 times this year from SKP to LHR via FRA and back. In total I boarded 10 flights.
ReplyDeleteOn 9 of those they did not even had the items from the paying menu.
LH is an example of "how to kill a brand by cutting costs".
Very sad, but perhaps that is the reality of short european flights.
BA did the same mistake even before the pandemics.
I mean, who apart from the Turkish now days offers a decent meal on board a European flights?
Aegan
DeleteThis is really cynical PR. I avoid them whenever I can.
ReplyDeleteOn KL you have full choice of drinks (hot, cold, juices, beer and wine) and they even do the service twice on longer flights (e.g. BEG to AMS) - even asking you if you're sure you don't want anything else every time. Not to mention how friendly and attentive the flight staff is.
But people still use LH so much, I guess their reputation is the biggest power
DeleteReputation is going away too and rightly so.
DeleteLH's strongest brand is safety. People do not fly them because of the price or experience. People trust them to bring them safe and uneventful from A to B. Greetings from Germany.
DeleteLOL no one ever selects LH over competitor based on safety. Price, schedule, overall travel time where transfers are required, convenience, loyalty, inflight service/experience are top deciding factors, safety is not in the top 10 for most passengers.
DeleteWell, I said strongest brand characteristic is safety. Believe it or not I know a lot of Germans who are paying higher price just not to fly other airlines.
DeleteLufthansa is not for those who do not have safety in their first top 10. It is quite noticeable when transferring at their hubs or for example in IST or similar.
Delete@22"17 "Believe it or not I know a lot of Germans who are paying higher price just not to fly other airlines.
DeleteThat's not due to safety, it's a matter of national pride and long-standing belief among Germans that Germany is somehow still über alles even when it's not.
Actually its the stupid foreigners who do believe in Germany über alles.
DeletePeople that live there would never do that.
"People trust them to bring them safe and uneventful from A to B."
DeleteIf it's *tehnika* the reason for the delay it's usually Lufty. Second place goes to JU.
I was told long time ago, by a flight attendant (and read similar things online on numerous occasions), that I should avoid any beverages onboard that are made from hot water, because of how dirty the water tank on airplanes is. Ever since, I stopped taking tea/coffee on flights. Now, I am not sure if this has changed, nor can I guarantee that this water is indeed of dubious quality, but I can only laugh at this "free offer".
ReplyDeleteI feel like they'd face some sort of lawsuit or at least lash back due to people feeling sick due to their water if it was as bad as you say
DeleteBut it's Lufthansa, who knows
I think it is more like when you meet someone working at the restaurant, saying - I am not eating there and if you knew what I know, you wouldn't either. It's not that anyone had food poisoning or was getting sick, but still... So - I am sure that this water is not likely to cause health issues, but can be smelly from the water tanks that are seldom cleaned. I might be wrong - never had a chance to put my nose into one and smell myself :) and I can easily survive without drinking tea or coffee onboard.
DeleteI heard the same in a TV documentary years ago and also never ordered any hot beverage on a plane ever since. It is not just the inside of the water tank but as far as I remember the pipes between the water tanks and the galleys which are never ever cleaned inside (until broken and one pipe gets completely replaced). It is according to the documentary the dirtiest place(counting bacteria, mushrooms etc), much dirtier than the WC rooms and door handles which are all cleaned very regularly).
DeleteMeanwhile Air France offers free sparkling wine and Turkish a whole meal lol
ReplyDeleteImagine paying 250€ for a flight to Munich and all you get is bottled water and chocolate
come on, you also get: the joy of holding still in the waiting hall due to constant delays, the show of watching half of the pax panicking about losing their connections after a 20min delay, and the delight of rude cabin crew <3 all for 250 € to MUC <3
DeleteI use Lufthansa from SKP to Frankfurt in Economy , couple times , I ask them for a water they giwe it a small one , instead their parent company Austrian if you ask them for a water they will giwe it to you in a little plastic cup :)))
ReplyDeleteThe difference is that with Turkish you get a free hot meal , baverages including juices,alcohol,yogurt,tea,coffee , and with all other airlines in Europe you get a little chocolate and a small bottle of water. That is why Turkish beats all other european airlines in every segment of flying!
ReplyDeleteYes whenever i need to go to Scandinavia, I use TK instead of LH. Because they give me a glass of apple juice and a tray with some food. Take me forever but I guess that i worth the hassle. That is also probabl people use TK.
DeleteIf you don't care about safety, continue taking TK cos they have better/more free catering.
DeleteIts just a turkish thing you know.
ReplyDeleteGenerosity and hospitality.
In the 1990s i flew with Istanbul Airlines on short routes.
Whenever my cup with Coca Cola was empty it was refilled immediately by their wonderful stewardesses. I guess a whole liter in an hour.
They didnt even blink once with their eyes..
Am I the only one being sick of flying "Ryanair style" on board legacy airlines flights?!
ReplyDeleteNo.
DeleteOh Hansa, Hansa….last year you made profit of 2.7 billion €, and now you are testing complementary tea and coffee? I wish LH group to bancrupt asap.
ReplyDeleteJust like how they'll serve tea during the summer and then they'll decide if they'll be serving tea during winter, in Europe. Genius move but I hope they'll go for ice tea in November.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, as a loyal LH customer I’m still frustrated at LH for ditching the complimentary drink service. Like, a bottle of coke and sprite doesn’t cost that much(talking as someone who works at coca cola and knows that big customers have discounts on all soft drinks). And when operating planes like the neo the lower fuel consumption cost cover also the costs for the free beverage service. But I guess it is true that Germans are stingier than Greeks 🤣. Even my awful home carrier (Bulgaria air) offers complimentary beverages service…
ReplyDeleteUsually I never drink tomato juice but when flying I always order it. It's kind of an air ritual.
ReplyDelete😆 me too! With a sachet of celery salt (Air France)!
DeleteBecause it is the best for rehydration. You need it on plain.
DeleteI wish Lauda was still around. They had a wonderful product and service.
ReplyDeleteThat might be the reason they are not around any more! [S.K.]
DeleteLauda? The Lauda leisure company that OS bought like I don't know 20 years ago? Or Flyniki that was integrated into the AB group and therfore went bankrupt together with AB? Or the crappy Laudamotion that FR bought and integrated as the current Lauda?
DeleteLufthansa has destroyed big parts of its reputation by such ridiculous cost reducing measures. The head CEO of that airline smells. It is a kind of corruption. How could a pilot as Carsten with no knowledge of management, marketing, anything be a CEO? Was he do loyal to Angela M. or now to Olaf S.?
ReplyDelete