Lufthansa plans to charge extra for some Business Class seats

It seems that Lufthansa is planing to charge you extra money for some seats when introducing their new business class cabin. They call these seats “Business Class Plus”.

Lufthansa Group’s Chief Commercial Officer Network Airlines said:

“It’s not just one business class anymore. Within the (Boeing 777X) business class cabin,
you can upgrade yourself to an even better product than just standard business class… 
it’s a real jump forward in terms of convenience, and in terms of product selection.”

So Lufthansa starts charging for some seat assignments in business class and calls this an upgrade….

Swiss and Austrian Airlines are already charging for their so called “throne seat” or “privacy seat” (you can also be read about that in our flights reviews), but at least these seats can be selected for free at online check-in.

A bit of topic, as we all know British Airways is also charging for selecting business class seats, but if you reach Silver Status seat selection is free, and this counts for everyone within your booking. In my opinion BA is doing that pretty clever, as it is not too hard to get the silver status, and you have plenty of benefits with this status already. As a customer you have the feeling that they honor your loyalty by giving you something back.

Maybe Lufthansa will do it in a similar way with the seat selection, but to reach a similar Status in their Miles and More program is much more difficult.

And by the way, the new British Airways World Club Suite looks so much nicer.

 

Is this a wise move from Lufthansa?

Is Lufthansa going the right way with this decision, are they charging only for those middle seats, how much will it cost and will you be able to select those seats for free at online check-in? Will this help Lufthansa to make their business class product more of a premium product, as they call it an upgrade to a better business class?

In my opinion Lufthansa is turning into a wrong direction here. For years their business class product wasn’t one of the best, and this will not change with their new business class, alltough it will be an improvement.

Lufthansa group lost a lot of money in the first quarter of 2019, the IAG group made a solid benefit.

To think that you can attract more people to a new business class product, which still won’t be one of the best, by charging you extra money is most probably not the best idea.

The new Lufthansa business class seats will be installed on the Boeing 777-9s (Boeing 777X) which will arrive in 2020….

 

H/T: OMAT & AUSBT