October 28 was Black Friday for Lufthansa's one-and-a-half-year-old Munich-Denver-Munich nonstops. Denver had given Germany's airline $2 million in incentives to launch the route in March 2007 and offered to make monetary concessions if the airline would continue it. But Lufthansa spokesman Martin Riecken was quoted in the Denver Post as explaining, "It's not a flight that gives us enough revenue and benefits to keep it going." How's that for thanks?
Busy Route Not Enough for Lufthansa
You'd never know from our experience that Denver/Munich routing was not enough of a revenue-producer. My husband and I wanted desperately to fly from Denver to Munich in May 2007 to attend a wedding. First we tried redeeming MileagePlus miles for any class of service on Flights 481 (DEN-MUC) and 480 (MUC-DEN) in a two-week window wrapped around the wedding date. No luck. Then we tried a United-Lufthansa combo with whatever number of plane changes -- in the US, in Frankfurt or elsewhere in Germany. No luck. Then we tried combining flights on other Star Alliance partners. No luck. Then we tried to get affordable tickets o
n Lufthansa or United. No luck, unless you consider it "lucky" to find a few tickets for about $1,000 each, give or take. We didn't attend the wedding.Germany Promoted in Denver
It was ironic that yesterday, just three days after Lufthansa wiped this wonderful flight off its timetable, German tourism representatives hosted a media lunch in Denver to promote visitation to the country. They showed enticing photographs of scenery (and infrastructure to see it better, such as this tower on Stuttgart's Killesberg, right), castles, palaces and other sites. They talked about new museums and old holiday traditions. They enthused about art, architecture and museums, and about hip nightlife and high fashion. They praised the ease of getting around via highspeed train or autobahn. It all looked wonderful. I was ready to get on a plane -- but there are now fewer flights from here to there, and I don't envision fares falling.
Schade -- which is German for "too bad" or "what a shame."
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Hey Claire, Iwas born in Stuttgart and have cousins there and Munich - so travel to Germany every other year or so. I choose between flying via chicago (horrible airport, bad connections), New York, or Boston.
ReplyDeleteI took this flight in May of '07 and loved it. First time on Lufthansa and was treated to German beer, chocolate, and was well taken care of in flight - in coach even.
ReplyDeleteNot only is it a bummer for those traveling to Germany, but connecting on to other European citiesl. I would much rather fly DEN-MUC and make a morning connection to my European city, (even if it meant backtracking a bit to a Amsterdam or London,) than connect via Chicago or New York - especially in winter.
And when returning you clear customs at your home in Denver, and skip that groggy second flight home. (been there done that.)
Disappointing and hopefully it will return. I've never been to Frankfurt airport, (only MUC,) but from what I read Munich is far superior.
nice blog
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