Lufthansa to charge for spirits & snacks on long-haul flights

Joined
Aug 21, 2011
Posts
14,965
Qantas
Platinum
Virgin
Platinum
SkyTeam
Elite Plus
Star Alliance
Gold
Lufthansa is making some cost-cutting changes to its long-haul Economy and Premium Economy service which it says will "achieve greater customer satisfaction".

Spirits will no longer be complimentary in Economy, and additional snacks will be available for purchase between the regular meal services in both Economy and Premium Economy (ouch for the latter!). On long day flights (e.g. FRA-LAX), the buy-on-board snacks will replace the previous complimentary snacks served in the middle of the flight.


I was often impressed with LH long-haul Y, where the crew would come down the aisle after the first meal service with desserts and complimentary Baileys even on flights to Saudi Arabia. I guess that will be no more. At least the snacks they're planning to sell are apparently "high quality".
 
Etihad tried this too - dunno if it was such a great success from the passenger perspective? I hear Swiss is selling 'goodie bags' at the end of their regional flights with all the leftover BOB food... you get three items for the price of one (you don't know which three items until you open the bag).

I wonder if this will truly work out to be economical for Lufthansa?
 
I wonder if the airport shops suggested this to get a new income stream and LH saw an opportunity?
 
The Frequent Flyer Concierge team takes the hard work out of finding reward seat availability. Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, they'll help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

Sounds terrible. Imagine being on a 13 hour flight from Singapore or Bangkok without a vino or snack! Let's hope this doesn't catch on!
Suspect they may be competing with Scoot (their LCC competitor) for the race to the bottom? *shrug*

I wonder if unbundled Business is the next route for LH?
 
Suspect they may be competing with Scoot (their LCC competitor) for the race to the bottom? *shrug*

I wonder if unbundled Business is the next route for LH?

Already on the cards! Don't know the impact of covid but it was being talked about in 2019/20.
 
Etihad tried this too - dunno if it was such a great success from the passenger perspective? I hear Swiss is selling 'goodie bags' at the end of their regional flights with all the leftover BOB food... you get three items for the price of one (you don't know which three items until you open the bag).

I wonder if this will truly work out to be economical for Lufthansa?
Just try getting the goody bag into Australia or New Zealand!! Apples anyone? Qantas used to give a goody bag which contained an apple. Several passengers were caught at customs and had to pay a $200+ fine.
 
Just try getting the goody bag into Australia or New Zealand!! Apples anyone? Qantas used to give a goody bag which contained an apple. Several passengers were caught at customs and had to pay a $200+ fine.
Ah yes, the gift to New Zealand entrants that keeps on giving.
 
Bit of a storm in a teacup IMO
If you are being fed meals, snacks are really an optional extra and beer/wine available. Most people aren't expending a lot of energy on a flight. Admittedly I'd favour G&T outside of mealtimes but personally wouldn't object to paying for the privilege (if I found myself in Y)
 
You have to remember that wine, and especially beer, is much more liquid that spirits. Go figure the consequences!
 
Bit of a storm in a teacup IMO
If you are being fed meals, snacks are really an optional extra and beer/wine available. Most people aren't expending a lot of energy on a flight. Admittedly I'd favour G&T outside of mealtimes but personally wouldn't object to paying for the privilege (if I found myself in Y)
Agreed, but I think the cost of PE is enough to cover a couple of G&Ts, I chose that option for comfort, I don’t drink anyway but if I did I think I would want the option for the added cost.
 
At least the snacks they're planning to sell are apparently "high quality".

Well the menu has been released and the snacks definitely are not high quality. It's overpriced, pre-packaged junk food.

Not a single healthy or fresh item on the menu.

 
I flew Lufthansa this week in Premium Economy from Singapore to Frankfurt. The meals were the same as in Y, although the economy catering was actually quite good, and they were served on proper crockery with metal cutlery.

There was an announcement after takeoff with some information about what service would be available during the flight. The purser informed us that they'd offer a drink before dinner, at which time we could purchase additional snacks or spirits from the Onboard Delights menu. There would then be a complimentary dinner served, and breakfast before landing. He mentioned that we could go to the galley any time for complimentary drinks during the flight, but didn't mention that we could buy other snacks mid-flight and I don't think many people did.

The Onboard Delights menu on the long-haul flight looked pretty rubbish - just pre-packaged snacks and spirits/coughtails. Beer, white wine, red wine and prosecco were complimentary.

However, the Onboard Delights menu was a lot better on my connecting flight from Frankfurt to Lisbon in Economy. I ordered a "black rice crunchy beef bowl" for €11 and it was really good - fresh, tasty and filling.

87BF6967-E5F3-4542-9A05-04C2A082191D.jpeg

So, long story short: Short-haul menu good, long-haul menu bad :)
 
Back
Top