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In past years, the Lufthansa Group offered some great value round-the-world airfares out of Australia. You could fly to Europe via Asia and return via North America – or vice versa – with several stopovers along the way, and the prices were very reasonable.
Unfortunately, these fares are no longer what they used to be. They still exist, and Lufthansa has even expanded the list of airlines you can fly in and out of Australia. But the stopover rules are now so restrictive that these tickets are of limited practical use.
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About Lufthansa’s round-the-world tickets
Three of the Lufthansa Group airlines – Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Airlines – offer their own round-the-world airfares originating and ending in Australia. These airlines are all part of Star Alliance.
With one of these tickets, you could fly with your choice of Qantas, Air New Zealand, American Airlines, United or Air Canada from Australia to North America. You’d then fly with Lufthansa, Swiss or Austrian to anywhere in Europe (via Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich or Vienna).
From Europe, you would then fly to Asia with a Lufthansa Group airline. Finally, you could fly from Asia to Australia with your choice of Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Philippine Airlines or All Nippon Airways (depending on where you stop over in Asia).
Like with the Finnair round-the-world ticket, you can have an open-jaw in Europe. For example, you could fly into London and then pick up the next leg of your RTW ticket from Barcelona.
Here’s one example of a Lufthansa round-the-world itinerary which is possible in Economy, Premium Economy, Business or First Class:
This itinerary uses Qantas from Sydney to Los Angeles and Singapore to Sydney. All remaining flights would be on Lufthansa. If booking this trip in Premium Economy, note that the sectors between Frankfurt-Oslo would be in Economy as Premium Economy isn’t offered within Europe.
You can add connecting domestic flights within Australia on Qantas or Virgin Australia, to get to/from an international gateway, at minimal extra cost.
Recent changes to Lufthansa RTW fares from Australia
Even though Germany’s national airline doesn’t fly here, Australia is an important market for Lufthansa. In fact, Lufthansa’s largest market that it doesn’t fly its own planes to.
To drum up business, Lufthansa has offered special fares from Australia to Europe for years. Unfortunately, the airline recently made a few changes that limit the usefulness of this product.
Not all of the changes are bad. One positive change is that you can now use American Airlines, Air New Zealand and/or Philippine Airlines for the sectors to and from Australia. That’s in addition to Qantas, Singapore Airlines, United, Air Canada and other existing options.
But one negative change is that Lufthansa no longer allows domestic sectors within the United States. Previously, you could stop over in multiple US cities en route to or from Europe, flying United Airlines within the USA.
New stopover restrictions
The worst change of all is to the stopover limits.
When booking the cheapest fare classes, you are no longer allowed any stopovers at all between Australia and Europe. You can still have an open-jaw at your destination, meaning you can fly into one European city and out of another. But you don’t get to stop over in Asia or North America. You also no longer get a free stopover in Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich or Vienna (if that’s not your final destination in Europe).
If you opt to purchase a more expensive fare class, you’re now allowed to add only one stopover in each direction – for an additional fee. It’ll cost you an extra $230 per stopover in Economy and Premium Economy, or $460 in Business Class. You can’t add more than one stopover per direction.
The most expensive fare classes still allow unlimited stopovers, but are priced at a point where it’s no longer a great deal.
These are the new stopover limits in each of the different classes:
| Fare classes with no stopovers allowed | Fare classes with maximum 1 stopover per direction | Unlimited stopovers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economy | K, L, T | S, W, V, Q, H | M, B, Y |
| Premium Economy | N | E | G |
| Business | P | Z, D | C, J |
| First | A | – | F |
Lufthansa Group round-the-world pricing
The exact cost of a Lufthansa round-the-world ticket depends on where you fly to and various other factors. For example, if your final destination in Europe is in Germany, Austria, Switzerland or Belgium, you may pay more than if you fly elsewhere in Europe (such as Norway).
There is no significant price difference, however, between using Lufthansa, Swiss or Austrian for your flights to/from Europe. You can even fly to Europe on one of the Lufthansa Group airlines (e.g. Swiss) and then back using a different airline (e.g. Austrian).
Lufthansa Group offers three different price points for each class of travel: Basic, Basic Plus and Flex. The main difference is that Basic fares are non-refundable, while Basic Plus fares can be refunded for a fee, and Flex fares are fully refundable. The change fees on Basic Plus fares are also lower than with Basic.
Using the example of the itinerary above from Sydney to Oslo, this is how much it would now cost you to book the cheapest available fare class without any stopovers:
Economy Class:
- Economy Basic: $1,958
- Economy Basic Plus: $2,108
- Economy Flex: $2,258
Premium Economy:
- Premium Economy Basic: $4,088
- Premium Economy Basic Plus: $4,268
- Premium Economy Flex: $4,448
Business Class:
- Business Basic: $7,578
- Business Basic Plus: $7,848
- Business Flex: $8,118
If you booked a fare class that allowed for stopovers, and added stopovers in Los Angeles and Singapore, the prices increase to the following amounts:
Economy Class:
- Economy Basic: $2,924
- Economy Basic Plus: $3,074
- Economy Flex: $3,224
Premium Economy:
- Premium Economy Basic: $5,789
- Premium Economy Basic Plus: $5,969
- Premium Economy Flex: $6,149
Business Class:
- Business Basic: $9,389
- Business Basic Plus: $9,659
- Business Flex: $9,929
Instead of paying these prices, it could be worth considering a Finnair or Turkish Airlines round-the-world ticket instead.
