Star Alliance member airlines of the Lufthansa Group offer a bunch of discounted economy & premium economy class tickets between Eastern Europe and international destinations in Asia. Fares start at €330 in economy to Hong Kong and €676 in premium economy to Beijing. All flights have a layover in either Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich or Vienna.
Economy class from Warsaw (Prague has similar prices):
Premium economy class from Warsaw (Prague has similar prices):
For the premium economy class deals, the inner European flights are in economy class. All long haul routes feature premium economy amenities.
Lufthansa’s premium economy class is pretty solid. You can read our review of this cabin class in the following article:
Search & Book
According to the fare rules a minimum stay of 6 days is required. A maximum stay of 3 months is allowed. Travel has to be done between now and June 30, 2020. The deal expires November 24, 2019. Stopovers are not allowed. Availabilities are great.
The best way to find suitable dates and fares is Google Flights (instructions). You can then go ahead and book directly with Lufthansa, SWISS or Austrian or go with our Travel-Dealz flight search and choose the cheapest online travel agent. But we would recommend booking directly with the airline.
Why is booking with an airline better than with an online travel agency?
More often than not, online travel agencies offer lower fares than airlines do. We still recommend booking with the airlines directly. There are two main reasons for that:
Better Customer Service
In case any problems like delays, cancellations or missed connections arise, you can communicate directly with the airline. The airline has to take care of you because you have a contract with them.
If a travel agency issues your ticket, you may have to reach out to them first. You also depend on your OTA to forward information like flight changes instead of receiving them directly from the airline. In many cases, you may get a prime exhibition of responsibility shifting rather than problem-solving.
This especially applies to premium tickets. You don’t want to spend more than €1,000 to wind up with some budget OTA’s telephone hotline in case anything goes wrong.
Baggage and Other Fees
Economy fares not including hold luggage are industry standard by now. In most cases, travel agencies charge much higher baggage fees than the airlines themselves. If bags are not included in your fare, airlines are often the cheaper alternative.
This also applies to other things like food services, insurances or priority treatment. In almost all cases, you pay less for additional amenities when booking on the airlines’ website.
Mileage
While the economy class tickets are issued in booking class K, which gives you not much mileage accrual (mostly 25%), the premium economy class tickets are issued in booking classes Y and N. These booking classes help accumulate a good amount of mileage. Here’s a an example from Warsaw via Frankfurt to Hong Kong with Lufthansa:
- 18,736 CV Points on Vistara Club Vistara
- 13,876 Award Miles + 200 Points on Miles&More
- 13,376 Miles on Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- 13,048 Award Miles + 1,834 PQP on United MileagePlus
- 13,048 Miles on Aegean Miles+Bonus
- 13,048 Miles on Copa ConnectMiles
- 13,048 Award Miles + 12,490 Tier Miles on Avianca LifeMiles
- 13,048 Miles on Egyptair Plus
- 12,602 Miles on Thai Royal Orchid Plus
- 12,490 Miles on Asiana Club
- 12,490 Miles on EVA Infinity MileageLands
- 12,490 Miles on Ethiopian ShebaMiles
- 12,490 Points on SAS EuroBonus
- 12,490 Miles on Singapore KrisFlyer
- 12,490 Miles on TAP Miles&Go
- 12,490 Award Miles on LATAM Pass
- 11,934 Miles on Air Canada Aeroplan
- 11,376 AsiaMiles on Asia Miles
- 9,078 Miles on ANA Mileage Club