Indonesia: Star Alliance Premium Economy Flights Starting at £688 / €772 From UK

Star Alliance members Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines have teamed up to offer great premium economy fares from Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, and Newcastle to Indonesia. You can either fly to Bali-Denpasar or to Jakarta. This fare includes 2 pieces of luggage (each one up to 23 kg) and is probably the most comfortable option for these long-haul flights (except for the much more expensive business class, of course). There’s availability until September 2021.

You would always fly from the UK to Munich with Lufthansa, then continue to Singapore in Lufthansa’s premium economy, and finish your trip with a Singapore Airlines flight from Singapore to Indonesia. Now, while this is what Lufthansa is selling, it is very likely that you might end up flying via Frankfurt instead of Munich, as the lower demand caused by the Coronavirus-crisis may lead to Lufthansa only operating one daily flight to Singapore, which then would definitely be the Frankfurt flight. In terms of comfort and trip length, however, this should make absolutely no difference to you.

Search & Book

The fare rules only state one restriction: Your trip has to be at least 6 days long (or a Sunday). By looking at Google Flights, we can also tell that the availability seems to span from December until September 2021, with prices varying by less than £50 (~€58).

We recommend that you use Lufthansa’s best price search. Booking with the airlines is definitely the safest option in these times.

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

The economy class flights between the UK and Germany are issued in booking class Y, while the other flights are issued in booking class N. A roundtrip from Manchester to Jakarta would give you the following mileage: