# Airline options



## sailwind (Sep 19, 2003)

Flying from San Fran Sfo -> Munich in April, then coming back from Frankfurt -> SFO. So far I'm only seeing Lufthansa/United for $1460. Does this sound about the right ballpark and are there other carriers/stops I should consider? 

Thanks.


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## dkreidel (Aug 24, 2005)

Try changing planes in London instead of FRA. I dislike LHR intensely but am through there 6-8X/year. Hipmunk is an easy to use search tool :thumbup:

I found SFO>FRA & return non-stop on UA 903 for $1,360 and SFO>LHR>MUC for $1330 on UA/LH in early April but Spring is an expensive time to travel to Europe.


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## jjcruiser (Aug 18, 2008)

I see $1180 RT on Lufthansa; NS one direction, SFO-MUC via LHR and then MUC-SFO. What are your exact dates?


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## cleaver (Mar 3, 2013)

I'm looking at SEA-MUC, FRA-SEA in mid-May, and I routinely see $1200-1300 on Hipmunk and Kayak, so I would think SFO would be in the same range. (In fact, I'm thinking of a connection through SFO just to fly on an A380.)


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## sailwind (Sep 19, 2003)

I'm leaving 4/15 night SFO->MUNICH, and coming back 4/24 Frankfurt -> SFO.


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## trusaleen1 (Aug 18, 2007)

I'm leaving the 17th from SFO but flying to rome first. The flights haven't changed at all in like 3 weeks. Maybe fluctuate about $15. I'm hoping they go down a little more. I'm at 1578 for a SFO-Rome Rome-Munich Paris-SFO package


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## mwm1166 (Jul 16, 2013)

sailwind said:


> Flying from San Fran Sfo -> Munich in April, then coming back from Frankfurt -> SFO. So far I'm only seeing Lufthansa/United for $1460. Does this sound about the right ballpark and are there other carriers/stops I should consider?
> 
> Thanks.


I did LAX to Berlin on airberlin last September for 800 round trip.


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## KingpenM3 (Dec 27, 2011)

I know it is too late for you to use this option, but I think the best way to get across the pond is to use credit card miles. My wife and I used united miles (200,000 total for first class) to fly into London and back out of Munich from our little airport in Lake Charles, LA on United. Flight would have been something like $21,000. We're on track to be able to do this again when we do our next ED too. And the companies are always throwing big promotions out there for sign up bonuses. too. I just signed up this week for a amex Delta card and will receive 50,000 miles for signing up. But to get these deals you need a card that gives you actual United (I've got a Chase United card) or Delta miles, not the generic "points".


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## need4speed (May 26, 2006)

+1 for burning the airline miles. N4S


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## HeavyDooty (Jan 2, 2014)

Flying an A380 is a great idea. My wife and I did a CDG-JFK last year. My wife was unhappy when I booked it because it was "so large", but loved every part of it!

Sent from BimmerApp mobile app


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## claud 3 (Jun 27, 2005)

Booked Lufthansa this morning. They have a new contract with BMW. 15% discount on economy tickets for ED--was only 5% before. . You need your production number


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## cleaver (Mar 3, 2013)

15% discount - seriously? From what I've read in the past there were all kinds of disclaimers making for almost no real discount. If true, that would be great!


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## sailwind (Sep 19, 2003)

Is the 15% off their higher fare class? Can you share the code/instructions? (I haven't gotten my packet yet)

I just booked 5% off United's deeply discounted fare class (s,w) with code ZR9Y233495. The plane is operated by Lufthansa but you can apply the discount when booking through united.


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## trusaleen1 (Aug 18, 2007)

Yes please how did you determine it's 15%. It was 5% when I talked to them last month and you had to fly into and out germany


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## sailwind (Sep 19, 2003)

I called the Lufthansa euro delivery number (1-888-552-4508). The lady confirmed that the discount cannot be applied to the lowest fare class (such as deep discount economy), only to higher fare class. For comparison here are the prices for my itinerary: 

Booking directly through United/Lufthansa (United s/Lufthansa w class):  1466
Booking via United using 5% off code (United s class): 1380
Booking using Lufthansa Euro discount: 1586

So in the end booking through United with the discount code is cheaper.


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## Boraxo (Sep 6, 2005)

Those prices sound really high for April. You should be able to find cheaper flights if you are willing to stopover on the east coast. Check prices from east coast to munich/frankfurt and then decide whether to use miles to get to the east coast and then paid tix from there. I have seen $1800 for business class to europe during the annual fare sales around christmas and sometime also in April for summer travel. OF course the problem is that you don't have too much flexibility once you have a delivery date. But April is not peak season.


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## Tanning machine (Feb 21, 2002)

sailwind said:


> I'm leaving 4/15 night SFO->MUNICH, and coming back 4/24 Frankfurt -> SFO.


Looks like the best you can do is about $1263 with a stop in LHR on those dates. Coming back non-stop. (per ITA - and on United).

BTW, if you're not familiar with ITA matrix it's a great way to identify what options and prices are available. Looks like for April/May you can't get much below $1200. You're already flying T/Th which are generally less expensive days.


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## claud 3 (Jun 27, 2005)

trusaleen1 said:


> Yes please how did you determine it's 15%. It was 5% when I talked to them last month and you had to fly into and out germany


When I called them, the agent said there was a new BMW contract. I booked round trip economy from Charlotte NC to Munich, nonstop. 15% discount. You need to have your production number. Its for a June trip.


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## stp80 (Dec 17, 2013)

I have a question that is somewhat related. I got a confirmation from my CA that my date has been confirmed. Am I supposed to receive some information from BMW's ED department next to get all these packages that you guys are talking about? Or does that happen after submitting a Purchase Order? 

I want to check on the 15% deal for Luftansa but if I need a production number I assume I would have to already submit a PO? I'm going in late April and haven't submitted a PO yet for the car.


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## claud 3 (Jun 27, 2005)

stp80 said:


> I have a question that is somewhat related. I got a confirmation from my CA that my date has been confirmed. Am I supposed to receive some information from BMW's ED department next to get all these packages that you guys are talking about? Or does that happen after submitting a Purchase Order?
> 
> I want to check on the 15% deal for Luftansa but if I need a production number I assume I would have to already submit a PO? I'm going in late April and haven't submitted a PO yet for the car.


Ask or pester the hell out of your CA. I did because I needed to nail down delivery date in order to book airline and hotels. He should have the email/letter within a week or so after he knows your date was confirmed. Mine did.


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## JimD1 (Jun 5, 2009)

Last time I looked you could get a graph of ticket costs on Kayak (to determine when to book).


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## cleaver (Mar 3, 2013)

I've been obsessing about this whole process for months, and therefore also watching airfares for months. I purchased my plane tix in late Jan (a few weeks after placing my car order and deposit) and have not seen them any cheaper. Lately the price seems to be increasing. I also noticed the fares increase around our Memorial Day, probably preparing for summer high season.
I used Kayak, ITA, and Hipmunk as guides, but ultimately checked Lufthansa daily as those other websites' notification services didn't seem to work for multiple destinations and/or choice of aircraft.


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## reddemon73 (Jan 15, 2008)

I booked thru Iceland Air last night for $1091 RT from Sea - Mun and Paris - Sea.


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## lrattner (Apr 22, 2006)

FLL-ATL-Muc rt on Delta $6k for 2 Business.


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## basiluf (Dec 16, 2010)

lrattner said:


> FLL-ATL-Muc rt on Delta $6k for 2 Business.


That's not bad at all. I've seen it as high as $4.5k/per RT.

Another good option is Air France premium economy. Unlike other airlines, like Delta and United, premium economy is a separate cabin with much better seats than economy. It's more of a business "lite" instead of a economy "plus". You can sometimes get well under $2k/per on certain flights to Europe. I was going to book MCO-JFK-CDG-MUC for $1700 in Prem Economy on AF, but the economy ticket on Delta dropped from $1400 to $1050, so I booked the cheaper ticket with the better timing on MCO-ATL-MUC. It helps that with my status I get free Economy Plus.

Here is a promo video on Air France Premium Economy. It's really worth it if you don't want to spend money on Business Class but want a better seat/experience.

http://youtu.be/sSs6D7rjFF4


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## basiluf (Dec 16, 2010)

reddemon73 said:


> when is the best time to buy airline tickets to Munich? One month out, two weeks out? Thanks


It's usually 2 months out, on a early Tuesday morning. Unless the flight is empty, then you can get some deals closer to. Of course starting in the spring through summer, there won't be many empty seats.


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