Normally, LufthansaFlyer.com doesn’t have too many of those “Give Away” type posts since I’d rather focus on relevant content, but in this case I’ll make a rare exception.

I have available 2 vouchers to the Liquidrom Spa in Berlin, Germany. The vouchers are valid for 4 hours of Spa use and can be redeemed at anytime. I for one am not the “spa type” so I’d rather see these vouchers go to someone who can use them versus sitting around and not being utilized.

Entry is easy, simply leave a comment to this post below and that will qualify as your entry (one per person only). I’ll pick the winner on August 6 at midnight (US Eastern Time) and forward the vouchers once I make contact with the winner.

So if you are reading this from Berlin and would like to pamper yourself, friend or loved one for a few hours or are going to be in Berlin on future travels, please take advantage of this opportunity!

Please use this LINK to visit the Liquidrom Spa Website and GOOD LUCK!

The vouchers do not have an expiry date, so there’s no rush to redeem them if you are not going to be in Berlin right away.

Lufthansa’s marketing department had recently posted a video on Youtube highlighting a “photo shoot” featuring the 747-8i. The photo shoot video (watch it below) takes a behind the scenes look at the efforts that were required to complete photo and video shoots for upcoming video and print advertising that highlight the passenger experience in the newly designed cabins.

I always find it interesting to see these kind of “Behind the Scenes” videos and hope you enjoy this one as well.

I had the good fortune to fly on the 747-8i 2 days after it entered service in June and had my own “photo shoot” from the first class cabin where I happened to be the only passenger to be seated in the cabin on the flight from Frankfurt to Washington. It was one of my best travel experiences, ever.

Regardless of cabin, if you are looking at traveling on Lufthansa to Europe I highly recommend you try to fly aboard the 747-8i for a great experience. Currently, the only US departure point is from Washingon DC, but plans call for using future 747-8i’s on Lufthansa’s Los Angeles and Chicago routes. Stay tuned for those announcements!

Most of you may have heard by now so apologies in advance, but Lufthansa will be introducing the “Flagship” A380 on it’s Frankfurt-Houston route beginning this Wednesday, August 1.

To celebrate the occasion, Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) will be hosting a party to welcome the arrival of the A380 from Frankfurt between 12p and 2p (Local Houston Time). The party is set to be held within a fenced in area near the runway normally not open to the public so it will afford some great views when the A380 lands in the early afternoon.

I wish I can be there, but due to an immoveable commitment at work I will unfortunately not be able to join in the festivities. Hopefully many of you can be there and share your pictures and experiences.

To learn more about the party, please visit Houston Intercontinental’s dedicated webpage for the event.

In a few short weeks, I’ll be heading out for a few days in Singapore. The trip came on relatively short notice and at quite a surprise thanks to the tech issue that allowed for the award booking of Singapore First Class seats through United’s Mileage Plus while Singapore was undergoing a technology upgrade a few weekends ago.

Being that I’ve never been to Singapore, I’m reaching out to you for advice on things to do while I am there. Thus far only 2 things are set in stone. One, my flights are set. Normally most of my international travel involves Lufthansa, but in this case, considering the circumstances under which I was able to book the trip, I’ll be flying on Singapore Airlines (Star Alliance member) for the first time.

I’ll be flying United from Grand Rapids to Houston and from there it will be on Singapore Airlines from Houston to Singapore via Moscow. On the return, it will be Singapore-Hong Kong-San Francisco on Singapore and then San Francisco-Chicago-Grand Rapids on United:

The only other item on my agenda that is set is my hotel. I’ll be staying at the Grand Hyatt and will be in a good position to compare and contrast this property against the other Hyatt properties that I had stayed in during previous trips to Hong Kong, specifically the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, and the Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui.

Apart from these 2 items on my itinerary, there’s little else on my itinerary and this is where I hope you can help. On past trips, you have given me fantastic recommendations on places to go and things to see in Istanbul and Hong Kong. I’m hoping that will be the case with Singapore as well! For your efforts (as was the case in my other trips), I’ll bring back souvenirs from Singapore for the individuals responsible for the top 3 places that are suggested (as determined by me).

Thanks in advance for your ideas and suggestions, I look forward to sorting through all of them!

Austrian has launched a one day “Red|Monday” fare sale effective until Midnight (local Vienna time) July 30 for travel from Vienna to Bologna or Prague between August 3 and August 6. Since it is already past midnight in Vienna, the offer is currently underway.

Fares are attractive at only €109 and according to the terms and conditions, a stay can be as short as 1 night, to as many as 4 nights. Departing from an Austrian city other than Vienna will increase the fare to €159.

Though I’ve never been to Bologna, I have been to Prague more times that I can remember and it’s certainly a “MUST SEE” city so a fare special like this creates a great opportunity. If you can take advantage of the timing of this promotion, I certainly encourage you to do so!

For more information, or to book this promotion, please visit Austrian’s Fare Sale Website.

AIR CANADA:

Montreal-Houston effective September 4 is CANCELED.
Toronto-Memphis effective September 18 is CANCELED.
Toronto-Houston effective September 4 will increase from 3x/day to 4x/day (4th flight operates weekdays only).
Vancouver-Sydney effective December 14 will increase from 1x/day to 10x/WEEK.

BRUSSELS AIRLINES:

Brussels-Edinburgh effective October 28 will BEGIN 6x/week service.
Brussels-Edinburgh effective March 31 will increase from 6x/week to 12x/week.

LOT POLISH:

Warsaw-Athens effective October 28 will be reduced from 5x/week to 3x/week.

LUFTHANSA:

Munich-Athens effective October 28 will be reduced from 19x/week to 14x/week.
Frankfurt-Athens effective October 28 will be reduced from 3x/day to 2x/day.
Dusseldorf-Sophia effective October 27 is CANCELED.
Munich-London City effective October 27 is CANCELED.

SINGAPORE:

Singapore–Mumbai effective October 28 will increase from 19x/week to 21x/week.

SOUTH AFRICAN:

Johannesburg-Nairobi effective September 13 will increase from 1x/day to 10x/week.
Johannesburg-Mumbai effective September 27 will increase from 6x/week to 1x/DAY.
Johannesburg-Sao Paulo effective October 1 will increase from 10x/week to 11x/week.

SWISS:

Geneva-Athens effective October 28 will be reduced from 2x/day to 1x/day.
Zurich-Geneva effective October 28 will be reduced from 21x/week to 16x/week.
Zurich-Miami effective November 29 will increase from 1x/day to 11x/WEEK.

THAI:

Bangkok-Sapporo effective December 25 will increase from 3x/week to 4x/week.

TURKISH:

Istanbul-Dar es Salaam effective October 28 will be reduced from 1x/day to 5x/week.
Istanbul-Sharm el Sheikh effective October 9 will BEGIN 4x/week service.

PREVIOUS STAR ALLIANCE ROUTE ANNOUNCEMENTS

Source: www.Airlineroute.net

Lufthansa’s Trip Finder is a handy tool that’s hidden in “plain view” on Lufthansa.com that will help you pick potential travel destinations based on your budget and travel preferences. It’s certainly a useful tool when you are looking to book a trip but can’t decide where to go and when you want to stay within a certain budget.

Trip Finder is designed to take into consideration your travel budget and then make recommendations based on your preferences and Lufthansa’s fare table. The way it works is simple:

First, you tell Trip Finder where you are departing from and use the slider to establish your airfare budget (per person). I’ll use a departure from New York City with a budget of $500-1500 as an example:

Next, Trip Finder returns with it’s results showing you where your budget can take you. On this screen you can also drop down the “Activities” Tab to select your preferences. Options include destinations that specialize in shopping, dining, outdoors, golf, diving, museums, historical sites, etc. Also on this screen you can use the “Countries” drop down tab to select or deselect countries based on your preferences:

In the following example, I wanted to travel from New York to a “Diving” destination that fit within my budget. I selected “Diving” from the “Activity” drop down tab and Trip Finder comes back with the following potential destinations that are associated with Diving:

In this case, I never knew that Palma de Mallorca was a Diving destination so I select it and Trip Finder provides me with the lowest fare possible for a certain date:

Choosing “CONTINUE” from this screen then takes you to Lufthansa’s fare booking page and you can go ahead and book your travel.

I like this tool for a couple of reasons. First, it recommends destinations (based on your budget) which makes its great to use because it can introduce you to places you may have not considered or thought you can afford (Example: I never knew I can dive in Palma!). Additionally, it works within your paramaters so there is no disappointment when you find a place that you want to go, only to find out you may not be able to afford the trip.

The next time you are getting a case of “cabin fever” and are looking for a getaway but just can’t think of where you can go with the dollars you have to spend, why not let Trip Finder narrow down some ideas for you? The results may surprise you!

To begin using Trip Finder, Follow this LINK to it’s Home Page.

After spending yet more time at observation points at Los Angeles International prior to heading for home after visiting family, I managed to capture another few hundred images. On my final day in Los Angeles, I split a few hours between the popular In-N-Out location and the Imperial Hill Observation area. I’m glad I did since I was able to spot airlines and aircraft that I had not seen on my 2 other “sessions” at LAX. This is the final installment of photos from what had easily been my greatest plane spotting experience.

If you missed my previous Plane Spotting Posts, you can find them here: Part I and Part II

ANA Boeing 777 Arrives From Tokyo

Arriving from Seoul, South Korea

Arriving from Hong Kong

A bit blurry due to heat "haze" from runway.

Departing for Seoul, South Korea

Cathay's Boeing 777

EVA's Cargo flight departs

No "Marine Layer" haze allowed for some great shots.....

Emirates Boeing 777

Emirates continuing it's climb

No plane spotting session is complete without a Lufthansa 747!

Destination: Frankfurt

A very light FEDEX climbs steeply

MASAIR's Boeing 767

THAI's Boeing 777 arrives from Bangkok

....And departs for Bangkok a few hours later.

Singapore's Airbus A380

Lufthansa’s Social Media Team has just launched their next contest via Facebook. Called “Sports Bingo”, the contest is geared around the London Olympic Games and is based on a “Bingo” format.

The prizes are outstanding for this promotion. Lufthansa will be giving away 3 sets of tickets to Rio De Janeiro (each set contains 2 tickets), Hotel Vouchers from “Worldhotels” and 10,000 Lufthansa Flight vouchers.

You must use your Facebook account to enter. The format is similar to the “Euro Cup 2012″ Fussball contest that had been run during the tournament.

To register for the contest and begin collecting you Bingo “Markers”, please visit the contest’s Facebook Page. Registration is open from July 25 to August 12, 2012.

Participation is limited to citizens of the following countries (Sorry US, we’re excluded again):

Albania, Argentina, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, Hongkong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Irish Republic, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Venezuela, Vietnam.

Good luck to everyone and let me know if you win something along the way!

AIR CANADA:

Toronto-Allentown effective August 15 is CANCELED.

ANA:

Tokyo(NRT)-New York(JFK) effective October 28 will increase from 1x/day to 2x/day.

EGYPTAIR:

Cairo-Mumbai effective between July 24 and October 27 will decrease from 4x/week to 3x/week.

LUFTHANSA:

Frankfurt-London(LGW) effective October 28 is CANCELED.
Frankfurt-Naples effective October 28 is CANCELED.

SINGAPORE:

Singapore-Milan-Barcelona effective October 28 will will be reduced from 4x/week to 2x/week.
Singapore-Mumbai effective October 28 will increase from 19x/week to 21x/week.
Singapore-Perth effective October 28 will increase from 3x/day to 4x/day.

SOUTH AFRICAN:

Johannesburg-Sao Paulo effective October 1 will increase from 10x/week to 11x/week.

THAI (SMILE):

Bangkok-Hyderabad effective September 16 will begin 1x/day service.
Bangkok-Krabi effective March 31 will increase from 5x/day to 6x/day.
Bangkok-Phuket effective March 31 will increase from 1x/day to 2x/day.

TURKISH:

Istanbul-Rome effective October 28 will increase from 18x/week to 21x/week.
Istanbul-Tel Aviv effective September 1 will increase from 25x/week to 30x/week.
Istanbul-Tel Aviv effective September 27 will increase from 30x/week to 31x/week.
Istanbul-Tel Aviv effective October 1 will increase from 30x/week to 32x/week.
Istanbul-Venice effective October 28 will increase from 14x/week to 17x/week.

PREVIOUS STAR ALLIANCE ROUTE ANNOUNCEMENTS

Courtesy: www.Airlineroute.net

I enjoyed my first day “Plane Spotting” at LAX so much that I decided to go back sooner than later and do it again.

This time, I decided to head over to the northeast corner of the airport and go to the world famous In-N-Out Burger Restaurant and take my photos from the park that is across the street from the restaurant. Located at the intersection of West 92 Street and South Sepulveda Boulevard, it is about as close as you can ever get to an airport to watch airplanes and enjoy lunch, dinner or both as it was in my case!

If you plan to visit make sure to have the proper equipment otherwise you will be disappointed. For Imperial Hill (use the above link to see it’s vantage point) you’ll need at least 300mm or more in lens ability otherwise you will not get close to the departing aircraft. For the In-N-Out location 80-140mm will be plenty of lens power. I found myself keeping my 18-70mm in the bag since it was a bit short and had to step back a bit to use my 150-500mm lens effectively.

Across from In-N-Out - A great park with plenty of room and a great view

Great vantage point and you only need 80-120mm of lens!

This time, I would have a great view of arriving aircraft throughout the afternoon. Yesterday’s trip to the Imperial Hill observation area afforded a great look at departing aircraft so today’s trip was a nice compliment.

Throughout the afternoon there were dozens of arrivals, primarily US based carriers and their regional fleet that we see everyday so I’ll spare you from those photos. The photos that I include here are of aircraft one typically doesn’t see everyday in most places (like GRR for example). After 500 pictures, I’ve narrowed it down to some of my favorites, including a few that are slightly off topic (you’ll see what I mean).

I'm going to see the inside of this one in September!

Not sure what to think of this one. At 500mm & heat-haze, it's blurry but interesting (I think...)

I mentioned earlier that there were a few “off-topic” pictures as well. Sitting near a restaurant attracts quite a variety of birds looking to take advantage of people’s generosity. In between arriving aircraft, I had a chance to stalk some of these birds, and found a couple of birds willing to pose.

This bird was perched several yards away. Nothing a fully extended 500mm couldn’t handle:

This little critter decided to demonstrate his hygiene by using dirt as a cleanser:

Step 1: Find soft patch of dirt

Stick head in dirt, make sure to get behind the ears.......

Ahhhhh, that's better.........

Having spent parts of 2 days Plane Spotting at LAX, it has quickly become one of my favorite places to watch airliners come and go. Not many airports are conducive to plane spotting but in the case of LAX its about as good as it can get.

My other favorite plane spotting airport is Frankfurt and I would give it a slight advantage over LAX because of it’s dedicated Observation Deck in Terminal 2. Frankfurt’s advantage is it’s ability to put you nearly on the tarmac as far as you vantage point is concerned. At the end of the day, you can’t go wrong with either one!