As you may already know, germanwings is in the process of being rebranded as part of it’s transition to be Lufthansa’s dedicated “low cost carrier” airline that will serve European destinations from Germany (except flights that serve Munich or Frankfurt which will continue to be operated by Lufthansa’s mainline).

To that end, germanwings is beginning the roll out it’s refreshed new look and has started to re-paint their aircraft to reflect their new image. On December 10, germanwings released the following video showing time-lapsed footage of the repainting of D-AGWT, an Airbus A319 that was delivered to the airline on February 23, 2012.

To learn more about the details of the “new” germanwings, please read my previous article highlighting the changes.

Throughout the year, germanwings has occasionally offered “Blind Booking” deals for travel within it’s network. What I like about the promo is it’s element of surprise. You actually do not know your destination until you complete the booking process and pay for your fare. If you’re having trouble deciding where to go, a promo like this is perfect!

You do have the option to choose the theme of your trip, which includes “PARTY”, “SHOPPING”, “CULTURE”, “GAY FRIENDLY”, “SNOW & SKI” and “METROPLIS WESTERN EUROPE”. Within each of these themes, there is a list of cities that germanwings feels fits the theme and it will be one of those cities that you will be ticketed to for you trip. You are able to de-select half of the available cities for each theme if you want to really avoid a certain destination (perhaps an outstanding warrant is waiting for you somewhere??).

For this promotion you can travel between 1 January and 13 February and it does not appear that there are any minimum or maximum stay requirements. Fares start from €33 per segment and there are small surcharges for choosing seats on-line and for checked baggage.

You can begin your travel from Cologne-Bonn, Stuttgart or Hanover and destinations include Vienna, Barcelona, Berlin, Lisbon, Prague, Budapest, Rome among many others throughout Europe.

Please visit the germanwings Blind Booking Promo for more information.

Germanwings today announced the changes that will take place throughout 2013 that will rebrand Lufthansa’s “Low Cost Carrier (LCC)”.

Effective 1 January, Lufthansa’s European and most intra-Germany (Except for flights to and from Munich and Frankfurt) will be operated by germanwings.

Beginning 1 July, germanwings will be officially launched as the sole “LCC” within the Lufthansa Group. At that time, all the product enhancements will also take effect which includes changes to Fare Options (see chart below) and an updated logo.

A brief video showing off the new look:

For passengers, the biggest change will be the 3 fare structures. Beginning 1 July, passengers will have a choice of 3 fare options, each with different features and benefits. This chart clearly identifies the similarities and differences between the 3 options:

As you can see, the Basic-Fare will be the lowest cost fare class with options to purchase premium seating and refreshments. Passengers will also pay to check luggage. Fares will be non-refundable but will be eligible to earn either Miles&More miles or Boomerang Club miles (at reduced rates).

The Smart-Fare will be the standard germanwings fare class who’s benefits will include additional leg room for your seat, complimentary refreshments and free checked luggage (subject to limitations on quantity and weight).

The Best-Fare will be germanwings’ premium fare class that involves several great amenities including an empty middle seat, lounge access, reserved space for carry-on luggage, fast-lane security, lounge access, priority boarding and bonus miles.

Looking at the chart, it’s also made clear that Miles & More Senator and HON level members will have access to lounges even when flying with a Basic or Smart fare ticket. That should come as a relief to those concerned with that issue.

Germanwings has provided the follow Q&A to help answer our initial questions:

According to the press release, germanwings plans to continue offering it’s €33 fare basis for a one way ticket which I suspect will fall into the Basic-Fare category.

At first glance, it seems that germanwings has done a really nice job by providing several layers of benefits for passengers based on the fare class that is chosen. I especially like the fact that passengers will have the option to earn bonus miles and have lounge access when booking “Best-Fare” tickets. Another good benefit is that the booking of these tickets will integrate with Lufthansa so there will not be a need to book these tickets separately when you have other Lufthansa flights on the same itinerary. This means that you’ll be able to select your seats in advance as well.

To learn more about these changes including route details and more information on the streamlining of germanwings, please visit this presentation from germanwings and Lufthansa. Please note that this presentation is in German.

If you have any questions regarding the “new” germanwings, please forward them to me, and I’ll get the answers from germanwings!

Via their Facebook page, germanwings is hosting a contest that will award 100 winners a €100 Travel Voucher. The short contest starts and ends today, 30 November.

The terms/conditions state that the offer is only available to EU residents. The voucher will need to be redeemed by 30 March, and travel completed by 30 May, 2013.

To enter the contest, all you need to do is enter your name and email on this germanwings Facebook Page.

Winners will be notified via Email.

Lufthansa Group’s decision to streamline operations and transfer domestic and intra-european flights (except for those operating from Frankfurt and Munich) exclusively to Germanwings is starting to show up in their reservation systems.

Over the next few days, expect to see “LH” flight numbers to be replaced with “4U” flight numbers across most flights that do not operate to or from Frankfurt or Munich. For those of you unfamiliar with Germanwings, “4U” is their IATA Airline code just as “LH” is Lufthansa’s.

It looks as though Berlin-Stuttgart has already gone through that changeover and several “4U” flight numbers are already in place. I looked at several sample bookings and have seen many instances of the new “4U” flight numbers. “4U” flight numbers will be in the 4U2000 and 4U8000 ranges.

Two weeks ago, Lufthansa decided to retain the “Germanwings” name as it consolidates it Regional and Germanwings division into one Low Cost Carrier (LCC). Expect additional announcements between now and year’s end regarding topics such as flight booking, existing reservations in place for 2013 and frequent flyer program impact. I’ll certainly be covering these topics as they evolve.

Lufthansa subsidiary germanwings today launched a fare sale until midnight(CET) on Sunday, 30 October. Fares start as low as €29.99/one way and range to €49.99/one way based on city pairs. germanwings has made 1 MILLION tickets available for this fare sale. According to the terms/conditions these fares are eligible to earn miles as well.

As stated, tickets must be purchased by this Sunday and the fares are valid for travel between 28 October and 30 March, 2013. This also means that anyone booking a ticket for travel beginning 1 January will be flying Lufthansa’s newly organized Low Cost Carrier as germanwings will become part of the new subsidiary at that point.

For more information on this fare sale, please visit germanwings’ fare sale webpage.

Here are a few sample fares from germanwings.com:

From €29.99/one way:

From €39.99/one way:

From €49.99/one way:

Being reported by Reuters today, Lufthansa will finally consolidate Regional and European operations into a new Low Cost Carrier (LCC) next year. The decision was made in a Supervisory Board meeting held Wednesday in Germany. The move is designed to create a better competitive environment for itself as it faces competition from LCC airlines such as EasyJet and Ryanair.

The plan calls for the new airline to operate all flights (currently through Lufthansa Regional and Eurowings) within Germany and Europe that do not serve Frankfurt and Munich. In addition, Lufthansa’s existing LCC, Germanwings, will be merged into the new airline. This consolidation should lead to operational efficiencies since Lufthansa will only be dealing with one LCC within the airline group.

I really do like this move as it finally takes the various components of Lufthansa’s Regional, Eurowings and Germanwings operations and combines it into one division and more importantly under one brand.

A name has not yet been selected, but an announcement is expected to take place in the coming months. The “new” LCC will operate approximately 90 aircraft and expects to carry 18 million passengers annually.

‘Direct-4-You’ has been used internally as a “code name” for the project primarily because Germanwings’ IATA airline code is 4U. The name has actually grown on me and actually does make marketing sense. But we’ll see what the folks in Frankfurt decide….

The plan calls for the newly organized LCC to begin operations on January 1, 2013.

When the Lufthansa Group Supervisory Committee meets next Wednesday, there may be discussions and proposals surrounding the launch of a new low cost carrier (LCC) from the airline. Currently “germanwings” is considered the unofficial ‘LCC’ of Lufthansa but there have been conversations that have come and gone over the last year or so that may finally lead to an “official” LCC brand within the Lufthansa Group.

According to the story that I first saw on Reuters this morning, no decisions are expected during the meeting but we may learn about a blue print that may be in development.

Back in April I had originally written about plans for “Direct 4 You” which involved the potential of Lufthansa converting “germanwings” and “Eurowings” into a new LCC. Eurowings is a subsidiary within Lufthansa’s Regional Division.

At a time when Lufthansa sees continued pressure from LCC’s on intra-european routes, it may be coming close to deciding on how it will compete effectively for that space in the European market.

germanwings (an lcc unit of Lufthansa Group) is currently running a fare promotion that adds just a bit of mystery and surprise to your travel plans.

How it works: You tell germanwings the kind of travel theme that you are interested in booking and they provide a list of potential destinations that you could be booked to. You don’t find out where you are going until after you book your ticket, hence the surprise. You do have some control however in that you can de-select cities from the pre-fixed menu of destinations.

First you pick your departure airport and the kind of travel theme you are interested in:

The next step is to select or deselect the cities that are potential destinations (there is a €5 fee for each airport you deselect):

From there you select your seats (keep in mind there is a surcharge to choose your seat at booking) at which point you are then taken to the billing page.

After you enter your payment details, you’ll finally find out where you are going!

The various travel themes have several cities that overlap. For example Berlin comes up for Shopping, Party and Metropolis Western Europe themes so you may see the same cities come up under different themes. I suspect that you can party, shop and take in a large European city by simply visiting Berlin.

Where I see this fare promotion being attractive is when you simply can’t decide where to go and you’ve narrowed it down to at least several cities, letting the airline make the decision for you in this case may actually be a good idea!

If you are off to Europe this summer you may want to consider adding an excursion like this within your trip. It may expose you to a city you had never thought of visiting!

To learn more about the options that are available from germanwing’s Blind Booking fare deals please visit their website.