I'm trying to work out a trip to Germany and I'm hesitant about which airline to choose. I've been seeing a lot of bad things about Iberian airlines and Alitalia lately, and when we fly Delta to Paris a few years ago they were AWFUL. Awful enough that it is my mission in life to never give them my money again.
So, the two options I'm facing now are KLM/Northwest and Lufthansa/United. Any words of wisdom?
Northwest has been in the news in the last couple of months for canceling an unsually large number of domestic flights. Apparently the international departures operated by their partner, KLM, have not had this problem.
Swiss and German airlines are the best, I go out of my way to fly them, even if the ticket is more expensive than others. They are the least likely to be late,and the least likely to loose your luggage. Go with Lufthansa.
Lufthansa/United, definitely
I actually really like Northwest and have used them quite a bit. I've never had a problem with them canceling a flight or anything. And the direct to Amsterdam is pretty great.
Plus...they have TV's in the back of every seat and a huge list of free movies to watch. It makes the 9 hour flight much more comfortable.
I don't know...i'd honestly choose whatever airline was offering the cheapest flight.
Thanks for the input!
northwest is horrible.
luthansa is always a sure bet. i take it all the time. the bad part is, flying the united flight. i live in germany, so when i depart via lufthansa, i have a (2) 70lbs baggage allowance. however, returning is always with united, which has (2) 50lbs. allowance. it definitely was not fun during the xmas season. AND united doesn't have free alcohol or wine on the flight, whereas lufthansa does. check out flysas.com they're part of the star alliance and i'll be flying them for the first time in oct. hamburg to chicago.
both KLM and Lufthansa are good airlines, it's a tossup. I'd favor United over Northwest because NW has had lots of flights cancelled lately due to a dispute with their pilots. If one of the 2 options has a flight leaving from Minneapolis and goes direct to your destination or connects in Europe I'd pick that over one that doesn't. In case you miss a connection due to a delay its better to be standing in Europe and needing the next relatively short flight than to be standing in the US needing a flight over the Atlantic.
I've had good luck so far with Northwest and KLM, hopefully my luck will continue in the future. All the cancellations that have been in the news (Northwest but not KLM) do get your attention, though.
Lufthansa are a quality airline and about as good as it gets for efficiancy and cutomer service.
But I have to say one word in favour of KLM. I was with my wife and we found ourselve caught up in a sticky situation in Africa and flying on 'no-change, no-refund' tickets. When no other airline would help us out they got us on a flight. They aren't the most luxurious airline in the world but they're still number one with me.
I've flown both and they were both wonderful! We were disappointed that they weren't cheaper. We're flying Continental because they were hundreds cheaper...
