Lufthansa City Airlines Joining Star Alliance... Finally!

Will they join as a full member or only as an affiliate?

Couple week ago I connected from FRA to BOD (Bordeaux) on LH5704.
My boarding pass showed my *A Gold Status and the flight number „LH5704 also as EN8902“.
As it turns out, I was not allowed to use the lounge as in fact the flight was considered an Air Dolomiti flight. Also didn’t get any miles.

Then on the other hand, on „LH4889 also as WK130“ (aka LX8130) from ZRH to HRG I could enter the lounge even though Edelweiss is also not part of Star Alliance. Return flight was “LH4251 also as 4Y217” without Lounge as Discover is not in Star Alliance. All flights were part of one trip directly booked on the LH website on Lufthansa ticket stock.

Then there is “Lufthansa operated by Air Baltic” with Star Alliance benefits.

I avoid Lufthansa like the plague, yet I must fly them within Germany in October because the German train system is even worse. Get it together, Germany!

Sounds quite annoying. It get's even worse as EW which is also bookable over LH website doesn't offer lounge entry for some tickets even if you are M&M...

Regarding “Lufthansa operated by Air Baltic” - this is a wet lease and as such counts as the leasing airline - in this case LH.

Well this is where the *A rule comes in, where the points/miles are credited based on operating carrier, not marketing carrier. LH also makes exceptions for lounge access for its subsidiary airlines.

The LH flights operated by airBaltic are wet-lease arrangements, so for all miles/lounge access intent, it's treated as a LH flight.

Deutsche Bahn really has gone completely to the dogs, hasn't it? The trains - when they operate at all - are chronically behind schedule. Stations and rolling stock are filthy and poorly maintained. Advertised services on the trains are often unavailable. Twenty years ago DB was Europe's leading rail operator and today it's a disgrace. An apt metaphor for Germany as a whole. So sad to watch the country spiraling the way it is...

I'm old enough to remember the 00s, when Germany's train system was the envy of Europe (and, certainly, of American tourists coming to Europe for the first time).

It's so true. I was on a DB train last November and there was not an employee in the dining/cafeteria car which was closed due to "low staff". Still, there were just cases of warm German beer lying unstocked in the car. I saw a dude grab one, so I decided to grab one too, then before you know it an older woman was joining us. We put down between 7-10 half liters just sitting there in the dining car and nobody came by and said anything.

Some Star Alliance partners negotiated some benefits on certain LH subsidiaries. For example, UA *G get lounge access when flying Eurowings through a specific agreement, even though Eurowings isn't in Star Alliance.

I don't really get this. Why couldn't they operate LH City as a wet lease for LH, thus effectively making them part of *A? I mean, Air Baltic flying for LH gives benefits so why not use the same model?

I am an A3 Gold member with Miles & Bonus, and I was disappointed to learn that, regardless of your class of ticket, you earn no miles with A3. Will this change when City (VL) becomes part of Star Alliance?

It will almost certainly change, of course you'll still be earning nothing in P-class or the 3 cheapest economy ones.

Union contracts limit the amount of wet-leasing allowed. That's why also most Air Dolomiti flights do not operate as wet lease.

I can't understand why these benefits weren't extended to begin with. If you fly AC Express, you get whatever regular benefits you enjoy across the alliance, but they're not a star alliance member, at least not on their own AFAIK. I'm also under the impression you get the same benefits flying AC Rouge, though the benefits would be lower earnings and such as it's a leisure carrier. The concept of labour savings is the same.

I can only assume this was a Lufthansa decision to not allow other airline members to enjoy those benefits. It's not like it should be some technical glitch or a limitation of not being in the alliance on their own. It's a subsidiary, which means it's under the same umbrella as the mainline carrier, so it just makes no sense to me that this wasn't always the case. Why do we even have to wait for them to join the alliance?

So... anyone managed to get miles credit on Aegean for a flight on Lufthansa City Airlines? I can at least tell that until now, it does not work automatically when providing your A3 membership during booking on the original Lufthansa website. You will get the status benefits (fast track, lounge access, "priority" flag on the boarding pass), but no credit on your A3 account. Booking classes were V + W, European flights (Germany to Italy and back).