Jshank83 wrote:

pmanni1 wrote:

Anyone know what the Swift Air flight (2042) that's been arriving from CVG at 6:24am is for? I've noticed it 3 times this week.

It’s the daily DHL flight.

Flies OMA-STL-CVG in the evening. Reverse in the morning.

I don't recall flystl ever showing it as a scheduled flight on their arrivals/departures board.

pmanni1 wrote:

Jshank83 wrote:

pmanni1 wrote:

Anyone know what the Swift Air flight (2042) that's been arriving from CVG at 6:24am is for? I've noticed it 3 times this week.

It’s the daily DHL flight.

Flies OMA-STL-CVG in the evening. Reverse in the morning.

I don't recall flystl ever showing it as a scheduled flight on their arrivals/departures board.

If it’s up now it’s because they have that new board. Since it’s cargo it shouldn’t be listed.

Jshank83 wrote:

The LH departure pulled back from the gate about 10 minutes late today. Getting better!

F9 CUN flight was 41!! minutes early so it still had to wait a bit but that is its own fault.

No kidding. First, they block that flight for 3:22 and average around 2:40ish. F987 pushed from the gate 20 minutes early. Someone should figure out that leaving CUN and arriving 30-40 minutes early to STL is not a good idea. Probably time to shift that flight 30 minutes later for departure.

Question for those more knowledgeable than me: Who is handling ground support for LH in St. Louis? I can't imagine that they've hired staff directly. I took the Lufthansa flight last week, and the gate agents' performance was among the worst I've ever seen. And I don't say that without tremendous respect for the amount of work and the number of variables that happen behind the scenes. There was no urgency, no communication, and often no common sense (e.g., one man monopolized the gate agents with his connection quesitons for more than 40 minutes while the queue behind him grew to more than a dozen people). It got so bad that I actually heard the purser berate the gate agents for not being able to get it together - "What are you even doing? We are an hour late! Do I need to close the flight myself?" We ended up leaving about 75 minutes late. I know there's a steep learning curve for operating this kind of flight, but after a month, it seems like there needs to be more of an emphasis on execution. It was not a great experience from a customer service perspective.

TWA583 wrote:

Question for those more knowledgeable than me: Who is handling ground support for LH in St. Louis? I can't imagine that they've hired staff directly. I took the Lufthansa flight last week, and the gate agents' performance was among the worst I've ever seen. And I don't say that without tremendous respect for the amount of work and the number of variables that happen behind the scenes. There was no urgency, no communication, and often no common sense (e.g., one man monopolized the gate agents with his connection quesitons for more than 40 minutes while the queue behind him grew to more than a dozen people). It got so bad that I actually heard the purser berate the gate agents for not being able to get it together - "What are you even doing? We are an hour late! Do I need to close the flight myself?" We ended up leaving about 75 minutes late. I know there's a steep learning curve for operating this kind of flight, but after a month, it seems like there needs to be more of an emphasis on execution. It was not a great experience from a customer service perspective.

I think its ATS. That sounds right but I am not 100% sure. They handle some of the other airlines that don't have their own staff. It sounds like the Chicago station manager (who also manages STL) needs to spend more time down here, and maybe bring some ORD workers with her for a bit longer.

I figured it was ground handling outside the plane stuff that was holding up things, not boarding passengers related. 2 hours should be plenty of time to unload and load the passengers.

The real test for Lufthansa on the ground at STL is going to be first time this thing cancels.

stlgph wrote:

The real test for Lufthansa on the ground at STL is going to be first time this thing cancels.

At least the UA team (also do AC) should be pretty good at handling things to help pick up people in that situation..... Although, their biggest issue will be lack of seats to put them in to get to the hubs with how much UA has cut at STL.

stlgph wrote:

The real test for Lufthansa on the ground at STL is going to be first time this thing cancels.

One of the more comical aspects of the cluster I described was the lack of familiarity with the places to which people were connecting, as well as the connection process writ large in Frankfurt. The ground staff clearly hadn't heard of many destinations, or even some of the airlines to which pax were transferring. It was amusing to me at the time, but to your point, it'll get messy when the ground staff has to figure out how to get someone to Zagreb, Faro, or Baku (for example) via a different routing. The other issue was the lack of understanding of Schengen vs. non-Schengen transit. A lot of pax were getting incorrect information about what to expect in Frankfurt. Not the end of the world, and not unexpected so early, but taken together, the whole experience left me feeling very much like the ground staff wasn't ready for a flight of flight of this nature. Hopefully things get better as the process becomes routine.

May numbers for @flystl

Up 44.4% vs May 2021
Down 13.2% vs May 2019

Last 12 months passengers
12,367,155
About the same as 2014

https://www.flystl.com/uploads/document ... rt-May.pdf

TWA583 wrote:

stlgph wrote:

The real test for Lufthansa on the ground at STL is going to be first time this thing cancels.

One of the more comical aspects of the cluster I described was the lack of familiarity with the places to which people were connecting, as well as the connection process writ large in Frankfurt. The ground staff clearly hadn't heard of many destinations, or even some of the airlines to which pax were transferring. It was amusing to me at the time, but to your point, it'll get messy when the ground staff has to figure out how to get someone to Zagreb, Faro, or Baku (for example) via a different routing. The other issue was the lack of understanding of Schengen vs. non-Schengen transit. A lot of pax were getting incorrect information about what to expect in Frankfurt. Not the end of the world, and not unexpected so early, but taken together, the whole experience left me feeling very much like the ground staff wasn't ready for a flight of flight of this nature. Hopefully things get better as the process becomes routine.

To be fair, I wouldn’t expect ground staff in STL to know how to connect at FRA. I guess if you’re not at all familiar with Schengen, going through passport control in Germany may be confusing if your final destination is elsewhere in Schengen and you may think you made a wrong turn somewhere so a heads up at STL would be nice. But I really hope people here aren’t expecting ground staff to be giving detailed directions on the connections process. Follow the signs at FRA, it’s impossible to screw it up despite the airport’s size.

Rebooking 200+ people in the event of a cancelation is going to be a total clusterf though. No way UA and AC would have enough empty seats to get people to their hubs. Will LH rebook people on AA and DL in the event of IRROPS?

Jshank83 wrote:

May numbers for @flystl

Up 44.4% vs May 2021
Down 13.2% vs May 2019

Last 12 months passengers
12,367,155
About the same as 2014

https://www.flystl.com/uploads/document ... rt-May.pdf

Cargo down big and they conveniently stopped reporting the % declines.

strangeplanes wrote:

Jshank83 wrote:

May numbers for @flystl

Up 44.4% vs May 2021
Down 13.2% vs May 2019

Last 12 months passengers
12,367,155
About the same as 2014

https://www.flystl.com/uploads/document ... rt-May.pdf

Cargo down big and they conveniently stopped reporting the % declines.

I’m guessing they just didn’t realize it wasn’t there. It wasn’t down as much as the previous month. Disappointing to see it down but they had some pretty good jumps last year. Numbers are still better than 2020 so that’s at least good. I think I noticed some cargo flights back for summer and LH should help so we will see what June ends up being.

Jshank83 wrote:

May numbers for @flystl

Up 44.4% vs May 2021
Down 13.2% vs May 2019

Last 12 months passengers
12,367,155
About the same as 2014

https://www.flystl.com/uploads/document ... rt-May.pdf

Getting closer to 2019. It will be interesting to see June/July.
What's the seat count now vs 2019?

dcaproducer wrote:

Jshank83 wrote:

May numbers for @flystl

Up 44.4% vs May 2021
Down 13.2% vs May 2019

Last 12 months passengers
12,367,155
About the same as 2014

https://www.flystl.com/uploads/document ... rt-May.pdf

Getting closer to 2019. It will be interesting to see June/July.
What's the seat count now vs 2019?

I can't see this image on my work computer because the short urls are blocked but I am pretty sure this shows it. The link has a slide for sure. Slide 14

Midwestindy wrote:

https://www.airlines.org/wp-content/upl ... ates-2.pdf

My spreadsheet for July is updated. July is a tab over and says incomplete but its done.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... =112309256

WN is down 10.5% on flights (I don't do seats for them)

Seats based off Mondays
AA is down 8%
DL is down 17.5% - need to doublecheck that I updated Delta for July. I think I did but I didn't put updated by it. But it should be close since it would be June numbers
UA is down 45% - a little misleading because they throw in a an extra mainline on IAH on other days of the week, but UA is still down a bunch.

Jshank83 wrote:

dcaproducer wrote:

Jshank83 wrote:

May numbers for @flystl

Up 44.4% vs May 2021
Down 13.2% vs May 2019

Last 12 months passengers
12,367,155
About the same as 2014

https://www.flystl.com/uploads/document ... rt-May.pdf

Getting closer to 2019. It will be interesting to see June/July.
What's the seat count now vs 2019?

I can't see this image on my work computer because the short urls are blocked but I am pretty sure this shows it. The link has a slide for sure. Slide 14

Midwestindy wrote:

https://www.airlines.org/wp-content/upl ... ates-2.pdf

My spreadsheet for July is updated. July is a tab over and says incomplete but its done.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... =112309256

WN is down 10.5% on flights (I don't do seats for them)

Seats based off Mondays
AA is down 8%
DL is down 17.5% - need to doublecheck that I updated Delta for July. I think I did but I didn't put updated by it. But it should be close since it would be June numbers
UA is down 45% - a little misleading because they throw in a an extra mainline on IAH on other days of the week, but UA is still down a bunch.

Thanks. Good info. We'll see how the second half looks.
Hopefully STL can climb above 2019 numbers next year.

dcaproducer wrote:

Jshank83 wrote:

dcaproducer wrote:

Getting closer to 2019. It will be interesting to see June/July.
What's the seat count now vs 2019?

I can't see this image on my work computer because the short urls are blocked but I am pretty sure this shows it. The link has a slide for sure. Slide 14

Midwestindy wrote:

https://www.airlines.org/wp-content/upl ... ates-2.pdf

My spreadsheet for July is updated. July is a tab over and says incomplete but its done.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... =112309256

WN is down 10.5% on flights (I don't do seats for them)

Seats based off Mondays
AA is down 8%
DL is down 17.5% - need to doublecheck that I updated Delta for July. I think I did but I didn't put updated by it. But it should be close since it would be June numbers
UA is down 45% - a little misleading because they throw in a an extra mainline on IAH on other days of the week, but UA is still down a bunch.

Thanks. Good info. We'll see how the second half looks.
Hopefully STL can climb above 2019 numbers next year.

Summer was originally scheduled to be higher for 2019, so at this point the only thing holding it back is staffing and airline issues getting their houses in order. So I would hope next summer is back above.

dcaproducer wrote:

Jshank83 wrote:

dcaproducer wrote:

Getting closer to 2019. It will be interesting to see June/July.
What's the seat count now vs 2019?

I can't see this image on my work computer because the short urls are blocked but I am pretty sure this shows it. The link has a slide for sure. Slide 14

Midwestindy wrote:

https://www.airlines.org/wp-content/upl ... ates-2.pdf

My spreadsheet for July is updated. July is a tab over and says incomplete but its done.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... =112309256

WN is down 10.5% on flights (I don't do seats for them)

Seats based off Mondays
AA is down 8%
DL is down 17.5% - need to doublecheck that I updated Delta for July. I think I did but I didn't put updated by it. But it should be close since it would be June numbers
UA is down 45% - a little misleading because they throw in a an extra mainline on IAH on other days of the week, but UA is still down a bunch.

Thanks. Good info. We'll see how the second half looks.
Hopefully STL can climb above 2019 numbers next year.

I guess I hadn't updated Delta. They are down 22.5% Mostly same frequencies. Subbed a couple 220-1's for -3s on SLC. swapped out a mainline MSP for RJ

July 2022 Frequency update

Flights per week June
July 2022 (June 2022) July 2019 (%vs July 2019)
WN 727 (702) 813 (-10.5%)
AA 233 (240) 265 (-12%)
DL 145 (147) 204 (-28.9%)
UA 119 (129) 203 (-41.3%)
F9 36 (36) 38 (-5.3%)
NK 14 (14) XX
AC 14 (14) 21 (-33%)
AS 14 (10) 21 (-33%)


G4 35 (20) 46 (-24%) - vs 2021 since it was better than 2019

Total STL 1401 (1391) 1738 (-19.4%)

June 2021 Seats based on Monday (July 2019 seats) vs July 2019
AA 4058 (4410) -8%
DL 2562 (3262) -21.5%
UA 1082 (1968) -45%

Notes:
AC- one frequency goes to an E175
WN - up to 106 a day. Added frequencies to BOS/PIT/MDW/LAS
UA - Down from a fair amount from 2020. Pretty disappointing
AA - one less LGA frequency than June

Full Spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

Delta cut system wide through August. It’s been a mess.
DL sent out an email this week from Ed Bastian apologizing to business travelers and pledging to do better.

Noticed the LH flight just sitting next to 29 for a long time. Track made it look like it started to take off then aborted.

flipped on atc. Sounded like I heard them say something about shutting down engines and waiting for brakes to cool.

Jshank83 wrote:

Notes:
UA - Down from a fair amount from 2020. Pretty disappointing

STL can likely support increased frequency on UA with the bigger UA FF base that is likely there in the STL market due to the LH STL-FRA nonstop flights.

UA can also upgauge more of its nonstop flights out of STL to mainline, and STL-EWR can likely support increased capacity on UA with WN no longer serving EWR.

STL can also probably support WN nonstop service to IAH and IAD with UA down to 2x daily nonstops on STL-IAH and 1x daily nonstop on STL-IAD. In addition to reduced frequency that is currently there on UA STL-IAH/IAD, WN also has significant FF bases in Houston and DC in addition to STL to support STL-IAH/IAD nonstop service on WN.

jplatts wrote:

Jshank83 wrote:

Notes:
UA - Down from a fair amount from 2020. Pretty disappointing

STL can likely support increased frequency on UA with the bigger UA FF base that is likely there in the STL market due to the LH STL-FRA nonstop flights.

UA can also upgauge more of its nonstop flights out of STL to mainline, and STL-EWR can likely support increased capacity on UA with WN no longer serving EWR.

Well UA doesn’t seem to interested in doing much. They removed all mainline for July except a less than daily IAH flight.

Excuse me if I missed this but what have the load factors been on the Lufthansa flight?

ultrapig wrote:

Excuse me if I missed this but what have the load factors been on the Lufthansa flight?

Supposedly as of the first flight they were projected to be 90%+ thru August. Not sure we will get actually numbers until they get posted, which has a 6 month delay for international numbers

AC has canceled both flights all weekend. Fri-Sun. The early flight is also canceled for Monday already. What a mess

Jshank83 wrote:

AC has canceled both flights all weekend. Fri-Sun. The early flight is also canceled for Monday already. What a mess

Is AC in the same Charlie Foxtrot as other airlines with staffing issues?

TWA302 wrote:

Jshank83 wrote:

AC has canceled both flights all weekend. Fri-Sun. The early flight is also canceled for Monday already. What a mess

Is AC in the same Charlie Foxtrot as other airlines with staffing issues?

Yep

https://www.forbes.com/sites/sandramacg ... 82394868ca

Looks like Jazz is being hit particularly hard, 97 cancelations today and the day is still young: https://flightaware.com/live/cancelled/

First E175 flight for AC to STL is finally in the air after 3 days of cancels.

Burlington and Quincy got STL in all bids so we should keep those routes one way or another.

Just booked STL-FRA in premium economy. Curios about meals since the scheduled time is right at their 9 hour cutoff for a hot breakfast. Is it a hot meal?

Codasco wrote:

Just booked STL-FRA in premium economy. Curios about meals since the scheduled time is right at their 9 hour cutoff for a hot breakfast. Is it a hot meal?

Business class breakfast was cold so that probably means everyone’s is.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/lufthansa ... ip-report/

Jshank83 wrote:

ultrapig wrote:

Excuse me if I missed this but what have the load factors been on the Lufthansa flight?

Supposedly as of the first flight they were projected to be 90%+ thru August. Not sure we will get actually numbers until they get posted, which has a 6 month delay for international numbers

I was on the Wednesday flight from FRA. There were 12 open in the front and the back was full. The Purser, who has done the flight several times, said it has been consistently full in the back and full In the front more often than not.

We had carryon and Global Entry, and were at the curb waiting for the hotel shuttle 6 minutes after setting foot in the jetway.

Jshank83 wrote:

ultrapig wrote:

Excuse me if I missed this but what have the load factors been on the Lufthansa flight?

Supposedly as of the first flight they were projected to be 90%+ thru August. Not sure we will get actually numbers until they get posted, which has a 6 month delay for international numbers

I was on the Wednesday flight from FRA. There were 12 open in the front and the back was full. The Purser, who has done the flight several times, said it has been consistently full in the back and full In the front more often than not.

We had carryon only and Global Entry, and were at the curb waiting for the hotel shuttle 6 minutes after setting foot in the jetway.

A couple things I noticed on the international front.

LH has landed on time or better 5 of the last 6 flights back in Frankfurt. Only one that didn’t was the one that has to wait for the brakes to cool after an aborted takeoff due to wind shear. So that seems to be going better.

AC switched their E175 frequency for next month to a CRJ-900. A bit of a downgrade just comfort wise but same amount of seats and it’s not a -200..

Question I have for those if you who have been on the LH flight. How is premium economy? Worth the upcharge? Over if I were to get a bulkhead/exit row seat in regular Econ? Thinking more along the lines of easier to sleep. Coming back I don’t mind normal economy as much since I’ll be awake.

Codasco wrote:

Just booked STL-FRA in premium economy. Curios about meals since the scheduled time is right at their 9 hour cutoff for a hot breakfast. Is it a hot meal?

2 meals in PE, I think one was hot for me and the other was cold.

Jshank83 wrote:

A couple things I noticed on the international front.

LH has landed on time or better 5 of the last 6 flights back in Frankfurt. Only one that didn’t was the one that has to wait for the brakes to cool after an aborted takeoff due to wind shear. So that seems to be going better.

AC switched their E175 frequency for next month to a CRJ-900. A bit of a downgrade just comfort wise but same amount of seats and it’s not a -200..

Question I have for those if you who have been on the LH flight. How is premium economy? Worth the upcharge? Over if I were to get a bulkhead/exit row seat in regular Econ? Thinking more along the lines of easier to sleep. Coming back I don’t mind normal economy as much since I’ll be awake.

PE was well worth it for me, but I was connecting from a long haul flight, so my uncharge ended up being 150 per flight. It's basically a domestic first class seat with a footrest, so take that as you will. Meals are the same. It will be easier to sleep for sure since you won't have someone else in your face.

sounds as though it's more of a Main Cabin Extra/+ than it is a true Premium Economy.

stlgph wrote:

sounds as though it's more of a Main Cabin Extra/+ than it is a true Premium Economy.

The only significant difference is the seats. They look quite a bit nicer compared to standard economy....if you can get the front row. The front row has a true pull out recliner like a La-Z-Boy. Rest of PE has the pull down style on the back of the seat in front of you like you'd find on a bus. 19 inches wide, 38 inch pitch. Unfortunately for my flight in November there's 3 of us that want to sit together (one of the people I am flying with is terrified of flying so I didn't argue it), and the front row is already booked both directions.

Other stuff seems minor to me. There is a menu for dinner--but it's the same food as economy just served with real dishes. They also stopped free liquor last year. There's also a basic amenity kit.

A nice upgrade but a bit steep for what you get in my opinion. My last LH flight was 20 years ago and I was in the middle of the middle in economy an a 340. It was not an enjoyable flight.

stlgph wrote:

sounds as though it's more of a Main Cabin Extra/+ than it is a true Premium Economy.

Its 2x3x2 seating instead of 2x4x2 so as Codasco says the seats should be better since econ+ usually is the same seats as econ with just more legroom/recline

[list=][/list]

Jshank83 wrote:

stlgph wrote:

sounds as though it's more of a Main Cabin Extra/+ than it is a true Premium Economy.

Its 2x3x2 seating instead of 2x4x2 so as Codasco says the seats should be better since econ+ usually is the same seats as econ with just more legroom/recline

Yeah, it's definitely a true PE product although on the lower end of offerings/services provided IMO. Used to take 5-6 trips per year with LH on IAH-FRA in PE and to me it is on par with the likes of BA, average at best. The 2x4x2 offered on the A380 was the best as far as comfort level, with the 2x3x2 on the 330/340 just meh..

BHMNONREV wrote:

[list=][/list]

Jshank83 wrote:

stlgph wrote:

sounds as though it's more of a Main Cabin Extra/+ than it is a true Premium Economy.

Its 2x3x2 seating instead of 2x4x2 so as Codasco says the seats should be better since econ+ usually is the same seats as econ with just more legroom/recline

Yeah, it's definitely a true PE product although on the lower end of offerings/services provided IMO. Used to take 5-6 trips per year with LH on IAH-FRA in PE and to me it is on par with the likes of BA, average at best. The 2x4x2 offered on the A380 was the best as far as comfort level, with the 2x3x2 on the 330/340 just meh..

The term "premium economy" is definitely used loosely among the airlines, that's for sure.
My experiences on AA, LOT and Cathay definitely offered more than just a larger seat, especially in terms of dedicated lavatories, meals and hell LOT even got me lounge access in WAW.

BHMNONREV wrote:

[list=][/list]

Jshank83 wrote:

stlgph wrote:

sounds as though it's more of a Main Cabin Extra/+ than it is a true Premium Economy.

Its 2x3x2 seating instead of 2x4x2 so as Codasco says the seats should be better since econ+ usually is the same seats as econ with just more legroom/recline

Yeah, it's definitely a true PE product although on the lower end of offerings/services provided IMO. Used to take 5-6 trips per year with LH on IAH-FRA in PE and to me it is on par with the likes of BA, average at best. The 2x4x2 offered on the A380 was the best as far as comfort level, with the 2x3x2 on the 330/340 just meh..

It doesn't look horrible. The price was steep in comparison to economy though. $1577 vs. $823.

It would be nice if there was an extra incentive to it - such as free lounge access or what have you.

stlgph wrote:

It would be nice if there was an extra incentive to it - such as free lounge access or what have you.

I've got priority pass, but I suspect they're still not going to let me use the lounge for this flight since it's "closed" for Lufthansa, and I'm on the wrong Lufthansa cabin.

Codasco wrote:

stlgph wrote:

It would be nice if there was an extra incentive to it - such as free lounge access or what have you.

I've got priority pass, but I suspect they're still not going to let me use the lounge for this flight since it's "closed" for Lufthansa, and I'm on the wrong Lufthansa cabin.

I am curious how this will work. I have PP also and it is going to kind of stink if they close it to PP holders on the flight just because they aren't in business.

Codasco wrote:

BHMNONREV wrote:

[list=][/list]

Jshank83 wrote:

Its 2x3x2 seating instead of 2x4x2 so as Codasco says the seats should be better since econ+ usually is the same seats as econ with just more legroom/recline

Yeah, it's definitely a true PE product although on the lower end of offerings/services provided IMO. Used to take 5-6 trips per year with LH on IAH-FRA in PE and to me it is on par with the likes of BA, average at best. The 2x4x2 offered on the A380 was the best as far as comfort level, with the 2x3x2 on the 330/340 just meh..

It doesn't look horrible. The price was steep in comparison to economy though. $1577 vs. $823.

I priced one out last night.
Premium out and Economy back (including paying for seat selection) was $150 more than if I did econ both ways (paid for bulkhead/exit row on way out, normal seat on way back, 1 checked bag each way). I am sure that gap can be wider depending on the flight but for what I did it was $150 different. I think it was something like $1090 and $1242

stlgph wrote:

BHMNONREV wrote:

[list=][/list]

Jshank83 wrote:

Its 2x3x2 seating instead of 2x4x2 so as Codasco says the seats should be better since econ+ usually is the same seats as econ with just more legroom/recline

Yeah, it's definitely a true PE product although on the lower end of offerings/services provided IMO. Used to take 5-6 trips per year with LH on IAH-FRA in PE and to me it is on par with the likes of BA, average at best. The 2x4x2 offered on the A380 was the best as far as comfort level, with the 2x3x2 on the 330/340 just meh..

The term "premium economy" is definitely used loosely among the airlines, that's for sure.
My experiences on AA, LOT and Cathay definitely offered more than just a larger seat, especially in terms of dedicated lavatories, meals and hell LOT even got me lounge access in WAW.

Can't argue with that..

At least on BA, PE gets you lounge access or at least it did 6-7 years ago last time I tried them IAH-LHR. Though their hard product was old and tired, everything else was above average.

Codasco wrote:

stlgph wrote:

It would be nice if there was an extra incentive to it - such as free lounge access or what have you.

I've got priority pass, but I suspect they're still not going to let me use the lounge for this flight since it's "closed" for Lufthansa, and I'm on the wrong Lufthansa cabin.

I understand if the lounge is “closed” to accommodate LH but if you have PP and are traveling on the LH flight they should still allow it (my opinion).

Worth it for 150 imo Jshank

Quick trip report from this week. I flew through STL for a work trip in Columbia. Flights were all fine. Rental cars were a disaster. Arrived at 2p Tuesday. Walked outside to the shuttle area and two managers from National/Alamo were there sending customers away. At first I was told they were out of cars. Then they relented and told me about a 5-hour wait for a car if I didn't want to cancel my reservation. They did not want people taking the shuttle back to the rental car center and told me it was a mosh pit of people.

I started looking at other rental options and even called our corporate travel # to try and find a car. Every rental car company was sold out. I saw a few people resort to Turo and get cars delivered.

After about 20 minutes I decided to take the National shuttle over to their lot and work the problem from there. I show up and it's a miracle, no line and they had a car waiting for me. I said something to the manager at the facility and they had no idea the managers at the airport were sending people away. No they didn't have alot of cars, it was basically one car in, one car out, but I didn't have to wait for it.

Rental cars have been an issue this summer in a few locations and I had Hertz not have a car in Buffalo on a pre-paid corporate reservation, but this was by far the worst experience I've had. I'm so glad I didn't listen to the National employees at the airport.

Unrelated, but the airport Hilton was also having issues yesterday. 5p arrival and was told they still didn't have any rooms ready. They blamed a shortage of housekeeping. By the way they're demolishing part of the Hilton and building a Hampton Inn. (At least that's what the front desk agent told me)

Unless I am reading this wrong, Flight Aware showed today's LH 448 arrive about 2 1/2 hours ago, but tonight's LH449 return is canceled. Anyone know why? And what remote stand are they going to park it at?