A Fireside chat with Dennis from Lufthansa flyer

Welcome to a new Sunday series that will be a bit like a fireside chat. I count it a privilege to be a part of an amazing group of Travel bloggers here at BoardingArea.com. But just how well do you know “your” BoardingArea writers? Are you reading all the blogs you should be each day? This series will help you get to know them one by one. Now on to this weeks chat.

Most bloggers are “general” purpose writers. In contrast Dennis of Lufthansa flyer is simply the site for all things Lufthansa. If you have ever had the chance to fly Lufthansa 1st class, visit the 1st class terminal in Frankfurt or even experienced the outstanding business class treatment you know what a great airline this is to fly. If you have questions about LH, ask Dennis. If you want an amazing expert you have found it with Lufthansa Flyer. Now let’s get to know Dennis!

Rene – Hi Dennis, you have no idea how pleased I am to have a chance to get to chat with you. I am a HUGE fan of Lufthansa and your blog. I know you have a long history here at BA and are recently back and better than ever. How did you end up as the face of Lufthansa and why pick BA as the home for the blog?

Dennis – My being a fan of the airline goes back to when I was a child (35+ years ago!). Our family would travel to what was then Czechoslovakia and then Slovakia after the Czechs and Slovaks had their amicable split. We would primarily fly on Lufthansa or CSA (Ceskoslovenske Aerolinie) so my fascination with flying and Airlines started when I was about 5 and has never left me. Over the last several years as my travels began to increase, my wife & I would primarily travel to Europe so it was only natural to fly with LH! It was at this point that I got involved in the frequent flyer community, which rekindled my enthusiasm. StarMegaDo 3 and the unique Lufthansa based experiences on that trip was the final piece in the puzzle that inspired me to begin helping others discover Lufthansa the way that I had gotten to know it over the years.

Shortly after SMD3, I approached Randy about starting a dedicated website designed to cover Lufthansa. Specifically targeting those in the US who are not familiar with the airline so they could learn more about LH and I could be a resource towards that end. Fortunately, Randy liked the idea and LufthansaFlyer was born. A year ago I did leave BA to start ‘First2Board’ with Stacey of ‘Very Good Points’ but have brought LH Flyer back home after reflecting on where I see the site going in the future and BA was the perfect place for it. It is good to be home!

Rene – Fun to know the background of bloggers and what moved them to do more than just travel. Your site is so neat. I love not just the look but all you have on the site. I have to start with a bit of a silly question but one I bet all want to know – what is with all the ducks?

Dennis – LOL. Yes the ducks. My wife and I have been blessed with our travels and part of that has been the opportunity to fly with Lufthansa in their First Class product on many of our trips. These ducks are souvenirs that are given to guests who visit Lufthansa’s First Class Lounges in Frankfurt or Munich, or the First Class Terminal in Frankfurt. They soon became our favorite souvenirs from these trips and we would even change our travel plans to be able to get certain ducks that are only available in certain lounges at specific times during the year. My wife got hooked on the ducks after her first experience with Lufthansa. I was taking her to the the First Class Terminal for her first ever visit and had spent weeks building up the experience, telling her about the ducks and she was super-excited for the chance to get her first one. As luck would have it, the FCT did not have any ducks on the day of our visit which was a major disappointment for her. Our personal ‘assistant’ in the Terminal felt horrible and resolved to fix the ‘problem’. In fact he felt so badly, that he sent out a request to other lounges in Frankfurt to track down a duck for her. We were already aboard our flight home, resigned to the fact that she would not get her first duck, when all of a sudden our ‘assistant’ comes to our seat and hands her a duck. He gets off the plane, the doors close in his wake and we get underway. Lufthansa held the plane to get my wife the duck. How is that not amazing? She has been an LH fan ever since!! That moment ranks among her favorite travel memories. By the way, the flight not was delayed due to this special delivery.

Rene – I love it. I have to say I am so bummed I did not get one on my last visit to FRA but I will be sure sure to get one when I visit the MUC lounge this summer. But back to Lufthansa Flyer. There is so much to take in but one thing I love is how you are the “one stop spot” to take in all things LH. Take for example your recent post on the new “premium economy” seats LH is coming out with. Wow. What a product. What else can we find on your site?

Dennis – Yes, the new Premium Economy seat has been very well received, and I look forward to trying it later this year when it begins to roll out in the fleet. I try to focus the site on information that I think will help the North American-based Lufthansa passenger. Visitors to the site will find a lot of information on fare promotions, updates to routes and services from Lufthansa between Europe and the USA, Lufthansa Contests and basically anything that I think will help a passenger enhance their experience with Lufthansa. I also share my own travel experiences in hopes that it helps or inspires others to discover this fantastic airline. Lufthansa has been ‘uber’ supportive of my project and has given me access to a lot of internal resources within the company that I normally would never have. I leverage this trust and access to help passengers and fans of the airline.

Rene – That is outstanding. To have an asset like you to turn to is outstanding. Plus with all the changes ALL the airlines and alliances are going through to have your guidance is so valuable. On to other things. Speaking of change, what can we look forward to seeing this year from Lufthansa Flyer?

Dennis – Good question! With my recent return to Boarding Area I had the opportunity to take LH Flyer through a MAJOR facelift which I absolutely am thrilled with! Going forward, I’m going to make a conscious effort to share more of my personal travel experiences. I tend not to be a big fan of writing trip reports, but I’m starting to think that I can use my own travel experiences to help readers with their own travels. Hopefully they can gain a few ideas from me and learn to avoid making some of the mistakes that I’ve made along the way. Also, a big focus will be my dedicated Lufthansa Fleet Gallery. One of my passions is plane spotting and I have this ‘stretch-goal’ of photographing every LH aircraft that is in service and documenting it in the gallery. I’ve made a lot of progress, but there are many planes left to ‘spot’, so hopefully I’ll have a quantum leap with that project this year! As an example, I only need to ‘spot’ 2 more 747-400s, and then I will have photographed each one that is active in the fleet. Another focus will be to introduce readers to other Lufthansa Companies that are based in the USA such as LSG Skychefs and Lufthansa Technik Component Services (LTCS). There’s a lot more to LH than just the planes!

Rene – Before we wrap up, another question. It seems that most European airlines are really embracing social media and flyers. Can you share how Lufthansa has been in your experience with flyers and with you?

Dennis – Social media is becoming the next generation of the customer service experience. It seems like everyone needs answers immediately and Social Media is the means to that end, so it will only continue to grow in importance to airlines and passengers alike. Lufthansa has done a wonderful job in building their Social Media presence on a variety of channels, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. They truly ‘get it’ and know what it will take to serve the passenger of tomorrow. Speaking of social media, I’d like to also take this opportunity to personally thank Lufthansa’s Social Media Team in Frankfurt and the North American Communications/PR team. You know who you are! :). Without their trust and support of my project, LH Flyer would not have been possible. It means a lot to me that they see me as a partner in supporting such a great brand!

Rene – I can not wait for what is next! I am sure I am not the only American flyer who just loves Lufthansa and all it brings to travel as well as you Dennis for all you do for readers. Thank you so much for taking the time to get to know you (again) and for being a vital part of Boarding Area!

Dennis – Absolutely my pleasure. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to be a guest on your ‘Fireside Chat’. It means a lot to me that you would think of adding me to this great group of bloggers!

You can follow Dennis on his blog at BoardingArea, on Twitter, Facebook and subscribe to his RSS feed. Be sure to check back next week to get to know another of your favorite BA bloggers! – René
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