While some airlines are keeping middle seats unoccupied during the pandemic, Lufthansa is playing with a scheme to sell them as part of a sleeper bundle nearly unique in economy—but the offer may not outlast the pandemic.
The German airline is offering the option, called ‘Sleeper’s Row’ only on two flights from Frankfurt to Sao Paolo, Brazil, on a trial basis. Passengers can get three, or in some cases, four seats together. The deal comes with a premium pillow, topper and blanket, and priority boarding.
The test runs to mid-December, and has no advance booking: you show up at the airport with your economy ticket (about $2000 each way, by the way) and tell the customer service rep that you’d like to pay the €220 charge for a full row.
With air traffic way low these days, it’s probably a good opportunity to pick up pocket change from unsold seats; for the future, the question is whether there’s a price point that will makes sense: One that will sell to economy travelers without pulling customers from business-class lie-flats. One other airline, Air New Zealand, has experimented with a similar concept, but at a higher price.
