Were you a huge fan of Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? Or maybe you just have a thing for geography? Well, Lufthansa totally understands and they're rekindling a bit of the Carmen Sandiago adrenaline with their second version of the geography trivia web game "Virtual Pilot."

In Virtual Pilot 1, you'd be given a city name and you'd have to click on a map in order to "land your plane" as close to there as possible. The first round showed city dots and country borders, the second round only had country borders, and the third round only gave you land masses to go by. We fared pretty well on it, but Virtual Pilot II is kicking our butt hardcore. ]]> JetSetCD 2009-11-03T15:59:21-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/12/232616/56

With the proliferation of In-Flight WiFi on domestic routes in the United States, we always hoped that long-haul WiFi was right around the corner. In fact it's in the past, with FlyNet from Lufthansa, which was a broadband internet connection on 66 of 82 long-haul planes that functioned between 2004 and 2006. Lufthansa suspended the service—provided by Connexion by Boeing—at the end of 2006 with a promise that it would return one day.

That day is coming in mid-2010 when FlyNet relaunches better than ever, with a partner in Panasonic and the new ability for connection with GSM/GPRS units so that you will even be able to text on your phone from 35,000=feet up. Although there's no word yet on pricing, Lufthansa does plan to outfit a majority of their long-haul aircraft once again, and be the leader in this second chapter of in-flight wifi.

So how great will the connection be? ]]> JetSetCD 2009-10-13T08:48:37-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/12/134750/29

Lufthansa is announcing the launch of MySkyStatus, a new web service that lets you send live information about your flight status to your Facebook and Twitter streams. The setup is entirely straightforward - give them your account credentials, type in your flight information, and you're good to go. Regardless of what airline you're flying, the service will send updates like "Jaunted is now flying over Paris, France" to your accounts.

This seems like a neat way to keep friends and family abreast about where you are, plus status updates are supposed to be about your status. If you're over Paris that's what you'd be tweeting if you had cell phone access. So you might as well set up a service to do it for you. The messages even come with a link to a Google Maps mashup that shows your plane's location. ]]> Omri 2009-10-12T17:28:36-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/9/28/2722/97837

Want to vacation in Gambia, Burundi or Liberia? Lufthansa and its subsidiary Brussels Airlines have just announced some codeshare flight combos which make getting from Europe into many different corners of Africa quite a bit easier.

Basically, the increased routes are all heading out of either Frankfurt or Brussels, and it doesn't matter whether you book your ticket with Lufthansa or Brussels Airlines. There is a huge range of African destinations; from Brussels you could get to exotic spots like Douala und Yaunde in Cameroon, or into Nairobi for a spot of safari adventure in Kenya. From Frankfurt, options include Ghana's capital Accra (where you can retrace the trip Barack Obama took earlier this year) and the more traditional destinations of Cape Town and Johannesburg in South Africa. Basically, if you've got the travel bug bad and want to see Africa, there are now a few more ways to do it, and that's gotta be good.

Related Stories:
· Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines Expand Flights To Africa [TravelTips]
· The Obamas Make A Solemn Stop At A Ghana Slave Castle [Jaunted]

[Photo: openDemocracy] ]]> amandak 2009-10-01T15:33:52-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/9/8/72610/77426

In case you didn’t know, Lufthansa and JetBlue have been friends for a while, even though their friendship is a little forced. See, the German airline owns about 16 percent of the low cost carrier. So it was no surprise to learn that the two airlines are teaming up to create a codeshare alliance. That means JetBlue can get you anywhere Lufthansa flies, well, at least in theory.

So if you’re stuck in a market without too many European options, just jump aboard one of your city’s JetBlue flights, and you’ll probably be able to seamlessly connect abroad thanks to big brother Lufthansa. For now, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, and Tampa are just some of the cities that will kick off the codeshare agreement. ]]> kjb 2009-09-08T13:24:48-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/8/7/54144/59406

There's nothing worse than booking a summer vacation and then having it rain every day, right? Apparently German airline Lufthansa feels your pain and wants to do something about it. Aren't they wunderbar?

The deal is this: Book your flights to any of 36 Lufthansa destinations, including New York, Barcelona, Madrid and Istanbul, and for every day that it rains more than 5mm a day, Lufthansa will give you €20 ($28) (with a maximum payment of €200, or $280). They think that a "sunny stay … spoiled by rain" will be "brightened by compensation," which seems an awfully financially-driven way to look at a vacation, but heck, we're tempted.

The so-called "sunshine insurance" is available on flights booked until August 18, for travel during September and October, which aren't exactly reliably sunny months at the wide variety of destinations Lufthansa is targeting, so we reckon you could end up pocketing a tidy holiday-end bonus. If you're strapped for cash, we recommend a rain dance.

Related Stories:
· Sunshine On Holiday Or Your Money Back [The Age]
· Lufthansa Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Rainer Ebert] ]]> amandak 2009-08-07T09:03:44-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/5/6/7198/13844

Airport lounges promise respite from the sad public seating at the gates and the unhealthy diet offerings of the terminal food courts. But of course, at a premium price. All week long at Jaunted we will be detailing what it costs to lounge at the best international airline lounges, because the domestic offerings that we featured last week got us dreaming of much, much more. Got any suggestions or tips? Let us know.

Lufthansa Lounges
· How Much: Just like British Airways, Lufthansa has a few lounges that cater to the different types of big spending travelers. The best of course are the First Class Lounges, accessible only with a First Class ticket or membership in the airline's HON Circle. Senator Lounges are pretty nice too, but technically a step down from First, and they'll be yours to enjoy if you're a first-class flier, a Senator Club member, or have gold status within the Star Alliance. Last but not least are the Business Lounges, those second homes of the frequent business flier. Here, any membership with the airline will get you in, or there's always the option of just ponying up the extra fare for a business-class ticket.
· Internet Access: WiFi is available in most lounges, thanks once again to T-Mobile HotSpots. However, unless you are in the HON club or are a First Class flier, it's going to cost you about $10 per hour to access the web—bummer for the business class ticket holders.

Keep reading after the jump for more peeks at club perks. ]]> kjb 2009-05-06T09:21:00-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/