Lufthansa is taking another approach to putting the squeeze on passengers who choose to book through Global Distribution Systems.
The group - covering Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian - has an existing policy of not allowing free baggage on so-called Lite fares on domestic flights or on international routes in Europe, charging a £12 fee for the first bag being placed onboard.
From 13 June this year, each of the carriers will increase the fee on international flights to £21 for the first bag.
But as a part of the Lufthansa Group's drive to create "differentiation" between its own direct-booking ecosystem and that of the existing process, via GDSs, passengers who purchase the first bag through Sabre, Amadeus or Travelport will face an additional £4 surcharge, bringing the fee up to £25.
An official says:
"Lufthansa Group is continuing to place differentiated offers in dedicated distribution channels.
"These offers are available via all LHG Direct Connect Travel Agents, via the LHG websites (Austrian.com, Lufthansa.com, Swiss.com) as well as via LHG-agent.com.
"The differentiation is a further step towards a personalised and differentiated offer within airline distribution."
The extra surcharge on the bag fee for GDS bookings comes almost two years to the day since the group announced its intention to charge passengers a fee for any booking made through the GDSs.
No other brand had followed suit until last month, when two of the carriers in the International Airlines Group (British Airways, Iberia) said from November 2017 they will charge £8 on top of any booking that was not made through an NDC-enabled connection.
NB:Lufthansa image via Pixabay.