I loved LIFT last February and looking around the available info for the 2009 event I came across a recent “partnership” press release announcing Swiss International Airlines as the:
Official Carrier for the 4th European Lift Conference in Geneva and is offering special Congress Fares to all participants. These Congress Fares offer reductions of up to 25% depending on the fare type, route and space availability.
The page then provides a direct link to the airline’s booking page and states that the special fares are those marked with a “C”. A ticket search from London to Geneva resulted in this:
You’ve got to be kidding me right? The cheapest “special fare” is 4.5 times more expensive than the cheapest regular fare and there’s no scenario where the “special fare” is at all cheaper than any other option! Am I missing something? This is a trip from London not some godforsaken out-of-the-way hole in the Scottish Highlands!
It seems to me that either Swiss Airlines screwed LIFT over, or LIFT got a bunch of cash from the airline and are pretending to offer some sort of deal to participants, hiding behind the “it may not necessarily be the lowest fare” disclaimer.
The regular ticket price seems to also have increased by CHF 100 from last year, so all in all, a pretty lame deal.
Either way, I think LIFT are gonna have to do a pretty good job with other stuff to convince me to attend this year…
Richard Muscat 