St. Louis gets its 1st transatlantic flight to continental Europe in nearly 20 years
Editor's Note
St. Louis-area residents are about to have a convenient new way to get to Europe.
Lufthansa on Tuesday announced it will begin flying between Frankfurt (FRA) and the Gateway City's Lambert International Airport (STL) in June. In addition, Germany's Star Alliance carrier will also begin service between Munich (MUC) and San Diego (SAN) on March 27.
Lufthansa will operate the Airbus A330 to St. Louis three days a week, on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. In a press release touting the new Munich flight, the San Diego Airport Authority said Lufthansa will operate the A350-900 on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays initially, with frequencies increasing to include Tuesday and Saturday flights beginning in May.
In a press release, Lufthansa noted that St. Louis is home to multiple international companies. It's the U.S. headquarters for Bayer (formerly Monsanto), which is based in Germany. AB InBev (parent company of Budweiser) and Boeing also have a substantial presence in the St. Louis metropolitan area.
St. Louis was the location of the final headquarters for TWA, as well as a major hub. The airline was absorbed by American Airlines in 2001, which began a wind-down of the hub shortly thereafter. The last transatlantic service out of St. Louis to continental Europe was operated by American to London Gatwick (LGW) in 2003, according to Cirium schedule data. WOW Air briefly flew from STL to Keflavik, Iceland (KEF), in 2018 and early 2019.
In San Diego, the new Munich service will join British Airways' flight to London Heathrow (LHR) and Japan Airlines' flight to Tokyo Narita (NRT). Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lufthansa operated flights to Frankfurt from San Diego.
More: The best things to eat, see and do in St. Louis
The St. Louis flight is now bookable, and the award inventory looks promising. A partner redemption via United MileagePlus requires 33,000 miles one-way for an economy ticket, and 77,000 miles one-way for business class. TPG currently values those miles as being worth 1.13 cents per mile, and MileagePlus is a Chase transfer partner. Lufthansa award inventory is also often available via Avianca LifeMiles, one of the best points currencies to purchase, due to plentiful bonus promos. Of course, booking via Lufthansa's own Miles & More program is always an option too.
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| 2X miles | 2 miles per dollar on every purchase |
| 5X miles | 5 miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel |
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The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
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- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
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- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
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- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month
Rewards Rate
| 2X miles | 2 miles per dollar on every purchase |
| 5X miles | 5 miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel |
| 10X miles | 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel |
Intro Offer
Earn 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200K miles when you spend $150K in the first 6 monthsLIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus milesAnnual Fee
$395Recommended Credit
Credit ranges are a variation of FICO® Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.740-850Excellent
Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
- The Capital One Venture X business card has a very lucrative welcome offer.
- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month