Lufthansa Surprise Destinations

Are you a traveler who wants to take a trip — but also wants to save cash?

Are you a major German airliner hoping to book seats on empty planes in an adorable way?

Both parties, please meet Lufthansa Surprise — a new initiative from the German carrier that allows passengers to book a flight to mystery locales on the cheap.

If you’re headed to Europe this summer, this would be a great way to finish up a transcontinental tour: Choose from one of nine categories, ranging from “Sun & Sand” and “Shopping” to “Bromance” (really) and “Partying.” Within each category, Lufthansa will make a set of destination suggestions. If you don’t like one of the options, you can de-select it, as long as you have two possible destinations left. The more options you leave, though, the greater the chances that you’ll find cheap seats.

If you ask us, the level of differentiation between, say, Katowice and Poznan, on a first trip, is negligible. And anything that’ll send passengers to new places (instead of that tenth trip to London-Paris-Rome) is a great one. If it’s just a way to shift empty seats, so be it — it’s fun. And between the TSA body cavity searches and the Fight Club vibe on board, air travel these days is usually anything but.

To the embattled American carriers looking to get passengers to hate you less:

Can we get one of these programs of our own?

Meet your guide

Diane Rommel

Diane Rommel has written for The Wall Street Journal, Outside, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Travel + Leisure, Wallpaper and Afar, as well as The Cut, Buzzfeed, Huffington Post and McSweeney’s. She once drove from London to Mongolia, via Siberia.