  Recent IR surveys of the Galactic plane have revealed a large number of
candidate Luminous Blue Variables. In order to verify these classifications we
have been undertaking a long term spectroscopic and photometric monitoring
campaign supplemented with tailored non-LTE model atmosphere analysis. Here we
present a brief overview of selected aspects of this program, highlighting the
prospects for identification, classification and quantitative analysis of LBVs
in the near-IR spectral window.
