Lufthansa Trip Cancellation--Continued Anyone know a higher up I can call

Two links of interest for you. This lists company execs https://www.elliott.org/company-contacts/lufthansa-airlines/

This one is a general “what to do” article https://www.elliott.org/ultimate-consumer-guides-smart-travelers/what-should-i-do-if-my-flight-has-been-canceled-or-delayed/

Good luck!

I had a similar experience with Lufthansa unilaterally changing ticketed flights from San Diego to Germany to LAX to Germany. We told them they were still selling tickets for our original itinerary and they eventually accommodated an acceptable alternative. It took several phone calls and several hours over several days. And, yes, after being put on hold for a lengthy period during one call, the Lufthansa rep disconnected the call. What a way to make their customers feel helpless.

Did you know Skyscanner is showing that Condor Airlines has nonstop direct roundtrip flights in under 11 hours from Seattle to Frankfurt in mid-September/October for $800? Iceland air is another alternative. At least it’s good to know you have a couple other choices.

Well I did get an acceptable alternative and I thought everything was fine until we found, by looking on our bank account, that they refunded the cost of the tickets. We are told we have to rebook, they can't fix it and of course now the tickets are more expensive.

We were flying to Luxembourg from Seattle on September 21 and returning from Frankfurt on October 1. Cannot leave Frankfurt for the return flight until after 1:00 pm. Nice to know about Condor but it does not help in this case.

Is this normal for an airline to cancel and refund without you requesting the refund then telling you you now have to buy more expensive tickets?

Hi Deborah, No, it’s totally not normal for an airline to cancel your tickets and tell you to rebook. They can do it though. This year has not been normal in any sense.
The best thing is to go for nonstop flights because of all the mayhem at the larger airports. BTW, Lufthansa’s ground crews in Europe are going on strike this Wednesday, July 27. No word yet on any strike action beyond July 27.

You might fly into Brussels. You can fly solely on Icelandair Seattle to Brussels on 9/21 returning Frankfurt to Seattle nonstop 10/1 for $1091. Brussels is a 4.5 hour train ride from Luxembourg City. The other combination I found for $1180 was going on Lufthansa to Luxembourg 9/21 returning Frankfurt to Seattle on 10/1 nonstop on Condor. www.Skyscanner.com

Deb, I feel your pain. Looks like you are getting some solid advice, and as Tom mentioned maybe they are "done" with you due to refunded tickets. This reminds me of an episode from Parks and Recreation, where Ron Swanson hired someone to answer phones for him and avoid any appointments. This often resulted in just hanging up on the person. Regrettably, this strategy often works.

I really like nonstop flights nowadays!

If you are trying to get to/from Luxembourg, you can also try to fly to Paris. This may be annoying but you can take the TGV directly from CDG terminal 2 to the Lorraine TGV. It is just over an hour. If someone can pick you up, it is another hour to Lux. Otherwise there may be periodic busses from Loreaine to Lux.

Otherwise there are trains from Paris to/from Luxembourg but from cdg you have to go to the city and then catch the train to Lux. Just not as convenient with the changes.

Thanks for the suggestions. Now another question because I am totally confused. Although they have refunded the tickets--not the cost for seat assignments--it still shows the flights on our booking with no indication it is cancelled. Why, if they have refunded us, does it still show that we have tickets for these flights? Anyone know what is happening?

In reference to Icelandair: We have flown Icelandair and have no problem with them. Never drink on a flight and we don't even need food provided.

Deb, did you get a code number for booking another flight? We had a cancellation with Delta and rebooked online using some code they sent us. I think we had to pay a few more $$ because the cost had increased a bit, like $30. Thankfully, I never had to talk to anyone.

Tom_MN: I cannot find anywhere a place to pay it--no button, no note. Except that we now have a credit in our account for the cost of the tickets there is nothing to indicate they need to be paid for--again.

Never received an email so if we had not seen the credit in our bank account we would never have known there was an issue.

Big Mike: I was not given a code number for booking a flight. I think I will have to meet with a travel agent tomorrow to see if the agent can figure out what is happening.

Seat Reservations are refunded separately. Just as the pandemic was starting, BA canceled a flight and sent me a message to call to rebook. I decided to just cancel. The refunded for the flight was processed in a few days. It took over two months for the seat reservation to be refunded.

If an airline cancels your flight, and refunds your money, the transaction is complete. If it is more than two weeks before your flight they are under no obligation to offer an alternative as long as you get a refund. It's not great as you have to rebook......but......

Trains from both Brussels and Paris are easy to Luxembourg. Or.....you could fly directly to Luxembourg from most major cities in Europe via Luxair.

Sorry, Deb. Things will work out. I only mentioned the code as when our flight was cancelled we received an email with a voucher code, which allowed me to book another flight with the credit.

Also, I like to drink but never understood why anyone would do so on a transcontinental flight. I'm dehydrated enough as is pumping water.

Sorry about my apparent lack of precision with the word credit. My understanding is your bank account can show debits and credits. When I go online with my credit union I can also see what is happening on my credit cards. When we bought the tickets it showed a debit--that is Lufthansa got money, Now we are also seeing a credit--that is Lufthansa gave us back the money.

Two questions: Why did Lufthansa not communicate with us that they were refunding the cost of the tickets. We would never have known if we did not check our account daily. Is this normal for airlines to not inform passengers?

Why am I still seeing these flights on my travel itinerary? Shouldn't they disappear if I, from Lufthansa's perspective, have not paid for the tickets?

I checked all my mail folders including spam/junk and there is no email from Lufthansa.
When I check at the Lufthansa site using my booking code it shows all the flights with a status of confirmed. It shows I paid for them.

I spoke with a travel agent who did some research for me. She discovered that the confirmation numbers for the electronic tickets are no longer displaying. They were displaying last week. I do not know when they disappeared and the message "Not available" appeared in their place. I did discover to see this information, you cannot just look at the Travel Itinerary as it does not show the confirmation numbers or lack thereof. I had to click "Print your itinerary" to see this information.

We are agreed Lufthansa has cancelled my tickets and, for some reason, neglected to tell me so I will be considering alternative flight arrangements.

Thanks everyone for you suggestions.

I am in a similar situation so hoping someone on this thread can help.
My flight back to Philadelphia is in November 2022...I have had flights changed three times already by Lufthansa. It was a nightmare getting from Frankfurt to Florence in June...took 3 days to get a flight out and flew to Milan instead. Anyway, I sent feedback about that situation. Recently, received an email from Lufthansa offering me $702 settlement. I was suspicious so went to check my latest flight plan and two of three flights home were gone. I immediately called...was told those flights were in the "Q" and to call back in a few days. then sent a reply to "settlement" email asking if I accepted would that mean I would not get new itinerary. the reply today did not really answer the question but told me the service center handled flights and I should send my bank information to get my compensation. WTH? anyone know if this is a run around to cancel my flight? I'm so frustrated and stressed. I will be calling again today to see if I can get flights back but no faith they will stick.

(June, as a matter of etiquette, please start your own topic so that the conversation is not distracted from helping Deborah. Thanks.)

Just to add a little additional information. I now have no tickets for the flights but the booking is still there and I am getting updates as they again change the flights. They ask me to respond if I accept the changes. (So I do; why not?) All the flights on which I am currently booked have not been cancelled. Since I cannot buy these tickets, is there a way to get rid of the booking? It is like the booking and the tickets have been disconnected when they accidentally refunded the cost of the tickets instead of refunding the cost of seat selection and the booking has a life of its own. (A ghost booking?)

Deborah, I just posted about my Lufthansa booking / cancellation / rebooking challenges, from this week. I’m including it here in case it’s helpful in any way. Good luck.

“I am home, but dazed, after surviving the Frankfurt Lufthansa strike on Wednesday. My son and I finished our My Way Alpine Europe tour on July 22nd, and had tickets to fly (Lufthansa) Swissair out of Geneva 6:55am July 27, and a connecting Lufthansa flight to return home from Frankfurt to SeaTac at 10:45am July 27.

Our 2 flights were canceled a day apart, and canceled with less than 48 hours departure notice. In the end, I purchased a pair of SwissTours bus tickets out of Chamonix, a Sheraton Frankfurt airport room for $320, and I forfeited the money for a hotel night in Geneva, a Mountain Drop Offs shuttle from Chamonix to Geneva, and 2 train tickets from Frankfurt to Amsterdam. I was on the cusp of paying $2600 each, out of pocket, for 2 airline tickets on Delta out of Amsterdam to SeaTac, because available flights to SeaTac from Europe where essentially non-existent. My son and I waited hours in the Frankfurt Lufthansa rebooking line on the evening of July 26, but the line closed for rebooking services before we could reach the counter.

For 3 days of frantic traveling across France, Switzerland and Germany, our travel agent, at Elizabeth Holmes Travel, simultaneously spent 10-20 hours on the phone with Lufthansa trying to rebook us, or find any viable return options from Europe. In the end, she swung a rebooked Lufthansa Geneva flight, and then a cobbled-together Singapore Airlines and Alaska Airlines combo, to get us home from Frankfurt.

I am now definitely the number 1 fan of my travel agent; she was relentlessly magnificent, and we would be stranded in Europe if not for her.”

Based on what I've seen here on Lufthansa I would stay away, they sound like they are into scams or at least questionable business practices. They used to be a good airline.

Carla, what a saga! I am glad the Elizabeth Holmes agency was able to resolve this for you.

Lufthansa being German one would think they would be prudent, professional, and quite orderly.

Lufthansa being German one would think they would be prudent, professional, and quite orderly.

BigMike; all the airlines servicing Europe are feeling the it with flight restrictions at Schiphol, Frankfurt and Heathrow. Along with staff shortages at the airports and airlines, I get the feeling they are having to change on the fly. What the plan was an hour ago may not be the plan now.

Deborah, the exact same thing has happened to me - I didn't see your post and created one - and I just gave up and bought a ticket on another airline and it definitely cost more. In all my years of flying I have never seen this before. I didn't even try to ask for a supervisor, but I was told I would have to email customer service. They never replied.

And they still owe me a refund for a seat reservation that they say generally doesn't happen until after the flight goes without me.

I get the feeling that Lufthansa doesn't like to rebook tickets when they feel they could sell them at a higher price.