My travel last month was impacted by the October 20th Lufthansa pilots labour disruption. I was to fly from Halifax to Ottawa, Ottawa to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Rome. When we reached |Ottawa Air Canada told us that the flight from Frankfurt to Rome would not be operating. Air Canada then rerouted us through Toronto to Milan and we took the Italo high speed train to Rome. - 7 extra hours but we got there.
We spent considerable money booking the train tickets - short notice of course and travel from Malpensa Airport to Milan train station- has anyone had any experience in getting compensation from the airline for the cost of the flight - from |Frankfurt to Rome or the alternate train travel costs?
Thanks for any ideas.
Posted by
Gettysburg, PA, USA
419 posts
I think that you will have to contact the airline directly to get the facts and not just the opinions of those here on the web site. My United flight from Munich to Washington D.C. recently was cancelled, but I rebooked on another airline. United gave vouchers for lunch at the airport and then a very hefty allowance of miles for my United Mileage Plus account.
Posted by
Green Bay
20016 posts
Who did you buy the ticket from? Air Canada or Lufthansa? That is who you will have to talk to. I wouldn't get my hopes up. Things happen, and any frequent flyer will have LOTS of stories about delayed and cancelled flights, nights spent sleeping on the floor in the airport, long diversions, etc.
Posted by
14 posts
Good luck with Lufthansa, they are a wonderful airline but I had to deal with my bank to get a refund for an accidental double booking.
Posted by
Minnesota
83 posts
I'm surprised the airline did not make the arrangements to get you to your final destination.. Did you receive a refund of any kind for the portion of flight you did not take?
Please google Europe rule 261. Read it carefully to make sure it applies to you. If it does - make sure to mention that in your correspondence with the airline. Email the airline. Do not call. Keep a copy of all correspondence until it's resolved.
Good luck, and be patient...the process moves at a snails pace.
Peg
Posted by
Oxford, United Kingdom
5326 posts
You are really in the weak still grey area when it comes to EU261. Firstly strikes are not covered under the compensation article, so don't ask for that. You would actually be seeking reimbursement from Lufthansa. However, as you describe it you did not allow Lufthansa to take care of you from Frankfurt but took a re-routing organised by a non-EU airline as the carrier who sold the ticket. Was there any indication that Air Canada would pick up the rail fare - and was rail travel their suggestion? Did they offer you a flight from Milan to Rome on say Alitalia?
Posted by
OP
Dartmouth, NS, Canada
213 posts
Hi thanks for the feedback and suggestions. I don't really expect anything to happen but us travelers have to at least make a bit of noise. We are the customers!!!
Posted by
OP
Dartmouth, NS, Canada
213 posts
Hello
I just wanted to send an update to my request for compensation. I contacted Air Canada since they issued the original tickets and rerouted us to Milan. After 3 weeks they replied that since the cancelled flight was operated by Lufthansa they were not responsible for the flight cancellation. However they did refund $31 to cover the difference in cost for the 2 flights to Milan instead of Rome. They suggested I contact Lufthansa directly.
I sent an inquiry to Lufthansa using their online complaint/compliment site. I immediately received an auto answer promising a reply within 5 to 6 weeks.
This week - 43 days later I received notice that they could not refund me the airline ticket cost - since the cancellation was caused by a labour dispute - HOWEVER - they did agree to pay for the cost of the train tickets from MIlan to Rome.
A small victory I wanted to share with my fellow travelers.
Posted by
Corvallis OR
7025 posts
Joni, thanks for coming back on here with your resolution information - it's very helpful to know what happened in your case.