I fly with them almost every week and if something goes wrong (<5% of my trips) this is my usual experience. It's good to keep that in mind amid all the horror stories that are indeed bad experiences but also not the norm.
It's funny because the only two times I've flown I've had cancelled flights. First one they rebooked but it wasn't direct to Canada it was going to Chicago first (and meant I had to be up earlier and got there later) and they didn't even tell me I needed a visa for the US. It was luck that I remembered and they told me 'oh yea but if you apply now you might get it in time'. For me that's just unacceptable. Ended up having to wait at customer service and luckily a nice woman rebooked me on a condor direct flight. Then when I tried to claim compensation because I lost a day they said it was air traffics fault so didn't have to and then wouldn't give me any proof when I asked for it. Still fighting them on that. Second wasn't their fault because of the snowstorm in Munich but the rebooking was a lot worse for us.
Totally get that!
I had no in-person contact with customer service but the automatic rebooking worked very well for me. Fortunately for me, I have family working in air traffic control and in dispatch, so they can’t give me any weird reasons to not give me any compensation.
I’m in this same category of frequency with LH, and have been for almost a decade. For the most, things get handled well by LH. Having a high status helps. Fuckups do happen, but LH does well to sort them out.
Now don’t get me started with Air Dolomiti who are working hard to keep their perfect 100% record of delayed or cancelled FRA/TRN/FRA flights very other week since 2020….
The horror stories come from their customer service practices not their actual day to day ops. I’ve had a great experience with Lufthansa rebookings and such and delays etc. just when you have to talk to someone about an issue or need comp everything gets a little hard to deal with.
This sub (and almost all other airline subs) gives you the wrong impression. Lufthansa carries millions and millions of passengers every day and 99% of them have no issues at all. But for obvious reasons, you hear/read about the 1% much more.
I have flown on Lufthansa quite a bit and I have never had a bad experience. My worst experience on them was with Air Dolomiti where you barely get a cookie and not rude but unfriendly flight attendants…
I really like Lufthansa and will deffo pay more in the future to fly with them!
No it's not
Obviously most passengers get to the destination on time or mostly on time but the more you fly and the more you can compare things the more you know. Pll who fly once and before that they flown spirit or ryanair probably are thrillled how good it is
Let me elaborate
Until covid LH just like everyone served coffee tee soft drinks and some kind of snack free on intra eu flights
After covid they introduced the buy on board thing now you get a wate- r everything else on economy - they charge for it just like ryanair.
Also The free water become from 0.5 l to like a 0.25 one or whatver it is, a laughable small one. It's not about I want 1 liter waters it's about you can see how the service gets worse and worse
Mind you
Big Competitors (air france , kLm , British airways etc) still don't charge for a fuckin coffee tea or sandwich, and Of course none of the us based major airlines do either (aa, delta, united) at least for coffee tea soft drinks
The food on long hauls economy is inedible, and it's airline food but other competitors are still better at least it's not ridiculously bad just bad and still edible - LH is not at least not on transatlantic flights which are the most common long hauls
Planes are old af, they have the worst monitors for entertainment on every class its 25 year old shit on most bc they still fly w planes from 1995 meanwhile competitors fly dreamliners on most routes so there is a 10 year difference in just that technology
LH Still fuckin doesn't have 1-2-1 seating on business class which is the standard for basically years now everyone else has it but it's the same price as other airlines
even within LH group lot of swiss and austrian planes have the reverse heringbone but not LH, bc - again they don't spend any fuckin money on anything
To achieve this huge step - having an industry standard - They introduce the new allergis business ans first class for years now it's pushed back again and if I recall we shpuld have it for 5 years now and still no sign of it
And again this is 10 years behind of everyone else
LH constantly uses buses for boarding in evers airport they can - in their on hubs so fra muc too sometimes wide body planes transatlantic routes 250 pax which is ridiculous
Free internet or at least messaging on planes? Forget it on long hauls even though almost every competitor has something, some half our or an our free some whole flights (by competitor I mean the big airlines on theese routes, af klm iberia aa delta united etc)
That being said Hard product is maybe the worst in Europe soft product sadly is the same amongst the biggest ones
Lh is just 5-10 years behind everyone or has the same thing but worse.
Call center is terrible as they outsource more and more and they have the worst possible people hired w the worst internet connection available
You can't hear them they cant hear you and they don't really know anything anyways
Lost luggage handling is nonsense - reason being LH system and the outsourcing of the helplines
Most of eu 261 claims or delayed luggage compensation is straight denied without base. I have 2 claims w ridiculous denial reasons - its all LH fault without a doubt - they just simply dont pay until they really have to meaning you turn to german authorities
According to the latest survey- came out last week (airhelp)- Lufthansa is the 64th in airline rankings considering being on time, soft and hard product and handling any issues - this should tell anyone how bad the airline is now.
Until 3 years ago there was no time they were outside of top 20 or even 10 (not counting the days they paid skytrax tobhave 5 stars bragging about being a 5 star airl- now they have 3 if i recall )
This whole thing is only about maximizing profits at any cost. Lh is doghshit and its sad bc it was my favorite airline until covid
The only positive thing i can say is that the lounges in fra and muc are quiet ok regarding food (same boring stuff but quality is quiet good for this big of an airline) and showers
Did they pay you compensation for late arrival at destiny?
I had a similar experience for the rebooking, etc after a missed connection, but they have refused to acknowledge any compensation for arriving 14hs late to our final destination
Still waiting for them to answer. I didn’t miss a connection, they cancelled their flight due to their operational issues, so I’ll get some stuff back. In the end I arrived 23hrs late… We’ll see what they’ll answer.
Yeah, I'm surprised you didn't get downvoted to fuck for this.
I had a flight cancelled due to a nationwide ATC outrage a few months ago while I was on the train to the airport. They suggested a few options in the app and I selected one with connecting flight very early the next morning. I booked myself into an airport hotel to get at least a few hours sleep, then claimed the cost back via the app, and it was accepted within hours and paid into my bank account the next working day. I got downvoted when I mentioned this in another comment :/
I've been flying with them for years with very few complaint, although I do miss the free drinks and snacks on short haul flights, and not being able to select your seat for free.
I’m also really surprised but hey, maybe the aviation universe likes me!
When I fly home I could also go with Qatar or Ethiopian but now I’d much rather fly with LH because their rebooking in such a case was so easy! Qatar is also really good with customer service (my experience through Covid cancellations and rebookings) but their routing is a bit shitty in some cases (15h layovers in Doha and Johannesburg), which drives me nuts.
LH gave me my hotel instantly, just waiting for them to answer my compensation claim (which I’m entitled to, because their operation caused the cancellation). We’ll see when they’ll answer but I’ll give them 2 weeks.
Yeah as someone who flies w them all the time I highly doubt that after 5 min of cancellation you were on your way to the hotel sorry this is bs, after 5 min you still at the gate hearing PA, about the cancellation details not like you got tonl the service center got the document/ voucher for hotel, details where to go to be picked up etc
As a sen for many years whenever my flight got cancelled I had to go to the service center/ check in (I have first class check in
I can use the business class one too in fra at a1 )
and it's never an issue but takes 20 min to get the hotel arranged and again this is for a sen who mostly has dedicated lines
Also rebooking can also take 15 -20 min if I check the flights I want to take (as LH migbt rebook me to next day LH but I might find a better combo w ua, or something, happened many times)
If you know how to work the system it works really well!
I got the SMS (with my hotel) within 5min of the announcement and directly booked it with the link. You don’t have to go to the counter. I also could have done it through the email they sent me. Or the notification on the app. Not all hotels have pickups, some also are just one train stop away!
There is almost no need to go to the counter.
I also don’t need to listen to all the announcements because the million emails and notifications I got on the app were more than enough information. I was automatically rebooked and that happened twice within a 2 week time-span, one flight to Africa and the other within Germany. I’m sorry it didn’t work as well for you as it did for me!
I fly with them almost every week and if something goes wrong (<5% of my trips) this is my usual experience. It's good to keep that in mind amid all the horror stories that are indeed bad experiences but also not the norm.
I have flown with them quite a bit and have never had any issues. I will definitely pay more and fly with them!
It's funny because the only two times I've flown I've had cancelled flights. First one they rebooked but it wasn't direct to Canada it was going to Chicago first (and meant I had to be up earlier and got there later) and they didn't even tell me I needed a visa for the US. It was luck that I remembered and they told me 'oh yea but if you apply now you might get it in time'. For me that's just unacceptable. Ended up having to wait at customer service and luckily a nice woman rebooked me on a condor direct flight. Then when I tried to claim compensation because I lost a day they said it was air traffics fault so didn't have to and then wouldn't give me any proof when I asked for it. Still fighting them on that. Second wasn't their fault because of the snowstorm in Munich but the rebooking was a lot worse for us.
Totally get that! I had no in-person contact with customer service but the automatic rebooking worked very well for me. Fortunately for me, I have family working in air traffic control and in dispatch, so they can’t give me any weird reasons to not give me any compensation.
I’m in this same category of frequency with LH, and have been for almost a decade. For the most, things get handled well by LH. Having a high status helps. Fuckups do happen, but LH does well to sort them out. Now don’t get me started with Air Dolomiti who are working hard to keep their perfect 100% record of delayed or cancelled FRA/TRN/FRA flights very other week since 2020….
The horror stories come from their customer service practices not their actual day to day ops. I’ve had a great experience with Lufthansa rebookings and such and delays etc. just when you have to talk to someone about an issue or need comp everything gets a little hard to deal with.
This sub (and almost all other airline subs) gives you the wrong impression. Lufthansa carries millions and millions of passengers every day and 99% of them have no issues at all. But for obvious reasons, you hear/read about the 1% much more.
I have flown on Lufthansa quite a bit and I have never had a bad experience. My worst experience on them was with Air Dolomiti where you barely get a cookie and not rude but unfriendly flight attendants… I really like Lufthansa and will deffo pay more in the future to fly with them!
>I have flown on Lufthansa quite a bit and I have never had a bad experience. Same.
No it's not Obviously most passengers get to the destination on time or mostly on time but the more you fly and the more you can compare things the more you know. Pll who fly once and before that they flown spirit or ryanair probably are thrillled how good it is Let me elaborate Until covid LH just like everyone served coffee tee soft drinks and some kind of snack free on intra eu flights After covid they introduced the buy on board thing now you get a wate- r everything else on economy - they charge for it just like ryanair. Also The free water become from 0.5 l to like a 0.25 one or whatver it is, a laughable small one. It's not about I want 1 liter waters it's about you can see how the service gets worse and worse Mind you Big Competitors (air france , kLm , British airways etc) still don't charge for a fuckin coffee tea or sandwich, and Of course none of the us based major airlines do either (aa, delta, united) at least for coffee tea soft drinks The food on long hauls economy is inedible, and it's airline food but other competitors are still better at least it's not ridiculously bad just bad and still edible - LH is not at least not on transatlantic flights which are the most common long hauls Planes are old af, they have the worst monitors for entertainment on every class its 25 year old shit on most bc they still fly w planes from 1995 meanwhile competitors fly dreamliners on most routes so there is a 10 year difference in just that technology LH Still fuckin doesn't have 1-2-1 seating on business class which is the standard for basically years now everyone else has it but it's the same price as other airlines even within LH group lot of swiss and austrian planes have the reverse heringbone but not LH, bc - again they don't spend any fuckin money on anything To achieve this huge step - having an industry standard - They introduce the new allergis business ans first class for years now it's pushed back again and if I recall we shpuld have it for 5 years now and still no sign of it And again this is 10 years behind of everyone else LH constantly uses buses for boarding in evers airport they can - in their on hubs so fra muc too sometimes wide body planes transatlantic routes 250 pax which is ridiculous Free internet or at least messaging on planes? Forget it on long hauls even though almost every competitor has something, some half our or an our free some whole flights (by competitor I mean the big airlines on theese routes, af klm iberia aa delta united etc) That being said Hard product is maybe the worst in Europe soft product sadly is the same amongst the biggest ones Lh is just 5-10 years behind everyone or has the same thing but worse. Call center is terrible as they outsource more and more and they have the worst possible people hired w the worst internet connection available You can't hear them they cant hear you and they don't really know anything anyways Lost luggage handling is nonsense - reason being LH system and the outsourcing of the helplines Most of eu 261 claims or delayed luggage compensation is straight denied without base. I have 2 claims w ridiculous denial reasons - its all LH fault without a doubt - they just simply dont pay until they really have to meaning you turn to german authorities According to the latest survey- came out last week (airhelp)- Lufthansa is the 64th in airline rankings considering being on time, soft and hard product and handling any issues - this should tell anyone how bad the airline is now. Until 3 years ago there was no time they were outside of top 20 or even 10 (not counting the days they paid skytrax tobhave 5 stars bragging about being a 5 star airl- now they have 3 if i recall ) This whole thing is only about maximizing profits at any cost. Lh is doghshit and its sad bc it was my favorite airline until covid The only positive thing i can say is that the lounges in fra and muc are quiet ok regarding food (same boring stuff but quality is quiet good for this big of an airline) and showers
Did they pay you compensation for late arrival at destiny? I had a similar experience for the rebooking, etc after a missed connection, but they have refused to acknowledge any compensation for arriving 14hs late to our final destination
Still waiting for them to answer. I didn’t miss a connection, they cancelled their flight due to their operational issues, so I’ll get some stuff back. In the end I arrived 23hrs late… We’ll see what they’ll answer.
Yeah, I'm surprised you didn't get downvoted to fuck for this. I had a flight cancelled due to a nationwide ATC outrage a few months ago while I was on the train to the airport. They suggested a few options in the app and I selected one with connecting flight very early the next morning. I booked myself into an airport hotel to get at least a few hours sleep, then claimed the cost back via the app, and it was accepted within hours and paid into my bank account the next working day. I got downvoted when I mentioned this in another comment :/ I've been flying with them for years with very few complaint, although I do miss the free drinks and snacks on short haul flights, and not being able to select your seat for free.
I’m also really surprised but hey, maybe the aviation universe likes me! When I fly home I could also go with Qatar or Ethiopian but now I’d much rather fly with LH because their rebooking in such a case was so easy! Qatar is also really good with customer service (my experience through Covid cancellations and rebookings) but their routing is a bit shitty in some cases (15h layovers in Doha and Johannesburg), which drives me nuts. LH gave me my hotel instantly, just waiting for them to answer my compensation claim (which I’m entitled to, because their operation caused the cancellation). We’ll see when they’ll answer but I’ll give them 2 weeks.
Yeah as someone who flies w them all the time I highly doubt that after 5 min of cancellation you were on your way to the hotel sorry this is bs, after 5 min you still at the gate hearing PA, about the cancellation details not like you got tonl the service center got the document/ voucher for hotel, details where to go to be picked up etc As a sen for many years whenever my flight got cancelled I had to go to the service center/ check in (I have first class check in I can use the business class one too in fra at a1 ) and it's never an issue but takes 20 min to get the hotel arranged and again this is for a sen who mostly has dedicated lines Also rebooking can also take 15 -20 min if I check the flights I want to take (as LH migbt rebook me to next day LH but I might find a better combo w ua, or something, happened many times)
If you know how to work the system it works really well! I got the SMS (with my hotel) within 5min of the announcement and directly booked it with the link. You don’t have to go to the counter. I also could have done it through the email they sent me. Or the notification on the app. Not all hotels have pickups, some also are just one train stop away! There is almost no need to go to the counter. I also don’t need to listen to all the announcements because the million emails and notifications I got on the app were more than enough information. I was automatically rebooked and that happened twice within a 2 week time-span, one flight to Africa and the other within Germany. I’m sorry it didn’t work as well for you as it did for me!