Miles & More (Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, and other partners) - I'm in trouble and need your help!

Hello fellow travellers,

I'm not sure if I'm posting in the right place, sorry about that!

Problem:
I booked a lufthansa flight with airfare.com at a discounted fare a long time ago, the first part of my journey is complete, the return portion was on the 22nd of August. I unfortunately missed my flight and now am a NO SHOW.

The lufthansa agent that I spoke to on the phone as soon as I realized I missed the flight rescheduled my flight and put me on a flight for the 25th of august and was then told to speak with my agent.

Now, I know I'm supposed to be paying a $250 no show charge + the change in fare. However, airfare.com is being extremely unresponsive and when I do get through to their extremely rude customer service agent, he tells me there's a charge of $750+

I'm not sure what to do at the moment and need your input on this issue.

Thanks in advance!


Update: I contacted the airline after 10 hours of missing my flight. The reason this error occurred was the amadeus e-mailed ticket said "105A" which made my think it was 10:50 AM but it was actually at 1:05 AM. So I did show up to the airport but never spoke to any airport agents since no one was present.

I'm not sure if I'm posting in the right place, sorry about that!

How many hours after your flight left did you contact Lufthansa?

I contacted them at 10 AM for a flight I missed at 1 AM so 9 Hours.

I contacted them at 10 AM for a flight I missed at 1 AM so 9 Hours.

That's beyond the "flat tire" rule, which I'm not even positive works with LH.

Certainly, you are on the hook for the change fee. How much is LH trying to charge you for a change in fare?

I know you don't want to hear this, but you may be out of luck in this case.

1. The LH flat tire rule is, "don't get a flat tire."

2. OP is on the hook for change fee + fare difference as per the LH tariff as well as any fees which the third-party booker imposes.

3. Sit down and carefully read the t&c of the third-party site as well as everything they emailed you with your itinerary and e-ticket receipt.

The likely LH fee is $250. The balance of the $500 is likely the change in airfare and whatever penalties the site imposes. But, you will need to double-check those yourself.

Hate to say it, but short of sweet-talking an LH agent into issuing a BP (about 0.000001% chance), you are on the hook for something.

1. The LH flat tire rule is, "don't get a flat tire."

Very funny. I laughed aloud. This won't help the OP but part of the reason we like LH so much and they are our preferred TATL carrier is that we always know where we stand with them. Unlike certain other airlines, they don't make up rules on the fly and are very clear about the rules that they do have.

I would try pleading, but the 750 does sound like a realistic charge. Hopefully you have a charge card. Did you not review your itinerary online prior to your first flight to check your return flight?

Sorry if I missed it: Where are you flying from/to?

moving to LH

Willie
co-moderator of CommunityBuzz