MilesBuzz! - denied boarding without compensation

Friend of mine was bumped from Lufthansa intra-European flight. Originally things looked quite good - because eco was full he was upgraded to business class, BUT just before he was boarding, he was told that business-class is also oversold. It came out that Lufthansa managed to sell few more tickets to this, already overbooked flight. As a result my friend was bumped finally (and he already hold boarding pass for that flight). http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif
LH was "very" sorry and rerouted him via Amsterdam and Stockholm, but plane to Amsterdam took off 6 hrs later (because of weather) and he arrived to his final destination next afternoon, almost 15hrs later than planned.
What makes me angry is fact that LH did´nt offered him any compensation for denied boarding (and my friend was not aware that he was entitled to it).
I just heard about the case and of course I told him to contact airline asap. But I am not sure will it do any good - all those things happened almost 1 month ago. What You think? What should he get? I know that standard compensation is 150 EUR. But how to prove that he already didñt get it?
I think its a question of principle.
Thanks.

official LH compensation rules (since 1997):
book you on the next possible flight
inform your family members or business partners
book hotel accommodation, if required, or provide you with a meal before your onward flight
or refund the costs for transferring you to the original airport to which you were flying if the later flight is to a different airport.

Plus the following recomensations apply:

Flights within Europe:
delayed arrival up to 2 hours: value of vouchers = DM 300, cash payement DM 150
delayed arrival more than 2 hours: value of vouchers = DM 600, cash payement DM 300

Intercontinental flights:
delayed arrival up to 4 hours: value of vouchers = DM 600 (if starting in the US $ 400), cash payement DM 300
delayed arrival more than hours: value of vouchers = DM 1200, cash payement DM 600

my experience is that LH sometimes tries to get by not paying anything if the passenger does not insist (or know)! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

But I would sure try to make them pay!

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Viele Grüße

Oliver

denied boarding compensation within the EU is compulsory under EC law.

I agree. All the points were within the EU so Lufthansa are obiged to pay compensation. I was unclear where you friend lives, fokker50, not that this alters anything, but if all else fails, a letter from a lawyer does focus corporate minds.

Thanks to all for info and comments.

The law in the EU is governed by "Council Regulation (EEC) No 295/91 of 4 February 1991 establishing common rules for a denied-boarding compensation system in scheduled air transport ". See:
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/lif/dat/1991/en_391R0295.html

A fairly 'plain English' summary of the regulation can be found at:
http://www.ecic.ie/tips/tip_06.html

This may be slightly off-topic, but be gald it wasn't a developing country like the Philippines. Airlines there are liable for only 150 pesos in denied boarding compensation, which is about $4. And if the plane's not full enough, they'll cancel and "combine" people onto a later flight, even if that means 6 hours later or the next day. Getting endorsed to another carrier is like pulling teeth, and your only other option is a refund (after 60-90 days).

So there's no economic deterrent against overbookings or against economic cancellations. Not surprisingly, some airlines abuse it. Not the kind of "deregulation" we need elsewhere, IMO.