Double booking [and dupe check] on Lufthansa
Oct 2, 2007, 6:57 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,548
Double booking [and dupe check] on Lufthansa
I did something very silly. I booked a discounted economy ticket MUC-AMS flight on Lufthansa.com yesterday for me and my SO - it was ticketed.
Today I realized I had booked and purchased the same itinerary for the 2 of us on Expedia.com 2 weeks earlier!
Obviously I need to have one of them canceled. Will Lufthansa cancel our itinerary because they see 2 bookings with same names? Will they give us full refund because of this double booking or will they penalize us and issue credit? It has only been 24 hours since I booked the ticket on Lufthansa.com and realized of the double booking.
I have sent an email to Lufthansa.com explaining the situation and I am hoping they will cancel and refund our money.
Any thoughts?
Today I realized I had booked and purchased the same itinerary for the 2 of us on Expedia.com 2 weeks earlier!
Obviously I need to have one of them canceled. Will Lufthansa cancel our itinerary because they see 2 bookings with same names? Will they give us full refund because of this double booking or will they penalize us and issue credit? It has only been 24 hours since I booked the ticket on Lufthansa.com and realized of the double booking.
I have sent an email to Lufthansa.com explaining the situation and I am hoping they will cancel and refund our money.
Any thoughts?
Oct 2, 2007, 7:05 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 14,889
I did something very silly. I booked a discounted economy ticket MUC-AMS flight on Lufthansa.com yesterday for me and my SO - it was ticketed.
Today I realized I had booked and purchased the same itinerary for the 2 of us on Expedia.com 2 weeks earlier!
Obviously I need to have one of them canceled. Will Lufthansa cancel our itinerary because they see 2 bookings with same names? Will they give us full refund because of this double booking or will they penalize us and issue credit? It has only been 24 hours since I booked the ticket on Lufthansa.com and realized of the double booking.
I have sent an email to Lufthansa.com explaining the situation and I am hoping they will cancel and refund our money.
Any thoughts?
Today I realized I had booked and purchased the same itinerary for the 2 of us on Expedia.com 2 weeks earlier!
Obviously I need to have one of them canceled. Will Lufthansa cancel our itinerary because they see 2 bookings with same names? Will they give us full refund because of this double booking or will they penalize us and issue credit? It has only been 24 hours since I booked the ticket on Lufthansa.com and realized of the double booking.
I have sent an email to Lufthansa.com explaining the situation and I am hoping they will cancel and refund our money.
Any thoughts?
For some carriers, it is used instead of the 24 hour hold, to put the onus on you to cancel, so that if you forget, the thing gets ticketed and you are responsible for any change/cancellation charges. For others, I think it is more for a customer convenience, in case you get the confirmation e-mail and realize - uh oh, I booked the wrong date (a mistake that everyone makes at one time or another). Either way, call immediately to see if this applies for LH bookings.
Oct 2, 2007, 7:21 pm
#4
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 48,182
get the LH booking reference and look it up on checkmytrip.com If there is no eticket number in the record, you cancel your ticket without charge. If you have crossed that deadline (usually 24h, sometimes even longer) you can cancel your ticket and receive only a full refund of your taxes and surcharges.
LH RM does run a dupe booking check about one week before departure. This is to prevent people from holding multiple reservation which have not been ticketed or to clean up an overbooked flight. They will contact you (or the issuing TA) if they find a dupe and ask you about it.
LH RM does run a dupe booking check about one week before departure. This is to prevent people from holding multiple reservation which have not been ticketed or to clean up an overbooked flight. They will contact you (or the issuing TA) if they find a dupe and ask you about it.
Oct 3, 2007, 7:37 am
#5
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Germany
Programs: Miles and More
Posts: 222
well mwanwhile lh.com issues tix pretty fast so even in the 24h grace period it could happen that a tix is issued and you wont get the ticket service charge back but for all other stuff its a full ref if you call within 24h after booking...
Oct 3, 2007, 7:55 am
#6
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: US
Programs: LH and BA
Posts: 2,324
I thought the duplicate booking check is done immediately. Especially if oyu have the same MM number in this should prevent the ticketing, not sure though, but a good argument to say you booked and you SO booked without knowing of each others booking and then ask for a cancelation of one.
Oct 3, 2007, 5:59 pm
#7
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Germany
Posts: 3,798
Not sure about "immediately". I did an almost-double-booking on purpose once (flight times in one direction differed by 2 hours). A week later I got an email from LH telling me they found a double booking and asking to call them, it certainly happened after the ticketing.
Oct 21, 2007, 2:30 pm
#8
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 48,182
New dupe check procedure starting Oct 29 07
Found this snippet today:
Translation: if you have two bookings for the same flight on a LH operated and/or Lh marketed flight, LH will cancel one of the bookings. Only if you are SEN or HON a warning of impending cancellation will be stored under the SSR header.
AFAIK LH only issued a warning and contacted the pax or the TA if the PNR was really a dupe.
This is really a shame as I used to book a few placeholder bookings with same start or end date in order to block Z availability. I guess that is exactly the reason why LH doesn't like dupe bookings as it screws up their prognosis.
WL dupes should not be effected: for example, if you secure a D seat but waitlist the same segment in Z to get a cheaper fare, it doesn't count as dupe.^
1/224: 17.10.07 Lufthansa schaltet am 29. Oktober 2007 ein aktualisiertes Dupe Check Modul auf
Um die Verfügbarkeit auf unseren Flügen noch aktueller anbieten zu können, schaltet Lufthansa zum 29. Oktober eine verbesserte Version des seit Jahren bewährten sog. „Dupe Checks“ auf.
Dieser Check nach Doppelbuchungen wird stündlich über alle neuen und aktualisierten PNRs, über alle Buchungsklassen auf allen LH operating, LH Marketing/OAL operating Flügen, vertikal (im selben PNR) sowie auch horizontal (über unterschiedliche PNRs) laufen.
Dieser Prüflauf streicht definierte Dupes ohne Warnung. Lediglich für HON und SEN und bei unterschiedlichen Booking Offices wird eine entsprechende SSR-Meldung generiert:
• DUPE LH nnnn/class/ddmmm (IN PNR xxxxxx) WILL BE XLD AFTER DMM/HH:MMz
• LH NOTICED POSSIBLE DUPE LH nnnn/class/ddmmm (IN PNR xxxxxx)
• LH nnnn/class/ddmmm DUPE WITH PNR FROM OTHER AGT. RISK OF XXLD AFTER DDMM/HH:MMz.DTLS VIA YOUR LOCAL LH OFFICE.
Wir sind zuversichtlich, dass mit dieser Information die eine oder andere vorsorgliche, aber nun nicht mehr benötigte und deshalb durch Sie stornierte Buchung zu einer besseren Verfügbarkeit für Sie und unsere gemeinsamen Kunden führt.
Nach Streichung lauten die Cancellation Messages wie folgt:
- DUPE LHnnnn/class/ddmmm XLD
- DUPE LHnnnn/class/ddmmm AND CONNECTED MARRIED SEGMENT XLD
Wenn Reservierungen von Ihnen betroffen sind, Sie jedoch die Buchungssituation bis zur avisierten Deadline nicht bereinigen möchten, wenden Sie sich bitte wie gewohnt an Ihr Serviceteam.
Um die Verfügbarkeit auf unseren Flügen noch aktueller anbieten zu können, schaltet Lufthansa zum 29. Oktober eine verbesserte Version des seit Jahren bewährten sog. „Dupe Checks“ auf.
Dieser Check nach Doppelbuchungen wird stündlich über alle neuen und aktualisierten PNRs, über alle Buchungsklassen auf allen LH operating, LH Marketing/OAL operating Flügen, vertikal (im selben PNR) sowie auch horizontal (über unterschiedliche PNRs) laufen.
Dieser Prüflauf streicht definierte Dupes ohne Warnung. Lediglich für HON und SEN und bei unterschiedlichen Booking Offices wird eine entsprechende SSR-Meldung generiert:
• DUPE LH nnnn/class/ddmmm (IN PNR xxxxxx) WILL BE XLD AFTER DMM/HH:MMz
• LH NOTICED POSSIBLE DUPE LH nnnn/class/ddmmm (IN PNR xxxxxx)
• LH nnnn/class/ddmmm DUPE WITH PNR FROM OTHER AGT. RISK OF XXLD AFTER DDMM/HH:MMz.DTLS VIA YOUR LOCAL LH OFFICE.
Wir sind zuversichtlich, dass mit dieser Information die eine oder andere vorsorgliche, aber nun nicht mehr benötigte und deshalb durch Sie stornierte Buchung zu einer besseren Verfügbarkeit für Sie und unsere gemeinsamen Kunden führt.
Nach Streichung lauten die Cancellation Messages wie folgt:
- DUPE LHnnnn/class/ddmmm XLD
- DUPE LHnnnn/class/ddmmm AND CONNECTED MARRIED SEGMENT XLD
Wenn Reservierungen von Ihnen betroffen sind, Sie jedoch die Buchungssituation bis zur avisierten Deadline nicht bereinigen möchten, wenden Sie sich bitte wie gewohnt an Ihr Serviceteam.
AFAIK LH only issued a warning and contacted the pax or the TA if the PNR was really a dupe.
This is really a shame as I used to book a few placeholder bookings with same start or end date in order to block Z availability. I guess that is exactly the reason why LH doesn't like dupe bookings as it screws up their prognosis.
WL dupes should not be effected: for example, if you secure a D seat but waitlist the same segment in Z to get a cheaper fare, it doesn't count as dupe.^
Last edited by oliver2002; Oct 21, 2007 at 2:36 pm
Oct 21, 2007, 2:39 pm
#9
Join Date: Jan 1999
Location: Too many
Programs: Lots
Posts: 5,761
One potential problem with this is FlySmart awards. Just a few weeks ago, I had a FlySmart award booked in Economy from FRA-VIE. A week later, I needed to change my return date. As FlySmart's are totally unchangable and non-cancellable, I had to double book myself via a second award on the outbound flight and was listed twice, once in economy (1st award) and once in business (2nd award). LH 's US call center twice refused to cancel the first award (I was not asking for any refund, just that they cancel the segments out). Caused quite the confusion at checkin.
Oct 21, 2007, 2:43 pm
#10
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 48,182
A few years ago I had a dupe booking on an overbooked CRJ. 1st was a flysmart, second a full fare C. LH called me and asked what was going on. We agreed to cancel the flysmart and they refunded me the taxes for the flysmart. Axey, I would call them and ask for a refund of the flysmart award taxes.
Nov 1, 2007, 12:41 pm
#11
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 48,182
Sure enough I got a call from my travel agent on Oct 30 asking about all the dupe bookings I had made in the system. 
Nov 1, 2007, 7:34 pm
#12
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Germany
Posts: 3,798
A year ago, I booked two return tickets FRA-LHR-FRA for the same date, but with different outbound and inbound flights. Lufthansa immediately contacted me about the "double booking" (I talked them into keeping both bookings by promising to cancel the unneeded flight in advance).
From your snippet, it seems that a similar combination of flights would now lead to a cancellation without warning for anyone below SEN. It's also unclear what effect the warning in the PNR would have if booked online.
Last edited by cockpitvisit; Nov 1, 2007 at 7:44 pm
Nov 1, 2007, 7:42 pm
#13
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 48,182
Well, if you book the ticket with LH (online or via the phone) they will contact you if you have such a message in you PNR.
Sep 27, 2008, 1:20 pm
#14
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 48,182
LH has upped the ante one more notch on dupe checks 
:
source: lh-agent.com
:
1/239: 23.09.08 Flight Firming Tool: Dupe Check in Different Booking Offices
Um die Verfügbarkeit auf unseren Flügen noch aktueller anbieten zu können, wird zum 01. Oktober ein weiterer Baustein im Dupe Check Modul des Flight Firming Tools online gehen.
Im Prüflauf „Different Booking Offices“ bleiben die grundsätzlichen Parameter im Dupe Check unverändert: stündlicher Check über alle neuen und aktualisierten PNRs, über alle Buchungsklassen auf allen LH operating, LH Marketing/OAL operating Flügen, vertikal (im selben PNR) sowie auch horizontal (über unterschiedliche PNRs).
Hinzu kommt, dass übereinstimmende Paramenter in PNRs unterschiedlicher Buchungsbüros gefiltert und zur Klärung/Streichung zur Verfügung gestellt werden.
Die initiale SSR Meldung lautet z.B.:
--> LH4121/Z/22SEP DUPE WITH AMADEUS PNR XXXXX FROM OTHER AGT. IF NO CLARIFICATION WITH PAX RISK OF XX BY 00AUG08/1001Z
Die SSR Meldung nach Streichung lautet z.B.:
--> DUPE LH4121/Z/22SEP XLD AS DUPE WITH PNR FROM OTHER AGT
Wir sind zuversichtlich, dass mit dieser Information die eine oder andere vorsorgliche, aber nun nicht mehr benötigte und deshalb durch Sie stornierte Buchung zu einer besseren Verfügbarkeit für Sie und unsere gemeinsamen Kunden führt. Unsere Serviceteams stehen Ihnen wie gewohnt unterstützend zur Verfügung.
Um die Verfügbarkeit auf unseren Flügen noch aktueller anbieten zu können, wird zum 01. Oktober ein weiterer Baustein im Dupe Check Modul des Flight Firming Tools online gehen.
Im Prüflauf „Different Booking Offices“ bleiben die grundsätzlichen Parameter im Dupe Check unverändert: stündlicher Check über alle neuen und aktualisierten PNRs, über alle Buchungsklassen auf allen LH operating, LH Marketing/OAL operating Flügen, vertikal (im selben PNR) sowie auch horizontal (über unterschiedliche PNRs).
Hinzu kommt, dass übereinstimmende Paramenter in PNRs unterschiedlicher Buchungsbüros gefiltert und zur Klärung/Streichung zur Verfügung gestellt werden.
Die initiale SSR Meldung lautet z.B.:
--> LH4121/Z/22SEP DUPE WITH AMADEUS PNR XXXXX FROM OTHER AGT. IF NO CLARIFICATION WITH PAX RISK OF XX BY 00AUG08/1001Z
Die SSR Meldung nach Streichung lautet z.B.:
--> DUPE LH4121/Z/22SEP XLD AS DUPE WITH PNR FROM OTHER AGT
Wir sind zuversichtlich, dass mit dieser Information die eine oder andere vorsorgliche, aber nun nicht mehr benötigte und deshalb durch Sie stornierte Buchung zu einer besseren Verfügbarkeit für Sie und unsere gemeinsamen Kunden führt. Unsere Serviceteams stehen Ihnen wie gewohnt unterstützend zur Verfügung.
Sep 27, 2008, 1:39 pm
#15
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: FRA
Programs: LH, Avis, Hyatt, ...
Posts: 4,213
Hmm...
I did an award booking earlier this year for my better half and myself for mid October. The original plan was to spend a week off in California. In the meantime we both got two business meetings scheduled during that time, so it is no longer a pure private trip and company pays for both flights.
So I made a second booking originally with the same dates. In the meantime the return date has been moved two days back. Anyway, same MM#, same CC# used, same flights, same pax names and no cancelation as of now. So they did not detect this double booking for about 4 weeks.
I planned to keep the award booking before I would cancel it until the day before the flight. So I could see, if they would ever detect this double booking with their famous software tools.
Not yet.
I did an award booking earlier this year for my better half and myself for mid October. The original plan was to spend a week off in California. In the meantime we both got two business meetings scheduled during that time, so it is no longer a pure private trip and company pays for both flights.
So I made a second booking originally with the same dates. In the meantime the return date has been moved two days back. Anyway, same MM#, same CC# used, same flights, same pax names and no cancelation as of now. So they did not detect this double booking for about 4 weeks.
I planned to keep the award booking before I would cancel it until the day before the flight. So I could see, if they would ever detect this double booking with their famous software tools.
Not yet.