bwiadca

On Monday I was flying WAW-FRA-IAD. Time between flights in FRA was 50 minutes. I took this flight about 5-6 times before and never had problems connecting. So this past Monday our inbound flight to WAW was delayed by 1 hour. There was a problem with the aircraft in FRA and they said they had to swap the airplane. At that point I knew that I wont be making my flight. I've called LH reservations asking if I can be rebooked on United's flight that leaves Frankfurt at 5pm which is 4 hours later. The lady on the phone said that there shouldn't be any problems catching my connection and that I should go and talk to the gate agents.
That's what I did. Went to the gate and asked to be put on the later flight. LH rep said that there is 40 people on this flight connecting to IAD, and in this case they will hold the plane for us in FRA. They also said that there will be LH rep waiting for us at the gate so we can make fast transfer. After inquiring about United flight 933, they've told us that the flight is half full and that we'll be put on it if we miss our connection in FRA.
There was a group of people who were going to IAD, we started planning our transfer. At least we knew who was going to IAD, and in FRA we would follow each other.

We've arrived at FRA 25 minutes before our departure time to IAD. When we left the plane, the only LH rep with the card was there for Calgary and some place in Italy. Nobody for passengers to Washington.
In the terminal we've quickly assembled and run to the passport control for Z gates. There we've lost 15 minutes. Then quick sprint to the gate where we saw 4 agents closing the door. They've said that we are late and they can't do anything about it. That's fine.
It was only 10 of us, not 40 like the agent at WAW told us.
When we've asked about UA933 they've told us that they can't do changes at the gate and that we have to go to LH Customer Service desk.
So we've run back to the service desk. After standing 1 hour in line it was our turn. We've been told that UA933 is full and that they can't put us on that flight. One guy who had a meeting at IAD next morning was put on LH to LHR and then on British Airways to IAD. Besides him, only one other person got seat on that BA flight. Rest of us were put on the next day's LH416 to IAD. They gave us hotel rooms and dinner voucher. Some people also got 10-20 Euro food voucher for the airport restaurants. (Why some got them and some didn't???).
When asked about EC261/2004 the guy at the service desk would change the subject immediately. Am I eligible for the compensation?
My new flight arrived 21 hours later then my scheduled flight.

We've been told that our bags would arrive at baggage claim number B16 in the next 30-45 minutes. Almost 2 hours later we've got our bags.

Thanks

Often1

There are only two issues which matter presuming that you were traveling on a single ticket WAW-IAD. The rest is irrelevant.

1. Your arrival at IAD was 4 or more hours later than originally scheduled. It was.
2. There was no "extraordinary circumstance" causing the delay. There was not.

Accordingly, you are entitled to EUR 600 in EC 261/2004 compensation. if you have other reasonable food expenses beyond the dinner, you may submit receipts to LH.

When you submit your claim, stick to the relevant facts. Who ran which way and who got what voucher is irrelevant, as well as what LH did to rebook another passenger.

mmff

+1

Don't ramble.

bwiadca

I'm not gonna ramble Just wanted to give my story to explain the situation here on FT.

Thanks for the answers

warakorn

No. 1 rule - esp. in Poland -> getting rid of stressful passengers with some lies!

The outsourced agents, manning the gate, are not empowered to do anything.

bwiadca

Nobody was stressful, angry or DYKWIA. The plane is late, nothing you can't do about it. I agree with you that they just let everyone go with some lies.

As for the outsourced agents, what about gate agents at FRA? Aren't they LH employees? Why can't they change flights? Especially when the gate was closed, aircraft was being pushed back and they had nothing else to do.
They've sent us to service desk where we stood for loooong time.
In US, whenever I was delayed, cancelled or IDB. I didn't have to go to the service desk at ATL or ORD. Gate agents always did good job rerouting me to my final destination.
I've submitted the claim with LH and now I'm waiting for the answer.

SPlDER

In MUC and FRA I have never be re-booked by gate agent.

warakorn

It's a matter of workflow.
Gate agents are probably not trained, not empowered and have no access to the ticketing system. Gate agents will most likely only work with the departure control system.

Ticketing can be a complicated matter, esp. if you have complex itineraries, involving multiple airlines. An error may result in the voiding of the entire ticket.
Hence, only a few people are trained for that.
Moreover, LH has (non-published) rebooking rules in case of IRROPS.
An airline like LH obviously want to avoid rebooking to other carriers - and do that only as a last resort.

Often1

LH segments its employees much more so than US carriers. While there are more senior agents and agents who are both empowered to undertake certain tasks and know how to do them, pretty much any agent with access to a terminal can handle a standard reroute on UA/DL/AA.

As these carriers limit the authority of agents, it may come to a point where journeyman GA's can't do many things, but the nature of US departures is such that handing you a BP for the next flight is not that hard.

DL handles a lot of IRROPS rebooking without much human intervention at all. While the algorithm sometimes yields odd reroutes, most are simply the next flight and that is handled at a kiosk. In addition, the same kiosks can spit out a hotel voucher so that a passenger doesn't need to stand in much of a line.

Add to this the fact that at even mid-sized airports, staff are mixed function, e.g, work the check-in counter and then the gate.

oliver2002

LH in FRA/MUC has agents trained for checkin & transfer desk and a different set for gate tasks. The gate agent usually has to move on to the next flight in his/her duty schedule and also keep the gate free for the next aircraft to be taken care of.

LH also has algorithms in place to rebook batches of passengers but that is usually done if entire flights are cancelled.

bwiadca

How long it usually takes for LH to respond? Two weeks and nothing.

mmff

It can be months.

bwiadca

Thanks for the update.

bwiadca

Funny thing. I just received two phone calls from Lufthansa's office in Philippines. 12 midnight in DC. Really? Since I didn't know the number I did not pick it up.
In the voicemail they've stated that they are processing my 600 euros and I should receive check in the next 4 weeks.
That money will go back to Lufthansa for my vacations to Europe this fall

warakorn

Please write us back, once you get the money into your account.