Originally Posted by
Frequentflyer99
As I read the judgment (and my German is pretty good but not 100% fluent") that is exactly what LH did sue for i.e. the fare difference. More importantly they were found entitled to succeed on that claim, as their T&C did allow them to do so, and the terms was not so unusual as to be unenforceable in a contract containing standard terms. So LH actually won the point of principle. However, they lost the case because - ironically - they were unable to provide sufficient evidence as to what the fare would have been, on the relevant date, for the flights actually flown.
Am I the only person who read the judgment that way ?
Not quite. The judgement ruled that the AGB’s applied, this the the German term for General Trading Conditions, so not quite CoC, and that in principle a part of a journey might have a higher price than the full journey. However, Lufthansa’s calculation was considered neither transparent nor could it be comprehended by the court let alone the passenger.
Lufthansa sued for the fare OSL-FRA-SEA-FRA-TXL, despite the fact that the victim of their vindictivness had purchased OSL-FRA-SEA-FRA-OSL plus FRA-TXL. The court did not have any evidence that the amount Lufthansa was demanding (over €2,700) was either realistic or transparent to the passenger. It may have had something to do with Lufthansa’s attitude that the passenger had only paid €657 for the business class ticket, which feels like one of those super flash sales that were corrected quite quickly after being discovered.
Incidently, Lufthansa tried to withdraw the lawsuit before judgement against them was passed but failed, which might explain why they now feel the need to appeal rather than letting the matter be, which they had at one stage decided to do. They filed the suit to scare the passenger, who fought valliantly and then wanted his day in court after feeling bullied. There is more to this case than just skipping the last sector. Lufthansa may have been trying to recoup losses on a mistake fare here.
I would also ask some posters to refrain from calling the passengers action fraud. The passenger, for now at least, has won his case and therefore no fraud is judged to have taken place.