Originally Posted by
Often1
The injunction merely requires LH Group to do what EU law has required since 2005. This is why there are national enforcement bureaus and the German government has been woeful in the service of its people in this regard, While OP is not covered by US law, when he reached the US number, he clearly spoke with someone who has been trained to do what the law requires. US DOT has issued two enforcement warnings directly to carriers serving the US regarding their obligations.
The rebooking policy merely needs to be published into each carriers internal guidance so that front line agents can call it up and act accordingly. There is nothing complicated about what happened, what OP asked for, and what was required.
And yet European based passengers still have problems getting what they are entitled to. The injunction was required precisely because of the lack of intervention by the national enforcement bureaus and LH Group’s bad behaviour even has general support from some European governments.
Not fulfilling the terms of the injunction can result in fines of €250,000 per day. This is far less toothless than the national enforcement bureau.
Personally, I had a cancelled flight to AKL that I would have been happy to reschedule to later in the year. However LH had zeroed out all P class inventory and wanted an additional €3000. I therefore cancelled the ticket and my chargeback has temporarily recredited my card while Amex contact Swiss. LH Group could have made this much easier for themselves.