Rebooking options after cancellation by LH limited by fare class?
Has anyone else encountered this "new rule"?
I've been waiting (like almost everyone else) for refunds for 3 return flights with LH since March. Since I got an e-mail reminding me that I could still use those bookings to book new flights as opposed to taking the refund, I decided to book a weekend in Venice in July using one of the old bookings. Booking was made a week ago.
Got an e-mail this morning to say the flight (MUC-VCE) had been cancelled (as well as the return flight VCE-MUC). When I accessed the booking, I did think it was odd that I hadn't been shifted to a different flight, but I checked the website to see what other flights were available before phoning the (FTL) hotline. Since there were around 6 alternatives available between MUC and VCE, I didn't think there would be a problem.
I explained the matter to the customer service agent and received a curt (and rather odd!) reply: "There are no other flights to Italy on that day" (????) I asked why other MUC-VCE flights were showing on the website and was told: "Yes, there are other flights, but not in your fare class. If you want to move to a different one, you'll have to pay extra."
I've never experienced this in the past! Since when did the fare class I booked matter when it comes to being rebooked because LH cancelled my original flight? The agent told me there were "lots of new rules now" - no apology or anything.
After I went on a bit of a rant, she finally agreed to rebook me via Vienna, but the incident raises a lot of questions for me. I've been booking lots of trips with LH of late and I don't recall seeing this particular rule anywhere. It doesn't exactly encourage me to book with them in the future, to be honest.
Has anyone else been told the same?