Hi,
My wife and I were booked to fly Lufthansa first class MAN-FRA-HND on Monday. However, due to the strike in Germany, Lufthansa have cancelled our flights. The flights were booked with Miles and More points, each ticket being issued to our respective Miles and More accounts. My understanding is that according to EU law, we have a right to be rebooked on ANY carrier as close to our original departure date as possible.
Having spent ages on the first class hotline, Lufthansa are saying that there is no availability until the end of the week at the earliest, and for 2 tickets on the same flight it would be the week after next. They are saying that as it's an award booking they can only rebook on Lufthansa Group airlines. In other words, computer says no. I have found availability on other carriers at substantial cost - £1500+ in economy, £6000+ in business class but Lufthansa refuse to book us these flights. The best they say they can do is book us on 2 separate Lufthansa flights on Thursday, assuming that one of us can be downgraded by a supervisor. They can confirm one of us in first class on Thursday and waitlist for the other if a seat becomes available.
Am I correct in thinking that Lufthansa are in breach of the rules here? It would be a horrific amount of money to spend if we paid for new tickets to then not get it back.
We are travelling home with 2 different carriers, and can't move those flights as they are also award bookings and there is no availability for later dates.
Many thanks!