LufthansaGermanAirlines

Hello worldclubber, the topic is indeed under discussion, but no final decisions have been made and we are unable to give you any information about an implementation date. Best regards, Isabell

Grog

Dear LH Lurker,

I would like to reemphasize a distasteful trend in LH gate / bus procedures for remote stand aircraft. If a bus ride is involved, under the current execution of the boarding process, priority boarding is meaningless.

https://www.lufthansa.com/online/myp...390&NOSSO=true

This statement is simply not true.

Priority boarding has devolved to equate to simply being first in being barcode-scanned, and yet, having zero priority in actually boarding the aircraft.

A solution is to eliminate remote stand parking, but alas, when will this truly happen?

But a step in the right direction would be to allow the first bus of passengers to depart when the priority boarding line has dwindled to zero, or as a secondary step, to allow the priority boarding passengers to get out of the bus and board the aircraft before non-priority passengers.

As it is today, priority boarding on LH is, for many flights, a farce. Given the current substandard process, a "priority" boarder might as well sit back and be the very last to be scanned, gaining the true advantage of being closer to the bus door to exit, as well as not smelling vehicle and aircraft fumes during the whole time the bus is sitting with its doors open.

worldclubber

Thank you! Please let us know when there is more information. Since C.S. has already announced it at an event, it shouldn't be too far away, I hope.

LufthansaGermanAirlines

Hi Oliver2002,
BoardConnect will be removed on the A321 fleet once FlyNet has been installed.
Vanessa

LufthansaGermanAirlines

Hello Grog,

I can fully empathise with your displeasure with the boarding procedures. As you point out, these are of course only effective if no bus transfer to the aircraft is involved. It is in Lufthansa’s interest to offer the best possible service, starting also with the boarding for flights, it is however sometimes not possible to get an air-bridge parking positon. I sincerely hope that in due course, more and more flights can be boarded without a bus transfer.
Best regards,

Isabell

Fabo.sk

That's only a partial answer though.

If LCCs can enforce a separate bus (or at least a separated section in a bus) for priority boarding, why can't LH at FRA?

tom tulpe

Dear LH lurker,

I have just come off the phone to the German call center where I tried to rebook a Business Flex flight TXL - FRA to an earlier flight today.

The agent quoted me the fare difference P to C. I asked about the new rebooking policy and was informed that the words "even if the originally selected booking category is no longer available" do in fact mean that I can only change the booking as long as there are seats in the same fare bucket available. When I asked about the new rebooking policy, she said it was Lufthansa, they wouldn't haggle (fair enough), that I was deliberately misrepresenting the fare conditions by making them up as I went along to suit my requirements (which I thought was rude and disrespectful), and that she would now end the conversation. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told there wasn't any. The agent then hung up without further ado.

So just to clarify: is free rebooking to an earlier flight on the day of travel limited to the same fare or not? From what I understand it is not. If I'm right, would it be possible to roll out the information to your call centers as well? And if I'm wrong there are some press releases on LH's website that may need a partial rewrite.

LufthansaGermanAirlines

Hello tom tulpe,
The option to change to an earlier flight free of charge is offered now only during the check-in process. Even if the original booking class is no longer available, a rebooking to an earlier flight on the same day should be possible for pure European flights and routes, with Business Class (BUZ) and Economy Flex (FLX) fares, as well as Corporate Fares, as long as the flights are operated by Lufthansa and the routing and carrier remain unchanged.
Kind regards,
Heloisa

tom tulpe

Thank you very much Heloisa!

It didn't work for me though (TXL-FRA-LUX, trying to change TXL-FRA from a 19:45 departure [as booked] to a 19:15 departure: Only J fare bucket was available, and so I was asked for EUR 450 or so to upfare from P to J).

Could it be that for a routing AAA - BBB - CCC, changing only the AAA-BBB segment to an earlier flight under the new rules isn't possible unless you also change the BBB-CCC segment?

LufthansaGermanAirlines

Hi tom tulpe,

would you please send us your booking code or ticket number via PM? That way we'll be able to check why it wasn't possible.
Thanks.
Vanessa

tom tulpe

PM sent.

Thanks again for your quick reply. I really do appreciate what LufthansaGermanAirlines provide for on FT in terms of feedback.

Fireflyer05

Just maybe as a clarification: @tom tulpe, from your first post it sounds to me, that you spoke on the phone to a hotline agent, so it wasn't actually the checkin process, but you tried a regular rebooking. Is that right? Or did you try to change the booking during checkin and then called the hotline, because it didn't work? I guess that information would be important for LufthansaGermanAirlines.

tom tulpe

Yes, I called during the check-in process.

I also spoke to staff at TXL after trying the check-in kiosk and looking in vain for the rebooking option that was mentioned on FT.

Call center was IST by the way.

LufthansaGermanAirlines

Thank you for sending the details, Tom!
The possibility to rebook free of charge on the same day is only possible via the online Check-in process. If it doesn't work, unfortunately, our agents at the Service Centers are unable to assist.
The regulation also doesn't apply to all booking classes yet, however, the button for the free rebooking on the same day option is available to those that can't be rebooked, too (P is one of those).
Our IT is working on this, we're hoping that it will be fixed soon.
My apologies for any inconvenience caused.
Vanessa

tom tulpe

Thanks again - so just a glitch in the online check-in.

My prediction for probable cause: trying to re-book only one of several segments in an itinerary.

(Still no need for the rudeness on offer from the call center agent, but I suppose she gets her fair share of hagglers during the day.)