purch

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know if it is possible to buy an extra seat when in Y on lufthansa? And do you know how the charges are calculated, i.e. does one pay the same price for the extra seat as for his own seat, are all taxes and surcharges included, etc.

Is there anything special to consider in the booking process? I guess I have to call the customer service line...

Thanks in advance!

NewbieRunner

This post in the LH Lurker thread should answer your question.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/25428481-post1153.html

purch

Thanks Newbierunner!

purch

For anyone who is interested, I managed to book the extra seat easily enough, but was told that YQ and YR are included, so in essence you don't really get much of a discount on the original fare.

This stands in contrast to what was said in the linked post, so I can only assume that the rules have changed in LH's favour (wouldn't be a big surprise), or the agent got it wrong (also wouldn't be a big surprise, but since it seemed to be calculated by the system, probably not the case this time).

Wont hold my breath for the extra miles, but will be a nice surprise if they credit.

NewbieRunner

The linked post stated: "no additional airport taxes and/or fees will be charged". YQ ad YR are carrier imposed charges and not considered to be airport taxes or fees.

purch

Well actually, the full sentence was
"as you already know, the same fare base will be charged for your Extra Seat, however, no additional airport taxes and/or fees will be charged", bolding mine.

My misunderstanding stems from the bolded part. I understood base fare to mean the base excluding all taxes/fees. The way it's worded, basically says: "same base fare, no additional airport taxes/fees", which means to me that I would just pay the base fare.

Maybe my understanding of base fare is wrong, I was always under the impression that base fare is EXCL all taxes, fees, YQ, YR, etc.

weero

I wouldn't call it "misunderstanding", you read it as most people would have. Imposing the fuel surcharge on an empty seat is both not sensible and also renders the explanation given misleading.'

Especially as Air Rarotonga included YQ in the example.

Was the ticket charge just levied once?

IAN-UK

You read it as I would read it. Perhaps that makes us both dimwits

"...no additional airport taxes and/or fees will be charged." is ambiguous.



But with base fares (sometimes) incredibly low and those additional taxes and/or fees (always) incredibly high ..... you might expect an element of jiggery-pokery to creep in.

oliver2002

If you search for 'EXST Lufthansa' you find this document:

https://www.swiss.com/CMSContent/cor...JUL2016_EN.pdf

Grog

I, personally, would fight this hard. Anything that's not the fare or a tax is a fee. They may attempt to call YQ/YR a surcharge or a supplement or use other word-smithing, but it's a carrier-imposed fee.

Lufthansa is part-owner of ATPCO, the leader in collection and distribution of airline fare and fare-related data. They, themselves, refer to YQ/YR as being "carrier-imposed (YQ/YR) fees".

YQ/YR was originally meant only for insurance, but airlines now (ab-)use it for fuel, insurance, and their own carrier-defined charges.

The first case or even threat of case brought might lead them to change their wording in the future, but I'd say the ATPCO reference would hold up in most courtrooms.

purch

Glad to see some others might have come to the same conclusion. The ticket charge was only levied once, so that was OK.


While I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiments, I couldn't be bothered to fight it, as the net effect is maybe a couple hundred euro max. Admittedly it's not pocket change, but in any case I'd always expected to pay YQ/YR, it was just after reading the aforementioned post that I thought I might get away with not paying it. No such luck I'm afraid As oliver2002 posted above, the instructions on YQ and YR are quite clear (thanks for that by the way ^).

Something I wouldn't mind fighting, purely on principle, is that the OPC isn't refunded even if you cancel within 24 hours for a full refund (which I found out for the first time last week). Even the LH agent on the phone agreed that is a low blow. I guess that's probably been covered in another thread...

weero

Thanks for the update.

With coach prices often in free fall, buying three seats for two travelers may be a better solution than paying for two PE seats....

Please let us know how the mileage thingie goes!!!

Air Rarotonga

There will be M&M miles for the Extraseat, but it has to be claimed manually after the flight...

weero

So you are reasonably confident that this will work .... that is quite nice indeed.

What about the 1.25 elite multiplier?

Grog

I'm sure it worked just a few years ago (as I did it). With elite multiplier. I believe Concerto has, also.