BristolTraveller

Dropped into my email overnight, apologies if I've missed an existing thread.

Seems very harsh to ask someone on a ŁŁŁŁŁ Y,B,M,H fare to find another €70 for seat reservations, but the seems to be the flow these days.

whiskey_sk

no mention of status pax perks in this regard? On OS I have to pay as a SEN, but on LH I don't, at least up until now. Wonder which way this will get aligned eventually.

BristolTraveller

Apols, I trimmed the quote without putting the footnotes in. HON and SEN get free ASR, on LH, OS apparently? So maybe an alignment for the positive on OS?

oliver2002

HON/SEN always had free ASR in the cheapo classes on LH/OS, OS AFAIK excluded SEN/HON from exit rows.

Lack

PPB email with those enhancements also said that SEN/HON ASR remain free.

oliver2002

Its an alignment to the most restrictive, ie the rules practiced by LX. It seems if you have a feeder in full Y to a PE lounghaul, you also have to pay for ASR.

whiskey_sk

sorry, was talking about exit rows specifically.

Jasper2009

Charging pax an ASR fee in "regular" (non-discounted) booking classes such as H/M isn't very impressive, but charging an ASR fee when booked in full-fare economy (Y/B) which can easily cost $2k-$3k r/t is just insane.

htb

I think it's a positive change: there will be even more seats available at T-23h when online-checkin begins.

I basically never got booked into anything higher than Q (usually L-V): when only higher booking classes are available, there are usually much cheaper alternatives available on different carriers.

HTB.

weero

Given that paying 2-3K or more for coach is insane, this enhancement isn't out of line.

Screwing high paying pax is proven airline practice since neolithic times. UA also removed free E+ 'upgrades' for people who pay too much.
I just avoided this with two timely PE purchases . The rest of the year will be mostly SQ, AC, and UA.

But I agree with htb, this really frees the space for *G at T-24h and will save money in the long run.

TerryK

What about traveling companion or *G of partner airlines?

weero

No idea about the concept in general ... but we used automated check-in a few times and the seats that LH picked for us were always far superior than what I have gotten myself in the past. Not only that we also always ended up next to other frequent travellers which reduces the nuisance of coach flying greatly.

cook100

My facebook post to Lufthansa:


Not pleased with Lufthansa at all. Booked a flight 8 months ago, selected my seats and paid additional for those seats. I find out today, 4 days before my flight that my seats were given away to other passengers and my wife and I were seated apart. Customer service representative and his supervisor said that the fine print of selecting seats and paying additional is that you pay for a window or aisle seat and not the actual row. Never have I heard this excuse before! I just wanted my original seats as I booked 8 months ago and all related e-mails showed my selected seats. To add insult to injury they mentioned that there are 2 seats in front of my original seats on hold until 48 hours before the flight. I asked for these seats to be released to me and they said "NO".....48 hours before my flight call and see if they are still available.
Poor customer service!!! I was not asking for anything beyond what I originally had paid for and was basically told to take what I was given.
I also e-mailed customer service for assistance with resolving this issue and received a general e-mail thanking me for my submission.
BEWARE WHEN PAYING FOR SEAT SELECTION, LUFTHANSA WILL SEAT YOU WHERE THEY LIKE AND YOU THE PAYING CUSTOMER MUST COMPLY. As a side note, I have flown international with all major airlines and have purchased seats each time and I have never been moved from the seats I had preselected.


LUFTHANASA Response:


Lufthansa Dear Jeff, I am very sorry to hear about the upset caused prior to your flight. The information provided by my colleagues in the Service Center is correct, not a specific seat is paid for, but the characteristic is has (e.g. leg space). I do not have access to the reservations system, but recommend that you please try to check in as soon as it becomes available. Should it not be possible to get the seats you would like, I recommend that you please address this also with the staff at the airport. If other passengers do not turn up for the flight, perhaps you can be re-seated. I hope that your journey will be an enjoyable one, next to your wife. /Ella


My Response:


I would like to thank you for confirming in your message above to other future travelers that Lufthansa really does not care about the satisfaction or flying experience of its customers. I am surprised that you did not even attempt to disguise your response as some poor attempt at resolving my issue. Thank you Lufthansa for showing us travelers exactly what you think of us.


NO RESPONSE ON LUFTHANSA FACEBOOK SINCE LAST POST!!!

athome

cook100,

Firstly welcome to flyertalk.

Secondly a comment to your post. I do not understand your problem. When you book a seat with LH it is clearly stated during the booking process (even in bold) that
"Please note that a confirmed seat reservation does not legally entitle you to a specific seat on board the aircraft (e.g. seat 3A), but rather only to the selected category (e.g. aisle seat, window seat, seat with more legroom). "

Reasons may be:
- On long-haul: Change of aircraft type
- On short-haul: You might be aware that the "curtain" between C-Class and Y-class may be moved
and therefore seat reservation may have to be adapted.

Grog

I completely understand the OP's frustration. He paid for seats with the intention of sitting with his spouse. There is no value in a customer paying for an aisle and a middle seat which are together at time of payment, only to learn that you're involuntarily moved to a different aisle seat and your partner to a different middle seat.

Lufthansa does suck for this. While the end result is within the technical scope of their "note", it's unsatisfying to anyone paying extra for seat reservations.

I have also made seat reservations for an upcoming flight which keep dropping from the system, so the same situation as the OPs might happen to me and my wife. And Lufthansa will suck for that, too, if it happens.