miles4CDG

Received an email from LH that they’ve changed the routing on an upcoming FC award ticket, with arrival @ my destination 4 hours later (too late for my appointment that evening…) Originally a 1h 20m connection in FRA, now 5 hours. Would not have chosen this long a layover. The return is on the same ticket but from another city through MUC. I have 14 days to call LH to discuss. Would like to have a better sense of my options before I call.

1.) Would they move the outbound leg to the previous day?

2.) Given that I now may have the option to make changes to the ticket, would they consider a return from a different city than the one currently booked, or simply dropping the return leg, or is that too much of an ask?

3.) Another option is to simply cancel/refund the entire itinerary and use the miles for a different trip, however miles underlying this ticket expire 3/31/19. This trip, and any trip for which I would use these miles, would be beyond that date. What happens to miles past expiration if that ticket then needs to be changed or cancelled?

Unfortunately cannot search other availability as my miles are tied up in this ticket.

Thanks in advance on all!

NewbieRunner

Yes, as long as a seat is available. I’m not sure if O must be available or A will suffice.

I think the city pair has to remain the same. If you want to return from a different city or drop the return leg altogether it will be considered a change and incur a change fee of €50. It might also jeopardise your outbound flights.

Your miles will be refunded to your account for a change fee of €50 and will expire at the end of the quarter.

mmff

Just to be clear, I'd add that it is possible to book a flight award taking place after the expiration date of the miles used to book it.

NewbieRunner

I think the OP understands it since s/he wrote: “miles underlying this ticket expire 3/31/19. This trip, and any trip for which I would use these miles, would be beyond that date”.

miles4CDG

Very helpful! Thanks, NewbieRunner!

Just to clarify on #3 , this would be the end of the quarter in which the ticket was cancelled (effectively extending the expiration of the miles?) Not planning on cancelling, however for some reason the trips I've booked with these transferred miles seem to hit snags.

NewbieRunner

Yes, I believe so. It would be best to cancel at the start of a quarter to give you longer to make another booking. If you cancel now you won’t have to pay €50 but your miles will still expire at the end of March 2019.

rosenkavalier

hi there,
my general advice in this kind of situation would be:
1) call the LH F/HON hotline, not the regular M&M/reservation hotline. The number is not a secret, its on the website under the First Class section and each country has a dedicated number.
I have a general feeling the agents there are more experienced and perhaps more willing to be flexible. If you call the regular number and end up with the SA call center, (I don't know if you call the German or English-speaking hotline) I have a feeling there is more of a hesitant tendency to do things out of the ordinary and you'll probably end up waiting a lot while they go back and forth with their supervisor etc...so the F hotline is definitely a more direct approach.
2) in terms of strategy, I would not negotiate/leave-it-up-to-them-to-suggest-an-alternative. research the routing you want, note all the flight numbers, dates etc...and just tell them what works for you. Even if what you want seems a little over the top, just ask politely and maybe you will be pleasantly surprised. I know I have...
They should have no problem accessing A class inventory, since its an involuntary reroute and its up to them to make the flights work for you.

For an involuntary situation like that which isn't last minute, they are limited to rebooking on Star Alliance partners, probably with Lufthansa family as the first priority. If the agent feeds the system the flights you want, as long as its within certain parameters, the system should have no problem to accept it and then the agent can go ahead and reissue the ticket. Someone correct me if I am wrong, is there another office who then reviews these rebookings for approval? (i.e. Manual process involved or if the computer accepts it, you are good to go)

Hope you find an outcome which suits you and update us on what happens! The more data points we have, the better...

MultiFlyer

What you describe does not really match real world experiences.
The LH F hotline has no access to award space, they can only help you on payed tickets.
M&M (or LH/LX) will usually not open award space if none is existing.
If you are HON the story is a different one.

rosenkavalier

miles4CDG

Update:

Called US FC Service Line. Hold time - 47 minutes. Called Germany FC Service Line via Skype while on hold. Picked up instantly. Unfortunately they cannot help on an award bookings, directed me to M&M Service Line.

M&M Agent was gracious, however said not possible to open FC award space on my requested routing (an earlier flight to FRA to an earlier connection.) Also no FC available previous day. Put miles back. Fees will be refunded. Not the outcome hoped for, but given how high the taxes and fees were on this compared to a previous booking in 2016, maybe not the worst outcome.

Thanks again to all the FT'rs who took time to advise on this thread - much appreciated! ^

miles4CDG

Further update:

Despite being told there was no FC availability for my suggested return (#2, above), with miles back in my account, I searched for a one-way on the requested date and voila! Two options for the FC award I was looking for. Booked. And ex-EU, so the taxes and fees are not so crazy.