nerdbirdsjc

I can sort of understand having SN its in own customer contact universe because the airline is positioned more as a "hybrid" than a full-service airline, but what's the hesitation in having a single point of contact for LH/OS/LX bookings and inquiries?

oliver2002

For the US, the LH Group call center and sales organization has already been merged, the LH Intouch call center in YPQ handles most of the calls. LX traditionally uses Mindpearl in Suva/Fiji and CPT, that contract was left alone since LX used a different IT. Since all the full service carriers (LH/OS/SN/LX) are coming under one roof this year I would expect Intouch taking everything over sooner or later.

SFO_FT

oliver2002

The US based number goes to YPQ near Toronto from 8am to 8pm Eastern. The German numbers go to Berlin during similar local times. If you call the regular numbers you end up in one of the intouch call centres in Cape Town or Istanbul.

SFO_FT

I've tried both US toll-free numbers (Contact Details+1 800 645 3880 and the US one that goes to LH.com bookings, as well as the German local number (+49 (0) 69 86 799 799) and each time I get agents that are very slow and inexperienced. All three has Filipino accepts, and so I suspect they are contract call center employees rather more experienced LH agents. Any suggestions for getting an experienced agent, rather than a call center agent? I seem to remember calling the US number previously and getting NY-based agents.

Unterwegs

Calling the SEN numbers myself. When selecting German as language I mostly get somebody in Turkey (most of them are competent) or in Germany. When calling the US during the day there (english) I often end up in the US. Otherwise it seems to be random where I end up, but mainly inexperienced agents>

oliver2002

There is no such thing as a Lufthansa call center agent, all calls are routed to a Lufthansa group subsidiary named "intouch". The latter doesnt have any office in the US.
https://lh-intouch.com/sites/

dunehunter

I called to make a reward booking (YVR-ORD-FRA-BRU in J) and the agents I reached through the Australian and German numbers told me that there was nothing they could do to help me - the agent from the USA number booked it without any trouble. No idea if she was in NYC or somewhere else but she was able to help me where others couldn't/wouldn't.

PatongPilot

dunehunter

Funny, that's the exact opposite of my experience - the German agent was rude and told me that there was nothing he could do, the American agent was friendly and booked it without any problems at all. Guess it probably mostly comes down to the agent? I've read a lot about hanging up and calling again if someone can't help you, but I never expected that the difference would be so big.

Luftylove

Philipines Gov't made Lufthansa InTouch who handles the phones for Lufthansa close the Manila office. They are a 24 call center which has doubled in size over the past little bit and have taken so many of the North American General Reservation calls and also the North American Lost Baggage calls. They also handle some Miles & More calls in English. I can't imagine the volume of phone calls now being moved around. The Canadian center stopped hiring and mgmt have decided not to pay overtime and the expected overtime hours are being tracked for time off sometime in the future. While back they closed the Melbourne office due to the wages in that market were high and they could not secure bids to handle lines of business. This past December was the closing of the Dublin office. With the tremendous cost savings of the MNL office, the people in Canada are now the highest-paid agents making minimum wage. My fellow colleagues are working as hard as they can but this MNL closure and this virus is adding more strain on Canada and CapeTown who look after the North American Market and also back up Miles and More German calls in English.

Just wanted to let you know the call volumes now will have an impact on wait times to get through. Be safe everyone and patient.

Often1

Once the surge of people trying to get back to Germany or who are in Germany trying to get back to someplace they can't easily reach by train, bus, car, or boat is over, you can expect LH to largely cancel almost all flights and the call volume will drop accordingly.

Mr. Strong

The closure of the MNL office is a result of a very strict lockdown / Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in the Luzon region of the Philippines. The ECQ is supposed to be lifted on April 14; though it may be extended. If it's lifted on April 14, and LH MNL office workers haven't been laid off, then hopefully the center can get up and running fairly quickly.

oliver2002

I doubt YPQ wages/cost are higher than those of the BER office That said YPQ was never the sole service point for N. American calls, I recall that CPT used to pick up most of the overflow when I called the regular 1-800 number. The SEN line was only picked up in Canada if you called right at 8am Eastern.

Tomasz Pa

Lot have a line where senators are prioritized for handling revenue tickets. Does LH have the same?

pls note that this is different from MM senator line as they are not handling regular paid tickets.