Gynob001

My tomorrow’s flight from FRG to DEL got cancelled. The have given a connection with over 10 hr stopover in Frankfort from MCO. The paid Aisle seat is gone to a middle seat. Late in Delhi for my conference. No lounge access, .. I am annoyed by Lufthansa.

br0snic

Lufthansa states you can change or cancel your ticket free of charge due to the strike. Find a flight that fits your schedule and call in. See if they change it. Also if you have to connect through fra, try flying from Tampa! That flight still hasn't been canceled. But plenty options through IAD, ord, Canada etc...

chris63

Look for alternatives & LH have to provide you with duty of care.

LH600

Does LH only rebook on LH Group (AUA, Swiss) or also on Star Alliance (TK, UA, AC) or on any available seat on any airline?
Do cabin classes always match or will there also be UPG due to limited availability on OAL?

chris63

Now the strike is in full flow they will rebook outside LH group & on available seats.

oliver2002

Once a flight cancels within 24-48h LH can rebook onto OAL as per IATA rules. They will not book you into a different cabin because the OAL will only get the residual value of the ticket coupon and usually will refuse to transport you if the ticket doesn't match the cabin.

Gynob001

LH rebooked me by Air India with 12 hr connecting time, from a paid Aisle seat to a. Idle seat! There is mile long queue, with very rude agents, even for a food voucher. No lounge access even if I am willing to pay! I am lying down on the floor trying to while away the next 9 hours!
I should have stuck to sky team

chris63

Sorry to hear, send in a complaint, after all they claim to be a 5* airline, reality is somewhat different....

flyingfkb

Sorry to hear that.

What is your question to the Flyertalk community? Do you need some kind of advice? If yes please be so kind and clarify your post. The IATA code FRG is the an regional airport in regional airport in East Farmingdale, New York. Did you mean FRA for Frankfurt, Germany? If the FRA-DEL flight got canceled why did you fly MCO-FRA in the first place or where you already airborne when you got the notification? Hope you make it to your destination.

br0snic

I'm sure your situation sucks right now. But I fail to understand your your lack of taking proactive actions. The strike was announced a couple of days in advance. I would have researched other flights that suited you and called lh to make those changes.
Now that you have 12h in Frankfurt, why not go landside and make the best out of your forced layover, (visa permitting I guess) or try to get a connection on a different carrier to get you there sooner.

Gynob001

Yes, Frankfurt
Lufthansa informed me that they had “rebooked” my Frankfurt to Delhi flight.
only at the airport, I noticed that it was by Air India, middle seat, 11 hr connection.
Lufthansa agent(s) informed me that AI would give me an Aisle seat, I would be given food or lounge access at Frankfurt, and they would transfer if other flights become available.
None of these materialized.

Gynob001

Sorry, I was not aware of the strike.LH also did not communicate.
The day before the flight, LH sent me “check in “ notification. Their site/ server was continuously down for a long time.
it is complicated. My return trip has already been booked with my wife and daughter joining me in Delhi later.
i have been to Frankfurt many times and I am fairly comfortable in staying in the airport for longer duration. I didn’t need visa as I am an American Citizen.
The whining was about middle seat, long connection, and lack of lounge access or meal voucher.
I could have written in the Omni/vent thread but since a specific airline was involved, I chose to write here.

oliver2002

You can ask for food and accomodation cost refund. The airside hotel 'mycloud' at gate Z25 still has two open single rooms: https://www.mycloud.de/de/online-buchen/

Often1

The most practical advice for the benefit of others is to be proactive and not wait for bad developments to take place.

Most carriers will auto-rebook so that one at least has positive space to the destination. But, it may not be the only space available and the carrier may do more in advance and even at the airport.

At a minimum, LH has a duty of care here. On a 10-12 hour connection, a day (or night) room is entirely appropriate, especially if there is no lounge access. If arrangements for vouchers have not been made, then you can submit the receipts afterward (or submit them to travel insurance and have less hassle altogether).

Finally, it is always worth looking at what a new ticket on your preferred routing will cost. While close-in tickets are most often more expensive, it is not always the case. One of the passenger's options under EC 261/2004 is to cancel for a refund. If the reroute is cheaper or even roughly the same, take the refund and then purchase a new ticket and be done with it.

flyingfkb

Thank you for the clarification. Often1 summarized pretty good your rights and options. You might even have a chance to claim a compensation under EC 261/2004. While in general a strike is one of the extraordinary circumstances in which airlines do not need to pay they are forced to prove in every single claim that the strike cause was not part of the regular business operations. There are several cases where airlines had to pay compensations in case of a strike. Definitely keep all the receipts so that you can claim a reimbursement.