AlicorporateUK

Bedtime reading yesterday’s Gazeta Wyborcza (as if the toxic news environment here in BiH would not suffice ) featuring a full-page (!) article on the “horror” (GW’s own words) story involving a 13-year’s old passenger who got denied boarding on the evening LHR-WAW flight for (allegedly) no discernible reasons (apparently she had no issues whatsoever on her way to LHR). The article goes on “full-blast” blaming LOT for the incident, the airline initially responded to an earlier inquiry from the paper stating that they were investigating, before eventually “pleading guilty” for what was clearly an “error of one of their agents in London”. The passenger’s mum goes on saying (literally translated) that “such horror could forever affect her daughter’s feeling of safety” (on a less serious note and talking of “horrors”, the pax in question has clearly never experienced the thrill of a good-old transit at FRA!)

Edit: one of Basia’s most loyal customers (i.e. the aforementioned Borys) proudly appearing on first page.

G

TPJ

To be honest - she is a 13 years old girl denied boarding and left alone at the gate. Regardless if we call it 'horror' or 'mistake' this should have never happened.

PS. This is yet another case (after the PEK millage redemption tickets denied boarding) when LO is only reacting after being grilled by the media. Obviously there is something wrong with customer care procedures...

AlicorporateUK

According to GW, the parents were apparently asked (by an agent at LHR) to write a consent letter for their daughter to spend the night in a hotel, only for a few hotels to deny the request based on “no guardian” (she finally joined family’s friends in London.)

Edit: reason why the pax was denied boarding in the first instance is that apparently she had not been added to a group reservation with the other 10 minors on the same flight and was therefore not classed as “UMNR” (this according to a LOT spokesperson addressing GW’s further inquiry.)

G

TPJ

So LO spokesperson should check their own web site first https://www.lot.com/us/en/journey/sp...-unaccompanied

13 years old child can travel without UMNR service paid for - so this was not even a valid reason for denied boarding

AlicorporateUK

Quote:

Po wyjaśnieniu tej sprawy niestety okazało się, że błąd popełnił nasz agent na lotnisku w Londynie - wyjaśnił nam Krzysztof Moczulski z LOT. - Ta konkretna pasażerka nie była umieszczona w rezerwacji grupowej (z pozostałym dziesięciorgiem dzieci) i nie posiadała statusu UMNR, więc system potraktował ją, jak dorosłego pasażera. Ewidentny błąd agenta polegał na tym, że widząc przed sobą osobę niepełnoletnią, wycofał ją z rejsu.

oliver2002

Sounds like the agency organizing the summer school mucked up.

https://trojmiasto.wyborcza.pl/trojm...-samolotu.html

Tyrolean

I had a similar issue last year with my daughter (13 years old at that time). She attended a sports camp and the plan was that the trainer would drop her off at FRA Airport and fly to us to BCN to our holiday destination. She is quite experienced in traveling alone (FTL, booked a C-Class flight). Then LH did cancel the late flight (2 weeks ahead, so no compensation...) and rebooked her onto the flight in the next morning. LH said, sorry and had no help. I had a few days to find a hotel that took her alone (with knowing people there in person) and writing a letter that I would cover for all expenses. So it was quite a hassle. At the Hotel she was treated like a princess, got an upgrade and was very happy. LH could find about their age, as their birthdate is in the booking. But as 12 they have to pay as an adult and are treated like an adult.

The older one got stuck in YVR in Immigration and missed the connecting flight (as quite many of the other students for the students exchange). It was a bit of a hassle to find a bed in the airport hotel and it took me quite a bit, because LH canceled the rest of the ticket because of no-show...

Customer service? Whats that!
NB: If your kids travel alone do not count on any extra treatment. They are treated as bad as any adult.

the810

I don't recall ever being asked for my DoB on LH Group flights, except when API is needed. At what stage of the booking process have you entered it?

oliver2002

APIS data required for all flights to the UK/Spain/US

the810

I'm aware of UK and US but I'm not aware of this requirement for Spain. I took several flights to/from Spain and was never asked my ID data or DoB during the booking, or at OLCI. But it's true that I always had a checked bag, so perhaps the agent added it at that time.

Tyrolean

Yes, Spain has the APIS requirement. And then, a normal company with a normal IT-System could take the Date of birth from the frequent flyer profile...

TPJ

https://trojmiasto.wyborcza.pl/trojm...dynie-lot.html

Looks like this time LOT offered satisfactory compensation (EU261/hotel in WAW reimbursement/ticket vouchers/new piece of luggage) and parents accepted this proposition.

Hopefully (yet another) lesson learned for LO how to handle complaints before they get escalated to social/traditional media.

Time to close this thread?