Granite64

No end date, for Australia and New-Zealand. I wonder if they will be strict with refunds..

Granite64

Well, I spoke too soon. Expedia messed up.. According to them the flights HAVE to be on LX/LH/OS, when I explained to them that those airlines don't operate any flights to AKL and that those flights have to be operated by airlines like NH/SQ/TG/NZ etc they said that they will would have to search in their system.. If I would search by myself then it would not guarantee that they are able to see those flights in their system..

Keter

LH Group has updated the rules yesterday.

As I read those the class to class rebooking option is available to us until the ticket expiration (this requires at least one flight cancelled in your reservation). For this sale the tickets will expire aroung 15 March 2021. Well at least this gives us more time to think.

Frankly as I called to cancel the remainning (non-cancelled flights) before departure to avoid no-show (as LH seems quite strict about this generally unlike say DL) I am not even sure I can ask for refund now (ie I already opted in for future rebooking)... Well better not speculate of course - any confirmed information is welcime here, thank you!

Keter

A good question btw - the website is saying a ticket validity is 'usually one year from the first departure date' (for the option of cancelled flights) while I am used to the rule that it is one year from the ticketing date (unless restricted otherwise) if the ticket is unused. Does LH want to say that in case of a cancelled flight the ticket is considered used, well at least for its validity purposes?

nldogbert

I see the following on LH - " If your ticket was issued before or on August 31, 2020, a one-time change of class of carriage, departure or destination airport is possible*. Your ticket will still retain its value and you can use it for a new trip departing by Dec. 31, 2021. The ticket will be recalculated for this trip and additional payment may be required if the new fare is higher. To do so, please contact our Service Center or your travel agent by May 31, 2021."
However on Swiss - it is still up to 31 Jan 2021.

For me in both cases does not matter if it's later or 31 Jan, it seems the 31 Dec 2021 first flight is still there which does not really help - only (if based on the LH rules) gives you another couple of months to plan based on developments of borders opening.

Cheers!

Keter

This is a goodwill policy (recently updated), not the cancelled ticket policy. And 'recalculated' means repricing at current fares.

Keter

OK so i called Swiss Moscow again and got some clarity on the free rebooking option for cancelled flights (I am not interested in any other options):

1) Ticket validity for involuntary reissue (unused ticket): one year form the date of first travel coupon. The agent told me this is a standard rule in place for a long time. The key here is 'INVOL' scenario. So with my tickets i have time till end of June 2021 to decide on new travel dates.
2) Travel dates: the restrictiion that travel must commence before 31 December 2021 has been removed. Any dates open for sale at the fime of rebooking can be selected.
3) For fully unused tickets changes must be made through an issuing agency. The fact that i called Swiss to cancel remaining (not cancelled) flights is not relevant for this matter.

What i did not ask is what is the deadline if I want to ask for refund (could be one year from the date of issuance. not first travel date; not sure here), though the agent made it clear that this option is still open.

Granite64

That's some good information, thank you so much!

Granite64

I called with Expedia again and they confirmed what Keter said regarding the involuntary reissue (until June 31,2021) , the agent is going to call to Swiss to ask what 'partner' airlines can be used for the segments in Asia/OZ/NZ; he said he would call me on monday.

Keter

In my case end of June 2021 is the deadline since my original departure date was 30 June 2020.

Granite64

Same here. Did you take any other actions? Like rebooking?

Keter

After part of my flights were cancelled i called LX Moscow before ticketed deparure to cancel the remaining flights to avoid no show and to potentially benefit from changes via LX directly in the future. No other actions taken.

Unfortunately they are still sending me to the agent for now to make changes.- not the biggest problem on Earth.

Granite64

Well when I called with Expedia, the lady told me that Lufthansa Group required that the flights had to be operated by LH Group airlines. Including the flights inside Asia and to/from NZ/OZ....
I got a 'Computer says no' moment from her when I told her that LH Group doesn't operate on those sectors..., then finally after some HUCA'ing someone from Expedia told me that he was going to call the travel agency support line to see what is possible.

nldogbert

Not to challenge the info by Keter, but in the LH group forum, I saw the following post - https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/32991384-post1134.html
From this post it seems point 1 is confirmed, but point 2 seems invalid, if true, this will be a damper as Oz/NZ chances of opening this year is low (in my books)

I called Swiss here in NL, and the agent did confirm it as per the post in the LH group. I was told the first flight should take place on 31 Dec 2021 - the other flights are ok in 2022.

Cheers!

Granite64

This is interesting: One rebooking/reissue for same origin & destination based on flight irregulaties policy.

I want to change the location of my stopover (so not my final destination which is AKL) from PVG to TYO, I wonder if i'm able to change the location of the stopover without triggering a reprice 🤔