Earlier today in Germany, the union representing Lufthansa’s pilots has announced that recent mediation efforts have failed. Talks have broken down to such an extent that the union has threatened to strike despite its earlier commitment to not strike at least until the end of July while giving mediation efforts a chance to work.
The union has stated that no strike has yet been scheduled because it will be up to their committees to determine the exact timing and target of the strikes. I suspect that the first strikes can come as early as this week based on their posturing.
In the past, the union has usually given at least 24 hours warning prior to any work stoppage. Should a strike impact your travels, you will be able to easily rebook your tickets through LH, or request a refund of your fare.
If I bought business class tickets and my flight is canceled, will I be rebooked on another airline in business class? And can United help to rebook if I can’t get through to Luftansa?
Yes, you will be rebooked to a Biz class seat. Keep in mind there may not be seats available in some cases if the other flights are full, so you would have the option of flying economy and getting a refund for the fare difference or return of miles. But the plan is to always rebookin the same class. To rebook, you’ll have to contact the airline who booked the ticket. UA won’t help you if LH issued the ticket, and vice versa.
Hi, what if we booked the lowest economy fares with fare rules can’t change date and refund. Can we change the date or maybe refund it as well?
Thanks you
Yes, once LH officially cancels your flight as a result of a strike (or any other reason), you are entitle to be rebooked on another flight or request a refund. Doesn’t matter what fare class you booked or what restrictions existed for it.
I have a business class award flight end of July DFW>FRA. There are numerous connections on UA through a number of US cities to either FRA or DUS. I have a rail and fly to final destination of Dortmund so am I right in assuming LH would be fine rerouting me to either airport? Maintaining a business class seat is more important to me than which airport I land in.
Yes, the priority for the airline is to obviously maintain your current class of travel, though it may result in delay of departure of a day or more. If time is more critical, you may need to settle for economy and get compensation, but if you are patient and flexible there are a variety of options. The best thing to do ahead of time is to have a contingency plan that has alternative flights you’d like to be on, so when you are talking to LH or UA (or whomever you booked your ticket through), you can suggest the flights for them to look for. Dark horse options include Brussels and Austrian which have OUTSTANDING biz products.
I have two tickets booked in business class from award tickets in July. What would likely happen to us if our flight is canceled? Would we be rebooked in business class on another carrier?
Yes, thats exactly what would happen. I had this happen to us last year on our trip to JNB. My ORD-FRA was impacted by the strike so they put us on UA in Biz first. Keep in mind its on a best efforts basis. If you have no option other than coach, you can claim a partial refund.
Sorry earlier comment was ridden with mistakes.. (Auto-correct fail!! ) so here’s my question.. I am scheduled to travel between Munich and LAX in J.. If the strike affects my flight, will Lufthansa allow me to change the booking to Swiss or any other airline?
Yes, once a strike has been formally announced, LH will rebook you on an LH Group or Star Alliance carrier. So from LA, you’ll have several options to get to MUC.