Lufthansa Complaint

It's been awhile since I was to Europe and in April flew Lufthana to
Munich.

A two-leg return flight originating in Munich was delayed; in
Frankfurt, I missed the connection to Newark. I was rerouted to JFK,
lost my car rental reservation, landed in a city I hate to drive in on
brilliant June Sunday afternoons let alone post-rush hour Monday
night.

When I finally secured another rental car at JFK (from the same
agency, Budget), the agency manager refused to honor my original
reservation made on the web and suggested I ask Lufthansa to cover the
vast difference in cost.

I did exactly that and got the non-response I'm used to getting from
airlines--i.e., "Thank you for flying our airline; we do our best."

Just wondering why, if Lufthansa would have offered a hotel room in
Deutschland had I not been squeezed onto the second flight (at least I
was *told* by an attendant that might have been an option), they
refuse to contribute to the cost of their mistake. Thanks.

On 14 Apr 2004 03:22:54 -0700, Mute Fan wrote:

Just wondering why, if Lufthansa would have offered a hotel room in
Deutschland had I not been squeezed onto the second flight (at least I
was *told* by an attendant that might have been an option), they
refuse to contribute to the cost of their mistake. Thanks.

Because the airline's responsibility finishes with you getting out the
other end. They don't care, neither does anyone else care whether you were
being picked-up, hired a car or were going to walk from the airport.

Your beef is with Budget.
--
Tim C.

Mute,

"Mute Fan" wrote in message
om...

When I finally secured another rental car at JFK (from the same
agency, Budget), the agency manager refused to honor my original
reservation made on the web and suggested I ask Lufthansa to cover the
vast difference in cost.

I really think your beef should probably be with Budget. Honestly, I've had
similar things happen with Avis and Hertz --- and I've never had any trouble
with them. I'll bet your problem has more to do with how Budget runs their
business and where you were in the world --- and more importantly, how
good(or bad) of a mood the Budget manager was in. If it was an agency here
at PIT, they would have let you slide. I might have even shopped
around(although I know, that at the end of a troubled trip, that sucks) with
a couple agencies, playing one off the other. If Budget had refused to
accomodate a problem situation, I'd probably be tempted to tell them to kiss
my butt --- and either take a taxi, or find something someplace else. I
really hate "rewarding" a company with my business after they just got done
putting the screws to me.

Most airlines are going to offer little in the way of reimbursement
(especially after the fact) of additional knock-on effects of their delays.
Was the delay weather related? Hotel rooms, perhaps a meal or two, $25 /
day for temporarily clothing, would be about it. Even if the amount you are
asking is less than what they already offered, it's not so much the dollar
amount as where that money is going to be spent. IE certain things are
covered, lots of other stuff is not. You might negiotiate a partial refund
of your ticket, if it was an expensive seat. I think the class and type of
ticket purchased might come into play too. IE a full-price business seat
would give them a lot more room than a restricted, non-refundable, coach
seat.

my .02
Keith

"Tim Challenger" "timothy(dot)challenger(at)apk(dot)at" wrote in message
s.com...
On 14 Apr 2004 03:22:54 -0700, Mute Fan wrote:

Just wondering why, if Lufthansa would have offered a hotel room in
Deutschland had I not been squeezed onto the second flight (at least I
was *told* by an attendant that might have been an option), they
refuse to contribute to the cost of their mistake. Thanks.

Because the airline's responsibility finishes with you getting out the
other end. They don't care, neither does anyone else care whether you were
being picked-up, hired a car or were going to walk from the airport.

Not even a travel insurance company?

On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 16:58:28 +0300, Markku Grönroos wrote:

"Tim Challenger" "timothy(dot)challenger(at)apk(dot)at" wrote in message
s.com...
On 14 Apr 2004 03:22:54 -0700, Mute Fan wrote:

Just wondering why, if Lufthansa would have offered a hotel room in
Deutschland had I not been squeezed onto the second flight (at least I
was *told* by an attendant that might have been an option), they
refuse to contribute to the cost of their mistake. Thanks.

Because the airline's responsibility finishes with you getting out the
other end. They don't care, neither does anyone else care whether you were
being picked-up, hired a car or were going to walk from the airport.

Not even a travel insurance company?

Ok, maybe. Pedant.
--
Tim C.

Mute Fan schrieb:

It's been awhile since I was to Europe and in April flew Lufthana to
Munich.

A two-leg return flight originating in Munich was delayed; in
Frankfurt, I missed the connection to Newark. I was rerouted to JFK,
lost my car rental reservation, landed in a city I hate to drive in on
brilliant June Sunday afternoons let alone post-rush hour Monday
night.

When I finally secured another rental car at JFK (from the same
agency, Budget), the agency manager refused to honor my original
reservation made on the web and suggested I ask Lufthansa to cover the
vast difference in cost.

I did exactly that and got the non-response I'm used to getting from
airlines--i.e., "Thank you for flying our airline; we do our best."

Just wondering why, if Lufthansa would have offered a hotel room in
Deutschland had I not been squeezed onto the second flight (at least I
was *told* by an attendant that might have been an option), they
refuse to contribute to the cost of their mistake. Thanks.

You should have contacted Budget to say you've been rerouted. Otherwise
they have no obligation to honor your booking. Just think how much money
you cost the rental car company with them having a car standing round
going nowhere.


T.

"Thomas Peel" wrote in message
...

You should have contacted Budget to say you've been rerouted. Otherwise
they have no obligation to honor your booking. Just think how much money
you cost the rental car company with them having a car standing round
going nowhere.


T.

Thomas,

Although you are right that he should have called, the car just "standing
round going nowhere" did not necessarily cost Budget anything at all. There
is a potential loss there, but I don't think it's large. Their risk is a
lot less than, say a hotel's risk of being able to resell a room for that
period. Many companies have huge parking lots full of cars. We also know
their risk is low because most don't require a credit card to hold the
reservation, and those that do, do not punish you with a
"one-night-stay"/one-days-rental if you skip out.

If people skipping out truly caused a repeatable loss, the companies would
most certainly recoup this from the customer.

And although Budget had no "obligation to honor" his booking, they most
certainly can perform an act of kindness and customer service by doing so.

Keith
Pittsburgh

Because the airline's responsibility finishes with you getting out the
other end. They don't care, neither does anyone else care whether you were
being picked-up, hired a car or were going to walk from the airport.

Your beef is with Budget.

Thanks to everyone for the comments. Everyone has their nightmare
days; Budget's going to get an earful, especially since it's been my
company of choice for almost twenty years.

Thanks again!

Mute Fan wrote:

It's been awhile since I was to Europe and in April flew Lufthana to
Munich.

A two-leg return flight originating in Munich was delayed; in
Frankfurt, I missed the connection to Newark. I was rerouted to JFK,
lost my car rental reservation, landed in a city I hate to drive in on
brilliant June Sunday afternoons let alone post-rush hour Monday
night.

When I finally secured another rental car at JFK (from the same
agency, Budget), the agency manager refused to honor my original
reservation made on the web and suggested I ask Lufthansa to cover the
vast difference in cost.

I did exactly that and got the non-response I'm used to getting from
airlines--i.e., "Thank you for flying our airline; we do our best."

Just wondering why, if Lufthansa would have offered a hotel room in
Deutschland had I not been squeezed onto the second flight (at least I
was *told* by an attendant that might have been an option), they
refuse to contribute to the cost of their mistake. Thanks.

I think your beef is with budget -- there is no reason but
buttheadedness for not honoring your reservation -- they certainly sent
'your' car out with someone else -- they might have billed you for the
day your lost but there is no excuse for not giving you the car at the
reserved rate

In article . net,
Jenn wrote:

Mute Fan wrote:

It's been awhile since I was to Europe and in April flew Lufthana to
Munich.

A two-leg return flight originating in Munich was delayed; in
Frankfurt, I missed the connection to Newark. I was rerouted to JFK,
lost my car rental reservation, landed in a city I hate to drive in on
brilliant June Sunday afternoons let alone post-rush hour Monday
night.

When I finally secured another rental car at JFK (from the same
agency, Budget), the agency manager refused to honor my original
reservation made on the web and suggested I ask Lufthansa to cover the
vast difference in cost.

I did exactly that and got the non-response I'm used to getting from
airlines--i.e., "Thank you for flying our airline; we do our best."

Just wondering why, if Lufthansa would have offered a hotel room in
Deutschland had I not been squeezed onto the second flight (at least I
was *told* by an attendant that might have been an option), they
refuse to contribute to the cost of their mistake. Thanks.

I think your beef is with budget -- there is no reason but
buttheadedness for not honoring your reservation -- they certainly sent
'your' car out with someone else -- they might have billed you for the
day your lost but there is no excuse for not giving you the car at the
reserved rate

Well, the key thing is that the reservation was made for EWR and not
JFK. The JFK location is well within its rights to charge the going
rate.