I had a flight for three people this past Saturday from Paris to Dublin on Lufthansa. We were meant to go from Paris to Munich to Dublin. Leaving Paris at 12:10 and getting in to Dublin at 16:55.
The flight to Munich got canceled at 15:30 on Friday, less than 24 hours before the flight. They rebooked us for Frankfurt at 11:30 so we were leaving earlier. The connecting flight to Dublin wasn’t going to get in until 22:15 so almost 6 hours after we were originally supposed to. The Paris to Frankfurt flight was canceled and we were rebooked for a 14:30 flight.
I tried talking to an agent in Frankfurt and he said I needed to talk to them online. I contacted them and got an email that said:
“The reason for the flight irregularity was due to third party restrictions. Unfortunately, we have no influence over circumstances, which are the responsibility of third parties. Such a flight irregularity does not warrant a claim for damages against Lufthansa. Please understand that we do not assume any liability for situations for which we are not responsible, therefore, we will not comply with your demand for compensation of the additional costs incurred by you.”
I looked in to the rules and I’m pretty sure we should get some sort of compensation. The flight was canceled 24 hours prior to the flight, but it was rebooked. The rebooked flight was an hour prior to to the first flight which also is supposed to give some compensation. We were also almost six hours late after all this which is also supposed to have some compensation.
I’d like to know if I am owed some sort of compensation, especially for being so late. I’ve seen Lufthansa will give you the run around for this and I’m not sure of the next steps. It looks like the total could be from 350 euro to 750 euro, so it’s worth it to look in to it more.
The governing piece of legislation for this is the Passengers Rights Regulation, no. 261/2004. It definitely gives you a right to compensation for a cancellation on a flight involving the EU (as point of departure, destination, or both), unless the airline can demonstrate that the cancellation was owing to “extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided”, which is what Lufthansa is trying to argue. European airlines are, of course, well aware of this regulation, and trying to dodge liability under it has become a major part of their business model.
Do you know if they have to actually say what the extraordinary circumstances are? I’d get really bad weather, but all they said was someone else’s fault and didn’t actually say why. I’d like to have all my planes in a row if I will need to try again.
Well, the burden of proof for the “extraordinary circumstances” defence is on the airline (that’s clear from case law), so they need to provide more substance than just claiming it in a blanket manner. But as a matter of practice, many airlines will deliberately ignore the Passenger Rights Regulation, hoping that many passengers won’t bother litigating. FWIW, there are many companies online that will enforce your claim for you, with no hassle to you, in return for a cut of the compensation; I’m not going to provide links, but they can be found easily if you just google for “flight compensation” or “passenger rights”.
That’s what I had figured. I will reach out again and then find a company if need be. Thanks.
One of my greater flying regrets was being on a stuffed flight out of Frankfurt way in the back of the plane and a flight attendant said it was overbooked and they’d pay 900 euros and put you on the next flight. I’d never heard of this regulation and was sure I misheard. Yet that is the deal - money and if you don’t fly that day a hotel. Maybe I was too far back in the plane to join those who knew better but I’ll never know.
The bastards still took my luggage off - and that had to be delivered UPS and that was after I had looked up on the internet what the regulations are. Pretty bitter. I didn’t need to be in New York and 900 euros would have been quite a boon. When would they not be?
I’ll believe that they offered 900 euros…but are you sure they offered cash?
Or do they give you a voucher worth a 900 euro discount, which you can redeem the next time you buy a ticket on the same airline?( with some additional limitations, such as you have to buy the ticket within 12 months, and the voucher is not valid on all flights or business class, etc )
cite: my vague memories from 20 years ago, when I was offered a similar deal, by, I think, United Airlines. (I didn’t take it.)
This would be circa 2013. I am not sure about voucher vs. cash yet I seem to recall it was a European airline policy that it was to be money in the bank and not just a voucher. It certainly wasn’t just Lufthansa’s policy - definitely EU type regulations for at least overseas travel to places such as New York.
Even were it just to be a voucher, I often flew Lufthansa to St. Petersburg (Frankfurt would go direct to St, Petersburg’s LED, as would British Airways from Heathrow and KLM from Schipol) and 900 euros would have paid for more than one trip on any of them.