It’s a real shame you had to go through that experience with Lufthansa. I personally find they are one of the better airlines in terms of customer service and bereavement fares.

Sometimes in situations like that it is hard to remember that some things the airline simply cannot do. If space is not available it is simply not available. The agents are there to assist passengers and generally are prepared to look at different date or flight options.

As for the person who suggested they pay for your hotel for a week… That seems a bit unreasonable. It is not their fault (anymore than it is yours) that you need to make a last minute change.

It is a difficult situation, though. I personally had a very good experience with Lufthansa when my grandfather passed away. The lady I spoke to was very nice and helpful and I didn’t even need to get documentation for the bereavement fare. There are bad apples in every company, though.

I hope your next experience is much better, PB.

Sure.

You should have looked into a family bereavement fare as you were traveling to India for that reason. I’m in the same situation where I just booked a flight to leave for London, England in a few days to scatter my mom’s ashes. When I called customer service ( after a 30 minute wait by phone), I was told that a bereavement fare exists only for passengers traveling form The U.S. to Europe?! How discriminatory….

Oh well….they probably lost tons of money because of the volcanic activity in Iceland and don’t want to pay out anymore…

While I agree that they can’t cancel someone else’s flight they could have offered to pay for accomodation for the week until the next flight as it was their mistake.

being from Germany and living in Canada for 2 years now, I have been going back and forth quite a lot. I always found Lufthansa and Air Canada to be the nicest airlines to fly with - in any regard.
I hope this was just an isolated incident as well - and I am fairly sure that that’s what it is.

I’m sorry you had these problems, but it sounds like you had an issue with one low-level customer service person who inadvertently changed both reservations by mistake. You can not reasonably expect the manager you spoke to to cancel or postpone someone else’s flight to fix the agent’s error. You have to admit had he done that then the other customer would have been upset and they didn’t do anything wrong. Either way, someone would have been upset. His hands were tied and it was a no-win situation for the airline so he did the best he could.

On top of everything my mother was very sick and all they said was sorry we can’t do anything.

I am very diligent about these things but sometimes when there is no evidence of the change being made - there is only so much we can do.

I just couldn’t believe how discourteous and condescending the manager was. Sometimes I think if this was the US, the outcome and my attitude towards the airline would be different.

I still will not travel with Lufthansa again. There are many airline carriers that would be happy to have our business. I don’t mind paying a few hundred $ if the service is good.

When you changed your mothers flight back to a month later, did you not have to pay an additional fee? or difference in fare anything? they would have told you how much the difference is per person.

When you split your tickets did you get separate booking #’s to ensure that both flight were indeed on different return dates?

for them to waive the change fee after the fact is in fact a nice gesture, they didnt even have to do that for you. (I realize its not the outcome you wanted) how ever we (consumers) have a responsibility to ensure when making changes of that importance that everything is in place.

I am quite sure should the situation arise that you would give them another try if you have no other options.. IE: they had a sale on, had a direct flight in stead for around the same price as another carrier, have points for them or airmiles etc.. (why did you choose them in the 1st place)

sorry for your experience, hope your next one is better.. please stay informed of what you do and keep documentation.