In the past, I’ve written about a couple of Lufthansa first class downgrades that I dealt with over time. The first was caused by an aircraft swap (to a plane without first class), while the second was due to a broken seat.
Reader Owais asked for my take on an attempted Lufthansa first class downgrade situation he just dealt with, and I can’t really make sense of it…
Threatened with Lufthansa first class downgrade in Chicago?!
Yesterday morning, reader Owais redeemed Air Canada Aeroplan points for his parents to fly Lufthansa first class from Chicago (ORD) to London (LHR) via Frankfurt (FRA). This was booked day of departure, since Lufthansa often only makes first class award space available to partner programs within a couple of days of departure.
I’ve even reviewed the e-ticket, and everything looked as it’s supposed to, with the long haul flight being in the “O” fare class (the standard Star Alliance first class award fare bucket).
However, when Owais’ parents arrived at the airport and went to the first class check-in line, they were reportedly met by an unhelpful check-in agent, who pointed them to the economy line. Owais mentions that his mother can be sarcastic, and it’s possible that she rubbed the Lufthansa representative the wrong way. The initial interaction reportedly went as follows:
“Economy class is that way”
“We’re in first”
“First class?” (sarcastically)
“Yes do you have a problem with that?”
“No, but actually first class check in is over there”
“Why don’t you look at the screen on top of your desk it says first class check-in”
“Ma’am, it’s over there”
When the parents were checked in, they were informed that they were actually booked in premium economy, and not first class, and if they wanted to fly first class, they’d have to pay the fare difference.
Now, “O” is the award fare class for Lufthansa first class, but it’s also the revenue fare class for Air Canada premium economy. However, everything about the ticket was 100% correct, it was confirmed in first class, charged based on first class, and the seat map shown on Air Canada’s website was even for first class.
So Owais called up Aeroplan, and at the same time, pulled up the reservation on Lufthansa’s website. Lufthansa’s website confirmed that the booking was in first class, but displayed seat assignments in premium economy.
While on hold with Aeroplan, Owais texted his parents and told them to ask the Lufthansa representative to call Aeroplan’s partner desk, and to inform him they’d file a UK261 claim. Five minutes later, before an Aeroplan agent even picked up the phone, he heard from his parents that everything had been taken care of, and that they had been reassigned seats in first class.
When his mother asked how it was resolved, the Lufthansa representative reportedly said “Air Canada agreed to pay the difference between the booking classes.”
Owais asks me the following:
Does this whole situation seem fishy to you? Obviously different airlines have different fare codes but if the operating airline is showing the fare code for first class wouldn’t that suffice? Was this a scam trying to get money out of older people who wouldn’t know better that evaporated when they realized the victims knew their rights? Does Lufthansa allow non-revs in first class, and were they trying to give the seats to a friend?
For what it’s worth, there ended up only being one other passenger in first class on this flight (it was operated by an A340-600 with eight first class seats).
What could explain this weird downgrade situation?
I’ve been doing this a long time, and ordinarily I feel like I at least have a good inclination of what might have happened. However, in this situation, I’m stumped. I suppose the logical explanation is either that there was a rogue representative, or some sort of a system glitch.
The key detail to me here is that while the travelers were at the airport, the Lufthansa website showed them as being confirmed in first class, while showing premium economy seat assignments. A few thoughts:
- If this was some sort of a system glitch, this is the first time in all of my years that I’ve heard of a Lufthansa first class award ticket accidentally booking into premium economy
- I’m surprised that a Lufthansa representative even knew that “O” was the revenue premium economy fare class for Air Canada
- I don’t think this was some scheme for the agent to pocket an upgrade fee and try to take advantage of elderly passengers; there’s just too much oversight of airline systems, and that’s just way too risky
So the best theory I can come up with — and it’s not even a good one — is that the Lufthansa representative just had a bit of an attitude, didn’t like that he got an attitude back, and he screwed with them a bit. Now, that still seems really strange, but it seems more likely to me than the other theories. It’s telling how quickly this was all resolved, and also that no price for the upgrade was ever given.
The one thing I’m confused by is how a Lufthansa representative can assign someone a seat in premium economy when they’re confirmed in first class. Does the system even allow that? I wouldn’t think so, but…
I think there is one small lesson here, regardless — always check your booking directly on the website of the airline you’re flying with. In his email to me, Owais even proactively said he should have done that, but the ticket was booked day of departure, he was at work, and Air Canada’s website even let him select seats, so he didn’t get around to it.
Bottom line
A couple booked in Lufthansa first class using Air Canada Aeroplan points were informed at check-in that they were actually booked in premium economy. This makes absolutely no sense, especially since the ticket appeared to be issued correctly.
While they were initially told that they’d have to pay the fare difference for first class, that didn’t end up being the case. Fortunately this story had a positive ending, though I’m still puzzled how something like this could happen in the first place.
What do you make of this Lufthansa first class downgrade story?
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