Questions and Answers

Hi Lucky,

About 2 weeks ago, I was on a Lufthansa flight LH 459 from SFO to MUC and going on to CDG. The flight ended up getting cancelled due to aircraft damage from a bird strike and I was rebooked for the following day. I ended up arriving 8 hours late to CDG and also lost a hotel booking I had made in Paris since I didn’t make it to the hotel in time due to the delay.
Since I had been rebooked for the following day, Lufthansa gave me a hotel voucher for a Comfort Inn hotel near the airport. However, when I got to the airport, I (along with many other passengers from the same flight) found that the hotel was out of rooms. We ended up going back to the airport and sleeping there since we were unable to get a hold of Lufthansa customer service at that point.
I filed a customer service complaint detailing the situation and asking if the delay entitled me to EU 261/2004 compensation. I just got a response from them saying that bird strikes constitute “extraordinary circumstances” and so they were not liable to pay compensation. They offered an apology for the experience at the Comfort Inn but I’m not sure if that’s enough and I should let it go or demand at least some sort of compensation for the delay as well as the poor handling.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Rohan

I think it would be okay to escalate and push for compensation. Just realize that the most you could expect (I think) is the 600 Euro from EU 261. So, up to you if you think that is worth the time and effort. I have heard that Lufthansa is one of the more difficult airlines to recoup from