Let’s face it, when we saw that Lufthansa had been designated a 5 stars airline, based on a Business class that had not even been deployed yet, we were very skeptical.
Our experience this summer in Business Long Haul confirmed our perception of the hard product, but we were blown away by the soft product, which was truly 5-star.
But recently, we had an irregularity on Lufthansa, which was the perfect opportunity to test the customer care. And we were bluffed.
Strikes also happen at Lufthansa…
My future wife and I had planned to go to Debrecen for the long weekend of November 11.
But one week before our departure, one of the majority unions of Lufthansa cabin crew, the UFO, decreed a 48-hour strike that will result in more than 1,000 cancellations on those two days, November 7 and 8, 2019.
Fortunately, our flights are not cancelled.
What happened
Our flight from Paris to Munich was initially scheduled to be on time, but was then progressively delayed by 15 minutes.
To avoid cancellation, the flight was operated by Eurowings, without business class.
We preferred to go to Munich to be rebooked, with the secret hope that the flight could wait for us.
When we arrived in Munich with more than 1h15 delay, the flight to Debrecen had already left for more than 30 minutes.
So we went to the lounge to get rebooked.
The rebooking
Upon arrival at the lounge, the staff was very reassuring just by the tone of their voices. Our host took care of us from the beginning to the end, not hiding from us that the situation was going to be complicated, considering the numerous cancellations of the day. She invites us to lunch in the lounge while she takes the time to take care of us.
After a couple of nibbles, our flight attendant comes and sits down next to us to show us the different options available.
3 options are proposed to us:
- A waiting list on the next flight to Budapest on Lufthansa
- A waiting list on the next flight to Prague on Lufthansa, then a confirmed flight on Czech Airlines
- A confirmed flight on Lufthansa the next morning.
Our flight attendant has already made the bookings and is waiting for our choice to clear the file, knowing that we can keep all options open while the waiting lists pass.
Our choice is quickly made, we don’t really want to spend our day at the airport – so we will take the next day’s flight.
So the flight attendant returns with good food, and a voucher for the airport Hilton, clearly the best hotel on the platform. She also tells us that we can be reimbursed for the transportation from Budapest to Debrecen.
The after-sales service
Even before our return to Paris, I send an e-mail to the customer service for reimbursement of our transfer between Budapest and Debrecen: I receive an answer 12 hours later telling me that the transfer has just been made. Excellent !
Bottom line
We always say in customer service that it is not the incident that is the real problem, but the way it is handled. Clearly, here, Lufthansa shows incredible professionalism.
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