Flight Delay Compensation, Lufthansa Only

kernow1234

I’m currently still on the 2nd leg of my JNB-MUC-LHR journey, having had the scheduled London flight cancelled last night and spent the night in a hotel near the airport in Munich, now waiting for a 9.30am flight. 

Airport staff are on strike at some German airports today. 

I’d like advice on how to proceed, anticipating a response from Lufthansa claiming exceptional circumstances due to strike action as there is already a note on the compensation claim page pointing this out. 

I believe I have a case because the strike had not started at the time of my scheduled London flight, and plenty of other flights were leaving the airport at the time, therefore the flight had been cancelled for operational reasons. 7 of the 9 London flights left as scheduled yesterday, with only the last 2 flights cancelled. 

If I submit a claim via their website and it is rejected, am I still able to submit a claim via a firm like Bott, and would that be a better course of action than going via their arbitration? 

Thank you for the help

kernow1234

PS. I got a cancellation/rebooking email around 36 hours in advance of 2nd flight

FrustratedFlyer67

Just wanted to update from my previous posts on this thread about condor, have today been offered the full 1200 euros! (Thanks to the ADR) 

SamDude

I had a claim rejected for a August 2023 flight (we missed our connecting Lufthansa flight due to lack of airline staff).

I claimed with Lufthansa - it was rejected as "air traffic issues".
I escalated to ADR - it was rejected in favour of the airline. 

I was expecting the ADR outcome to be the end, but I persevered and claimed with Flightrite (a no-win/no-fee claims company). They pursued and went all the way to legal action on my behalf. 

Last week, they informed me that they were successful and paid me ~£750 (deducting ~42% for their fee).

I am very happy that my claim has been 'won', but at the same time quite annoyed that it was rejected at the earlier stages where I would have received the full amount due.

eskbanker

SamDude said:

I had a claim rejected for a August 2023 flight (we missed our connecting Lufthansa flight due to lack of airline staff).

I claimed with Lufthansa - it was rejected as "air traffic issues".
I escalated to ADR - it was rejected in favour of the airline. 

I was expecting the ADR outcome to be the end, but I persevered and claimed with Flightrite (a no-win/no-fee claims company). They pursued and went all the way to legal action on my behalf. 

Last week, they informed me that they were successful and paid me ~£750 (deducting ~42% for their fee).

I am very happy that my claim has been 'won', but at the same time quite annoyed that it was rejected at the earlier stages where I would have received the full amount due.

Have Flightrite shared any useful information about how they secured this result, i.e. what lines of argument could be deployed by customers in the same boat in future?

SamDude

eskbanker said:

Have Flightrite shared any useful information about how they secured this result, i.e. what lines of argument could be deployed by customers in the same boat in future?

Nope, no information or clues about their legal challenge - only a confirmation email with the invoice deducting 30% for their fee, and a further 14% advocate fee because it went to court.

cosyc

FrustratedFlyer67 said:

Just wanted to update from my previous posts on this thread about condor, have today been offered the full 1200 euros! (Thanks to the ADR) 

How easy was ADR to deal with?

May 2024, we were delayed with Lufthansa and missed the connection in Frankfurt. we were turned down under EU261 so I emailed them back asked them to consider UK261, after some months me and friends received compensation.

Fast forward to March 2025, same scenario but different final destination. I even made sure we took an earlier Lufthansa flight from the UK with 4 hours layover in Frankfurt. But the 2nd Lufthansa flight left Frankfurt 10 minutes late and before we even arrived in Hong Kong the system cancelled our onward flights to NZ and rebooked us onto two flights via China. I can only presume the computer thought the transit was no longer manageable or it was over booked so we were bumped off.   

This time Lufthansa were very quick to respond, two days to turn down the claim under EU261, several emails back and forth to request them to use UK261 and the reasoning but always a very similar reply, no mention of UK261 and telling me to use ADR. 
Our decision has been carefully considered, taking into account, flights departing from EU member states and flights arriving in EU member states from third countries. As your journey starts in Manchester, we cannot accommodate your request for compensation. 

I guess most people give up, but its the principle.

Back to my original question, how easy are ADR to deal with. Anything i need to be aware of. Thanks for any help.

Emily_Joy

@cosyc in my experience ADR is very easy to deal with if you go via Resolver, which is free.

Apologies for bringing an unrelated topic, but I wonder which airlines you were flying with? I was looking for an EU261/UK261 covered flight to Australia but couldn't find anything

FrustratedFlyer67

cosyc said:

FrustratedFlyer67 said:

Just wanted to update from my previous posts on this thread about condor, have today been offered the full 1200 euros! (Thanks to the ADR) 

How easy was ADR to deal with?

May 2024, we were delayed with Lufthansa and missed the connection in Frankfurt. we were turned down under EU261 so I emailed them back asked them to consider UK261, after some months me and friends received compensation.

Fast forward to March 2025, same scenario but different final destination. I even made sure we took an earlier Lufthansa flight from the UK with 4 hours layover in Frankfurt. But the 2nd Lufthansa flight left Frankfurt 10 minutes late and before we even arrived in Hong Kong the system cancelled our onward flights to NZ and rebooked us onto two flights via China. I can only presume the computer thought the transit was no longer manageable or it was over booked so we were bumped off.   

This time Lufthansa were very quick to respond, two days to turn down the claim under EU261, several emails back and forth to request them to use UK261 and the reasoning but always a very similar reply, no mention of UK261 and telling me to use ADR. 
Our decision has been carefully considered, taking into account, flights departing from EU member states and flights arriving in EU member states from third countries. As your journey starts in Manchester, we cannot accommodate your request for compensation. 

I guess most people give up, but its the principle.

Back to my original question, how easy are ADR to deal with. Anything i need to be aware of. Thanks for any help.

It was with Schlichtung Reise & Verkehr ( https://www.schlichtung-reise-und-verkehr.de/ ) - I did my initial complaints to the airline via Resolver but Resolver couldn't escalate to the CAA as not a UK based airline. Besides acknowledgement, didn't hear anything else from Schlichtung then got the good news (although they say the payout may be > 6 weeks so still waiting on the actual cash! But Condor have also replied on Resolver and conceded to the ruling of Schlichtung e.g. said they intend to pay). 

FrustratedFlyer67

I honestly think next time I'll pay more and get a direct flight. Not worth the hassle and stress of the connection to save a couple of hundred each, although I suppose with the compensation taken into account we're effectively saved ourselves an entire fare. Would still much rather have not had the bother though. I certainly won't be flying condor or lufthansa ever again after this horrible experience!!!