Missed connecting flights -- what rights do we have?

MarkYn

Hi all,

My wife was flying from Detroit to Birmingham via Frankfurt (all one ticket), but was taken ill, treated by the medical staff on the plane and at Frankfurt airport and then taken to a hospital in Frankfurt. Obviously she missed her connection as a result. When I phoned Lufthansa's customer services, I was told that she should be able to rebook for free in the case of medical emergency, but the staff at Frankfurt airport had a different policy and charged her €250 euros for a flight (having first tried to charge her for an upgrade for the entire Detroit-Birmingham flight because there were no economy seats left).

I'm in the process of complaining to Lufthansa about this, so they may give the money back, but I was wondering if anyone knows what my wife's rights actually are in this regard? It seems to me that Lufthansa should have some duty of care, but she was left at the hospital, had no money to get back to the airport (because she wasn't planning on staying in Germany) and then gets hit with a premium flight price.

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can offer: I've tried searching for information about our rights, but stuff on flight delays and aircrew illness swamp the results!

lady1964

I can't answer your question but take a look at https://www.flyertalk.com and then the Lufthansa forums, you may find your answer there or register to ask your question.

richardw

Great to hear Lufthansa's cabin crew and ground staff looked after your wife.
Have a look on their website for general terms and conditions in this situation.
Also have a look at the detail in her travel insurance for what you might be able to claim for from her travel insurance.

littlereddevil

Only her travel insurance will help her methinks

Heliflyguy

You may be able to get your money back via travel insurance.

The re book for free probably meant that there would be no charge for the re booking service which can be rather expensive.

A change of booking class if the original booked class was not available means that the fare difference would have to be paid according to the fare rules on that route unfortunately.

I do wonder how they calculated the fare difference, good job you managed to avoid paying the higher fare for the flown leg, that would have been the easiest way for them to reprice it


B. EMERGENCY PROVISION
-- TICKET MAY BE REFUNDED OR USED TOWARD THE
PURCHASE OF ANOTHER TICKET IF DUE TO ILLNESS
OF PASSENGER OR TRAVELLING COMPANION OR DEATH
OF PASSENGER/IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER
TRAVELLING COMPANION. A VALID DEATH OR
HOSPITAL/MEDICAL CERTIFICATE IS REQUIRED

agrinnall

Seems an obvious case for a travel insurance claim to me.

Mr_Wangers_Wang

My wife was flying out to meet me in the US and fell ill the day of her flight. At the airport, with 3 of our children she collapsed and was rushed to hospital. Turned out she was dehydrated due to food poisoning and put on a drip for a day.

A rep from Icelandair phoned her whilst she was in hospital and asked her if she would still be looking to fly to the US. The rep gave her a direct number to call when she was well enough and two days later she was en route to New York completely free of charge with the kids. .

Point being, airlines get a lot of bad press at times like this, and deservedly so. But not all are bad.