regadeam gabellah amalee
Azalee Freas
Already have a United ticket from DFW to LHR. Need to then directly go to Munich. I planned to buy a separate ticket on Lufthansa to Munich but would need to get bags, check in with Lufthansa at least an hour before flight, etc. This would take a lot longer then if I had one ticket combining the two flights. United and Lufthansa are partners. I called United and they don't seem to know the answer to how I do this. Has anyone ever added a flight onto United with Lufthansa and had bags go through as if one ticketed itinerary?
THanks
You would essentially be changing your reservation from a direct flight to LHR to a flight, with a stop, to MUC. So, no, I've never done that. IF they would allow the change, then I would expect it to come with a hefty change fee in addition to paying the difference between he fares. Curious why you wouldn't have done this in the first place, if your final destination was Munich. It's not unusual to fly on different airlines on connecting flights.
For a trip that includes one or more connections, United will check
bags to the final destination stated on the ticket. Your connecting
flight must depart within 12 hours of your arrival at the airport in
order for your bags to transfer automatically....
United's written policies on their website therefore indicate your bags should be able to be checked all the way through to Munich (MUC) with a connection at LHR that involves separate United and Lufthansa tickets as long as (1) your MUC flight leaves within 12 hours of your arrival at LHR, (2) you do not have an overnight stay or a voluntary stopover*.
If you've flown with any airline, you know policy and execution are not the same thing. I would print out a copy of the policy to take with you to the airport, arrive at the airport early in case there are problems, and ask to talk to a senior agent or supervisor at the check-in counter if the agent says it can't be done.
*Definition of a "stopover" from the United Contract of Carriage: "Stopover means a deliberate interruption of travel by the Passenger, agreed to in advance by the carrier, at a point between the place of departure and the place of destination. For International flights a Stopover will also be deemed to occur at an intermediate point from which the Passenger is not scheduled to depart on the date of arrival, but if there is no connecting departure scheduled on the date of arrival, departure on the next day within 24 hours of arrival shall not constitute a Stopover."
I use to work for an airline international flights. Occasionally when we would have a passenger with two separate tickets we were able to combine the two tickets at checkin but only when the other carrier was part of our alliance. I agree that they would probably charge around or above a $200 change fee.
Apparently it was cheaper for you to buy separate tickets. That is the way it goes. But if you can not have the 2 tickets combined give yourself at least 4 hours between the arrival in LHR and the departure to MUC.
I have purchased tickets combining United and Lufthansa flight segments, but only those offered by United on their web site and never trying to ad an additional flight on to an already purchased flight.
Rebook your DFW - LHR flight as DFW-MUC with United. You will pay a change fee and the cost of the extension of your trip. There are options to stop in IAH for your connection so you fly from DFW - IAH and change planes. Then it is non stop to MUC. I highly suggest this over the other options which require either more connections, or short connections in either ORD or EWR.
The people you talked to on the phone don't know how to add a flight like you want because it is not an offering by United as they have flights into MUC of their own. It would take both you being at least a Platinum level flyer and about a 3rd or 4th level supervisor to do the connection you want. And you would still pay a change fee.
Luggage. According to United's baggage policy on its website, the OP should be able to present both tickets at check in at DFW and check luggage all the way through to MUC. Far more helpful to the OP than speculation of RS forum members is the real-world experiences of frequent flyers on the FlyerTalk forum. Here is a thread that has been running for 3 years on United customers' experience with checking bags through to their final destination on two tickets, which I would encourage the OP to read. A few key points: (1) It is not unusual to have to ask for a more experienced agent (or to ask the agent to call the United Help Desk) to get this done at the ticket counter and it is not unusual for this to add 20 minutes or so to check-in time, (2) it is actually easier for the United software to check a bag all the way through to the final destination when the second ticket is a Star Alliance ticket than when it is a United ticket, and (3) United seems to have an unwritten policy that it will NOT check a bag all the way through if a fare is a basic economy fare (though I think someone could overcome this if they pulled up the policy on the website and said, "Show me where it says that the baggage policy does not apply to Basic Economy.").
Missing the flight on the second ticket. Technically, if you miss your flight on the second ticket, the airline is under no obligation to get you to your destination, as it would be with a single ticket. It can force you to buy a new ticket at the walk-up fare to get to your destination. In practicality, when the two tickets are on the same airline or on alliance partners, they often will get you on the next flight without charge (BUT THEY ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO DO THIS).
So... if the OP goes with 2 separate tickets, he/she should allow plenty of cushion at LHR for the connection so he/she is not at the mercy of the airline if there are delays. I would also give plenty of cushion just in case the OP runs into a brick wall with poorly trained United check-in agents at DFW and has to claim/re-check his/her bags at LHR.
If things go sideways, is the extra expense to get to your destination an annoyance or a severe setback? If you do miss the connecting flight, what does that do to the rest of your trip? All considerations you need to weigh and then make a choice based on your particular circumstances.
I would print out a copy of the policy to take with you to the airport, arrive at the airport early in case there are problems, and ask to talk to a senior agent or supervisor at the check-in counter if the agent says it can't be done.
United and Lufthansa belong to the same alliance. It would have been simple to buy both flights on the same itinerary and avoid transit hassles. Even if points are involved, such itineraries can sometimes be arranged if you phone the originating airline directly. However, getting an advance seat reservation on Lufthansa might require a separate charge which can be done through the airline's website.
Later this year, my girlfriend and I will be flying with Lufthansa on a transatlantic flight. To keep this question as generic as possible, let's call the itinerary A-FRA-C, with A (and FRA, of course) being within the Schengen area and C obviously being outside Schengen. Our ticket includes both legs (and the return flights) and it includes both me and my girlfriend.
I'm especially interested in the answer to the second question (both for personal reasons and in general, since this would give passengers with a feeder flight an advantage when it comes to picking a "good" seat compared to passengers flying directly from a hub).
If your booking is on one ticket (which you imply), at the check-in time for the first flight, you can check-in for all the flights, and will get all the boarding passes (you actually cannot check in only for the first leg, they only offer all together).
Note that there might be reasons why - even though you can check in online and pick your seats - you will not get a boarding pass to print (or electronically), because of the target country, visa regulations, etc. In that case, you will get your boarding passes only at the airport, when they have physically verified your passports/visas/etc.
I've flown multi-leg flights with several airlines, including Lufthansa. None of them has ever made me check in for the different legs separately: it's always been that you check in for the whole journey as soon as check-in for the first leg opens.
Can you sue Lufthansa ,
In small claims Court in Fort Worth, Texas for expenses you incurred du to LH?
Story:My wife gets a round trip ticket with LH Dallas Fort Worth(DFW) to Oslo(OSL)(>$2000).Main purpose is to escort my Dad on a LH flight from OSL to DFW a week later.Pay extra so they can sit together on return flight.On day of departure highway is shut down due to accident so we get delayed and we check in at DFW 30 min before departure with United and told we are too late.This flight was booked online with Lufthansa.com flying United to Washington then LH to Frankfurt and OSL.
We call LH and told we just have to buy a new ticket.We buy new ticket with other airline next day.
Now the interesting part. A week later trying to check my wife in on the OSL-DFW flight I get massage flight cancelled. I can check in my Dad,no flight cancelled message.Strange since they are on the same flights?
Calling LH they tell me Lufthansa has removed her from the flight because she was a no show from DFW.The only thing they can do is to transfer me to Service Center.When they do so I listen to a recording saying they are closed in the week end.
My wife has to by a new return ticket(>$1100 something)to get on the same plane as my Dad.Seat reservation for her also gone.
LH told me this is written in small print somewhere. On the documentation I printed out when ordering and checking in I cant find it.And at no point were we told(when calling)or sent an email about this.
Our extra expenses due to LH removing her from the return ticket:$1100 for new ticket an $2.56 for phone calls.So we were gonna sue them in FTW small claims court for $1102.56
I feel LH behaved very badly in this situation. Warning to all traveling with them, they will take your paid for ticket away from you,so they can make an extra buck!Emails to them are left unanswered.
Anybody tried this?