yestravel

I booked a flight thru UA with a plane change in Frankfurt onto a Lufthansa flight to my destination. If my incoming UA flight is delayed and I miss the connection what will happen? will I be able to get on the next flight to my destination regardless of airline or will they only rebook me on the next available Lufthansa flight? thanks

J62

LH and UAL are star alliance and code share partners and will take care of you but I believe they will just put you on the next LH flight. What is the destination?

Is there an earlier next flight on a different airline?

DonTopaz

If your incoming flight is delayed, Lufthansa will put you on the next available flight. Look for signs directing you to one of the Lufthansa Service Centers, and they'll take care of things. In most situations, you will be booked on a Lufthansa flight.

yestravel

Thanks! The next Lufthansa flight to Naples, Italy isn't until 8:40 pm. Our original flight is scheduled t leave Frankfurt at 10:30 am. Obviously my preference would be to get on a flight before the evening assuming there are ones available. Hopefully this wont be an issue.

yestravel

hmmm...guess I should worry about the strike on...

J62

It would serve you well to have a list of all possible flights on various airlines. B I would not expect anybody but LH to fly the FRA-Naples route, and I would not anticipate them putting you on, for example, Alitalia FRA-Rome-Fra or some other connection.

Their obligation is to get you there, not necessarily as soon as you'd like.

mztery

In my experience LH and UA are VERY loath to put you on a flight on a carrier NOT in Star Alliance. It costs them something to do that and they are both very cost conscious.

DonTopaz

You can fly from FRA to Naples on Lufthansa via Munich -- flight from FRA departs at 12:10pm, connects to a flight departing from MUC to NAP at 2:40pm.

MarnieWDC

Hoping it goes smoothly...and the trip is a hit...so all this info will be of help to others and not needed by you on this voyage.

I really appreciate J62's post: "It would serve you well to have a list of all possible flights on various airlines." Sounds like really sound advice for any trip - especially with plan changes

J62

Another tip I learned from hard experience.

Have LH local #'s already on my cell phone. Last time I got stuck in FRA (and also MUC on the same trip) due to weather the lines at the LH service centers were a mile long - 2-3 hr wait. The incoming leg I had to wait in line, so when my return flight was also delayed I was able to call the LH # from a quiet corner and take care of my rebooking.

I've been able to call and check the connecting flight status while still taxiing to the gate if my arrival is late, and quickly rebook ahead of anyone else.

Same thing applies to any airline.

yestravel

Good idea to program in the LH local number. Thanks!

misterfuss

@J62 and yestravel: Where does one get these local LH numbers? I am a low level premier silver that would like to know this. Many thanks.

Cowboy1968

The regular procedure when you miss a LH connection is that you already get re-booked by the system before your late incoming flight has even touched ground. You will get that info from the cabin crew during arrival.
Exceptions may be grand desasters like the strike (it's over now, by the way) or some nasty volcano in Iceland.
The airline's service desks in the transfer area don't do much more than simply give you the new boarding pass.
If you are a status traveller, you can also get this done at the LH lounges you have access to.
If the next service desk you see after you exited your flight looks too busy you can also go to the departure pier for your connecting Schengen flight (assuming we are in Frankfurt) and use the service desks there.
If you have a lot (2 hours or more) of time, you can also just exit thru baggage claim and use the ticketing counters landside.
Or just try the next self-service check-in kiosks, punch in your booking code, and when LH has already booked you on another flight it should spill out the new boarding pass.
The last option should be your first try if you already got the message on your incoming flight that you have been re-booked due to late arrival.

yestravel

Thanks - very helpful, Cowboy. Suppose I don't like the flight they booked me on? Can I change it at a service desk? I ask this because the next non stop isnt until the evening. But they have a couple that have a stop in Munich which would get me into Naples 4-5 hours earlier.

clevelandbrown

We flew United with a connection to Lufthansa. The United flight was delayed, and when we arrived in Munich there was no one from United at the gate to tell us what to do. We went to the Lufthansa service center, and they already had our reconnection booked for us. From observing the people there in similar circumstances, it appeared changes could be made.

I'm thinking of moving from United. In my experience since the merger, they seem consistently inept and unhelpful.