Lufthansa kpọrọ ndị njem ụgbọ elu United asị asị: LH Hero Oriakụ Ugurel chọrọ mgbanwe

This author published an experience with Lufthansa customer service at Frankfurt International Airport a year ago. Unfortunately, not much has happened to repair the dislike between Lufthansa and United Airlines—premium United Airlines passengers feel the abuse – again and again year after year.

After generating 2.7 billion euros in profit last year and 120 million passengers, making it the best year ever for the German flag carrier, despite strikes that crippled the airline. It hurt the German economy and those traveling within, through, to, and from Germany.

With unfriendly and unprofessional customer service agents and long phone wait times, including for premium customers, a smooth cooperation and travel experience for Star Alliance passengers on LH may not be on the horizon for some time.

Mileage Plus and Miles & More

It becomes increasingly obvious that many Lufthansa agents hate United Airlines passengers unless they convert from Mileage Plus to Miles and More.

Miles and More is the Lufthansa frequent flyer program. Mileage Plus is the United Airlines program. Both airlines are part of the Star Alliance alliance.

The alliance advocates a smooth flight experience and shared status benefits for premium frequent flyers throughout their network of member airlines.

This author, Juergen Steinmetz, is the publisher of eTurboNews, and also a proud 3 million 1K flyer with Star Alliance Member carrier United Airlines. 1K is the highest frequent flyer status at United Airlines.

He is currently in Berlin, Germany, after he witnessed that attending the ITB travel trade show was cut short for many because of strikes by Lufthansa and fellow affiliated Star Alliance Member German Rail.

United Airlines and Lufthansa are founding members of this airline alliance.

Ndị njem ụgbọ elu United bụ ndị efu dịka Lufthansa si kwuo

Here is what Juergen Steinmetz experienced today:

I booked a business class ticket on Lufthansa to fly from Berlin to Bucharest via Munich. Twenty-four hours before take-off, I received a message from Lufthansa asking me to check in online on the LH website or LH App.

The process was easy. However, I was unable to include my United Airlines Mileage Plus frequent flyer number in my passenger record.

Without it my boarding pass did not show my Gold Status or allow me to use the top zone for boarding. I would also not have been invited into the Senator Lounge.

I decided to click on “help” to add this number to my record. There was a chat feature. The chat feature did not have the conversation option I needed.

I clicked on the call feature, and it dialed a US number, even though I was in Germany. I was on hold for 31 minutes and finally hung up.

Next, I googled the 24-hour call center number in Germany, selected the German language option, and an agent answered within a few minutes. After I searched for my booking code and gave it to the agent, she found my booking.

I asked her to please add my United Airlines Mileage Plus number to my PNR, but she said she could not do this.

When I asked why, she quietly put me on hold. I waited 18 minutes before disconnecting, and I called again.

The third time, I asked another agent to speak with a supervisor only to be told they didn’t have supervisors I could talk to. I explained my issue again, and this agent disconnected without attempting to assist.

Call 4: This time, I spoke to another agent, telling her I was disconnected on a previous call, and again asked her to add my UA number. She said she had to talk to her help desk and put me on hold for 23 minutes, so I had to disconnect again.

The fifth time, an agent whose German language skills were not good listened to what I had to say and simply disconnected me.

The next time (number 6), I was told to speak to Miles and More and connected to the Lufthansa frequent flyer program. Unfortunately, there was no way to speak to a human without having a Miles and More number, so the system said, “Goodbye.”

On call number seven, I listened to music for 37 minutes,

There was no more music on call eight; the call simply did not receive a response. I have a feeling my caller ID must have been blacklisted at that time.

On call number nine, I selected English as a language, and again, I was met by a silent hold for 15 minutes before finally giving up.

On my tenth call, I used a different phone. I was transferred to a Lufthansa Miles and More agent who wanted me to call United Airlines, even though my booking was made directly with Lufthansa. There was no United Airlines segment in the record, and my booking did not involve a flight to the United States. I had booked a one-way trip from Berlin, Germany, to Bucharest, Romania.

After explaining all this to another Lufthansa Miles and More agents on call 11, I was again put on hold for over an hour. When the agent finally responded, she disconnected without saying another word.

Lufthansa Hero Ms. Ugurel Steps in

I was ready to give up but decided to give it one more try. This time, I spoke with a very nice Lufthansa agent, a lady agent by the name of Ms. Ugurel.

She promised to call me back if we disconnected, but we did not.

I told her I would write down her name and explain what I had experienced. She immediately found my booking and added my United Airlines Mileage Plus number, and my boarding pass now shows the “G” and Gold Status with all benefits.

I told her she was my hero and thanked her. She wished me a nice evening and a pleasant flight and apologized to her colleagues.

My “G” status showed for about an hour before my boarding pass reverted to the no status. When I arrived at Berlin Airport and checked in, however, the system correctly recognized my Mileage Plus number. Thank you, Ms. Ugurel.

The question now remains?

Why is Lufthansa unwilling and unable to assist United Airlines passengers? Why is Lufthansa not allowing UA premium members access to the airline’s premium hotlines? Should this not be a given between Star Alliance carriers?

Is it a lack of training or a do-not-care attitude?

As a German American, I like Lufthansa and feel some pride when I hear about my home airline. As a passenger, however, I see the shortcomings within the LH structure as damaging not only for the airline but also for Germany as a country and an economy.

I can only feel sorry for Lufthansa’s frustrated staff. I can only hope that with a billion Euros in profit, Ms. Ugurel would get a chance to get a promotion so she could be in charge of training her colleagues.

I also hope that Star Alliance can play a role in making flying throughout their network a smooth experience.

Whatever United Airlines did to Lufthansa, hopefully, Ms. Ugurel can push LH executives to find a solution.

Aloha and Mahalo, Ms. Ugurel!