Lufthansa > Reviews > Code Shares - Expect Second Class Service

Author's product rating:   

Food Quality	Satisfactory
Customer Service	Unhelpful
Punctuality	Satisfactory
Space	Fairly Comfortable
Value for Money	Poor

Advantages:	It flew to Birmingham
Disadvantages:	Storm trooper attitude, bureaucratic, lack of service, ignores Star Alliance

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

I booked a Lufthansa flight on www.lufthansa.com.

Unfortunately for me, Lufthansa issue a code share flight. Naturally, Lufthansa never bothered to indicate codeshare flights anywhere in the purchase. Naturally, Lufthansa never asked me for permission. I found out my flight was a code share after Lufthansa issued the tickets.

What amazed me was the reaction of Lufthansa service people to Lufthansa code share flights. (1) Lufthansa personnel were not available for check in. It was left up to passengers at the airport to discover which Lufthansa flight was serviced by their code share airline and check in at that airline. (2) Once boarding passes were issued, Lufthansa personnel ignored you since you were not on a Lufthansa operated flight. This despite the announcement once you boarded of being on "XYZ Airline flight 123, Lufthansa Flight LHXXX". (3) Lufthansa does not grant Star Alliance mileage benefits for its code share flights since they are not true "Lufthansa". I found this out after the flight. I send a letter of complaint to Lufthansa. They responded it was not their responsibility since it was a code share flight. (4) A wonderful stormtrooper receptionist expelled me from the Lufthansa lounge. My crime being that I had a Star Alliance gold card and was flying a Lufthansa code share. She quoted regulations that Lufthansa does not recognize Star Alliance with Lufthansa code shares since they are "Not true Lufthansa". She discovered my crime after I exchanged my Lufthansa ticket for the code share airline's boarding pass.

In summary, flying Lufthansa is a crap shoot. Their website does not indicate codes shares. If you get one by chance, expect Lufthansa employees to treat you like second class, if they will even talk to you. Expect Lufthansa to ignore any Star Alliance benefits or programs. Don't expect Lufthansa management to care. I have sent letters of complaint to Luthansa customer service and Lufthansa executives. Their responses indicate they don't care.