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Lufthansa slaps airport lounge lizard with bill for €2,000

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A German man has been ordered to pay Lufthansa €1980 – the equivalent of $2,700 – for repeatedly visiting Lufthansa's business lounge in Munich without actually flying anywhere. The un-named lounge lizard bought a flexible business class ticket for €745 to fly with Lufthansa from Munich to Zurich, but never took the one hour flight. (www.ausbt.com.au) עוד...

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ZX1100F1
David Aaron 8
This is a very troublesome way to obtain a marginal meal and a few drinks but if customer followed the guidelines I cannot see him being ordered by a judge to pay restitution to LH, although it is clearly an abuse of the system and I do understand the airline refusing to sell him another ticket.
MattU470
Matthew Unger 1
Unless you live within walking distance (not usually possible) of an airport, the cost and effort of doing this seems counterproductive. It would be easier to attend certain hotels that have free breakfast buffets and evening social hours for free. I've never been checked when staying at hotels.
randallfield
randallfield 3
strange, when you add the cost of parking, is there a tran to muc from munich.

a us judge would of sided with the customer, no warning label!!
joelwiley
joel wiley 4
nicht ordnungsgemäß.

As it appears the ticket holder had no intent to consummate the journey, his ticket was purchased under fraudulent intent.

At least we know at what Lufthansa values it's lounge services.
fparth
Frank Parth 4
Doesn't this guy have a life? I can't imaging going through security that often just to grab some pretzels and a few beers.
RECOR10
RECOR10 2
Lets be honest here. How many members of Flight Aware do you think thought "Wow, what a great idea to get some awesome pictures"? I sure did...the pilots? No, the rest of us? Heck yeah!
malarz
Marian Wierzba 1
It's much more than that. LH lounge is truly outstanding! Nonetheless, I wouldn't go through so much trouble
btweston
btweston 5
That's a shame. If only he had been a massive corporation his exploitation of loopholes would have been celebrated...
CAPSearcher
CAP Searcher 2
what is offered at the lounge? i have never been to one
THRUSTT
THRUSTT 1
Fine spirits, horse douvres, and shapely attendants...
Sandan2b
Matt Bancroft 3
I love it that people on here actually ask what he did wrong... Just a great example of how society in general has lost it's moral compass. There's always some smart-ass defending crappy behavior now.

The fact is, a judge in a court of law determined he was at fault. So all the debating, rationalizing, obfuscating and denials here mean nothing. Case is closed and the verdict is in.

Now all you puzzled people who don't get it need to examine your own perspectives and try to figure out what is wrong with them. I doubt you'd listen to me tell you, and most of you probably don't even care what any court has to say anyway, so I don't hold my breath that greedy selfish behavior will end anytime soon. That's why it takes a governmental system to hit some people beside the head with a brick to get their attention.

Jeeez!
mikeenderle
mikeenderle 1
But now you're assuming that a government mandate is the standard for moral right and wrong which clearly is not the case. Sure this guy abused the system but is the court's intervention really the answer to poor company policy? Lufthansa should have predicted such abuse.
joelwiley
joel wiley 2
Sounds like how the plaintiff's attorney would put it. It may be unamerican, but then, this occurred in Deutschland.

THRUSTT
THRUSTT 1
Oh yeah, those law-abiding governments...
malarz
Marian Wierzba 1
You are joking about that moral compass, right? This is a loophole in the airline rules. What the guy did was silly (and likely not very economical), but not against the rules. If the airline argued that tickets are sold for people who "have intention of traveling", they should put such wording in ticket rules. I have not seen that in any LH ticket rules so far. So it was a poor judge decision. I cannot condone what the guy did, but I hope he appeals and wins for the sake of abiding by rules. Dura lex sed lex. And the irony is - this law was compiled by LH themselves.
sgbelverta
sharon bias 3
A new way to bilk a company. In the article, it says a Chinese person pulled the same stunt. Wonder if he's still alive or just enduring an extended visit to the local prison.
nasdisco
Chris B 5
At least the Chinese gentlemen will get what he wants, free meals!
KenColgate
Ken Colgate 1
Very good Chris !
LordLayton
Leighton Elliott 3
I'm sure his organs were sold to recoup the losses.
boybanker
Paul Cadario 2
It's a nice lounge, open to premium passengers only. LH does not sell lounge memberships; everything in the lounge is free. People are better dressed than users of, say, United lounges.
preacher1
preacher1 3
As it's all free, they had a right to recoup then.
aneurind
Andrew Duncan 2
Good for Lufthansa,
MattU470
Matthew Unger 1
Wouldn't an annual membership have cost less than the price of a fully refundable ticket?
dajohns777
David Johnson 1
Shouldn't it bother someone that this guy made and cancelled over thirty reservations within a year? Granted TSA isn't present at the Munich airport, but...really?
djnorm
djnorm 1
I'm more interested in how they get away with segregating their economy class cabins on overseas flights... I noticed a clear separation of German citizens in one area and "everybody else" in the back of the plane when I last flew with them. I also noticed different amenities being offered in both cabins... Is this 'de rigeur' on national carriers?
MattU470
Matthew Unger 1
Flying from the US to South Korea (RDU-ICN) on Delta, there are differences in amenities based on what class of fare you paid. First/Business gets better food, real silverware, linen napkins, etc. while everyone else gets the standard little plate of food with plasticware. I paid $139 extra for Economy Comfort and was included in free alcohol services as well.

I booked a roundtrip flight (ICN-RDU) for leave on United, and according to the website, First/Business receives an extra meal and free alcoholic drinks. Now I guess if you can cough up almost $4000 for a sleeper seat, free booze and an extra meal better be included!
mpanzitt
Martin Panzitt 1
A WONDER he survived this food ...
Moviela
Ric Wernicke 1
What did he do wrong? He bought a refundable ticket that included lounge access. Lufthansa let him in. Case closed.

The only bilking I see happening is the annual fee for lounge access. LH charging €55 for cheap liquor and snacks in a room with threadbare furniture filled with people who are dressed like they are on the way to the gym, and smell like they are on the way back is the real fraud.
preacher1
preacher1 1
The post above says all is complimentary and no public access sold. I haven't ever been the but based on that, he bilked them.
MFC0019
Michael Costello 1
Too bad you think like him. If you owned the airline would you allow this?
Moviela
Ric Wernicke 1
Many airlines do not allow this. They issue a lounge coupon with the original ticket. Good for one admission the day of the flight.
patbuckley
pat buckley 1
I would like to see an itemized bill....
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
It would read something like:
Date, flight#, trough time, charge
but in German.
calewis
Chris Lewis 1
Someone said "stick it to the corporations" really? That just raises the price for everyone else. That is the same mentality that wants more freebies from the government, nothing from the government is free, those are our tax dallors.
preacher1
preacher1 2
btweston
btweston 4
Ironically, corporations rape us on a regular basis with their use of loopholes. But this guy... Get him!
MFC0019
Michael Costello 0
I agree with Luftansa. Can you imangine if more people did this. Its an abuse of the benefit. Ban him as a customer forever
pnschi
pnschi 0
They're free to ban him for finding a loophole, but it's nuts that a judge sided with the airline for a retroactive charge.
n3sgd
ned rubin -1
The "German man" needs to fight his assessment of 2700USD. I think he followed all of the rules, viz. must be a ticketed passenger to use the Lounge,etc.
Typical lack of flexibility and sense of humor. What a boring airline!
preacher1
preacher1 2
Having never hit that lounge either, unless their stuff is free, I can't see where the airline got hurt. They may have just wanted to make an example of him. If, by chance, it was complimentary for ticketed pax, they had a right to recoup, but I expect they wanted to make an example of him.
koyanaasqatsi
Mick Loosemore -2
Stick it to the big corporations is what I say! They try to rip people off any way they can. Why not a get a little back on them while you have the opportunity?

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