It’s almost as if Lufthansa are admitting they are a terrible airline with awful practices like silently cancelling the return leg of flights if you don’t make the outbound. This happened to me on the way back from Germany, I can’t imagine they still do this but I found them extremely unhelpful and this sort of behaviour reinforces my feeling they think you’re lucky to be travelling with them.
I've never before heard that this is illegal in Europe and haven't found anymore info after some quick searching. Do you have anymore information about this?
Many airlines do this. Lufthansa did it to me last year. They are usually accommodating if you ask in advance (mine was due to a connecting flight being canceled and driving the last leg was much faster than waiting for the next flight).
What in the world are you talking about? It's perfectly legal. In fact, you're technically not even allowed to skip the second leg of your ticket. Lufthansa has sued people for doing this as well: https://pointmetotheplane.boardingarea.com/lufthansa-sues-th... That one is a little more questionable but it is still indeed against the fare rules to intend to not fly all of the segments.
There is, however, an exception for tickets issued in specifically Italy. See https://www.godsavethepoints.com/european-airline-ticket-loo... It's still not "illegal" for them to not refund you, and most airlines just accept the fines from the Italian authorities.
Lufthansa and other airlines have also been sued for this practice and lost. I guess it depends on the case but it seems ridiculous, if I leave my starter at a restaurant they then refuse to deliver dessert and yet charge me for it! Clearly that is bonkers and illegal and the exact same thing. Read the 2015 EU consumer rights act for details…
Can you offer any citation on losing cases for the practice (other than specifically in Italy, which I'll explicitly note is surprising)?
Also what is the "2015 eu consumer rights act"? The closest thing I can find is "The Consumer Rights Act 2015," which "is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom." It is neither EU-wide nor does it seem to have anything about airline tickets.
Typically when people talk about EU air regulation they are talking about "EU regulation 261/2004" which also has nothing to do with what you're talking about.
You seem to just be spouting nonsense here. Finally, in the restaurant case, you do not agree to a discounted set course in exchange for finishing all of the portions of the meal. If you want the flexibility, PAY FOR IT. This is like entering a "if you finish this meal within 30 minutes, it's free" restaurant promotion, not finishing the meal, and refusing to pay. Note restaurant promotions of this type are also not "clearly illegal."
The airlines allow you to pay for the flexibility you want. You're just refusing to do so and somehow thinking you're in the right.
They cancel flights, put up signs that seek your own hotel & transport and after that they do not give any contact.
Last leg of my flight was cancelled in airport and they closed all service desks, because there were too many people who needed help...
Over three months and still haven't got human reply from my hotel & flight reimbursement. 4000 eur still missing from Lufthansa for what I had to pay hotels & new flights. They only reimbursed cancelled leg/unused tickets for my group, so 4x100 eur...
Similar experiences with Lufthansa. Using legal mechanism yourself it's an uphill battle, you could use something like airhelp if your flight got cancelled/delayed for long.
Regarding reimbursements they can't help, I'm waiting myself one from April and one from June. One flight hotels (police told passengers to leave airport and pay for hotels), other lost luggage. Impossible to get any information from Lufthansa after I sent my bills and demands.
