Hotel room capacities might be scarce or hotels quickly booked out during the current strike of Lufthansa's pilot union. We have put together some tips to find an accommodation no matter where you got stranded.
Lufthansa on Strike, Source: Flickr, Jake VanderMolen
What’s the reason and the dimension of the strike?
Pilots are striking after negotiations about higher wages and improved retirement plans became stuck. In the consequence of the strike, about 3.800 flights have been cancelled. Beside Lufthansa, Germanwings as a subsidiary is impacted as well. The strike will last for three days starting April 2nd.
Travelers have been forewarned but not everyone has received the news. Especially if you are on an international flight or have a flight connection in Germany, you might have been impacted unexpectedly.
Lufthansa offers a list of all cancelled flights including further travel information on their website. The strike is actually lasting from the 2nd to the 4th of April 2014.
How to find a place to stay or a hotel room?
Camping beds and family areas for travelers are available inside the terminal at Frankfurt airport. It can be assumed that other airports in Germany also offer temporary accommodation facilities. But this cannot be a suitable 3-day-solution.
Our hotel search which you can find at the top might help you find a hotel room if you are looking for an accommodation. As the search includes all major booking platforms you still might find a hotel deal although a hotel is marked as booked out on another platform. You can also find hostels, apartments and b&bs.
Can I claim for strike compensation of my accommodation expenses?
Unfortunately the strike is due to “higher power” so that the passengers rights are limited.
Airlines are not obliged to pay compensation if they can prove that the cancellation is “caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken”. A strike is likely to be an extraordinary circumstance.
However, you should contact your airline via phone or at the airport desk before you make your travel arrangements or hotel bookings as they might provide you other travel options. You should ask if they are eager to compensate your alternate travel expenses.
Tips to find hotels wherever you got stranded
Here are some direct links at Lufthansa’s travel hubs to make the hotel search easier for you:
- Frankfurt am Main:
Hotels at Frankfurt Airport
Hotels in Frankfurt's City Center - Munich:
Hotels at Munich Airport
Hotels in Munich's City Centre - Düsseldorf:
Hotels at Düsseldorf Airport
Hotels in Munich's city center
If you got stranded at another location, feel free to use our hotel search form on top. In case you are at the airport, just enter your city and the word “airport” into the form and you will find hotels which are next to where you are.
Hey, and don't be upset as you cannot change the impact of the strike. The best you can do is, just reschedule your travel plans, stay a bit longer, have a rest in a nice place and enjoy unexpectedly the additional time you have.
Let us know your travel experiences and how you found a solution by commenting below.
No comments:
Post a Comment