 Poster: A snowHead
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Beware of booking a cheap Lufthansa 'economy light' fare if you need to take skis as it's £67 each way to add these after booking with no option to add during the online booking process.
I was booking last night in a hurry for a flight today so it's my own fault for not picking this up but it certainly wasnt obvious!
The standard economy fare includes skis as your free hold bag.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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You can cancel your booking within 24hrs and get a full refund. Then you could rebook the standard economy fare if it's still cheaper.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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From LH customer service site;
Customers who make a reservation through Lufthansa’s online booking channels (i.e. lufthansa.com, weflyhome.com and generationfly.com) may cancel their reservation without penalty up to 24 hours after the reservation is made, if the reservation was made seven days or more prior to the flight’s departure.
https://www.lufthansa.com/us/en/local-page/customer-service-plan
It is the same on BA as I've used this get out before. I assume it must be some EU reg or similar.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Lufthansa and other Star Alliance (inc SAS) changed their baggage policy on “light” fares a year or two ago. I used to be able to take hold luggage for free as a gold card member if I remember right, but they stopped that.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Lufthansa is the worst ... or at least as bad as the other airlines !
On my recent trip I've experienced very poor customer service, conflicting information and outrageous fees ...
After calling to confirm ski carriage I was told by Lufthansa Service Center agent that the fee is $120/one way payable at the check in ( I was aware that there is additional charge for ski bag if booking Economy Light fare) just to be charged at he airport check in $250/one way ...
Upgrading to Premium Economy was only $400 and included ski bag so it worked well for me for a long overnight flight but their confusing and conflicting baggage policy and lack of training of their Service Agents leads to a lot of confusion, unhappy customers and additional cost ...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I've just landed in Munich so can't cancel now, 3 free beers and 2 sandwiches later.
The flight was only £75 return booked last night for today so can't complain about that.
Only needed ski carriage one way so I thought even worst case scenario £40/50 one way would be fine but £68 each way would have trebled the cost of the flight if I needed it both ways.
Booking standard economy would have been £60 or so more but the link I used via Skyscanner didn't seem to offer me that option(or maybe I was just too excited)
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| Quote: |
| Lufthansa is the worst ... or at least as bad as the other airlines ! |
We've always found them (StarAlliance=LH+Swiss) to be the best
It's generally customer misunderstanding/not reading the t&c-s, as the "economy light" is aimed at people travelling without baggage.
If you travel economy you get your 23kg hold bag, plus free transport of ski-gear (up to 23kg ski-bag plus a boot bag) without any questions at the checkin 
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@geoffers, agreed. However, it's maybe worthwhile pointing out that as far as I'm aware Lufthansa's free ski carriage with the standard economy fare (i.e not the cheaper "economy light") only applies to flights within Europe - as Cheapski was quoting US$ prices maybe he's talking about transatlantic flights where I don't think Lufthansa's free ski carriage applies?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@Alastair Pink, that was my understanding. Free ski carriage, so long as it's within Europe, and you select the standard economy including baggage. It used to default to the standard economy, not economy lite in the booking thing online, and if you're going on a ski trip and you know you're going to be taking baggage, it seems a little odd selecting lite and adding baggage back in. Won't be the first to do that. It's an expensive way to find out why trying to be clever, isn't actually clever after all 
Also on the normal economy including baggage fare, don't forget you are also supposed to phone them up on the hotline to tell them your bringing skis. So free is really about 5p in premium rate phone costs.
Lufthansa/Swiss are among the best IME.
It's KLM/AF where you pay extra for the baggage, and it only does half the journey that you've paid for. And customer service is... "we'll look for it, here's your free pair of one size fits all socks and a t-shirt (that will shred in the wash and you'll need to call the maintenace guy out to fix the washing machine afterwards)".
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Nor really trying to "outsmart" airlines, as I said I knew all along that I would have to pay additional to add a ski bag ...
The problem is that their own agents are lost in a sea of different fees for different fares.
If you add bag (one way) it is $60, it also states that first piece of luggage could be substituted for a ski bag ...
And at the other place states that ski bag is $120 !?
And yet, because it is "oversized" fee jumps to $250 ... !?
Show me the ski bag that is not "oversized" (anything over their standard check in luggage allowed sizing) !? My ski bag is considered "oversized" if I travel in "economy light" but the same ski bag is not oversized if I fly in "economy", "premium economy" or "business" 
Agree, if you fly "regular" economy Lufthansa/Swiss ski bag policy is very good but that was not an viable option for me since I was traveling one way and one way fare in regular economy was almost $300 more expensive. So, I thought, OK, call Service Center (in any case you are required to call Service Center to notify them that you will be bringing sporting equipment with you) check how much it is to add a ski bag and after being told $120 I decided to buy "economy light". Obviously information given to me was wrong ...
Yes, in theory their ski bag policy is very good but in reality it is so confusing that even their own employees have a tough time giving customers the right information.
Yes, this applies for flights from the US.
Just to be clear, I am mildly upset with this but it worked out better by upgrading and having much more comfortable flight. But for anyone out there flying from the US to Europe, check and double check ski bag policy applying to your fare ...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Yes very unclear info on website and when calling to book skis on.
Website says skis can be taken as part of luggage allowance at no extra cost. Extra luggage on the lite fare is £42 return so I think it's a reasonable assumption that the charge for skis would be the same. The lady at the airport told me to complain so I think it probably happens a lot.
Ryanair 'only' charge £50 for skis.
Lesson learned for me but hopefully no other Snowheads make the same mistake.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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We got caught with this last weekend for the junior FIS SBX race in Grasgehren. Three of us heading out but only needing two board bags we went with the "lite" fare and added in two sets of hold baggage. Not trying to be clever, just booking what was needed. At the point of booking there is no suggestion the the paid for bag will be treated differently to the same sized bag on the "classic" fare... that little nugget of info is buried deep on another page.
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Shock! Horror! Airline charges for extras and it’s not super clear on their website!
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