Last December I bought a C/F Class ticket from one the bigger ticket dealers in Germany.

Routing: TIP VIE FRA QKL FRA MUC BKK CGK SIN ZRH VIE FRA QKL FRA TIP
Participating Airlines: OS, LH, TG and SQ, ticket had been issued on TG stock.

I changed my travel plans then and did not use the ticket last December. Last week, I reebooked it by phone and got it stickered by the LH ticket counter at FRA. (!!)

I flew to TIP and began my journey from there. For the first 4 sectors, everything was fine. Then I appeared at the FRA Airport to check in for FRA MUC BKK but LH refused to check me in.

Their arguments in short:

-- There is a law (could not say what exactly) which prohibits to issue ex Libya tickets outside of Libya.
-- Therefore the ticket is not valid and LH will not accept it.

I tried to persuade TG to take me to BKK but because of the comments LH had put into my reservation they refused as well.

My impression is that LH did put some pressure on TG not to accept my ticket. My impression is also, that LH doesn�t want to accept that ticket under any circumstances and is seeking arguments not to do so. They argued that through fares ex Libya weren�t valid anymore. (which is rubbish, they are still existing) They also weren�t able to name that obvious law and they also suggested me to go to TG to get the ticket reissued. How can an �invalid� ticket be reissued? Does that make sense?

What would you do in my case? Once again, the ticket has been sold by a big travel agent on TG stock. LH refuses transportation and TG follows their arguments?

Shall I simply buy a new C/F ticket with the same routing and sue TG for the fare difference? (At least 3000 Euros)

And does anybody here have any facts regarding that obvious Libyan law or can anybody say for sure, that it is a fairytale, introduced by the wolf?

Does it make sense to contact the �Schlichtungsstelle�?

Any opinions are welcome. Thx...

You are 100 % right: The fares exTIP can still be bought.

However, there is such a law that tickets must not be sold outside of Libya for the Libyan price.

Luhfthansa is indeed the company that wants to refuse such fares. They do not even sell them in Libya.

It's not a law, it is a governmental order, but I guess with counties liky Libya, this does not make a difference. In any event, regardless of the price, no tickets commencing in Libya most be sold/ticketed outside of Libya.

As for these regulations, any LH agent can readily access those under the Amadeus reference GGAIRLHTIPINFO - so no need for them to make up any excuses.


The only argument you got is that they stickered the ticket in FRA, that you did indeed start your travel in TIP and due to this, LH has already accepted your ticket as being valid for transportation. Good luck, you'll be fighting an uphill battle.

You should contact the "big travel agent" immediately and have them deal with LH/TG, as any errors (whether real or imagined) in ticket issuance are their responsibility.

I would ask LH to review the rules under Amadeus GGAIRLHTIPINFO, and have them explain to you what date the ticket sale rules went into effect. If it was after you purchased your ticket last December, LH should still honor your ticket, as it is legal. If it was before you purchased your ticket last December, the travel agent illegally sold you the ticket and should refund your money.

Of course I will contact the travel agent on Monday morning.

I am also sure that TG would happily refund me the ticket price but that would mean I had to buy a new ticket for the ex FRA fare which is about 3000 Euros more.

And that's not what I want. I want to fly the existing ticket and collect the miles.

LH don't have ex-TIP fares even for in-country purchase ?

So journeys ticketed in TIP by LX etc can't include LH coupons ?

Didn't all those restrictive selling/ticketing rules disappear ?

So many questions, sorry! .....

As there is such a rule (from the government, not LH) that Libya-tickets can't be bought outside Libya, your travel agent seems to be the one to blame.

Admittedly, I am not a lawyer, but:

Why should you care about a law in Libya? There is a contract for transportation between TG/LH/Travel Agent (however their contractual arrangements amongst each other are) and you. So they should honour it. If they cannot, because of a law in Libya, they should have to pay you damages. Of course, they could also simply issue a new ticket for the remainder of your journey.

Ask a lawyer for his opinion, but I cannot imagine that they would have the right to refuse you.

SmilingBoy.

I really DOUBT that there is such a law. LH is everytime saying this regarding tickets ex Libya (I have the same situation. I even bought my ticket ex Libya at the LH Ticket Sales in FRA!!!). But they never could show me such a law (also not to my lawyer - which they refuse to talk or write to unless we have an official court asking them for there opinion - HELLO LH - just wait a few more weeks (months? German Landgerichte are sometimes quite slow...) untill you loose your law case and be sure you will get some negative publicity on this!!!). My impression is - they just want to pretend people to fly over there and by cheap tickets. LH says it is a Libyan law - If there would be such a law - why the OP could leave Libya with an (from LH called) "illegal" ticket???????

Ok, I only heard these facts from LH. Never from someone else, as you say perhaps it is stupid to believe LH without questioning..

I was always under the impression that one could issue an ex-tip ticket outside Lybia BUT it would be an illegal ticket. Some airlines seem honour these "illegal" tickets (such as TG and EK) and others are very strickt like LH.

I guess the only way to have a "legal" ex-TIP would eb to have it actually issued in Lybia.

yes
issued and paid in Libya with Dinar (LYD)

I agree 100 %. Even if such a law would really exist (I still doubt it until someone proves it), that doesn't make that ticket unvalid because this is a contract between me, the travel agent, TG and perhaps LH.

So the place where the lawsuit will take place is Germany and this makes me more than confident that I will win that case.
And this lawsuit will definitely happen, if I am not in a plane to BKK/SIN by tomorrow evening.

@:-) The question is: How much is my damage? And who is the one to sue?
T/A, TG or LH or all together?

Any suggestions?

If you choose to buy a ticket from FRA I would assume your damage is the fare difference. If you choose to stay then who knows...