NBC

Solana Beach Man Grounded Over Airline Refund

NBC 7 Responds helps a Solana Beach man get off the ground in a dispute with Lufthansa

Lyn Small always wanted to travel to the Middle East. Last year, he and his partner finally decided to do just that. Small found a a packaged tour and bought two business class tickets to Cairo, Egypt on Lufthansa Airlines.

In August of last year, less than a month after buying the tickets, Lufthansa notified Small that changes had been made to the layover on his flight to Cairo, adding several hours on to his layover. At the same time, the 80-year-old Solana Beach man had become ill. The illness and the extended layover prompted Small and his partner to cancel their trip.

“I assumed that was the schedule I was paying for,” Small told NBC 7 Responds. “Not feeling very well, I figured well it’s six months until the trip so I pressed the cancel button.”

Small sent Lufthansa an email, canceling the trip. He said he didn’t hear back. He called Lufthansa. That’s when the company gave him some bad news.

“They told me it was a non-refundable ticket, and that they are not obligated to make any concessions,” Small said.

“They finally agreed to send us $165 for the taxes I paid, out of $11,000.”

Small had hit some crosswinds.

That’s when Small called NBC 7 Responds for help getting off the ground.

We called Lufthansa. A few weeks later Small noticed something when he was checking his credit card account. 

“I got my bill from Chase and Lufthansa had credited the $11,000 back to my account,” Small said. “I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe NBC 7 Responds could do anything about that.”

NBC 7 Responds reached out to Lufthansa. They confirmed the refund was issued and stated that tickets are non-refundable, however, because a change had been made to the flight and because he canceled so shortly after that change, Small was entitled to a refund.

Contact Us