This story is absolutely wild, and it shows an unbelievable level of pettiness on the part of Lufthansa. At the same time, the airline kind of shot itself in the foot, as a judge ruled in favor of the passenger, forcing the airline to change its policy (thanks to Oskiboski for flagging this).
In April 2025, he had booked a ticket from Greece to Saudi Arabia via Germany. According to his version of events, in the middle of the trip, while in Saudi Arabia, a family member became sick in Germany. So he flew from Riyadh (RUH) to Frankfurt (FRA), and the instead of continuing on the ticket to Athens (ATH), he instead booked a separate ticket to get to Dusseldorf (DUS), where his sick family member was located.
On the flight from Saudi Arabia to Frankfurt, a flight attendant supposedly engaged him in small talk (Lufthansa flight attendants will often try to show extra care to HON Circle members), and he mentioned his changed travel plans. She then expressed her shock that he was circumventing Lufthansa’s fare rules… and supposedly reported it to the airline!!
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on One Mile at a Time.
