Lufthansa’s speedy payment

My wife, Judy, and I flew on Lufthansa from Detroit to Budapest via Frankfurt on Aug. 28, 2010. When we picked up our luggage in Budapest, Hungary, one of our suitcases had been damaged. A wheel was missing and the bag had been ripped.

We immediately went to the Lufthansa service desk, just a few feet from the baggage-claim area.

The desk clerk spoke enough English for us to communicate. I told her my problem. She looked at the damage and asked the value of the suitcase. I told her that we had paid about $75 for it. She immediately started filling out a form, then asked me to fill in my name and mailing address.

When this was completed, she approved our payment for damages and instructed us to go across the lobby to the exchange window to be reimbursed.

So, within 30 minutes of the time our plane landed, we had filed a damage claim and been paid. Plus we were paid in Hungarian forints, which gave us cash on hand to get to our hotel, where we used an ATM to retrieve more funds.

This was a level of service that we had never experienced before. We were most pleased with the service from Lufthansa.

DOUG BARNETT

Siesta Key, FL