Best job perk ever? Spread your wings and fly around the world

In the midst of the current travel chaos, people are spending more and more time on helplines seeking assistance from various booking or customer service agents. With the demand for such services on the rise, German air carrier Lufthansa is currently reporting that it has a number of roles to fill in its Czech-based customer-service center.

"The need for Air Travel Consultants is at an all-time high. During the Covid crisis, we were flooded with requests but the company is still recruiting more employees than before. The amount of calls is approximately 80 percent higher than before the pandemic,” said a spokesperson for the company.

Looking for a career change? Lufthansa’s customer-service division, InTouch Brno, presents a great opportunity for anyone who loves a good challenge, excels at problem-solving, and is attracted to a profession that is all about helping people. It also comes with one amazing job perk: the opportunity to see the world at a nice price -- employees pay 10 percent of the normal price for airfare.

So what’s required to work in the travel industry and how can you take advantage of the extraordinary benefits such a position offers? We asked the team at InTouch Brno to break it down for us.

Tell us a bit in general about Lufthansa and your activities in the Czech Republic.

Lufthansa Group with its subsidiaries Lufthansa, Swiss International Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings, is the largest airline in Europe. While Lufthansa’s primary hub is the Frankfurt International Airport, the airline serves 18 domestic destinations and 218 international destinations in 78 countries on 6 continents. It has operated out of the Czech Republic since 1966 when it commenced service with two flights a week to Prague.

What is the overall function of your customer service center in Brno?

Our more than 300 employees from more than 30 countries in Brno service all of the Lufthansa Group airlines, including Lufthansa, SWISS International Airlines, and Austrian Airlines Employees. They comprise part of a global team of 2,000 highly skilled Customer Service Consultants who assist Lufthansa Group customers in more than 30 languages.

Walk us through a day in the life of someone who works in customer care.

Primary roles include fielding incoming phone calls, rebooking canceled flights, or helping people obtain refunds. A lot of our incoming phone calls are from people who need to rebook their flights – they contact us to search for new data for travel or want their money back. 

We also handle non-call tasks, such as customer feedback management over email, and dealing with invoices related to buying tickets over the phone, booking travel with pets, meal services, booking a seat and taking payment, changing flights, or rebooking for certain markets.

What sorts of languages and skills do you need to work in your customer-care division?

While previous professional experience is an advantage no previous experience in the travel industry is required as training is provided. In Brno, we’re always looking for Air Travel Consultants who speak Polish, Italian, German, Russian/Ukrainian, Hungarian, Greek, Bulgarian, Romanian, Hebrew and Czech, Croatian or Serbian, and French in combination with fluent English, which is the official language of the company.

What are some of the positions and languages you are currently hiring for?

In Brno, we’re currently hiring Air Travel Consultants who speak Polish, Italian, German, Russian/Ukrainian, Hungarian, Greek, Bulgarian, Romanian, Hebrew, Czech, Croatian, or Serbian, in combination with fluent English.

What are some basic benefits of working with you?

We offer some amazing benefits for our employees, including flight privileges and discounts, professional in-house training with a tailored approach to developing your professional skills, a transparent and fair salary structure with clear salary progress, and stability and security with an unlimited contract. 

We also provide extensive visa support and a relocation package that covers accommodation and travel costs, as well as lunch vouchers, cafeteria, and above-standard vacation days.

About those flight privileges: How soon can employees fly the friendly skies?

Once you’re working with us, if you would like to travel to a different country, meet new colleagues, work at a different Lufthansa InTouch center, or experience a different culture, we have an exchange program called On the Move that offers all this and more.

As soon as you join us, you can start browsing your dream destinations and packing your bags, because in 6 months you will get access to a special booking system. You and your “travel partners” will get access to flights on nearly 50 different airlines with a discount of up to 90 percent off the original fare.

What about those looking for work-at-home positions?

In July 2015 we launched a “Home-Based Agent” concept that lets Customer Service Consultants assist passengers from home. What started as a groundbreaking enterprise has now developed into a highly specialized team handling a variety of services to customers.

Currently, we’re hiring German-language Air Travel Consultants for our Brno office. Applicants can be based anywhere in the Czech Republic. Consultants will assist Lufthansa’s Group customers over the phone to help them in regard to flight reservations, cancelations, or online check-in. For home-based workers employees, we provide all the necessary hardware so you simply log in and start working.

Your agents must handle a number of unusual situations. What are some of the strangest requests you’ve ever received?

We had one woman call customer support to ask if we could fly her rabbit! The only animals we transport are dogs and cats. But she asked, in all seriousness, if she could take the rabbit on board and said “Come on but my rabbit looks exactly like a cat, no one can tell the difference.”

How do you offer multinationals in Czechia a perfect opportunity to “lift off” their career in the Czech Republic?

Our people are our biggest asset. Our team members learn new things every day through ongoing training, to develop their skills and impress our customers. We also offer international career development opportunities – putting employees in charge of their career development paths. We also welcome career starters and those making lateral career moves.