Lufthansa pilots to strike for 4 days - Star Meltdown in Europe?

Next week should be a mess in Germany and all over Europe for many Star Alliance travelers who are flying the dominant European Star carrier Lufthansa, as the Pilots of LH strike for 4 back-to-back days. Many travelers might not think this will effect them but check your bookings as many UNITED, USAirways and Continental flights within Europe are operated by Lufthansa. LH could be totally shut down for 4 days. Pilots at Lufthansa voted on Wednesday to go on a four-day strike Feb. 22 until Feb. 25 to protest wage deals and potential plans to move jobs to lower-paying subsidiaries, the union said.
The pilots' Vereinigung Cockpit union said the strike is to start Monday at midnight and that more than 90 percent of the members from Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and low cost Germanwings voted in favor of this labor action. Lufthansa has issued advice for passengers on its website. Travelers already booked on flights during the strike period can rebook on another Lufthansa flight at no extra cost, provided their ticket was issued before 18 February. If changing to another Lufthansa flight, the new travel date must be before 31 March. If their flight is cancelled, passengers travelling within Germany can also opt to switch to travel by rail with Deutsche Bahn. Passengers wishing to travel by rail must exchange their electronic ticket for a travel voucher at a Lufthansa automatic check-in terminal. Alternatively, customers can buy a train ticket and then submit it with the flight ticket to Lufthansa for a refund. Now what happens if you cannot change your dates, what will happen to you?? Well this is unclear at this time, LH will not rebook anyone on other carriers until flights are cancelled, at this point that has not happened.. On Friday Feb 19 around midday in Germany Lufthansa will publish a special flight schedule during the strike period online. It is expected for LH to allow for rebooking on other carriers, mostly on the other airlines that Lufthansa owns not effect by this strike like SWISS, BMI, Brussels Airlines and Austrian, followed by other Star Alliance partners. Check Lufthansa.com for updates.