Passenger rights

Dear Passenger,

If you are denied boarding, your flight is cancelled or delayed for at least two hours, or your baggage is lost or damaged, you may be entitled to certain standards of treatment and compensation under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations. For more information about your passenger rights please ​contact us or visit the ​Canadian Transportation Agency’s website which may not meet accessibility guidelines.

We will keep you informed by email or alternatively by text. So that we can do this, please give us your up-to-date email address and mobile phone number before your planned flight. The quickest way is to log in, then save your details under ​My Bookings and "Passenger details".

Alternatively, you also have the following options:

• Every time you book, make sure that you, your travel planner or your travel agency always enter your most up-to-date contact details when making a flight reservation.
• Enter your details only once in your Miles & More customer profile. Please don’t forget to quote your Miles & More card number when booking.
• With the ​Lufthansa app you can receive notifications directly on your smartphone.
• For all other information channels please check ​here.

If you have provided your contact details for your booking during online/mobile check-in and in your Miles & More or Lufthansa iD profile, we will inform you automatically by email or text about your flight status or your rebooking on an alternative flight. If you have checked in via the Lufthansa app, you will also receive the information as a push message.

You will receive all the above messages within 10 to 30 minutes of the flight disruption occurring. Up to 90% of passengers on a cancelled flight or whose connection has been delayed will be rebooked within an hour.

We will endeavour to find the best alternative possible, and rebook your flight. We will first attempt to rebook you on a new Lufthansa Group member flight that departs within 9 hours of your original departure.  If that is not possible, we will rebook you on any available airline that will get you to your destination within 48 hours of your original departure time.  Another alternative will be to provide transportation to, and a ticket to your final destination from, an alternate airport that is nearby.

Nevertheless, if you are not happy with your new flight connection, you also have the option of searching for an alternative flight yourself:

• via ​My bookings
• via ​the Lufthansa app
• via our chatbot at lufthansa.com with the request “Check my booking"
  
  You can find our ​chatbot at lufthansa.com here
  
  You can find ​further information about the chatbot here
• at our Lufthansa service counters - ​Lufthansa service counters Frankfurt or ​Lufthansa service counters Munich

When your flight is expected to be significantly delayed, you have the right to receive care from the airline.

This includes: meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the waiting time, hotel accommodation including transport costs both ways in the event an overnight stay is a result of the delay/cancellation, and the opportunity to make two brief telephone calls or to send two faxes or e-mails. The airline is not required to provide this care if you are responsible for a further delay of your departing flight. In the case of delays of more than five hours, you have the right to have the cost of your ticket refunded within seven days in the amount of the travel not completed or in the amount of the travel already completed if the purpose of the travel was not accomplished due to the delay, and, if applicable, to a return flight to the point of first departure at the earliest opportunity.

You have the right to compensation if your arrival at the destination airport is delayed by more than three hours and the delay cannot be attributed to extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided by taking all reasonable measures; such circumstances include, for example, poor weather conditions, political instability, strikes, security risks, and unexpected deficiencies in flight safety.

If a flight is delayed on the tarmac after the doors of the aircraft are closed for take-off or after the flight has landed, the carrier must provide passengers with the following, free of charge:

• if the aircraft is equipped with lavatories, access to those lavatories in working order;
• proper ventilation and cooling or heating of the aircraft;
• if it is feasible to communicate with people outside of the aircraft, the means to do so; and
• food and drink, in reasonable quantities, taking into account the length of the delay, the time of day and the location of the airport.

For more information on the tarmac delay contingency plan please click ​here.

If a flight is delayed on the tarmac at an airport in Canada, the carrier must provide an opportunity for passengers to disembark

• three hours after the aircraft doors have been closed for take-off; and
• three hours after the flight has landed, or at any earlier time if it is feasible.

If, in the event of overbooking, you are involuntarily denied boarding on a flight you have booked, you have the right to care from the airline as described above. In addition, you shall be offered re-routing to the final destination of your booked flight. This re-routing shall take place at the earliest opportunity and under comparable conditions.

Subject to available seating, you may, instead, travel to your final destination at a later date/time of your choosing, in which case the costs of meals/refreshments, hotel, and transport between the hotel and airport shall be borne by you.

If you are involuntarily or voluntarily denied boarding, you have the right to an alternative flight or to reimbursement and compensation, which can also be provided by cheque or bank transfer or, with your consent, in the form of a gift card. The amount of this payment depends on the distance of the planned route and on the re-routing that has been offered to you.

In the rare situation where there are not enough volunteers, we may deny boarding to other passengers and give boarding priority to:

• unaccompanied minors
• passengers with a disability and their support person, service animal or emotional support animal, if any
• passengers travelling with family members; and 
• passengers who were previously denied boarding on the same ticket, provided the carrier is informed

If, due to a situation within Lufthansa’s or required for safety purposes, you're denied boarding, we'll provide you with the following before you board your next flight booked as part of your alternate travel arrangements, unless this would further delay you:

• Food and drink in reasonable quantities, considering the length of the wait, the time of day and location
• Access to a means of communication; and
• Hotel or comparable accommodations, with transportation to/from, within reasonable distance from airport for overnight delays for out-of-town passengers, subject to availability. 

If you’re a passenger who is denied boarding because of a situation within our control, you’ll be entitled to receive denied boarding compensation, unless:

• You haven’t fully complied with ticketing and check-in requirements, or you do not satisfy the conditions for transportation under Lufthansa’s tariff and ​general conditions of carriage. 
• You’re offered transportation on another seat on the same flight as the one specified on your ticket, at no extra charge.

Denied boarding compensation is calculated based on your arrival time at destination and is 900 CAD (if delayed by less than 6 hours), 1,800 CAD (if delayed between 6 and 9 hours), and 2,400 CAD (if delayed by 9 hours and more). Please note that you are not entitled to received delay or cancellation compensation if you have already been paid denied boarding compensation.

For delays or cancellations within our control, in addition to the standards of treatment and information provisions listed above, if Lufthansa did not advise you of the delay or cancellation at least 14 days prior to departure, you may be owed compensation as follows:

• 400 CAD, if the arrival of the passenger’s flight at the destination that is indicated on the original ticket is delayed by three hours or more, but less than six hours,
• 700 CAD, if the arrival of the passenger’s flight at the destination that is indicated on the original ticket is delayed by six hours or more, but less than nine hours, or
• 1,000 CAD, if the arrival of the passenger’s flight at the destination that is indicated on the original ticket is delayed by nine hours or more; 

Note that the above standards of treatment do not apply when there is a delay or cancellation due to situations outside of Lufthansa’s control. 

Certain events, such as adverse weather conditions, technical problems in the baggage handling areas or a bag tag becoming detached, can sometimes lead to baggage items being damaged or not arriving at the destination airport at the same time as their owners.

If your baggage appears to be lost, please keep all your flight documents, especially your boarding pass and the baggage claim tag. Please wait until all the baggage has been delivered at baggage reclaim. This can take up to one hour and, in rare cases, even longer. If one or more of your baggage items still cannot be found, please report this immediately so that an official report can be made. A bag will not be deemed a total loss until it has been missing for 21 days or more.

You can report your loss as follows:

• at the Lufthansa baggage tracing desk at the airport or
  
• ​​online

You will then be given written confirmation as well as a reference number (PIR number, e.g. FRALH12345). It is essential that you keep this.

We are always very sorry when this happens and take all the necessary steps to get your baggage back to you as soon as possible or to compensate you for any damage your baggage item may have suffered.

• If your baggage is delayed, damaged or lost, Lufthansa will refund the fees you paid to check it in.
• A carrier's liability towards you is limited in respect to destruction, loss, delay, or damage to baggage, to 1,288 Special Drawing Rights per passenger. This limit applies to most international itineraries with Lufthansa.

You'll be reimbursed for reasonable interim out-of-pocket expenses upon submission of receipts. Claims must be submitted no later than 21 days from the date your baggage was placed at your disposal. More information can be found ​here under section "Compensation claims, liability and insurance".

We greatly regret damage to your baggage during transport. Please be assured that we take all necessary measures to prevent damage. Please report damaged baggage immediately to the local Lufthansa baggage tracing desk or the local Lufthansa representative.

If one or more of your baggage items are damaged on arrival, please report this immediately so that an official report can be made. You will then be given written confirmation as well as a reference number (PIR number, e.g. FRALH12345). It is essential that you keep this.

You can report the damage as follows:

• at the Lufthansa baggage tracing desk at the airport or
  
• at the Lufthansa service counter at the airport

In the event that you don’t notice the damage until you have arrived home or at your hotel, you must report it in writing within the legally stipulated period of seven days after your flight. You must also provide proof that the damage was caused while your baggage was under the care of the airline concerned. Once we have received your complete damage report, you will be given confirmation in writing with a reference number.

• ​Report damage online now

If your flight has been cancelled or significantly delayed or if you have been denied boarding on a flight for which you have a confirmed reservation, you are entitled to the rights defined in Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, which entered into force on 17/02/2005. The airline on whose flight the disruption occurs is responsible for granting your rights.

The Regulation shall apply

• to passengers whose scheduled flight leaves from an EU Member State or passengers whose scheduled flight is with an EU airline and leaves from a third country to arrive in an EU country, provided that the passengers have not received any compensation or financial support in this third country,
  
• only on the condition that you have a confirmed reservation on the flight concerned
  
• only (except in the case of a cancelled flight) on the condition that you present yourself for check-in at the specified time or, if no time has been specified, no later than 45 minutes before the published departure time,
  
• only on the condition that you are travelling at a fare that is available to the public.

According to Regulation (EC) 261/2004, a delay is deemed to have occurred when the scheduled departure time is delayed by at least four hours in the case of flights of more than 3,500 km, by at least three hours in the case of flights of between 1,500 and 3,500 km and flights of more than 1.500 km within the EU, and by two hours in the case of flights of up to 1,500 km. When your flight is expected to be significantly delayed, you have the right to receive care from the airline.

This includes: meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the waiting time, possibly hotel accommodation including transport costs, and the opportunity to make two brief telephone calls or to send two faxes or e-mails. The airline is not required to provide this care if you are responsible for a further delay of your departing flight. In the case of delays of more than five hours, you have the right to have the cost of your ticket refunded within seven days in the amount of the travel not completed or in the amount of the travel already completed if the purpose of the travel was not accomplished due to the delay, and, if applicable, to a return flight to the point of first departure at the earliest opportunity.

You have the right to compensation if your arrival at the destination airport is delayed by more than three hours and the delay cannot be attributed to extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided by taking all reasonable measures; such circumstances include, for example, poor weather conditions, political instability, strikes, security risks, and unexpected deficiencies in flight safety.

If, in the event of overbooking, you are involuntarily denied boarding on a flight you have booked, you have the right to care from the airline as described above under "Delays". In addition, you shall be offered re-routing to the final destination of your booked flight. This re-routing shall take place at the earliest opportunity and under comparable conditions.

Subject to available seating, you may, instead, travel to your final destination at a later date/time of your choosing, in which case the costs of meals/refreshments, hotel, and transport between the hotel and airport shall be borne by you.

If you are involuntarily or voluntarily denied boarding, you have the right to an alternative flight or to reimbursement and compensation, which can also be provided by cheque or bank transfer or, with your consent, in the form of a gift card. The amount of this payment depends on the distance of the planned route and on the re-routing that has been offered to you: In the case of flight distances

• of up to 1,500 km, the compensation is €250,
  
• between 1,500 and 3,500 km and for flights of more than 1,500 km within Europe, the compensation is €400
  
• of more than 3,500 km, the compensation is €600.

The distance is calculated based on the last destination at which the passenger arrives later than the planned arrival time as a result of being denied boarding or the flight being cancelled.

If you are offered an alternative flight and the arrival time is not later than two hours after the planned arrival time of the originally booked flight for flights of up to 1,500 km, not more than three hours after the planned arrival time for flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km, and not more than four hours after the planned arrival time for flights of more than 3,500 km, the compensation shall only be 50% of the above-mentioned payment amounts, i.e. €125, €200, or €300.
You are not entitled to the compensation described above if you are justifiably denied boarding through your own fault, for health or safety-related reasons, or due to missing or insufficient travel documents.

If the flight for which you have a confirmed reservation is cancelled, you have the same rights to re-routing, care, reimbursement, and compensation as described above.

However, you are not entitled to compensation as per the EU Regulation if the incident can be attributed to extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided by taking all reasonable measures. Such circumstances include, for instance, poor weather conditions, political instability, strikes, security risks, and unexpected deficiencies in flight safety.

Likewise, you are not entitled to compensation if

• you are informed of the cancellation at least 14 days before departure
  
• you are informed of the cancellation between 14 days and 7 days before departure and your departing flight leaves no more than two hours before the original departure time and/or you arrive no more than four hours after the planned arrival time
  
• you are informed of the cancellation less than seven days before departure and your departing flight leaves no more than one hour before the original departure time and/or you arrive no more than two hours after the planned arrival time.

If you are downgraded to a lower class, you have the right to receive compensation within seven days. The amount of this payment depends on the planned route and the ticket price paid per segment; in the case of flight distances

• of up to 1,500 km, the compensation is 30% of the ticket price paid per segment
• between 1,500 and 3,500 km and for flights of more than 1,500 km within Europe, the compensation is 50% of the ticket price paid per segment
• of more than 3,500 km, the compensation is 75% of the ticket price paid per segment.

If you believe that you can raise a justified claim against Lufthansa based on the aforementioned conditions, please refer to: ​Lufthansa Feedback or


Postal addresses: ​Global addresses


A list of the relevant authorities responsible for ensuring the legal rights of passengers can be found under the following web link:
​http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/index_de.htm

If your journey is of a private nature, then, in the case of flight disputes, you have the right to contact the ‘Schlichtungsstelle für den öffentlichen Personenverkehr e.V.’ (SÖP), Germany’s independent arbitration board for public passenger transport that oversees all carriers.

You may do so if you have concerns relating to

• denied boarding, long delays, or the cancellation of flights;
• the destruction, damage, loss, or delayed transportation of baggage, or
• breaches of duty in the transportation of disabled passengers or passengers with reduced mobility, or
• breaches of duty in the conclusion of carriage contracts,

provided that

• you have already contacted Lufthansa about your concerns and have not received a reply within two months or
• you are dissatisfied with the way your concern has been handled or disagree with how your claim has been processed by Lufthansa.
• your concern is not already pending before a court or at one point was pending before a court or has been settled.
• your trip is a private trip.

​https://soep-online.de

​https://soep-online.de/beschwerdeformular_flug.html


The European Commission also provides a platform for Online Dispute Resolution (ODR).
The platform can be found under ​http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/