Claim compensation for your Lufthansa delayed flight

How much compensation are you entitled to for your flight delay?

The length of your journey and the duration of the delay you experienced on your Lufthansa flight determine how much compensation your may be entitled to.

If your flight spanned less than 1,500 km, you could claim €250 for your delayed Lufthansa flight. If the flight distance was between 1,500 and 3,500 km, you could be eligible for €400. Finally if your flight was longer than 3,500 km, you could claim up to €600 in flight delay compensation.

When can you claim Lufthansa compensation?

The right to compensation in the event of a flight disruption is established in EU Regulation 261/2004. The rules apply to air passengers who are departing from an EU airport, or from a non-EU airport with an EU airline. Lufthansa is registered in Germany so all of its flights would be subject to the provisions of EC261.

Lufthansa Flight Delay

You would be eligible for compensation if your flight meets the following conditions:

1. You reached the final destination with a delay of over three hours
2. Your delay was not caused by any extraordinary circumstances.

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In order to be eligible for compensation, your flight needs to have arrived at the final stop of your itinerary with an overall delay in excess of three hours. It is important to remember that in some cases this could mean that even if passengers have experienced a severe delay prior to departure, they may not be entitled to compensation from Lufthansa.

Imagine the following example. Your flight’s departure is delayed by 3:15h. However, the flight crew succeeds in making up for some of the delay during the flight. As a result, you arrive at your final destination 2:40h late. According to EU rules, despite your disruption, you would not be entitled to Lufthansa delayed flight compensation.

In this scenario, if the crew is unable to make up for the long delay and your flight arrives 3:15h late, you may be eligible for compensation for your delayed Lufthansa flight.

The other condition for compensation eligibility states that your flight delay should not result from any extraordinary circumstances. Simply put, this means that your delay was not due to reasons outside of Lufthansa’s control and responsibilities.

The most common examples of extraordinary circumstances include bad weather, airport strikes, traffic control regulations and bird strikes.

Because none of these events would be under Lufthansa’s control, the airline would not have the means to prevent any flight delays. This is why the carrier would not be expected to pay delayed flight compensation to its passengers.

Lufthansa Cancelled Flight

If you have experienced a flight cancellation, you could submit a claim for Lufthansa compensation. Your right to a refund in this case is determined by the following criteria:

• You were notified of the cancellation less than two weeks before your flight’s departure

• You arrived at your final destination with a delay of over 4 hours.

• Your cancellation was not due to the presence of any extraordinary circumstances

In most cases, a cancellation of a Lufthansa flight would occur on the same day as the flight itself. In these cases, if the airline does not succeed in taking you to your final destination within 2 hours of the scheduled time of arrival, you could claim compensation for your disruption.

Perhaps the easiest way to find out if you are entitled to a Lufthansa flight compensation is by submitting your flight details into our compensation calculator. The process only takes a minute.

Is My Flight Eligible?

Denied Boarding on a Lufthansa Flight

According to your passenger rights, if you have been denied boarding on a Lufthansa flight, you could be entitled to compensation.

In order to be eligible, it is important that you did not give up your seat voluntarily. This means that in the majority of the cases in which there was overbooking on a Lufthansa service, your passenger rights would allow you to claim compensation.

In addition to your compensation claim you have the option to get a full ticket refund and a return ticket to your original point of departure or to get and alternate flight to your final destination

Lufthansa Missed Connection Compensation

If your itinerary includes connecting flights and you are forced to miss an outbound flight due to a delay or cancellation of a prior flight, you may have the right to missed connection compensation.

The conditions for eligibility for a refund if you missed a Lufthansa connection are nearly the same as with a flight delay:

1. You arrived at your final destination with a delay of over 3 hours.
2. The airline was responsible for your missed Lufthansa connection (i.e. there were no extraordinary circumstances and missing your flight was not your fault).
3. Your flights were booked on the same reservation.

The only difference in eligibility criteria for Lufthansa missed connection compensation is that air passengers need to have their tickets on the same reservation. This guarantees that Lufthansa will be responsible for taking you to your final destination. With individual flights, the airline’s obligation is to help you reach your next intermediate stop.

While all of this may sound a little complicated, there is an easy way to find out if your tickets are on the same booking. If so, all of your tickets will bear the same booking confirmation number and you may be entitled to Lufthansa compensation for a missed connection.

If you have missed your flight, we recommend that you contact a Lufthansa representative as soon as possible. This will increase your chances of boarding the earliest flight to your next stop.

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About Lufthansa

Lufthansa, the largest German airline, was founded in 1953 in Cologne. The company received a permit for domestic and international flights in 1955. The  two most important hubs are located in Frankfurt (FRA) and Munich (MUC), two of the busiest airports in Europe. As one of the largest airlines in the EU, Lufthansa serves more than 60 million passengers each year on one of its 277 aircraft. Lufthansa connects more than 200 destinations on six continents. In March 2019 Lufthansa ordered 40 new airplanes from Boeing and Airbus as part of it’s replacement and expansion program.

Together with its subsidiaries-- Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings and Swiss Air Lines, the Lufthansa Group owns the largest fleet among the European airlines.

The first logo of Lufthansa was an encircled crane in blue and yellow colors, slightly different from the refreshed version introduced in 2018 which replaced the yellow color with white. The company paints the fuselage of its airplanes in white except the brand name “Lufthansa” and the rear fuselage which are painted in dark blue.

Lufthansa Rankings

According to the flight data website FlightStats, nearly 30% of Lufthansa flights experience a delay with an average delay duration of 38 minutes.

Lufthansa has received a 7/10 rating on Skytrax, the leading website for airline rankings. Lufthansa’s high score reflects their overall efforts to provide a comfortable service to their customers as well as a high value for money.

Luggage and Fare Information

Lufthansa offers four different travel classes which determine the amount of luggage you could bring with you to a Lufthansa flight. With Economy Class, you are allowed to bring a cabin bag that weighs up to 8 kg and to check in a bag up to 23 kg. Premium Economy Class offers you to add an additional checked-in bag and with Business Class you can add another piece of cabin luggage on top of that. If you are one of the few passengers who fly First Class, you could take advantage of having two carry-on bags with you onboard and three checked-in bags.