Flight disruptions – Q&As

On our page about your passenger rights, you can find all the legal information available to you in the case of various flight disruptions: validity, delays, overbooking, cancellation, downgrading, arbitration board.

If you need confirmation of a flight disruption for your employer or travel insurance company, please ring the Lufthansa Service Center.

If you are prepared to wait a little longer at the airport, you are, of course, also welcome to contact one of our service counters. You can find a location map on the Frankfurt Airport website.

At Munich Airport, you can find service counters at Gates G, K, H and L, and in the Departures Hall. You can find a location map on the Munich Airport website.

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. 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 
Lufthansa service counters Munich

Train

If your German domestic flight has been cancelled, you also have the option of converting your airline ticket into a Deutsche Bahn rail voucher yourself. To do this, you can use the following options:

• under My bookings
• via the Lufthansa app
• at an airport check-in machine
• at the Lufthansa service counters at the airport

You can find Deutsche Bahn timetables here. Both the long-distance train station and the regional train station are located adjacent to Frankfurt Airport and so offer an ideal alternative. You can find the route to Munich Central Station here.

After receiving your rail voucher, you can catch a Deutsche Bahn train immediately.

Coach

In Frankfurt and Munich, you have the option of reaching your destination by coach. This is particularly useful for destinations that are not far away. The following bus companies are available: Flixbus, Bohr, DB Fernverkehr.

Here you can find timetables and destinations of the individual bus lines, and a map of the bus stops at Frankfurt Airport. You can find timetables and destinations relating to Munich Airport here.

You can claim a refund on the transport costs you have paid for yourself using our feedback form. If the costs of alternative transport are refunded, the purchase price of the unused part of the route will not also be refunded.

Rental cars

Lufthansa does not meet the costs of hiring rental cars. However, we will of course refund the costs of the unused part of your ticket, so you can rent a car yourself as an alternative.

If you have been provided with train or bus transport, baggage on cancelled German domestic flights is unloaded at Frankfurt Airport in Baggage Hall A, where it can be reclaimed.

If you are changing to alternative car, bus or train transport at Munich Airport, your baggage will be delivered on Carousel 10, from where you must reclaim it. To do this, please contact one of our Service Centers or the Baggage Tracing desk opposite Carousel 8.

Baggage belonging to passengers who are rebooked onto a new flight will be transferred automatically onto the new flight.

If it is not possible to rebook you onto a same-day flight, and you are spending the night in a hotel, we will also take care of your baggage. If you insist upon having your baggage unloaded, this can take several hours in such a situation. Please remember that thousands of items of baggage pile up quickly and it takes a great deal of time to unload one item separately.

We will provide you with an overnight kit with essential toiletries (such as T-shirt, toothbrush and shower gel). We will hand this to you at Frankfurt Airport at the Baggage Tracing desk in Hall A, Level 1. At Munich Airport, you can get overnight kits at the Baggage Tracing desk opposite baggage carousel 8.

Please note: If you have left the security area, access to Baggage Tracing at Frankfurt Airport is possible by ringing the bell at the official entrances. At Munich Airport, you can receive an entry pass at the check-in counter for unaccompanied children/passengers with reduced mobility.

If your baggage appears to be delayed, 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. If one or more of your baggage items still cannot be found, please report this immediately so that an official report can be made.
You can report your loss in the following ways:

• ​online
• via the Lufthansa app >Baggage> Baggage receipts
• at the Lufthansa Baggage Tracing desk at Frankfurt Airport in Hall A, Level 1
  
• at the Lufthansa Baggage Tracing desk at Munich Airport opposite baggage carousel 8
  

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 search for your baggage using an international baggage tracing system, WorldTracer, to which several hundred airlines are connected. Using your reference number, you can find out how the tracing process is progressing and update your details. Most importantly, if the delivery address or your contact details are incorrect or if they have changed, please amend them here.

If you are unable to get the information you require or cannot amend your details using the link provided, you will find a contact telephone number on your missing baggage report’s written confirmation receipt.

It sometimes happens – in rare cases – that an item of baggage cannot be found within five days. In this case too, Lufthansa will contact you by phone and ask you to make a list of the contents of your delayed item of baggage. We will use this list of contents to carry out an intensive search for the contents of your baggage. This search for baggage contents enables us to match most items of delayed baggage with their respective owners. For this reason, please make your list of contents as detailed as possible, providing all the information about your baggage that you can think of, but not until five days have elapsed.

We are very sorry that your baggage has been damaged in transit. Please be assured that we take all necessary measures to prevent damage.

Please report damaged baggage immediately at the Lufthansa Baggage Tracing desk at Frankfurt Airport in Hall A, Level 1. At Munich Airport, please report to the Lufthansa Baggage Tracing desk opposite baggage carousel 8.

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

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

Please note: If you have left the security area, access to Baggage Tracing in the Baggage Reclaim area is possible by ringing the bell at the official entrances. These entrances can be found in Halls A, B and C in the public Arrivals area, Level 1.

To obtain a refund of a ticket bought directly from Lufthansa online or by telephone, you have two options:

• You can use our online service: go to My bookings > Change booking > Refund this flight. You can apply for a refund online up to one day before departure.
• If an online refund request is no longer possible, you are welcome to ring our Lufthansa Service Center.

For tickets purchased from a travel service provider or another airline, please contact the respective company directly for the refund.

In principle, the refund is made in the same way as you paid for your ticket. For example, if you paid for your ticket by credit card, the refund will be made to this credit card.

75% of online refunds are processed within two to three days. In individual cases, online refunds which cannot be automatically calculated may be delayed because of the length of time manual processing takes us, as well as final settlement by your bank. We assure you that we will deal with your request for a refund as quickly as possible.

Please note that you can only cancel the complete booking online. If only some passengers wish to cancel their tickets, please ring our Lufthansa Service Center.

Compensation claims depend on a series of factors (delays, flight cancellations, denied boarding) which must be assessed. For this reason, we cannot provide a general answer to this question. If you think you are entitled to compensation, please contact our Customer Relations Team using the following link. Please select the category “Flight disruptions”.

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

If your flight is delayed by more than two hours, or you have been rebooked on an alternative flight which has resulted in a longer wait at the airport, at the Lufthansa Group service counters we will give you a meal voucher that you can redeem at any restaurant in the airport. The value of the voucher depends on the length of the wait and your travel class.

At the following airports you do not need to claim a meal voucher, as your boarding pass will be loaded with the value of a meal voucher: Frankfurt, Amsterdam Schiphol, Barcelona, Vienna, Bilbao, Valencia,  Málaga and Alicante. If you have entered your contact details in your profile or at the time of booking, you will receive an email or text with a list of affiliated restaurants that will accept your boarding pass with meal voucher.

If your departure does not take place on the day originally envisaged, we will pay for overnight accommodation in a hotel, transport to and from the hotel and your meals, in accordance with EU Directive 261/2004. You can collect hotel vouchers at the Lufthansa service counters.

Alternatively, you are welcome to organise hotel accommodation yourself. Lufthansa will meet the cost of a room in a 3-star hotel. If you pay for the hotel yourself, please send us your hotel, transport and catering receipts along with your boarding pass and your bank details (IBAN and BIC) using the feedback form. Please choose the category “Flight disruption”.

The outstanding infrastructure of the Rhein/Main area means that you can reach central Frankfurt quickly and easily using various means of transport:

Rhein/Main Regional Transport Association (RMV)

The RMV is an association of regional public transport operators in the Rhein/Main area. It provides bus and train services.

Deutsche Bahn AG

Deutsche Bahn’s transport network covers the whole of Germany and so offers a wide variety of travel options to different destinations. You can find directions to the platforms here.

Car sharing

Car sharing is another alternative. Car-sharing spaces can only be found in Terminal 1, in car park P29.

Taxi ranks

You can find taxi ranks centrally located in front of each terminal. You can reach central Frankfurt by taxi within a very short space of time.

The airport’s outstanding infrastructure means that you can reach Munich city centre quickly and easily using various means of transport:

Lufthansa Express Bus

Our Lufthansa Express buses can take you to Munich conveniently and directly. You can choose from several different destinations within Munich. You can find information here.

Public transport

Both the MVV (Munich Transport Association) and Deutsche Bahn provide transport links to Munich city centre. You can take the convenient S-Bahn (urban rail) lines S1 and S8.

Car sharing

Car sharing is another alternative. Car-sharing spaces can be found on Level 1 in car park P20.

Taxi ranks

You can find taxi ranks centrally located in front of each terminal. It is a very quick journey to central Munich by taxi.