Free baggage rules at Lufthansa

Make sure you have attached your name and (mobile) telephone number to each piece of baggage (on the inside and outside) before checking it in at the airport. Bag tags and/or stickers for your baggage items are available free of charge at the check-in counter. You are also welcome to use your own bag tags.

You will find the ​bag drop-off deadlines for your respective travel class and airport here.

The data collected by Lufthansa is generally used to fulfil the contract of carriage you have with us. It includes both passenger and baggage data. To ensure the onward transportation of your baggage with other airlines, as well as its timely processing at airports, we pass data on to the airlines and airports concerned. In addition, we support the German Customs authorities in the fulfilment of their legal duties by allowing limited access to selected data.

Your permitted free baggage allowance is shown on your ticket/passenger receipt. It is based upon the travel class and fare you have booked, as well as your passenger status.

(1) = According to IATA rules, the following countries are part of Europe: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark (excl. Greenland), Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway (+ Svalbard & Jan Mayen), Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Republic of Macedonia, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russia (European part – west of the Urals, i.e. Moscow – DME, St Petersburg – LED), San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and Vatican City.

These rules also apply to flights between Baku and Ashgabat.

If you are travelling on an Economy Class Light fare, you have the option of booking one item of baggage, weighing up to 23 kg, per route for a fee. The outbound or return flight each counts as one route, even if a connection is involved. Once payment has been made, the baggage charge cannot be refunded or offset. On flights between Europe and the USA/Canada on the Economy Light fare, a second item of baggage can be added to the booking on payment of a fee of EUR 90/USD 100 via the Lufthansa Service Center or at the Lufthansa service counter at the airport.

​Booking baggage for a fee

* Only valid for tickets issued from September 15, 2020.

If you wish to check in a larger, heavier or additional item of baggage, ​flat rates per additional item of baggage apply to the Economy Class Light fare.

If you are travelling on the Light Fare, you cannot take any sports baggage (e.g. skis, snowboarding equipment, etc.) free of charge as your booked item of baggage or in addition to your booked item of baggage.​Prices for additional sports baggage

Items of baggage weighing more than 32 kg will not be accepted as travel baggage. They can be sent as air freight.

Information on air freight originating in Germany is also available from ​Lufthansa Cargo in Germany.

Information on air freight to and from other destinations can be obtained through the relevant ​local Lufthansa Cargo sales office.

On Lufthansa-operated flights a higher free baggage allowance applies to Frequent Travellers, Senators, HON Circle Members and Star Alliance Gold members, depending on their travel class and fare class.

(3) = As a gesture of goodwill, for the time being HON Circle Members, Senators and Star Alliance Gold members can, however, take one piece of baggage up to 23 kg free of charge. This goodwill gesture applies exclusively at the airport check-in counter. When booking a piece of baggage e.g. online or at a travel agency, a baggage charge applies.

(4) = All routes excluding to/from the USA and Canada.

(5) = According to IATA rules, the following countries are part of Europe (also countries in Asia and Africa): Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark (excl. Greenland), Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway (+ Svalbard & Jan Mayen), Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Republic of Macedonia, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russia (European part – west of the Urals, i.e. Moscow – DME, St Petersburg – LED), San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and Vatican City.

(6) = Frequent Travellers, Senators, HON Circle Members, Star Alliance Gold members and SWISS Golf Traveller members travelling on the Economy Class Light fare on flights within Europe are not entitled to take an additional item of free baggage or a golf bag with them.

• Irrespective of the booked travel class (except for the Economy Light fare), the route and their Miles & More status, babies (0–2 years) are entitled to a free allowance of one item of baggage up to a maximum of 23 kg and 158 cm (width + height + depth).
• Children over 2 years have the same free baggage allowance as adults in each travel class.
• If you are travelling with children aged between 2 and 7, you also have the option of bringing your own ​child restraint system. If a child restraint system is used for a child aged under 2, you must purchase a separate seat for the child.
• Suitable child seats, baby baskets or foldable pushchairs may be brought on board as additional carry-on baggage free of charge. Pushchairs will be labelled accordingly during check-in and transported in the cargo hold. You can take so-called "pocket buggies" on board as part of your permitted carry-on baggage allowance if they have been suitably packed up and no longer look like a pushchair.
• If you wish to take a foldable buggy or pushchair with you as far as the gate, please find out more about it here. ​Flying with a baby  ​Flying with small children

On the Economy Light fare, only the accompanying adult can book one item of ​checked baggage as an extra.
Further items of baggage must be paid for as ​​excess baggage.

For safety reasons certain items are prohibited in checked baggage.

Please familiarise yourself with the ​Conditions for the Carriage of Dangerous Goods.

If you have booked a connecting flight, in most cases your baggage can be checked through to your final destination. That means your baggage will automatically be transported to your destination airport without you having to do anything when connecting to another flight.

Baggage cannot be checked through, if:

• there is a change of airport at the transfer location,
  
• there are operational and local restrictions,
  
• if the customs regulations of the transit country require that you collect your bags yourself from Baggage Reclaim, take them through Customs and then check them in again.
  

Example: passengers entering India/USA/Canada on an intercontinental flight who have booked an onward flight within those countries, are required to collect their bags from Baggage Reclaim during the stopover, take them through Customs and then check them in again at a check-in counter or bag drop-off counter.

Sports baggage that exceeds the free baggage allowance and the weight limit of the respective travel class, but does not exceed the maximum weight of 32 kg, will be charged in accordance with the ​flat rates for sports baggage for ticket purchases on or after 18 April 2018 . If your sports baggage is not listed in the Sports Baggage Rules, the transport of your baggage will be charged in accordance with the ​flat rates for excess baggage.

On certain routes, special free baggage allowances apply to Lufthansa Economy Class passengers. Babies (0–2 years), for whom no separate seat has been booked, are exempt from this regulation.

Please note: on open-jaw flights or multi-stop flights the special free baggage regulations cannot be granted or cannot be granted for all legs of the journey.

Two bags each weighing up to 23 kg are allowed free of charge on the following routes: 

• To/from Japan ⁷
• To/from East-/West-/Central Africa ^{1, 5}
• From Southern Africa ^{5, 8} 
• Between Canada, Mexico, the USA and Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, the UAE, Yemen and Egypt⁷
• Between Canada, Algeria and India⁷
• Journey start in the USA or Canada and destination South Africa and Ethiopia^{8, 14}
• For journey start in Great Britain and destination in Africa⁷
• For journey start in India and destination in the USA or Canada⁸
  
• For journey start in the USA or Canada and destination in India⁹
• For journey start in Ecuador, Colombia or Peru^{10, 13}
  

Two bags each weighing up to 32 kg are allowed free of charge on the following routes:

• For journey start in Brazil^{7, 11, 12}

¹ Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Kinshasa), Cote D'Ivoire, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethopia, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauretania, Niger, Nigeria, Ruanda, Sao Tome, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Samalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, Tanzania, Uganda
⁵ Applicable for the entire journey irrespective of possible stop-over en-route.
⁷ Applies to the whole journey, regardless of stopovers.
⁸ Applies only to routes via Europe. Applies to the whole journey, regardless of stopovers.
⁹ Only applies from Lufthansa destinations in the USA (Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Tampa and Washington (as at: 1 July 2016) and only for routings via Europe. Applies to the whole journey, regardless of stopovers.
¹⁰ Applies to the whole journey regardless of stopovers, but is not applicable to destinations in North or Central America.
¹¹ Applies to flights in Premium Economy Class and Economy Class.
¹² Applies only to tickets issued before 28 February 2019.
¹³ Applies only to tickets issued before 1 June 2019.
¹⁴ Applies only to tickets issued from 1 October 2019 onwards.

In booking a journey with several airlines, the baggage regulations of the airline flying the ​most significant route of the itinerary (usually the geographically longest stretch), and under whose flight number this route was booked, apply. For these purposes it is irrelevant which airline actually operates the flight.

The baggage regulations always apply up to the point at which you interrupt your journey for more than 24 hours (​stopover).

Example: you have booked a round-trip flight from Vienna to Johannesburg with connections in Munich and Frankfurt.

Your outbound flight:
From Vienna to Munich with flight number OS 115 (OS = Austrian Airlines), operated by Austrian Airlines.
Continue without a stopover from Munich to Johannesburg with flight number LH 9542 (LH = Lufthansa), operated by South African Airways.

The baggage regulations for your outbound flight therefore comply with Lufthansa’s baggage regulations.

Your return flight:
From Johannesburg to Frankfurt with flight number SA 7573 (SA = South African Airways), operated by Lufthansa.
Continue without a stopover from Frankfurt to Vienna with flight number OS 7260 (OS = Austrian Airlines), operated by Lufthansa.

The baggage regulations for your return flight therefore comply with South African Airways’ baggage regulations.

The following baggage regulations apply to flights from, to or via the USA/Canada as defined under the consumer protection laws of the US and Canadian authorities (US Department of Transportation and the Canadian Transportation Agency):

• For all legs of a journey to/from or via the USA or Canada, consistent baggage regulations must be adhered to (e.g. free baggage allowance, size/weight of the baggage, carry-on baggage).
• The baggage rules set by the airline which is listed first on the ticket are those that usually apply in these cases. If Lufthansa is listed on the first flight segment of your ticket, Lufthansa’s baggage regulations will apply to your entire journey (outbound and return flight). Rules on carry-on baggage may vary (local laws).
• Exception: airlines listed first on the ticket can transfer the determination of regulations to the "relevant carrier "(Most Significant Carrier rule). Lufthansa therefore cannot guarantee that, for a Lufthansa-issued ticket, the Lufthansa baggage rules will always apply (other airlines often have different baggage rules).
• Details of the free baggage allowance for your specific flight are shown on your ticket and in the email confirmation from Lufthansa.
   

On flights to the USA, locked baggage items may be forcibly opened by the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) for monitoring purposes or if the baggage is deemed suspicious. For this reason, a TSA-approved bag lock is recommended. Further information on TSA procedures is available at ​http://www.tsa.gov.