What fee does Lufthansa charge for taking a later flight due to missing the check-in deadline?
Next month I will be transferring through Frankfurt airport on separate tickets and there's a small chance I will miss the check-in deadline. In that scenario, what penalty would Lufthansa charge me to take a later flight? There are 5 flights per day to my destination and almost all of them have a free seat, so I'm not worried about availability.
I have purchased the cheapest possible fare category, if that matters.
Best Answer
How they will behave in this situation will depend on the following criteria :
- are you a loyal customer to them? If you have a status with Miles&More, it will help you.
- what is the reason for not making it in time? If this is because the transit time was too short to allow it to happen under normal circumstances, then they will potentially take it as a no show and cancel your ticket. So you'll have to buy a new one. If this is because your inbound flight was delayed due the carrier fault, they might be a bit more helpful, even if you are flying with another carrier.
- what is your ticket fare? If you have bought a flex fare. Then you'll have less problems. I see that you have bought the cheapest one so it is probably not flexible at all. So this won't help you in this situation.
So to summarize, worse case, you'll have to buy a new ticket and best case, you'll make your connection without any issue. Intermediate situations : Lufthansa will reschedule you on another flight for a fee or for free.
I'd suggest you to let them know in advance. This could help...
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Do you get charged a fee for missing a flight?
Can I get charged for missing a flight? Most airlines only charge a fee for missing a flight if the passenger seems to have a habit of doing it purposely, commonly known as skiplagging, in which a passenger books a ticket with no intention of taking the secondary legs of a trip in order to secure a cheaper fare.What happens if you miss connecting flight due to delay Lufthansa?
And your luggage will be sent right through to your destination. If you miss your next flight because the first (or the previous) flight is cancelled or delayed, Lufthansa will transfer you to the next available flight free of charge.Is there a grace period for flights?
It's a customer service standard set by the Department of Transportation that says airlines must let travelers hold a reservation at the quoted fare for 24 hours without payment, or allow a purchased reservation to be canceled within 24 hours without penalty and with a full refund to the original form of payment.Do airlines get fined for being late?
When a flight is delayed, the FAA allocates slots for takeoffs and landings based on which flight is scheduled first. The Transportation Department imposes a fine of up to $27,500 per passenger for planes left on the tarmac for more than three hours without taking off (four hours for international flights).How to – Online Check-in | Lufthansa
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Answer 2
Lufthansa tickets in the cheapest fare category cannot be changed, so if you miss your flight, your ticket (also any further flights on the same ticket, if applicable) will be cancelled and you have to buy a new ticket.
You can of course hope, as the other answers are trying to suggest, that a fortune fairy will show up and fix everything for you, but having had some experience with Lufthansa's flexibility and goodwill (or lack thereof), I would not expect anything beyond what your ticket is actually good for.
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