Lufthansa Settlement (Finally) Paying Travelers for Canceled Covid Flights

Lufthansa customers sued the international airline because they said they weren’t properly refunded — or refunded at all — when their flights were canceled due to Covid-19. Lufthansa hasn’t admitted to any wrongdoing, but they’ve reached a settlement in the case, awarding up to $3.5 million to customers to put the matter to rest.

So, are you owed some money as a Lufthansa customers? How much can you get? When — and how — will you get paid? We’ll tell you everything we know about the Lufthansa settlement, the latest in an ever-growing list of class action settlements you can apply for.

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You qualify for the Lufthansa settlement if you had a flight canceled in 2020 or the first half of 2021.

According to the settlement website, the Lufthansa payout impacts United States residents who purchased tickets for travel on a Lufthansa flight scheduled to operate to or from the U.S. between Jan. 1, 2020, and Aug. 16, 2021 — and whose flights were canceled by Lufthansa.

But Lufthansa is nowhere NEAR the only airline that had to pay up due to their flight cancellation policy. Here’s what the government did to make sure you get a refund for canceled flights.

 

If you’ve already received a refund for your canceled flight, you get $10 cash or $45 airline credit.

Settlement class members who have already received a refund from Lufthansa for their canceled flight and have submitted a Claim Form will have the option to elect either a cash payout of $10 or a $45 voucher for future travel with Lufthansa, Swiss International Airlines, Austrian Airlines, or Brussels Airlines.

 

If you haven’t received a refund yet, you’ll get your refund plus an extra 1%.

For example, if you haven’t been refunded for your $1,200 flight that was canceled during the qualifying period, you’ll receive all $1,200 back, plus an extra $12 (if you file your claim, of course). It’s not as good as the payout for folks that have already got their refunds, but hey it’s something.

 

 

File a claim by May 9, 2023, to qualify for a Lufthansa settlement payment.

The deadline to submit a valid Claim Form is May 9, 2023. To submit a form, visit the settlement website. Don’t worry about the login it asks for; if you have a postcard with that information, you’ll enter it there. Otherwise, click the link that says you didn’t receive a postcard.

You’ll then provide basic personal information such as your name, address, and contact details, as well as evidence of entitlement to a refund if you have not yet received one.

If you haven’t received a refund from Lufthansa to date, you will need to list each qualifying Ticket Reservation Number that was affected by the cancellations.

The Settlement Administrator may request additional documentation if needed to evaluate a Claim Form.

 

There’s no timeline (yet) for Lufthansa settlement payouts.

The settlement’s final court approval hearing hasn’t been scheduled yet, so it’s unclear exactly how soon these Lufthansa payments will be distributed. But judging by the early May claims deadline, you can expect the hearing to happen sometime in the summer or early fall, with payments to start going out shortly thereafter.

Want to know how class action lawsuits work? We did too, so we wrote down everything we learned.