COLOGNE- Lufthansa (LH) demanded €414 from an HON Circle passenger after a crew member reported him for skipping a segment. A German court ruled the airline cannot penalize post-booking changes due to unforeseen events, forcing a policy update.
The passenger booked a ticket from Greece to Saudi Arabia via Germany but rerouted from Riyadh (RUH) to Düsseldorf (DUS) via Frankfurt (FRA) for a family emergency, skipping Athens (ATH).
According to OMAAT, the case exposed crew pettiness and led to a landmark decision.
Lufthansa Faces Defeat Against HON Circle Member
A German lawyer defended a Lufthansa HON Circle member, which requires massive flying to achieve. In April 2025, the passenger booked a ticket from Greece to Saudi Arabia via Germany.
According to his version of events, in the middle of the trip, while in Saudi Arabia, a family member became sick in Germany.
He flew from Riyadh (RUH) to Frankfurt (FRA). Instead of continuing to Athens (ATH), he bought a separate ticket to Düsseldorf (DUS).
Lufthansa flight attendants often show extra care to HON Circle members. During small talk on the RUH-FRA flight, he mentioned his changed plans. The attendant expressed shock that he was circumventing fare rules and reported it to the airline.
Over a week later, Lufthansa’s revenue integrity department demanded €414. The original ticket cost €551, but the flight segments would cost €965. The airline gave two weeks to pay.
The passenger hired a lawyer, who filed a declaratory judgment action. The lawyer was delighted to take the case to set a precedent. Lufthansa responded by naming the flight attendant as a witness.
The airline claimed the passenger told her he wasn’t planning to connect to Athens because he paid so little by booking this way. Lufthansa said this violated the contract of carriage and quoted old case law.
German Court Delivers Major Blow
The hearing was set for November 24, 2025. Four days prior, Lufthansa (LH) tried to withdraw its objection. Germany’s Bundesgerichtshof still ruled on the matter with two primary conclusions:
“The imposition of a payment obligation for passengers who, at the time of concluding the contract, intended to use the full service and have changed their plans due to subsequently discovered circumstances, is not justified by the legitimate interests of the defendant.”
“The legitimate interest in adapting to the respective market requirements and being able to demand the best price achievable on the market is sufficiently taken into account if a passenger who wishes to use a specific service concludes a contract at the price stipulated for that service.
Circumstances that only come to light after the conclusion of the contract and lead to the passenger changing their plans have no influence on the decision to conclude the contract and therefore do not pose a significant threat to the continued existence of the special pricing structure.”
The court ruled passengers can skip segments without penalty if they intended full use at booking and changed plans later due to new circumstances.
Lufthansa Updates Contract Terms
Lufthansa revised Section 3.3.4 of its contract of carriage, applying only to residents of Germany and Austria:
If you have chosen a fare that requires observance of a fixed ticket sequence, please note that if carriage is not used on all individual legs or not used in the sequence specified on the ticket, with otherwise unchanged travel data, we will recalculate the airfare in accordance with your amended routing.
This does not apply if your travel plans simply change or if you are prevented, due to force majeure, illness or for another reason for which you are not responsible, from commencing carriage on all legs, or on individual legs in the order indicated on the flight ticket.
Whenever possible, kindly notify us of the reasons for such changes as soon as you become aware of them.
The update exempts genuine post-booking changes. It does not apply to residents of other countries.
Challenges in Proving Intent
Airlines struggle to prove throwaway ticketing intent at booking. All kinds of life circumstances can arise after purchase. This ruling limits enforcement in Germany unless premeditation is clear.
Lufthansa shot itself in the foot. Somehow, the flight attendant reported the conversation to corporate, triggering the demand. The airline’s withdrawal failed to stop the precedent-setting loss.
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