QUALIFY IT
One booking, one journey
Folkerts (C-11/11) settled it: where a delay on an earlier leg causes a late arrival at the final destination, compensation is assessed on that final arrival. The band follows the total distance of the journey.
The requirement is a single booking. One PNR covering both legs is the evidence that makes this work.
THE MONEY
What is it worth?
€250
Under 1,500 km
€400
1,500–3,500 km
€600
Over 3,500 km
Per passenger, measured on the journey’s great-circle distance.
Total great-circle distance from first origin to final destination. Manchester–Frankfurt–Singapore is a €600 itinerary even though the delayed leg was under 1,000 km.
THE PUSHBACK
What Lufthansa will say
Expect the claim to be assessed against the feeder alone, producing €250 or nothing. Answer with Folkerts and the single-PNR evidence.
Minimum connection time arguments cut the other way: if Lufthansa sold the connection, Lufthansa accepted it as sufficient.
THE EDGE
What’s specific to Lufthansa
The Frankfurt and Munich feeder banks make this Lufthansa’s most common high-value claim — a short delayed leg, a missed long-haul, a next-morning rebooking.
Because German law runs three years from year end, these claims expire sooner than the UK equivalents agents may be used to chasing.
söp will hear the case free once Lufthansa refuses, and the one-journey question is well-trodden ground there.
THE PLAY
How do you file it?
Prove one booking, then claim on total distance and final arrival delay citing Folkerts.
Include the original connection times to show the itinerary was sold as connecting.
Escalate to söp on refusal.
Or forward the booking confirmation to MyAirAdvocate and this claim is prepared for you — flights watched, the missed connection detected, evidence assembled, deadlines tracked.
See how it works →AGENTS ASK
Questions agents ask
Separate tickets for each leg — still one journey?
+
No. Separate tickets break the protection. It is worth knowing before the itinerary is built that way.
Which distance band applies?
+
The one for the whole journey, first origin to final destination.
The feeder was operated by a partner — who owes?
+
The operating carrier of the delayed leg.
They arrived the next morning — how is the delay counted?
+
From the scheduled arrival at the final destination to the actual arrival, which is often well over the three-hour line.
Does a self-transfer count?
+
Not unless it is on one booking. Self-connected itineraries fall outside the one-journey rule.
General information for travel professionals, not legal advice. Compensation depends on the facts of each disruption and the airline’s evidence. MyAirAdvocate prepares claims; it does not represent passengers and takes no percentage of any compensation.