AGENT HUB

(Update: November 2024)

Within the so-called grace period, which is valid until the next calendar day (11:59 pm), you can refund Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS tickets as well as Ancillary EMDs without having to request a waiver from your Lufthansa Group Agency Support team.

In order to avoid ADMs, there are a few rules to follow. We have now summarized them for you in a factsheet.

​To the factsheet

(Update: October 2024)

From the Golden Roof, Innsbruck's main landmark in the heart of the historic old town, to the impressive Nordkette mountain range at over 2,000 meters above sea level: Innsbruck offers everything for an unforgettable holiday. Air Dolomiti will once again connect Frankfurt with Innsbruck (INN) up to twice daily starting 27 October 2024.

In addition to the resumed flights from Frankfurt, your customers can reach Innsbruck with Austrian Airlines via Vienna and with Austrian AIRail (up to 13 connections per day) starting 15 December 2024. The Lufthansa Express Bus connection to and from Munich complements the Lufthansa Group offer to the capital of Tyrol.

(Update: September 2024)

A modern concept, a unique atmosphere and retreat, workplace and feel-good oasis in one – this is the new Lufthansa Lounge at Newark Airport. Inspired by Lufthansa Allegris, the design of the new lounge offers everything your customers need to relax, unwind or prepare for their next meeting.

With over 600 square meters, the new lounge at Newark Liberty Airport offers space for around 170 guests – an increase in capacity of 25 percent compared to the previous space. The lounge is open to First and Business Class passengers of all Lufthansa Group airlines flying to Newark Airport, as well as HON Circle members and Senators.

The Lufthansa Lounge can be found in Terminal B, Hall B3, near gates 60–68 and is open every day from 14:15 to 21:30 hours.

(Update: September 2024)

Austrian Airlines will successively equip four of its six Boeing 777-200ER long-haul aircraft with the fuel-saving sharkskin film by March 2025. This will save around one percent of the total fuel consumption per flight. At one percent, the sharkskin’s efficiency potential may not sound like much, but in total it will save thousands of tons of CO2 per year on long-haul flights.

AeroSHARK is a surface technology jointly developed by Lufthansa Technik and BASF, which consists of transparent ribs around 50 micrometers in size – the so-called riblets. It imitates the properties of particularly aerodynamic sharkskin and thus optimizes aerodynamics in relevant areas of the aircraft.

(Update: August 2024)

Airlines are obliged to transmit passenger data to authorities on some flights. This is done through the Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS). To avoid problems at the airport, please only enter the API data in advance if you have complete, correct, and up-to-date information from your customers. False, incomplete, or incorrect information may result in penalties.

Good to know: It is not necessary to collect API data at the time of booking. Travelers can enter the required information at any time online via the airline’s website (‘My Bookings’) or record it when they check in. This also ensures that the details of the travel document they are actually carrying with them are entered and transmitted to the authorities.

Please note that for flights to/from the USA as well as flights over US territory, the collection in advance of Secure Flight Passenger Data (SFPD) is still absolutely essential. The information must be forwarded by the airlines to the TSA up to 72 hours before departure. If SFPD data is missing in the PNR, no ticket can be issued (“Ticketing Inhibition”).

(Update: August 2024)

Please note that for tickets from/to/via the USA and/or Canada as well as related EMDs which were issued seven days or more before the departure of the affected flight,

• the DCC (YR) and OPC, and
• Medical Services (stretcher, AOXY)

must be refunded within the grace period.

For tickets from/to/via the USA and/or Canada as well as related EMDs which were issued less than seven days prior to departure, it is still the case – as with all other tickets and EMDs – that the DCC (YR), the OPC and Medical Services (stretcher und AOXY) are non-refundable in the case of refunds made within the grace period.

(Update: August 2024)

Thank you for your numerous – and mostly positive – responses to our last update of the “Lufthansa Group Schedule Change/Irregularity Policy for Travel Agents” (SKCHG/INVOL Policy).

Based on your feedback and suggestions, we have carefully reviewed the guidelines again, revised them in some places, clarified wording and added explanatory tables and examples. In addition, we have described the topic “Involuntary changes for tickets with an upgrade” in more detail. The basic rules remain valid and unchanged.

You will find an overview of all relevant changes in the section: “0. Overview of Changes”. We have highlighted minor changes to wording in yellow in the policy itself.

We hope that the new version of the SKCHG/INVOL Policy will make it even easier for you to process schedule changes and flight irregularities in the future and to avoid possible ADMs. Please do not hesitate to contact your Lufthansa Group Agency Support if anything is unclear.

(Update: August 2024)

We are pleased to announce significant improvements to our waiver handling process, making it more convenient and efficient for you. As part of this enhancement, we are introducing a self-service functionality that empowers you to manage waivers seamlessly starting 15 August 2024.

Waiver requests

There are no changes to the waiver request process. You can continue to request a waiver from your Lufthansa Group Agency Support as per the usual process, for example by email or phone.

Automated email notification

For waiver requests submitted via email, once accepted there will be an automated email sent from our online tool Star Partners (lufthansa-services@dlh.de) instead of a manual reply. This email (subject line: “Your Waiver request 12345678 – ABC123 has been accepted”) will include the waiver number and detailed handling instructions. Requests which could not be accepted will continue to be responded to via the known channels.

Self-service functionality

This email will include a special link to our Star Partners website. By clicking on it, you can easily complete the waiver process on your own. This ensures accuracy and allows you to add ticket numbers for Sales or Exchange waivers and process your request in ARC and BSP within the specified 72-hour timeframe.

Automated email reminder

To ensure the completion of your waiver, we have implemented an automated reminder system.

1. If you have not completed the waiver request within 24 hours after receiving the initial waiver email, you will receive a first follow-up email.
2. If you have not submitted a ticket number within 48 hours after receiving the initial waiver email, you will receive a second follow-up email.

Please note: Completing the waiver request through the provided link is essential to avoid missing the 72-hour waiver deadline.

Confirmation email

As soon as you’ve entered a ticket number, you will receive a confirmation email stating which ticket numbers have been recorded in our system.

We are convinced that our new waiver handling process will reduce processing time significantly while transparency for you. If you have any questions, please contact your Lufthansa Group Agency Support.

(Update: July 2024)

For new bookings on/after 2 July 2024, only one Ticketing Time Limit (TTL) will be entered in the PNR. This TTL is then applicable to all Lufthansa Group flight segments included in the booking (OS/SN/LH/LX/EN/4Y/VL).

• The most restrictive Ticketing Time Limit of the most restrictive booking class continues to apply
• If the Ticketing Time Limit expires without a ticket being issued, all segments of all Lufthansa Group airlines will be canceled simultaneously

The booking and ticketing process will be simpler for you, as only one SSR message will enter the PNR, making it easier to recognize the Ticketing Time Limit in future.

For bookings up to and including 1 July 2024, different SSR messages with details of the ticketing time limits were included in the booking. After the ticketing time limit expired, individual flight segments were canceled at different times if a ticket was not issued.

(Update: July 2024)

Effective 1 July 2024, there will no longer be a fee for name corrections in Lufthansa Group PNRs (Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS and Air Dolomiti flights issued on OS/SN/LH/LX documents).

In addition, it is now permitted to add additional names (first, middle or last name) to the name according to the travel document.

Example:

• The ticket is issued for PEREZ/LUIS MR
• However, according to the passport, the traveler's name is PEREZ ALONSO/LUIS PEDRO MR
• It is now permitted to change the ticket to this name on presentation of the travel document.
• For data protection reasons, please ensure that all fields – with the exception of the name, date of birth and validity of the travel document – are blacked out when sending the travel document to Lufthansa Group Agency Support.

Apart from these changes, the rules for name corrections remain unchanged.

(Update: June 2024)

Effective 26 June 2024 (date of ticket issuance), the airlines of the Lufthansa Group will introduce a new surcharge for all flights departing from any country of the European Union1, Great Britain, Norway and Switzerland on/after 1 January 2025.2

The Environmental Cost Surcharge applies

• to each flight segment of Austrian Airlines / Brussels Airlines / Eurowings / Lufthansa / SWISS / Air Dolomiti / Discover Airlines / Edelweiss / Lufthansa City Airlines / Lufthansa CityLine (operated and marketed by OS/SN/EW/LH/LX/EN/WK/4Y/VL/CL or wet-lease partners)3
• to all distribution channels

The surcharge is automatically calculated with a YQ tax code (YQ-F) and included when the ticket is issued. Depending on the reservation system used, the YQ-F is shown either separately or together with the International / Domestic Surcharge (YQ-I) on the ticket.

Please note: Due to the current system settings, the Environmental Cost Surcharge will be displayed as “YQF Fuel Service Fee” in NDC and “YQ” in the GDS.

_{¹ Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.}

_{² The surcharge applies to all points of sales except for tickets sold in Iran (POS: IR), journeys originating in Hong Kong (POC: HK) and journeys to or from Japan.}

_{³ Eurowings bookings which are ticketless are exempt from the surcharge.}

_{⁴ The surcharge amount depends on the flight distance and the booked compartment.}

(Update: June 2024)

In principle, the name on a ticket should match the passenger's official document (passport, identity card). If the passenger does not have a first or last name, the name element FNU (First Name Unknown) must be entered as follows in accordance with the IATA AIRIMP Manual:

No first name: Enter FNU (First Name Unknown) followed by the title in the “First Name” or “Given Name” field. Example: SMITH/FNU MR

No last name: Enter the first name in the “Last Name” or “Family Name” field and FNU (First Name Unknown) followed by the title in the “First Name” or “Given Name” field. Example: DAVID/FNU MR

(Update: January 2024)

Have your customer's travel plans changed? Eurowings offers you various self-service options for processing a GDS booking.

​Learn more

(Update: January 2024)

We would like to remind you that a rebooking fee, if appicable according to the fare rules, must be charged for each rebooking transaction. This also applies when a new flight segment is added, regardless of whether the original flight segment has been cancelled.

For every rebooking, the ticket must also be updated within the same change transaction (prior to “End of Transaction”).

Please familiarize yourself with chapter ‘3.5 Lufthansa Group airlines ETKT/etix rebooking process’ of the ‘Lufthansa Group airlines’ Booking & Ticketing Policy’ to assist you in avoiding potential ADMs.

(Update: December 2023)

Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, SWISS, and Air Dolomiti are adjusting the Distribution Cost Charge (DCC) in EDIFACT to ensure that the GDS costs are reflected accurately. Starting 1 January 2024 (date of ticket issue), the DCC will increase from EUR 19.50 to EUR 24.50 for all Lufthansa Group airlines’ tickets issued via the GDS Sabre. In addition, there will be currency adjustments in several GDSs.

• EUR 17.50 for bookings in the GDS Amadeus (1A)
  
• EUR 24.50 (previously EUR 19.50) for bookings in the GDS Sabre (1S/1B)
• EUR 23.00 for bookings in the GDS Travelport, i.e. Galileo (1G), Apollo (1V), and Worldspan (1P)

The DCC will continue to be applied via a YR-Tax Code in all GDSs.

​​To the DCC Guideline

The following DCC-exempt direct distribution channels are available to you.

NDC Bilateral Model:

•  Lufthansa Group airlines’ Direct NDC API
•  NDC via approved technology providers (aggregators)
•  SPRK, the free web-based user interface

The websites of the Lufthansa Group airlines:

• austrian.com, brusselsairlines.com, lufthansa.com, swiss.com and airdolomiti.eu

^{* See DCC Guideline for country-specific exemptions.}

Existing bookings: Tickets with Economy Light or Business Saver fares issued before 10 October 2023, will remain changeable for a fee. If the ticket is rebooked/reissued on a Current Fare basis on/after 10 October 2023 the new fare conditions will apply after the rebooking. In case of goodwill requests for further rebookings, please contact your Lufthansa Group Agency Support.

The adjustment affects all distribution channels as well as all published fares and unpublished/private fares, which are derived from an Economy Light or Business Saver fare, such as (Sustainable) Corporate Value fares.

For travelers who would like to remain flexible, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, SWISS, Air Dolomiti, and Discover Airlines will continue to offer several fares in Economy Class and Business Class which are rebookable at any time. Both the routing (including start and destination location*) and the travel date can be flexibly adjusted.

(Update: September 2023)

Starting 1 September 2023, you are permitted to reissue an international Austrian Airlines (257), Brussels Airlines (082), Lufthansa (220), SWISS (724) and Air Dolomiti (101) ticket into a domestic German ticket. The change of a German domestic ticket into an international ticket remains prohibited.

The ‘Booking and ticketing Policy’ and the ‘Out of Sequence guideline’ have been revised accordingly.

(Update: April 2023)

To ensure consistent pricing across all reservation systems, IATA will introduce a new standard for 'Multi-Airport Cities'. A 'Multi-Airport City' is a city with multiple airports and/or intermodal locations (e.g. train stations) that belong to a common City Code. Effective 17 April 2023, some existing airport codes will become stand-alone City Codes – and will therefore receive their own pricing structure. 

(Update: March 2023)

Within a grace period you can self-refund Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS tickets – without having to request a waiver from the Lufthansa Group Agency Support. The grace period is applicable through the next calendar day (23:59 hrs).* 

Example: if the ticket has been issued on 2 March 2023, you can refund the ticket and any associated EMDs based on the grace period through 3 March 2023, 23:59 hrs. If refunding on/after 4 March 2023, the fare conditions will apply. Please note that there is no special provision for weekends or bank holidays. 

^{Please note:} 

• ^{DCC (YR) and OPC remain non-refundable} 
• ^{Bid upgrades, Medical Services (Stretcher, AOXY) and Rebooking Fee EMDs may not be refunded based on the grace period} 
• ^{The ATC Refund automatically takes the grace period into account. If ATC Refund is not used or in case of different market-specific legal requirements, the refund has to be processed manually in your reservation system. In these cases, no waiver is required}  

(Update: March 2023)

In case of short-term flight cancellations within 48 hours (in select cases: up to 5 days) before departure, no (immediate) UN will be set in the PNR in all cases. The flight cancellation will be evident via a flight status query on the airline's website or, for example, in Amadeus via the DO transaction, e.g. DO LH170/02JUL. In this case, you can do the rebooking/reissue/refund without having to request a waiver from your Lufthansa Group Agency Support.  
 

(Update: December 2022)

On 7 November 2022, the Lufthansa Group airlines enabled the function ‘Refund by travel agencies of tickets reissued by the airline’ worldwide. You can therefore refund Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS tickets which were issued by your travel agency and then reissued by the airline.  
 
This feature is currently only available in the Amadeus GDS. 

^{Please note: In the case of short-term flight irregularities and in accordance with IATA standards, airlines are only reissuing the coupon(s) affected by the flight irregularity. In these cases, if there are unused (open) coupons, the refund cannot be made by the travel agent, but must be requested to the Airline Refund Team.  
 
This refund feature complements the Amadeus functionality ‘Access and subsequent reissue’ on tickets reissued by the airline, which was already introduced in 2018.}

(Update: December 2022)

Effective 7 December 2022 the PNR entry of the non-binary passenger designation MX as well as the gender code X is now possible with Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Lufthansa, SWISS, Air Dolomiti, Edelweiss and Eurowings Discover – provided that it is supported by the reservation system used. 

This means: For a non-binary person, MX can be entered in the PNR instead of MR or MRS, and X can be used instead of M or F in the SSR DOCS entries. 

^{Please note:} 

• ^{It is technically not yet possible to offer a non-binary entry option for infants (INF). Therefore, for the time being, in SSR DOCS only the gender options MI (male infant) and FI (female infant) continue to be available for infants}  
• ^{Currently, not all systems have been adapted. For example, it is not yet possible to select the non-binary option X when entering passport data for online or mobile check-in on the websites or in the apps of the Lufthansa Group airlines.}

(Update: November 2022)

For feedback, praise and criticism regarding a past flight with Lufthansa, kindly use the online forms provided on lufthansa.com. This way, all the information required from your customers can be entered directly for a prompt processing of the feedbackand encrypted transmission of the feedback is guaranteed. 

After sending the request, you (or your customers) will receive an e-mail confirmation of receipt with a feedback ID (process number). 

(Update: August 2022)

In some cases, for example, when Lufthansa Group passengers are denied boarding at the airport, the airline will enter an internal refund waiver in the Passenger name record: RM this is your autho for full refund/ignore noshow rules. 

However, in such cases, a waiver from the Lufthansa Group Agency Support is always mandatory for a refund from the travel agency. This is the only way to ensure that the waiver is correctly transferred to the Lufthansa Group airlines audit system and that no ADM is created. An entry in the PNR is not sufficient. Please keep this in mind to avoid possible ADMs.

(Update: June 2022)

IATA has created an SSR format for the standardized entry of contact details into PNRs that is used to notify customers in cases of flight disruptions, flight cancellations, etc. We recommend that you use this standard format for entering the contact details for your customers’ notifications and, for example, for saving them in the customer profiles.

• SSR CTCE – E for email address
• SSR CTCM – M for mobile phone number
• SSR CTCR – R for Restricted (if a passenger does not wish to receive any notifications)

Amadeus (1A)

SRCTCE-PETER.SAMPLE//YAHOO.COM SR CTCM-49123456789 Here 49 is for the country code for Germany, followed by the full telephone number including area code. SRCTCR-CONTACT INFORMATION REFUSED

Sabre (1S)

3CTCEA/PETER.MUSTER//YAHOO.COM-1.1 3CTCMA/49123456789-1.1 3CTCR/PAX REFUSED TO PROVIDE DATA-2.1

Galileo (1G)

Si.P1/SSRCTCELHHK1/PETER.SAMPLE//YAHOO.COM Si.P1/SSRCTCMLHHK1/49123456789 Si.P3/SSRCTCRLHHK1/PASSENGER REFUSED TO PROVIDE INFORMATION

Worldspan (1S)

3SSRCTCMLHHK1/491511234567-1.1 3SSRCTCELHHK1/PETER.SAMPLE//YAHOO.COM-1.1 3SSRCTCRLHHK1/NO CONTACT INFORMATION-1.1

SPRK

CTCE: Enter the email address as the type of contact and click the box marked “Operational Contact”. CTCM: Enter the mobile phone number as the type of contact and click the box marked “Operational Contact”. CTCR: If a passenger does not want to receive any notifications, go to “Special Service Requests”, select SSR code “CTCR” and enter “REFUSED” in the text box. NB: according to the IATA guideline, the special characters in email formats should be entered as follows: ‘//’ replaces ‘@’, two dots (..) replace the underscore (_). The SSR elements can contain a passenger classification; segment classifications are not possible. For further information about entry formats, please contact your GDS.

When flight disruptions occur, the following information is sent to customers by text or email:

• Alert in the event of a significant delay (≥ 30 mins.)
  
• Alert in the event of a cancellation
• Alert about a rebooking on an alternative flight after flight disruptions

The prerequisite for this is a current mobile phone number and/or email address in the Miles & More profile or in the booking.

Passengers on Lufthansa Group flights also automatically receive a new mobile boarding pass following a successful rebooking, provided that they have already received a mobile boarding pass by text or email for their original flight. Furthermore, Lufthansa Group passengers also receive alerts about delays, cancellations and rebookings via the apps of the Lufthansa Group airlines.

(Update: February 2024)

Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS make every effort to always get your customers to their destinations punctually and reliably. However, should disruptions to air traffic occur, should a flight have to be delayed or even cancelled, we support your customers with a range of services.

So that we can notify passengers in the event of flight disruptions as early and extensively as possible by text or email, we need their current mobile phone number or email address no later than 23 hours before their scheduled departure. Passengers can also save their contact details in their Miles & More profile.

Our tip: why not suggest to your customers that they save their mobile phone number with Miles & More? By entering their Miles & More number via the ‘SSR FQTV’ element in the booking, you will ensure that your customers are automatically notified about flight disruptions.

Alternatively, you can also enter the passenger’s contact details directly in the PNR during the booking, thereby helping to ensure that we can notify your customer quickly in the event of disruptions to flights. To make sure that the passenger data can be read correctly, we ask that you take note of the following points:

• The entry must be made no later than 23 hours before departure – ideally, of course, immediately when the booking is created.
• If several passengers are included in the PNR, each contact data entry must be assigned to an individual passenger – otherwise neither a text nor an email can be sent.
• Even if only one passenger is included in the PNR, the contact details should be assigned to the passenger.
• When entering the data, please keep strictly to the entry format in the GDS that you use, as otherwise the data cannot be processed by the airlines of the Lufthansa Group.

IATA Resolution 830d obliges travel agencies to actively ask the passenger whether they would like to make their contact details (mobile telephone number and/or email address) available to the airline, so that they can be contacted directly in the event of a flight disruption.

The regulation also applies to group bookings, in which case the contact details of the group leader, the hotel or the hotline of the tour operator must be entered as SSR CTC.

Please note that the contact must be available at all times, i.e. even outside normal office hours, and must be responsible for all passengers in the booked group.

Our tip: text messages can even be received if the passenger has deactivated the roaming function of their smartphone when abroad. For this reason it is preferable to provide your customers’ mobile phone numbers. If the “SSR CTC” entry is missing from the booking, Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS will automatically send a reminder to your queue via an SSR element: “PLS PROVIDE CONTACT CTC DATA VIA SSR CTCM OR CTCE”.

As well as for passenger information in the event of flight disruptions, the contact element is used for the following purposes:

• Sending of check-in invitation email (23 hours before departure, for Austrian Airlines and Lufthansa)
• Pre-flight email with flight-relevant information
• Notification about automated check-in (for Lufthansa and SWISS)

The contact details in the ‘SSR CTC’ element are used exclusively for flight-related information.

(Update: September 2019)

In the case of the Lufthansa Group airlines, the ‘SSR CTC’ element, as defined in IATA Resolution 830d, is used for proactive and rapid customer information in the event of flight irregularities. This is an important component in maintaining customer satisfaction. The ‘SSR CTC’ details are also used for automated check-in procedures (cf. IATA Recommended Practice [RP 1708] within the IATA AIRIMP standards).