Almost simultaneously with the introduction of the new Light fares, the Lufthansa Group has also revised its surcharges. Tickets in all travel classes have become more expensive accordingly. North America is particularly affected. Depending on the travel class, surcharges there have increased by €50 to €400 (based on a round-trip).
The increase in surcharges also directly affects award tickets. Anyone booking a Business Class ticket to North America must now expect to pay around €1,300 in additional charges, on top of the required miles.
The colleagues at Meilenoptimieren compared the values before and after the increase for numerous routes. The following figures refer only to the surcharges (excluding ticket price and “actual” taxes), based on a round trip:
Economy Class:
- Frankfurt – Cape Town: €198 instead of €178 (+ €20)
- Frankfurt – New York: €258 instead of €208 (+ €50)
- Frankfurt – Mexico City: €378 instead of €328 (+ €50)
- Frankfurt – Shanghai: €387 instead of €408 (– €20)
Premium Economy:
- Frankfurt – New York: €582 instead of €481 (+ €100)
- Frankfurt – Mexico City: €582 instead of €482 (+ €100)
Business Class:
- Frankfurt – Cape Town: €398 instead of €348 (+ €50)
- Frankfurt – Shanghai: €511 instead of €538 (– €27)
- Frankfurt – New York: €1,148 instead of €948 (+ €200)
- Frankfurt – Mexico City: €1,148 instead of €948 (+ €200)
First Class:
- Frankfurt – New York: €1,278 instead of €978 (+ €300)
- Frankfurt – Mexico City: €1,278 instead of €978 (+ €300)
- Frankfurt – Buenos Aires: €628 instead of €578 (+ €50)
- Frankfurt – Johannesburg: €428 instead of €378 (+ €50)
Example: Frankfurt – New York
If you want to book an award flight from Frankfurt to New York, it costs just under 97,000 miles in Business Class. On top of that, however, there are hefty surcharges of €1,318.81. Of this, around €170 are “real” taxes, the rest consists of surcharges that go directly to Lufthansa.
Only flights operated by the Lufthansa Group are affected by the increase. Alternatively, you could fly with Singapore Airlines and pay 125,000 miles plus just under €200. However, these bookings can only be made by phone, not online. Surcharges are also typically lower with airlines like United Airlines, although availability there is notoriously poor.
If you book a Lufthansa flight through another frequent flyer program, you usually have to pay the same surcharges as with Miles&More. Only a few programs (including United MileagePlus) do not pass on these surcharges.
Bottom Line
Within just a few years, Lufthansa’s surcharges have effectively exploded. Until May 2024, they were still around €500 for a Business Class round trip to North America. Acceptable, especially since there were regularly mileage bargains with attractive redemption rates.
Now, the numbers have become completely absurd. Paid tickets from other EU countries to North America are often available for around €1,500. Lufthansa is now charging almost the same amount as a “surcharge” on an award ticket.
Officially, these are no longer called fuel surcharges but are instead listed as an “international surcharge.” Therefore, it’s unlikely they will decrease again after the current oil price situation eases.
Unfortunately, the Flex Plus fare was also abolished during the changes in June 2025. This previously allowed bookings without surcharges in exchange for higher mileage requirements. Miles&More has reportedly been working on reintroducing it since last summer, but there have been no updates since.
Translated by Ditmar