Lufthansa Miles & More Award Flight Cancellation and Change Fees (2026): How to Cancel or Rebook an Award Ticket

The Short Answer

As of September 2026, Miles & More charges EUR 50 (or the equivalent in another currency; Lufthansa's US fee page states 70 CHF or USD 60) per person to rebook an Award Flight, and a minimum of EUR 50 per person to cancel one with the miles returned. The cancellation rule is unusual because the program makes you choose. Cancel before departure and you can either take a free cancellation, in which case only the taxes and fees come back and the miles and the airline surcharges are forfeited, or pay the fare's cancellation charge, at least EUR 50 per person, and have the miles and the surcharges refunded as well, where the partner airline's fare conditions permit it. The second option is only applied at your express request.

Which rules apply depends on what you booked. Award Flights made up entirely of Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, Lufthansa City Airlines, Air Dolomiti or Discover flights are priced with "flexible mileage amounts" and sold in award fares (Light, Basic, Comfort, Flex), and the rebooking and cancellation terms for each fare are shown in the booking offer rather than published in the terms; a Light award may allow no rebooking at all. Award Flights on every other partner, including the Star Alliance carriers, are priced from the award chart ("static mileage amounts") and follow the EUR 50 rules above, with one restriction: only the date and time can change, never the route.

A no-show removes the choice entirely: only the unused taxes and fees are refunded, and neither the miles nor the surcharges. Reduced awards such as Fly Smart and mileage bargains cannot be rebooked and return only taxes and fees when cancelled. This page sets out the fee and the three cancellation alternatives, the how-to for the online self-service refund introduced in 2026, and the pages on miles-and-more.com and lufthansa.com that state each rule. For the program itself see our Lufthansa Miles & More guide; for every major program side by side see award ticket cancellation fees compared.

Miles & More Award Flight Change and Cancellation Rules at a Glance

Every row is Miles & More's own rule from the General terms and conditions for Award Flights and its help pages as published in September 2026. "Partner awards" means Award Flights with static mileage amounts (any booking that is not wholly on Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, Lufthansa City Airlines, Air Dolomiti or Discover); Lufthansa Group award fares carry their own terms shown at booking.

How to Cancel a Miles & More Award Flight

Since 2026 the program lets you request an Award Flight refund yourself online, for qualifying fares, without calling. Step 1: log in to your Miles & More account. Step 2: go to "Current bookings". Step 3: select the booking you want refunded. Step 4: if the Award Flight is refundable, click "Cancel and refund your flights". The refund is issued in line with the fare conditions, any cancellation fee is charged to a credit card, the miles are credited back to the original Miles & More account, any cash paid goes back to the card used at booking, and a confirmation email follows once the request has been processed.

Three situations still need the Miles & More Service Team (+49 69 20 97 77 777, with your PIN ready for identification): cancelling individual passengers on a multi-passenger booking, since online refunds cover the entire booking only; a flight the airline has cancelled, which goes to the Service Team or the operating airline; and any award fare the online path does not recognize as eligible, including World Award Flights, which are booked and managed by phone. Miles & More publishes no service fee for phone cancellations.

The moment to decide is before departure, because that is when the choice between the free cancellation and the fee-paying refund exists. Ask yourself one question: are the miles and the surcharges worth more than EUR 50 per person? On a long-haul business class award they almost always are, so request the refund with miles explicitly; the program will not assume it. Miss the flight and the decision is made for you, with only the unused taxes and fees coming back.

How to Rebook a Miles & More Award Flight

If the fare you booked allows it, rebook online in your Miles & More account: open "Current bookings" and select "Change flight". A partner Award Flight can only move to a different date or time; the route and the departure and arrival airports must stay exactly as booked, and any additional taxes, fees or partner surcharges triggered by the new date are charged alongside the EUR 50 per-person rebooking fee. The terms do not state whether a mileage difference is collected on a rebooking, and Lufthansa's help pages say the fee "may vary or be waived depending on the award", so treat the online offer as the final word for your ticket.

Lufthansa Group awards are different: their rebooking options follow the award fare chosen per direction, and a Light fare may allow no rebooking at all while a Flex fare may allow it free. Fly Smart Award Flights and mileage bargains cannot be rebooked under any circumstances. Because a route change is never possible on a partner award, a change of destination or airline is always a cancellation and a new booking, which makes the cancellation choice above the more important rule to understand.

Two timing rules bound every change. Award tickets are valid for one year from issue, so a rebooking cannot push travel beyond that date, and Award Flights can be booked and issued up to 180 minutes before departure, which is also the practical last moment to rebook rather than cancel. Miles & More publishes no same-day change rule for awards.

Lufthansa Group Fares, Partner Awards and Special Cases

The program's June 2025 restructuring split award pricing in two. Journeys wholly on Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, Lufthansa City Airlines, Air Dolomiti or Discover are priced from the live online offer in fares named Light, Basic, Comfort and Flex, each with its own seat, baggage, rebooking and refund terms that Miles & More describes only on the booking platform; the terms warn that rebooking or cancellation fees may apply and that options may be limited to date and time. Everything else, including every Star Alliance partner, is priced from the award chart, where the former Flex fare was renamed Standard in June 2025 with its conditions unchanged.

Partner awards therefore carry the rules in the table: EUR 50 per person to rebook a date or time, the free-or-fee cancellation choice, and the no-show forfeiture. Taxes, fees and partner surcharges on any award are charged separately, payable by credit card and never with miles, and Lufthansa's US disclosure notes that those additional costs, up to US$1,000, are borne by the member. Award Flights are not transferable once issued, though they can be booked for relatives and acquaintances without the member traveling; name changes are not addressed in the terms.

Upgrade Awards inherit the change and cancellation terms of the cash ticket they sit on, with the upgrade certificate valid for twelve months. Miles expire 36 months after they are earned, at the end of that quarter, unless the member holds Frequent Traveller, Senator or HON Circle status or an eligible card; the terms do not say whether miles re-credited after a cancellation keep their original expiry date, so check the account statement after a refund.

Taxes, Surcharges and Refund Timing

Miles & More awards on Lufthansa Group metal carry airline surcharges that can run to several hundred euros on a long-haul business class award, which is exactly why the two cancellation options differ so much: the free option returns taxes and fees only, while the fee-paying option returns the surcharges too, where the fare conditions permit. On a partially used award the taxes, fees and surcharges are refunded only in part, per the fare, and the miles not at all.

Refunds go to the credit card used at booking and the miles to the original Miles & More account. Miles & More publishes no processing time for award refunds beyond the confirmation email; for context, Lufthansa's general refund page returns an unused ticket's price including taxes and fees to the original payment method, and SWISS's US customer service plan commits to seven days for card purchases. Lufthansa's US fee page also notes that miles from fully unused award tickets can be redeposited within one year of the issue date once the reservation is cancelled.

Deadlines, No-Shows and the 24-Hour Rule

The cancellation choice exists only for a flight cancelled before its planned departure. Cancel in time, even the same day, and you choose between the free option and the refund with miles; fail to cancel and the no-show clause applies, returning only the unused taxes and fees. There is no published grace period and no reinstatement fee, because there is nothing to reinstate.

Miles & More publishes no 24-hour cooling-off rule of its own. Lufthansa's US disclosure states the Department of Transportation rule for reservations made through lufthansa.com a week or more before departure, and SWISS states the same for bookings on swiss.com or through its service centre, but neither page mentions awards booked on miles-and-more.com, so do not rely on a free first day.

When the airline cancels or significantly changes the flight, the fee schedule does not apply: contact the Service Team or the operating airline for rebooking, and for US itineraries the Department of Transportation refund rule entitles you to a refund of the miles and cash if you choose not to travel; for flights departing the EU, the passenger-rights regulation expressly covers tickets issued under a frequent flyer program. Our award cancellation fees guide covers those involuntary-change rules across every program.

How Biirdee Makes Miles & More Changes and Cancellations Seamless

When Biirdee books a Miles & More award with your miles, we tell you before ticketing which regime the ticket falls under, a Lufthansa Group award fare or a partner award, and therefore what a rebooking or cancellation would cost and whether a route change is possible at all. After that, a change or cancellation is one WhatsApp message: your concierge makes the rebooking online or through the Service Team, requests the refund with miles explicitly so the surcharges come back, and follows the miles and the card refund through to your account.

When plans move rather than die, we price the options side by side: a EUR 50 date change, a cancel-and-rebook where the route has to change, or one of our negotiated Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian business and first class fares, which often cost less all-in than an award plus its surcharges and earn miles and status where the award earns nothing. You approve; we execute. Start a free flight quote and mention the booking reference.

Sources: Miles & More's and Lufthansa's Own Pages

Every rule above comes from these miles-and-more.com and lufthansa.com pages, read on 18 September 2026. The Award Flight terms display no "last updated" date; Miles & More becomes "Lufthansa Group Miles & More" by the end of 2026 and can change fees at any time, so confirm on the page before you act.

Miles & More Award Cancellation FAQs