Lufthansa Group Hikes GDS Booking Fee for Amadeus, Sabre, and Travelport

The Lufthansa Group of airlines on Thursday announced an increase to its Distribution Cost Charge (DCC) for bookings made through Global Distribution Systems (GDSs).

The group of airlines—Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, SWISS, Air Dolomiti, and Discover Airlines—said that the adjustment is intended to increase transparency and “reflect GDS cost accurately, while also considering currency fluctuations.” The DCC applies to tickets issued on or after the effective date.

 Here are the increases, which are all effective for tickets issued starting on January 1, 2026: 

• Amadeus (1A): from EUR 17.50 to EUR 18.00 (USD 19.00 to USD 21.00).
• Sabre (1S/1B): from EUR 22.00 to EUR 22.50 (USD 24.00 to USD 26.00).
• Travelport: EUR 23.00 remains unchanged, but the USD equivalent increases from USD 25.00 to USD 26.50.

For Canadian advisors, the DCC is filed in CAD and is also rising. The new per-ticket charges for the EDIFACT GDSs will be $29.50 CAD for Amadeus, $36.50 CAD for Sabre, and $37.50 CAD for Travelport.

Exemptions to the DCC and Codeshares

While the DCC generally applies to all fares and booking classes, tickets originating or commencing travel in several countries remain exempt: China, Hong Kong, Iran, Libya, New Zealand, and Yemen. Ticketing exemptions also apply worldwide, with INF tickets (infants) being universally exempt under both EDIFACT and NDC Public channels. Also, Eurowings (EW) itineraries on Lufthansa documents and selected Lufthansa-specific ground transport tickets in Germany are also exempt.

For codeshares, the application of the DCC depends on which airline’s ticket stock is used and which airline is marketing the flight.

For instance, if an advisor books a Lufthansa-operated flight that is marketed and ticketed by United Airlines (UA) (i.e., the flight has a UA flight number and the ticket stock starts with 016), the Lufthansa DCC will not apply. But if the agent books a United-operated flight that is marketed and ticketed by Lufthansa (LH) (i.e., the ticket stock starts with 220), the Lufthansa DCC will apply.