KARLSRUHE (dpa-AFX) - The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) is backing travelers in a dispute with cancellation insurance: Anyone who paid for a canceled flight with bonus miles that are now irretrievably lost is entitled to compensation. That results from a Karlsruhe judgement from the beginning of March, which was published on Monday. (Ref. IV ZR 112/22).

The plaintiff had booked flights to the USA and back, which he paid for with bonus miles from an airline program. Because of an illness he canceled the trip. According to the airline's terms and conditions, the bonus miles used are not credited again in such a case.

The family insurance policy taken out by the plaintiff's wife provided that "among other things, cancellation costs in the event of non-commencement of the trip are insured up to 80% of the trip price." The insurance conditions stated that compensation would be paid for the "contractually owed cancellation costs".

In the dispute with the insurance company, the man had so far come away empty-handed. Most recently, the Wuppertal Regional Court ruled that he had not incurred any cancellation costs. Bonus miles are "not tradable" in the sense that "there is a market for them on which they can be bought and sold," it said in justification. And a "non-monetary consideration for a flight" should not become "tradable in a roundabout way via a travel cancellation."

The BGH now sees things differently in the last instance: "By taking out travel cancellation insurance, an average policyholder will expect to be protected against such costs as arise because the insured person is unable to take up a booked trip due to illness," the top civil judges wrote. They believe that for the insured person, this also includes bonus miles. This is because they "have a value, notwithstanding their lack of tradability, because the plaintiff can use them as part of the bonus program in return for goods or services offered."

So the man is entitled to compensation. How much money the insurance company must pay him has not yet been determined. The regional court had not yet clarified the value of the bonus miles used and must now do so./sem/DP/ngu