Thanks Flysurfer,

I should not have generalized "non-German" residence... The fares that I was looking at was from Canada and not the US (so that may be the case in the US)...

I understand there are different types of LH fares.. The example that I was looking at was F fare from YYZ-FRA (Canada) and FRA-YYZ (Germany)... on that fare booked from Canada, there is no mention of a non-refundable TSC, whereas the fare booked from Germany, there is a non-refundable TSC.. I was surprised that they would charge a non-refundable TSC for F fare - so if one has to cancel F fare, one would still be charged the non-refundable TSC (albeit a small amount in the scheme of things)...