Miles & More

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Miles & More
Miles & More Lufthansa Logo.svg
Launch date1993
HeadquartersNeu-Isenburg, Germany
WebsiteMiles & More official site


Miles & More is an airline loyalty program run by Deutsche Lufthansa, the flag carrier of Germany. Because Lufthansa is a member of Star Alliance, miles can be earned through all alliance members like United Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, and Singapore Airlines, as well as Lufthansa subsidiaries, including Eurowings and Swiss International Air Lines.

Partnership history[]

Airline partners of Miles & More[]

Fully integrated airline partners[]

The following airlines are partners of the Miles & More program:[2]

Additionally, Croatia Airlines has adopted Miles & More as its sole loyalty program.[3]

Other partners[]

Former partners[]

  • Condor Flugdienst (formerly owned by Lufthansa, ended partnership in 2021)

The miles[]

There are two types of miles within the programme.

Award miles[]

These are miles that can be collected in the account of a member and be used to buy flights, upgrades, merchandise from the Lufthansa WorldShop and other Miles & More partners. For standard Miles & More members they retain validity for 36 months, after which they expire. (Miles are not extended by having any activity on the account as with most other airlines). For Miles & More Credit Card (Visa or MasterCard) holders issued in several countries, miles have no expiration date as long as the card is held and/or used. If the credit card contract is ended, the original expiry date of the miles is reinstated; although the earliest miles can expire is at the end of the quarter after the credit card contract is ended.

Status miles[]

Status miles can only be earned when flying on the fully integrated partner airlines or on Star Alliance members. There is no other way to earn these miles. In addition, status miles expire at the end of each calendar year. They are used to identify the frequent flyers and members that are able to qualify for a higher status on the basis of the status miles that they have collected in one year.

Special form of status miles: Select miles[]

Select benefits are advantages that can be earned in addition to the status benefits, as part of the programme called Miles & More Selections while the status is still valid. Once the member has reached specified mileage levels by flying, additional advantages can be selected. With every mileage level reached the range of select benefits increases. The selection of the select benefits varies from the status the member has. The select benefits for Frequent Travellers e.g. include business lounge vouchers, e-vouchers or mile exchange, the ones for Senators a Hilton Gold Membership, in addition. For HON circle members additional benefits such as coupons up to a value of 100 Euro as well as additional Senator partner cards are available.[4]

Special form of status miles: HON Circle miles[]

HON Circle miles can only be earned when flying in business or first class on the fully integrated partner airlines and Air-Rail trains in Germany (up to a total of 600,000 miles within two consecutive calendar years). They are necessary to attain the top-tier status on Miles & More – HON Circle. Until April 1, 2006 it was possible to also collect this type of mile on United Airlines. This option no longer exists.[5] HON-miles have to be accumulated within two calendar years. Only Senators with an account balance of more than 300,000 status miles over two years, and existing HON Circle members, can see these miles on their account statement. HON Circle qualifying miles balance is also visible to Frequent Traveller and Senator members when logged in their Lufthansa iPad or Android app.

Flying[]

The miles that a member receives after having completed a flight depend on the Airline issuing ticket, mileage flown, the class of service and the booking class.

European flights[6][]

Tables show the number of miles earned with Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS. The number of miles earned with other airlines can be calculated using the Mileage Calculator available at the Miles & More website.

Germany / Domestic flights starting May 19, 2014
Class of service Booking class Fixed mileage
Economy Class K, L, T 125
Economy Class Q, S, V, W 250
Economy Class H, M, U 500
Economy Class B, Y 1000
Business Class P 500
Business Class Z 1000
Business Class C, D, J 1500
European cross-border flights starting May 19, 2014
Class of service Booking class Fixed mileage
Economy Class K, L, T 125
Economy Class S, W 500
Economy Class H, Q, U, V 750
Economy Class B, M, Y 1250
Business Class P 750
Business Class Z 1250
Business Class C, D, J 2000

Intercontinental flights[6][]

Class of service Booking class Miles received Minimum mileage
Economy Class K, L, T Mileage flown x 25% 250
Economy Class Q, S, V, W Mileage flown x 50% 250
Economy Class H, M, U Mileage flown x 100% 500
Economy Class B, Y Mileage flown x 150% 750
Premium Economy class E, G Mileage flown x 150% 750
Premium Economy class N Mileage flown x 100% 500
Business Class P Mileage flown x 100% 500
Business Class Z Mileage flown x 150% 750
Business Class C, D, J Mileage flown x 200% 1,000
First Class A, F Mileage flown x 300% 1,500

These mileages apply for flights operated by Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS.

Other earning opportunities[]

Lufthansa always has a number of promotions, most lasting for 1–2 months only. They include double mileage on new routes, extra miles for using electronic check-in and alike. Some of the promotions are restricted to residents of certain countries and others are restricted to certain customers.

There are other ways to collect award miles when not travelling. The Lufthansa Miles & More Credit Card can be subscribed to (which may be issued as a VISA, MasterCard or American Express card, depending on the country in which it is issued) and at least one award mile for every two Euro spent. A one-time sign-up bonus is given and sometimes introductory promotions may apply, such as double or triple award miles for an introductory period.

Award miles can be earned on certain Deutsche Bahn trains, when staying in certain hotels, shopping in certain shops (such as the LH Worldshop), renting cars, investing in certain funds, opening an account with certain banks, picking up a catalogue in a Bang & Olufsen store, and others. For all offers see Miles & More website as offers vary between countries. However, all these offers do not earn any status miles.

Redeeming miles[]

Once a member has collected the necessary number of miles, they can be used to buy flights, upgrades and products from the Lufthansa Worldshop (offer restricted to residents of some countries only).

Redeeming miles for flights[]

Miles in a member's account can be exchanged for award flights on all the fully integrated airline partners and all of the Star Alliance carriers. The number of miles that is deducted from the account depends on the origin and destination of that flight. The number of miles that is required can be checked in this file. Additional fees and taxes will still apply for award flights (but can be paid by additional miles). Since the beginning of 2017, with “Cash & Miles” members have been able to use miles flexibly for their flights, and thus, to reduce the amount of money to be paid.[7]

Fuel surcharges on award tickets[]

Lufthansa does add fuel surcharges hidden as fees on award tickets. This is prohibited for US based carriers. A transatlantic award flight (regardless which airline is actually flown) with Miles and More can cost up to 500 EUR in additional taxes and fees whereas the same itinerary booked with the US based Star Alliance partner (United) and their miles would cost less than 100 EUR in fees and taxes (even if the itinerary involves Lufthansa aircraft). So Miles and More may have a much lower value than US based Miles.

In September 2016, Miles & More adjusted the flight award table, thereby reducing the international / national surcharge per flight distance for domestic European premium flights. Miles & More thereby takes over a part of the regular surcharge. Participants now pay €5 instead of €35 in economy classes and €20 instead of €43 in business class with Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, SWISS and brussels airlines. The number of miles required for a flight award inside Europe was adjusted slightly, increasing by 5,000 award miles for return flights.[8]

Redeeming miles for upgrades[]

Miles can be redeemed for upgrades on all fully integrated carriers of Miles & More and on the following Star-Alliance partners: All Nippon Airways (ANA), Asiana Airlines, Condor Airlines, Singapore Airlines, TAP Portugal, Thai Airways International, United Airlines. Again the number of miles required depends on the destination of the flight. The exact number is found on [2]. Passengers are only allowed to upgrade one class of service. Only certain booking classes qualify for upgrades.

Redeeming miles for car, hotel, shopping etc.[]

Miles can be redeemed for rental car, hotel, shopping, banks & insurance, telecommunications & electronics industries etc. Moreover, the Miles & More GmbH also continues to expand its offers in relation to travel. The hotel booking portal Miles & More Hotels already makes it easier for users to book the accommodation they need quickly, giving members the opportunity to earn at least 1,000 miles per night or to redeem their miles. In addition to this, the Miles & More rental car service allows members to redeem miles to book rental cars. Avis car rental in US costs 47,000 miles at the minimum, finding a Hilton hotel and shorting the list based on miles is impossible, selection of hotels in Best Western is very limited (The hotels are available in Best Western but most of the hotels in the list in US are NOT available for miles).

Miles & More Credit Card[]

Members of the programme also earn award miles when paying their purchases with their Miles & More credit card. Holders of the Miles & More Credit Card Gold benefit furthermore from unlimited mileage validity. Programme members use more than 1.4 million Miles & More Credit Cards in Germany and 22 additional countries, primarily in Europe, America and Asia.[9]

Status[]

On Miles & More all customers can build status through collecting status miles. The status miles from 1 year only count towards status. Status is important as there are many privileges and advantages that status holders receive (such as priority check-in).

There are four status levels on Miles & More:

Miles & More member status[]

This is the normal status that everybody gets after they join the program. This status does not receive any officially documented privileges. A Miles & More member starts with a temporary paper-card, which is usually cut out from one of the Lufthansa magazines or printed from the internet; a plastic card is sent once the member has credited at least one award mile to their Miles & More account.

Frequent Traveller status[]

The frequent traveller card is given to all Miles & More customers that received a total of over 35,000 status miles or had 30 flights.[10] This status remains valid for two years and a member can requalify in any one of those two years. All status cards expire in February of the third year, i.e. if status is earned in November 2018, the status will be valid until February 2021.

As a frequent traveller a passenger receives a number of privileges:

  • Access to Business Lounges of fully integrated M&M airlines with valid Star Alliance Boarding Pass for the same day and location before departure
  • Access to the Lufthansa Welcome Lounge at Frankfurt with valid Lufthansa Boarding Pass from an intercontinental flight
  • Access to contract lounges at some airports (depending on airline flown)
  • Business Class Check-In at fully integrated M&M airlines regardless of the flown class of service
  • 25% Executive Bonus on award, status and HON Circle miles on all flights with Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines, United Airlines, Austrian Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Air One, Air Dolomiti, Brussels Airlines, Continental Airlines and Air Canada
  • Miles retain unlimited validity can
  • Increased registered baggage allowance: 40 kg on fully integrated M&M airlines (when weight concept applies), 2 pieces 23 kg each on fully integrated M&M airlines (when piece concept applies)
  • All Star Alliance Silver Benefits
  • Exclusive FTL reservation hotline

Senator status[]

Having collected 100,000 Status Miles within one calendar year, Miles & More members will receive "Senator" Status with a validity of at least two years.

The main benefits of Senator status are:

  • All advantages of Frequent Traveller status, in addition:
  • Access to all Senator Lounges with a M&M partner airline boarding pass (needs to be a departing boarding pass for Austrian and Swiss Senator lounges)
  • Access to the Lufthansa Welcome Lounge at Frankfurt with valid Lufthansa Boarding Pass from an arriving intercontinental flight
  • Two eVouchers on achieving status and two more for every status retention, good to upgrade either two short-haul or one long-haul flight
  • Booking guarantee: Up to 48 hours before departure in booking class C (and J on Lufthansa), or up to 72 hours in booking class Y
  • Miles & More companion award: When booking an award ticket with Lufthansa or integrated carriers, the ticket for the companion of the Senator only costs 50% of the mileage
  • Availability of an exclusive telephone service hotline
  • Availability of Mileage advance: The mileage account can be overdrawn by up to 50,000 Miles. This overdraft needs to be "repaid" before the status expires or each mile will be charged 0.024 EUR.
  • Senator Premium award: By using 150% of the award miles, Senators are able to book the very last available seat when it is no longer possible to redeem a regular Miles & More award.
  • All Star Alliance Gold Benefits

HON Circle status[]

Having collected 600,000 HON Circle Miles within two calendar years, Miles & More members receive HON Circle Status with validity of two years. The main perks of having HON status are:

  • All advantages of LH Senator Status, in addition:
  • The HON member's partner receives a complimentary Senator Card.
  • Six eVouchers on achieving status, and six more for every status retention.
  • Booking guarantee: Up to 24 hours before departure in booking classes C (and J on Lufthansa), and 72 hours in booking class Y.
  • Pickup by limousine upon arrival at tarmac position at Frankfurt and Munich
  • Limousine Service to the airplane when departing from a tarmac position at Frankfurt, Munich, Zürich and Vienna
  • Expedited Priority baggage handling: Baggage is labeled with a "HON Priority sticker" to ensure expedited delivery on the luggage belt.
  • Personal assistant at LH cities.
  • Access to the First Class Terminal in Frankfurt and the First Class/HON Circle lounges in Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, Zürich, Geneva and New York/JFK
  • Access to the Lufthansa Welcome Lounge with valid Lufthansa Boarding Pass regardless of origin
  • Exclusive HON Circle reservation hotline

References[]

  1. ^ Star Alliance#Membership History
  2. ^ "Miles & More Airline partners".
  3. ^ "Croatia Airlines Miles & More".
  4. ^ "Miles & More Selections: Extra advantages for status customers". Archived from the original on 2016-02-14.
  5. ^ Miles & More
  6. ^ a b [1]
  7. ^ "Cash & Miles explained". Archived from the original on 2017-06-13.
  8. ^ "Miles & More: lower surcharges for award tickets". Archived from the original on 2018-05-01.
  9. ^ "Miles & More GmbH – Facts and Figures" (PDF).
  10. ^ "Miles & More status levels".[dead link]

External links[]

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