Earlier this year, Lufthansa Group’s Miles & More program announced it would adopt dynamic award pricing. There’s now a major update, as the changes are live as of today (June 3, 2025). So, how bad are these updates? At first glance, it would appear that they could’ve been worse, but the thing about dynamic award pricing is that it can always evolve without notice.
Lufthansa adopts dynamic pricing for award flights
The Lufthansa Miles & More program has completely overhauled mileage redemption rates. There are several components to this, so let’s discuss them, roughly in order of importance.
First of all, for flights on Lufthansa, SWISS, and Austrian, there’s longer an award chart with fixed pricing. Instead, award pricing is based on the ticket price set by the airline, and mileage requirements are then calculated on the basis of the fare you choose, travel class, route, etc.
Award flight options also align with the carrier’s traditional fare bundles, so award flights book into Light, Classic, or Flex fares for flights within Europe, and Light, Basic, Basic Plus, and Flex fares, for intercontinental flights.
The fare bundle you book determines your seating inclusions, baggage policy, change and cancelation policy, etc. Mileage bargain awards have also been eliminated, since award pricing is now dynamic. We’ve also seen the elimination of the award option where you can redeem extra miles to pay lower fees, though rumor has it that this will return later in 2025.
Here’s the part that’s worst of all, though, if you ask me, at least on paper. Typically when airlines switch to dynamic award pricing, the selling point is that you can basically book any seat on any flight. That’s not the case here. Miles & More is continuing to use the same saver level award availability fare buckets (“O” for first class, “I” for business class, and “X” for economy class) in determining whether miles can be redeemed for a flight.
The cost of a flight in miles is based on what the revenue fare would be at the time that you book. Obviously it’s not quite that straightforward, since it’s not that each mile is worth a certain dollar amount toward a ticket. So a ticket that could cost $10,000 doesn’t require 50x as many miles as a ticket that would cost $200. Instead, there’s some other factor at play as well.
With the new pricing having just gone live, it’s hard to get a big picture overview of how major these changes are, especially since it’s possible that some aspects of this are still being tweaked. However, the program shares the following about new award pricing on Lufthansa, SWISS, and Austrian:
- Some economy awards within Europe and in select intercontinental markets now require fewer miles; we’re seeing a “slight increase” in mileage amounts for flights to the Middle East, North and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, etc.
- Some premium economy awards maintain the previous pricing, while most regions are seeing an increase in premium economy pricing
- Business class awards within Europe largely maintain the same pricing, while business class awards to other regions generally now require more miles
- First class awards are becoming more expensive, “due to the exclusive nature of these offers”
When it comes to partner awards (on airlines other than Lufthansa, SWISS, and Austrian), there’s also a new award chart, with pricing increasing in a majority of situations (though few awards are getting cheaper). Below is the new Miles & More partner award chart, as of June 3, 2025.
Below is the previous Miles & More partner award chart, through June 2, 2025.
Just to look at awards between Europe and North America, for roundtrip travel:
- Economy awards have decreased in cost from 60,000 miles to 50,000 miles (so that’s at least good news)
- Premium economy awards have increased in cost from 80,000 miles to 85,000 miles
- Business class awards have increased in cost from 112,000 miles to 125,000 miles
- First class awards have increased in cost from 182,000 miles to 215,000 miles
It’s worth noting that Lufthansa is describing these changes as positive for travelers. Lufthansa has suggested these are “exciting changes,” and the company’s “goal is to continually improve what [they] offer [us].” This reminds me of when Lufthansa eliminated free food and drinks in short haul economy, claiming it was due to “customer feedback.”
My take on these Miles & More program changes
The trend of seeing loyalty programs move toward dynamic award pricing is nothing new. What’s frustrating about Lufthansa’s version of this is that the airline is continuing to use traditional award fare classes, so it’s not like the move to dynamic award pricing comes with access to every seat on a plane. So it kind of seems like the worst of both worlds.
The other thing that many people won’t like is how there are now “basic” award tickets, which come with greater restrictions, high cancelation fees, etc.
So, how is Lufthansa’s new dynamic award pricing? At first glance, some awards are a little cheaper than before, while many are more expensive than before. Looking at first class (which is what I’m sure people are most curious about), some awards are moderately cheaper than before, while many awards seem to cost nearly twice as much as before.
What’s interesting is that the origin now impacts redemption rates. In other words, a Belgrade to Munich to Chicago award flight could cost less than a Munich to Chicago award flight.
What I find most interesting about these changes is that in many situations, this incentivizes Miles & More members to redeem for travel on partner airlines, where there are still fixed award costs. Furthermore, it also incentivizes travelers to redeem other points currencies for travel on Lufthansa Group carriers, rather than Miles & More miles.
As of now, it seems like there aren’t any changes to partner airlines having access to Lufthansa awards, including in first class, so that’s good news at least.
Bottom line
Lufthansa’s Miles & More program has moved to dynamic award pricing. With this change, the program is still limiting members to saver level award availability, but the pricing of those awards is now tied to how much a ticket would cost in cash. Furthermore, partner award costs have been updated as well, largely for the worse.
These changes are now live, but I’d expect to still see some significant adjustments in terms of pricing. As expected, premium awards, especially on long haul flights, are largely more expensive. Furthermore, many people won’t be a fan of the introduction of “basic” awards, which limit flexibility.
The good news is that awards continue to be bookable through partner programs as before, so for most people, that’s the best way to redeem on the airline group.
What do you make of these Miles & More program changes?
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