In November 2019, Lufthansa announced major changes to its Miles & More frequent flyer program. The changes were initially supposed to kick in as of 2021, though logically enough they were postponed indefinitely due to the pandemic.
We now have an update on this — Lufthansa intends to implement Miles & More program changes as of January 1, 2024, and this has just been communicated to members. Interestingly some further changes have been made compared to the initially announced changes. Let’s go over all the details of the new program.
All of this is in addition to Lufthansa Miles & More going revenue based in 2018, and also devaluing its award chart in 2019.
Lufthansa’s letter to Miles & More members
To start, let me share the letter that Lufthansa sent to Miles & More members in November 2019, describing the changes:
As our guest you are at the heart of our thoughts and actions. We want to make traveling as personal, simple and pleasant as possible for you, so every one of your journeys becomes a positive experience. That is our aspiration for our new, modern premium concept.
Our status programme only met this requirement to a limited extent in recent years. Your wishes for simplification also reached us more and more frequently. We have therefore set out to revise our frequent flyer programme for you. In future, you will not have to spend a lot of time figuring out rules or asking yourself how to achieve your status. You will be able to concentrate solely on what is important to you and enjoy your journey.
Today, we would like to take this opportunity to share the initial details about our frequent flyer programme with you. Here are the most important new features you can expect:
* How to achieve status will become more transparent – a comprehensible points system will replace the status miles.
* Your trust in us will pay off – status will primarily be achieved through flights with our airlines.
* Loyalty will be rewarded – there will be lifetime Frequent Traveller and Senator status for loyalty over many years.
* The period of validity will be changed – your status will be active for at least one year in future.
* The structure will become clearer – we will say goodbye to complicated elements such as Status Stars.We look forward to traveling with you again soon.
There is some ridiculous spin in this letter — “you will not have to spend a lot of time figuring out rules or asking yourself how to achieve status,” but rather “you will be able to concentrate solely on what is important to you and enjoy your journey.”
The new Lufthansa Miles & More program
As you can probably tell, the above doesn’t actually tell us much about what is changing. Fortunately Lufthansa has published all of the details of the new program. Lufthansa’s head of marketing has made two promises about the new program:
- It will be a lot easier for everyone
- Anyone flying with Lufthansa Group’s airlines will be rewarded more
Those sure are some promises…
Lufthansa will award status points rather than miles
As of January 1, 2024, you’ll no longer earn status based on a multiplier of the distance flown, but rather you’ll earn status based on earning a certain number of points. Note that this doesn’t change how you earn award miles, but rather this only impacts earning status.
The points earned will vary based on the cabin you’re flying, and whether you’re flying a continental or intercontinental flight:
- In economy you’ll earn 20 qualifying points for continental and 60 qualifying points for intercontinental
- In premium economy you’ll earn 20 qualifying points for continental and 80 qualifying points for intercontinental
- In business class you’ll earn 40 qualifying points for continental and 200 qualifying points for intercontinental
- In first class you’ll earn 40 qualifying points for continental and 300 qualifying points for intercontinental
It’s quite surprising that the most discounted fare in a cabin will earn the same number of points as the most expensive fare. This presents some interesting potential mileage run opportunities. Note that only qualifying points in first and business class count as HON Circle points, while points earned in economy and premium economy don’t count toward that.
Continental vs. intercontinental flights
The definition of continental and intercontinental isn’t quite as straightforward as you’d expect:
- A continental flight is a segment for which the arrival and departure airport are on the same continent
- An intercontinental flight is a segment for which the arrival and departure airport are on different continents
- Miles & More is counting North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia) as being part of Europe, in order to avoid a sweet spot mileage run opportunity (as this would have otherwise been a very easy way to earn status)
Points vs. qualifying points
Under the new program, Miles & More will have both “points” and “qualifying points.”
If you’re flying one of the following airlines you’ll earn “qualifying points” (these are either Lufthansa Group airlines, or airlines that use Miles & More as their frequent flyer program):
- Austrian Airlines
- Lufthansa
- SWISS
- Brussels Airlines
- Eurowings
- Air Dolomiti
- Croatia Airlines
- LOT Polish Airlines
- Luxair
Meanwhile travel on other airlines will just accrue points (and not “qualifying points”). While “regular” points can still count toward status, you need to earn a minimum number of qualifying points to earn status.
See, the program is so easy? 😉
New Miles & More status requirements
With the new program:
- Frequent Traveler status will require 650 points, and half of those need to be qualifying points
- Senator status will require 2,000 points, and half of those need to be qualifying points
- HON Circle status will require 6,000 points, all of which need to be qualifying points
Status will only be valid for a year
Historically Lufthansa status has been valid for two years, though with the new program it will only be valid for one year. I’d say that’s a pretty big devaluation.
Lufthansa introducing lifetime status
Lufthansa will be introducing lifetime status for the first time:
- Lifetime Frequent Traveler status can be achieved with 30,000 qualifying points
- Lifetime Senator status can be achieved with 40,000 qualifying points plus 10 years of Senator or HON Circle status
In both cases, only qualifying points will count toward lifetime status, so travel on most Star Alliance airlines wouldn’t qualify. If you’ve been loyal to Miles & More up until now, you can earn lifetime status based on your past activity.
Status threshold rewards tied to qualifying points
With the new Miles & More program, you’ll receive additional elite benefits based on how many qualifying points you earn, with no need to request them.
For Frequent Traveller members:
- Earn 800 qualifying points, get access to the mileage exchange feature
For Senator members:
- Earn 2,500 qualifying points, receive two eVouchers
- Earn 3,500 qualifying points, receive 15,000 award miles
- Earn 5,000 qualifying points, receive a Frequent Traveller partner card
For HON Circle members:
- Earn 7,000 qualifying points, receive two eVouchers
- Earn 8,500 qualifying points, receive 30,000 award miles
- Earn 10,000 qualifying points, receive two eVouchers
- Earn 11,500 qualifying points, receive a Frequent Traveller partner card
- Earn 13,000 qualifying points, receive a Senator partner card
Bottom line
Major changes were announced to the Lufthansa Miles & More program back in November 2019. Due to the pandemic they were postponed, but they’re now expected to go live as of the beginning of 2024.
Some people may be surprised to hear this, but I don’t actually think the new program is necessarily negative. Every program has pros and cons, and this of course represents a significant change.
I’d say it’s very bad news that status is now only valid for a year, while the good news is that lifetime status is being introduced. Other than that, I’d say the changes aren’t necessarily bad. Of course everyone has different travel patterns and preferences.
It’s interesting that Lufthansa has made several negative changes to the new program since first announcing it in 2019. For example, Lufthansa is considering North Africa to be Europe for the purposes of earning points, and economy travel won’t count toward HON Circle status (while previously the plan was that it would count).
What do you make of these Lufthansa Miles & More changes?
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