Questions and Answers

I’m a Miles and More Senator, with nearly 1m award miles accumulated in my account. Every time I think of redeeming some of these miles with Lufthansa (or Swiss), especially on their Business Mileage Bargain rates, to book a “free” business class ticket, I cringe at the fees I have to pay! For example, I just looked at ATH – FRA – JFK – MUC – ATH in early February 2019, and they have a promotion going on whereby I can book this (on certain flights) for 55k miles in Business Class, but the fees total is €511,72!!! Of this, €382 is “International/Domestic Surcharge” and another €40 is “Passenger Service Charge – Intl”, which also sounds like something LH will pocket. That’s NUTS!! Even if I book at the normal redemption rate of 105k miles, the fees are the same!

I have two questions:
1) Can I use my M&M award miles to book “free” flights with other Star Alliance airlines that charge less fees? Does that make sense?
2) I’m already qualified (after my flights for this year) for Senator Status with Lufthansa (and thus Star Alliance Gold) until early 2022. So, I can get the benefits for another 3 years even if I do not fly them or get miles with them again. Should I consider signing up for another Star Alliance airline program, and, even when flying LH or Swiss (which is most of my flights) earn points with that airline, and if so, which one?

I’m trying to get to a point where I can redeem my 1m miles for flights without having to pay fees that amount to about 30% of what I would pay for the tickets anyway!

Thanks in advance everyone!

Well, flights arent “free” you had paid travel or some other kind of spend to earn those miles, for which you give up in exchange for a seat. LH isn’t just giving you miles for nothing.

1 – Yes, you can but if M&M [I]as a program[/I] decides to pass on surcharges from other carriers(like British Airways), you still havent escaped fees. Some programs only pass on surcharges for select airlines (Aeroplan, Alaska). I dont know if M&M supports partner booking online – if not, you can call them and an agent can assist you.

2 – You will have the benefits until 2022 even if you stop flying with LH Group. United Airline’s program currently doesnt pass on surcharges for award tickets, you could look into that program.

In all honestly, 55k plus €512 for round trip business class isnt all THAT terrible. Some programs charge 55k or more for one way travel, PLUS FEES.