Miles&More revolution, the definitive guide to Lufthansa's new frequent flyer rules

As of Jan. 1, changes to the loyalty program went into effect for good. Miles&More, or the frequent flyer of Lufthansa and all group airlines such as Swiss, Austrian, Brussels, and Air Dolomiti. A change announced in 2018, stopped by covid and that Instead, it is now fully operational.

Status lasts for 1 year

Of all the changes the most important one is definitely the validity of the card which will be halved from now on. Those who earn one of the three elite levels: frequent traveler, Senator, and HON Circle will retain the level for 12 months instead of 24 as until yesterday.

Those who obtained the status in 2023 will enjoy the level until 02/28/26 and this will allow current Miles&More elite passengers to be able to acclimate with the new rules since they will not have to struggle to renew their status during 2024.

Having the qualification period fixed January 1-December 31, those who obtain status during the course of the year retain it throughout the current year, until February 28 of the following year. An identical operation to, for example, ITA Airways' Volare program.

There are points and miles

The change, as mentioned above, concerns the mode of obtaining status, M&M chose to copy systems used by companies such as Air France KLM, British Airways, Qatar or Finnair just to name a few.

With the new program when you fly you will accumulate points, qualifying points and HON Circle points and no longer status miles. The number of points you get for each flight is fixed by route and cabin and does not depend in any way on ticket status or class.

This system in my opinion is the absolute best to be able to plan with granitic certainty for the status race, without having to do complicated calculations of miles flown or fares bought. For a serial traveler like me, this is perfect because I plan my flights precisely according to status, and this system makes planning so much easier.

Old levels, new requirements

M&M did not touch levels and benefits, although I expect in the coming months an improvement in the privileges provided to frequent flyers by virtue of (likely) fewer elite passengers.

• Frequent Traveller: 650 Points and 325 Qualifying Points in one year
• Senator: 2000 points and 1000 qualifying points in one year.
• HON Circle: 6000 HON Circle Points in One Year

You have to fly a lot LH

The new rules, the ones that are causing the most confusion for members around the world, include the following A different type of qualifying points. And this is the main characterization chosen by M&M, which is to force the passenger who wants to obtain the status to fly a lot with the German group companies.

For example with British Airways, I have to fly within the 12-month period 4 routes with the British flag carrier to renew the Gold card. Any kind of route, even in basic economy. The rest of my 1500 tier points I can collect indifferently with any other oneWorld airline.

Instead M&M expects the passenger to accumulate at least 50% of the necessary points by flying on proprietary iron, this is perhaps the most important constraint and the one that will force mileage accumulators to choose their strategy carefully.

For those who aspire to the HON Circle Olympus, it changes little (or nothing) you have to fly a lot and only in business or higher and only with group carriers, a difficult goal for 99.9% of users to achieve, but a hardship that LH rewards with a truly unique treatment even compared to all other airlines.

The group airlines (Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Eurowings Discover, Lufthansa, SWISS, Croatia Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Luxair) will allow you to accumulate both points and qualifying points, while those Star Alliance partners or commercial partners will only credit points, so that's why unlike the other programs you need to fly (a lot) with the former rather than partners. Ca va sans dire that flying Tap or United will not accumulate Hon Circle Points either.

The discriminant of destination

Goodbye distance traveled, goodbye domestic or international flights. The world is divided into two: continental and intercontinental flights. Depending on the destination you will accumulate a different number of points, qualifying points and HON Circle points.

How many points you get from flights

There is no difference between basic or HON Circle user, all receive the same number of points, qualifying points and HON Circle points. Continental flights are those that take off/land on the same continent, excluding flights from Europe to Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia, which are included in continental European destinations.

The table stipulates that points should be accumulated in this way:

1. Continental destination: 20 points for an economy flight and 40 for a business flight
2. Intercontinental destination: 60 points for a flight in economy, 80 points for a flight in premium economy, 200 for a flight in business, and 300 for each leg in first class

If you fly on group rail you get points and qualifying points, and in the case of business/first ticket also Hon Circle points. Conversely if you fly on Star Alliance airlines or other partners you will only accumulate points.

Some practical examples

From Milan to Los Angeles in business class with Lufthansa via Frankfurt will allow the member to accumulate 40 points for the LIN/FRA route and 200 points for FRA/LAX, thus a total of 240 qualifying points, points and HON circle points. If the same ticket is operated by United with the MXP/EWR and EWR/LAX route the same number of points (240) will be accumulated, but no qualifying points or HON Circle points will be accumulated.

As mentioned, it is the same system as Flying Blue's XP or British Airways' Tier Points, just to name a couple.

Comparison with other programs

Net of the different rules, different names, and different amounts of points required I do a little comparison on the difficulty, or not, of getting the Senator level comparing it with British Airways' Executive Club Gold level and Flying Blue's Platinum level, which are the highest of the "human" levels.

I give a standard example for everyone, that is, calculating only the points you get from flying from the main hub to New York. For us Italians, we have to take into account any approach flights and, in the case of British and Air France that longer intercontinental flights get even more points, reducing the total number of flights to be made

• Senator Miles&More 2000 points: is obtained/renewed with 10 intercontinental routes in business class, at least half of which must be done on flights with LH group airlines
• Gold Executive Club 1500 points: is obtained/renewed with 11 intercontinental routes in business class, to have this status you must fly at least 4 times within 12 months with BA in any route/class
• Platinum Flying Blue 300 points: is renewed with 10 intercontinental routes in business class, to have this status you need to fly at least 2 times within 12 months with Air France KLM in any route/class

The Miles&More Credit Card

For less than 12 months for the Italian market there has been a new credit card which allows you to earn Miles&More miles and gives a number of benefits to holders such as free lounge access and especially one of the best benefits is that using the card daily endlessly renews the validity of the accumulated miles even for those without elite status.

In conclusion

When there are changes, it is normal to be disoriented and for certainties to waver. It is clear that LH with this change aims to modernize its loyalty program and probably thin out the list of status holders. This system is the one I prefer because it is the one that allows mileage runs to grab status while spending as little as possible.

It should not be forgotten that, unlike ITA's Volare or the other programs mentioned. if you get the Frequent Traveller level, which is the first step above the basic card, you already get access to business lounges and airport privileges.

This means that if you find an attractive intercontinental fare you can put 480 qualifying points in your pocket with a business class round-trip ticket.

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