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MILES & MORE NEW AWARD MILES POLICY Recent changes to Lufthansa’s Miles & More traveller loyalty scheme have caused some confusion among BT’s Forum users…
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➜ F R ANÇ OI S I do not understand Lufthansa’s new Miles & More programme, since the same flights/same airline/same booking class may result in a different mileage award. What I do understand is that the mileage award has been severely reduced (as we all know when an airline is changing the rules). Also, it takes a very long time to get the mileage on account after a flight if not in the LH group. Is anyone else having the same issues?
➜ C AP E TONIANM I haven’t looked closely into the new M&M scheme, as I decided long ago that frequent flyer redemption schemes are more trouble than they are worth – though I do know that a number of posters here will disagree. I understand that there is now a direct
correlation between the fare paid and the miles awarded. When you say “booking class”, I assume you mean “cabin” as in F, C, W, or M, in the case of a four-class configuration. However, within each cabin there are multiple sub-classes or revenue buckets, each allied to a specific fare. This means that you could sit in the C class cabin, but you’re on a deep discount fare, so your booking class (as opposed to cabin class) is Z, for example. You paid $1,000 for your ticket and so you get 1,000 miles. The chap sitting next to you paid the full C class fare of $3,500, and so gets 3,500 miles awarded.
➜ S ANR AN It is even more complicated if you pay in a different currency than Euros, because
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on top of what capetonianm said, they make a conversion from, say, CHF or GBP to EUR. Anyhow I have no clue which exchange rate they use. From my experience sometimes you
lose, sometimes you win. If you compare the award miles with the status miles you get, you will understand which case is yours. Award miles you keep calculating in the old way.
➜ F R ANÇ OI S Actually I was speaking of the same booking fare. I am well aware that different prices exist for same the cabin, ie C, D or J. In my case, different mileages for the exact same booking fare (D).
➜ CHR I STOP HEL The new policy is very simple to understand (IMHO far better than the previous rules): the more you pay, the more miles you get. Same booking fare has never meant same price. The new rule is “Same fare paid, same amount of miles/Avios”. This new rule makes it impossible to do
some “mileage runs”. No more bargains regarding mileage accrual. Welcome to the pure capitalist world! One penny worth one penny! Within a few years I expect airlines to
be stopping frequent flyer programmes and starting a new cashback game – which indeed has already started with those airlines that allow you to pay part of the price of your ticket with accrued miles/Avios.
➜ F R ANÇ OI S As a matter of fact Status miles are still counted the old way and it is the Award miles that have changed.
➜ F D O S_UK Frequent flyer schemes can be okay (I make British Airways Executive Club work reasonably well for me, and some people can do very well), but capetonianm has a point and it will
become ever more relevant as airlines slice the salami [ever finer].
➜ L U G ANOP IR A TE From my understanding the fare paid will be converted to Euros, then you will receive four miles per Euro spent, or six miles if you are Senator or Gold status. Not sure about Silver. For my usual route in F, MXP-JNB
[Milan to Johannesburg] and vice versa, I would normally receive 39,000 miles but now it will be between 30,000 and 36,000 miles, so a 10-15 per cent reduction. However, status miles are awarded according to the old system, meaning I’ll still receive 39,000 status miles – which for me is a bit academic, as I now have Senator for Life status.
➜ F R ANÇ OI S Thank you luganopirate. This is exactly what I meant, major reduction in award miles. Status miles are not relevant since I easily achieve my Senator status each year. Question: how do you get Senator for Life status?
➜ L U G ANOP IR A TE You need to fulfil three criteria Francois. 1) Be a Senator for an unbroken ten years – if you fail this, even in the ninth year, the clock starts again. 2) Be at least 60 years old. 3) Have obtained at least one million status miles in the last ten years.
➜ F R ANÇ OI S Thank you luganopirate. I believe I fulfil all three conditions… so I will check with M&M. BT
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