Miles & More

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Miles & More logo

Miles & More is the largest frequent flyer program in Europe with more than 15 million members as of May 2008. The program was launched by Lufthansa (LH) in 1993 and is currently used by 12 European airlines. The program enables its members to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles on all of the fully integrated airlines as well as all the Star Alliance members.[1] Furthermore, all customers are able to build status, which gives them access to certain privileges. Miles & More is free of charge and everybody can sign up.

Contents

[edit] Partnership history

[edit] Airline partners of Miles & More[3]

[edit] Fully-integrated airline partners

[edit] Star Alliance partner airlines

[edit] Star Alliance regional partners

[edit] Other partners

[edit] The Miles

There are three types of miles within the program.

[edit] Award Miles

These are the miles that can be collected in the account of a member and later on be used to buy flights, upgrades, merchandise from the Lufthansa WorldShop and other Miles & More partners. For standard Miles & More members they retain validity for 36 months, after which they expire. For Frequent Travellers, Senators and HON Circle Card holders, the miles have no expiration date. However, as soon as a customer does not hold any of these cards anymore, the expiration date of all miles is set to 36 months counting from loss of frequent flyer status. For Miles & More Credit Card (Visa or MasterCard) holders issued in several countries, miles have no expiration date as long as the card is held. After the credit card expires, the original expiry date of the miles is reinstated; although the earliest miles can expire is at the end of the quarter after the credit card contract is ended.

[edit] Status Miles

Status miles can only be earned when flying on the fully integrated partner airlines or on Star Alliance members. There is no other way to earn these miles. In addition, status miles expire at the end of each calendar year. They are used to identify the frequent flyers and members are able to qualify for a higher status on the basis of the status miles that they have collected in one year.

[edit] HON Circle Miles

HON Circle miles can only be earned when flying on the fully integrated partner airlines and Air-Rail trains in Germany (up to a total of 100.000 Miles within 2 calendar years). They are necessary to attain the top-tier status on Miles & More - HON Circle. Until April 1, 2006 it was possible to also collect this type of miles on United Airlines. This option does no longer exist.[4] HON-miles are valid for 2 years. Furthermore, only Senators (with an account balance of more than 300,000 status miles over two years) and existing HON Circle members can see these miles on their account statement.

[edit] Earning Miles

Award miles can be earned in various ways. Status miles can only be earned when flying on either the fully integrated partner airlines of Miles & More or the Star Alliance partners. The number of status miles earned is always equivalent to the number of award miles earned on these flights (excluding promotions).

[edit] Flying

The miles that a member receives after having completed depend on a number of factors: the actual mileage flown, the class of service and the booking class. Its high class of service bonuses make Miles & More especially attractive to travellers that fly a lot in First Class and/or Business Class.

[edit] European Flights[5]

German domestic
Class of Service Booking Class Fixed Mileage
Economy Class E, L,T, U 125
Economy Class G, H, K, M, Q, S, V, W 500
Economy Class B, Y 750
Business Class C, D, Z 1500
European Cross-Border Flights
Class of Service Booking Class Fixed Mileaege
Economy Class E, L,T, U 125
Economy Class G, H, K, M, Q, S, V, W 750
Economy Class B, Y 1250
Business Class C, D, Z 2000

[edit] Intercontinental Flights[6]

Class of Service Booking Class Miles received Minimum Mileage
Economy Class S, W Mileage flown x 50% 500
Economy Class G, H, K, M, Q, V Mileage flown x 100% 500
Economy Class B, Y Mileage flown x 150% 750
Business Class C, D, Z Mileage flown x 200% 1,000
First Class A, F Mileage flown x 300% 1,250

These mileages do only apply for flights operated by Lufthansa and Lufthansa Regional. Additionally, there is the possibility to earn 10,000 miles on all flights operated by the Lufthansa Private Jet.

[edit] Other earning opportunities

Lufthansa always has a number of promotions. Most of them last for 1-2 months only. They include double mileage on new routes, extra miles for using electronic check-in and alike. Some of the promotions are restricted to residents of certain countries and others are restricted to certain customers.

There are other possibilities of collecting miles when not travelling. You can subscribe to the Lufthansa Miles & More Credit Card (depending on market issued as VISA or MasterCard) and collect one mile for every Dollar/Euro spent; you also receive a one-time sign-up bonus. Furthermore, miles can be earned on certain DeutscheBahn trains, when staying in certain hotels, shopping in certain shops (such as the LH Worldshop), renting cars, investing in certain funds, opening an account with certain banks, picking up a catalogue in a Bang & Olufsen store, etc. To see all the offers please refer to the Miles & More website as offers differ per country. However, all these offers do not earn any status miles. If a customer does not have enough miles for his/her award there is also the possibilitiy of acquiring up to 10,000 miles for €240.00.

[edit] Redeeming Miles

Once a member has collected the necessary number of miles it is possible for that member to use the miles to pay for flights, upgrades and products from the Lufthansa Worldshop.

[edit] Redeeming Miles for flights

Miles in a member's account can be exchanged for award flights on all the fully integrated airline partners and all of the Star Alliance carriers. The number of miles that is deducted from the account depends on the origin and destination of that flight. The number of miles that is required can be checked in this file. Customers do, however, have to take into account that these award flights are subject to availability and are not available on all routes on all dates.

[edit] Redeeming Miles for upgrades

Miles can be redeemed for upgrades on all fully integrated carriers of Miles & More and on the following Star-Alliance partners: All Nippon Airways (ANA), Asiana Airlines, Condor Airlines, Singapore Airlines, TAP Portugal, Thai Airways International, United Airlines. Again the number of miles required depends on the destination of the flight. You can find the exact number on this site. Again, these upgrades are not guaranteed and the availability in the higher classes of service has to be taken into account. Passengers are only allowed to upgrade one class of service. Only certain booking classes qualify for upgrades.

[edit] Status

On Miles & More all customers can build status through collecting status miles. The status miles from 1 year only count towards status. Status is important as there are many privileges and advantages that status holders receive (such as priority check-in etc.).

There are 4 different status level on Miles & More:

[edit] Miles & More status

This is the normal status that everybody gets after they initially joined the program. This status does not receive any officially documented privileges. A Miles & More member initially starts with a temporary paper-card, which is usually cut out from one of the Lufthansa magazines or printed from the internet. New: Since 01.October 2007 Lufthansa will send their customers the Miles & More plastic card via mail after the customer has accrued 3,000 Miles. New members are sometimes given 2,000 or so Welcome Miles.[citation needed]

[edit] Frequent Traveller status

Lufthansa Frequent Traveller card.

The frequent traveller card is given to all Miles & More customers that received a total of over 35,000 status miles in one calendar year. This status remains valid for two years and a member can requalify in any one of those two years. Usually, all status cards expire in February of the third year, e.g. status earned in December 2006, status valid until February 2009.

As a frequent traveller a passenger receives a number of privileges:

  • Access to Business Lounges of fully integrated M&M airlines with valid Star Alliance Boarding Pass for the same day and location before departure
  • Access to LH Frequent Traveller Lounge with valid Star Alliance Boarding Pass for the same day and location before departure
  • Business Class Check-In at fully integrated M&M airlines regardless of the flown class of service
  • 25% Executive Bonus on award, status and HON Circle miles on all flights with Lufthansa, Swiss, United Airlines, US Airways, Austrian Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Air One, Air Dolomiti and Air Canada
  • Miles retain unlimited validity
  • Increased registered baggage allowance: 40 kg on fully integrated M&M airlines (when weight concept applies)
  • All Star Alliance Silver Benefits
  • Exclusive FTL reservation hotline

[edit] Senator status

When having collected 100.000 Status Miles (130.000 Miles for residents of Germany) within one calendar year, Miles & More members will receive "Senator" Status with a validity of at least 2 years. . The main benefits of Senator status are:

  • All advantages of Frequent Traveller status, in addition:
  • Access to all LH Senator Lounges, regardless of airline flown
  • Two eVouchers on achieving status and two more for every status retention, good to upgrade either two short-haul or one long-haul flight
  • Booking guarantee: Up to 48 hours before departure in booking class C, or up to 72 hours in booking class Y
  • Miles & More companion award: When booking an award ticket with Lufthansa or integrated carriers, the ticket for an accompanying second person only costs 50% of the mileage
  • Availability of an exclusive telephone service hotline
  • Availability of Mileage advance: The mileage account can be overdrawn by up to 50,000 Miles. This overdraft needs to be "repaid" until the status expires or each mile will be charged 0.024 EUR.
  • Senator Premium award: By using double the number of award miles Senators are able to book the very last available seat when it is no longer possible to redeem a regular Miles & More award.
  • All Star Alliance Gold Benefits

[edit] HON Circle status

When having collected 600.000 HON Circle Miles within two calendar years, Miles & More members receive HON Circle Status with validity of 2 years. The main perks of having HON status are:

  • All advantages of LH Senator Status, in addition:
  • The HON member's partner receives a complimentary Senator Card.
  • 25% Executive Bonus on award, status and HON Circle miles on all flights with Lufthansa, Swiss, United Airlines, US Airways, Austrian Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Air One, Air Dolomiti and Air Canada. This was reduced from previously 50% on January 1st, 2008
  • Six eVouchers on achieving status, and six more for every status retention.
  • Booking guarantee: Up to 24 hours before departure in booking class C and D, and 72 hours in booking class Y.
  • Pickup by limousine upon arrival at tarmac position at Frankfurt and Munich
  • Limousine Service to the airplane when departing from a tarmac position at Frankfurt, Munich, Zürich and Vienna
  • Expedited Priority baggage handling: Baggage is labeled with a "HON Priority sticker" to ensure expedited delivery on the luggage belt.
  • Personal assistant at LH cities.
  • Access to the First Class Terminal in Frankfurt and the First Class/HON Circle lounges in Munich, Vienna, Zürich and Geneva
  • Exclusive HON Circle reservation hotline

[edit] References

  1. ^ Neue Zürcher Zeitung of 18 March 2006
  2. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Alliance#Membership_History
  3. ^ Miles & More
  4. ^ Miles & More
  5. ^ (German) Miles & More
  6. ^ (German) Miles & More

[edit] External links

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Frequent flyer programs