by Lufthansa Flyer | May 25, 2016 | Featured, Industry News, Lufthansa, Miles & More |
Miles & More has begun to unveil what some of the changes will be to the program beginning later this year. So far, it’s nothing to panic about and actually may be acceptable to most.
In the first phase, M&M is focusing on Intra-Europe award travel. Specifically, it appears that ticket surcharges will decrease substantially and the amount of miles required to redeem a ticket will go up modestly.
Beginning with bookings made on September 15, 2016 or later, ‘Intra-Europe’ redemption surcharges will decrease from €40 to only €5 for Economy Class and for Business Class the fee will go down from €43 to €20. This will apply to flights operated by LH Group Airlines. As far as miles are concerned, Economy and Business Class ticket redemptions will increase by 5000 miles (roundtrip booking).
In reality this is a fairly ‘passenger friendly’ deal. I’m sure most of us would be willing to spend 5k more miles instead of €20 to €35 more in fees. For you dissenters, keep in mind it could have been much worse!
Expect changes to be announced for Intercontinental travel in the near future.
H/T: VFT’s Miles & More Forum
by Lufthansa Flyer | Apr 20, 2016 | Featured, Lufthansa, Miles & More |
If things go according to plan and history, Lufthansa should be rolling out ‘enhancements’ to Miles & More sometime in the 3rd or 4th quarter of this year. Typically LH tweaks their program every 2 years so we’re due, and if the announcement is similar to what other Frequent Flyer programs have implemented, people will start to cry that the sky is falling and the end days are upon the elitist maximizer…….
If you have been paying attention to airline loyalty programs, you’ll notice that most have transitioned, or are transitioning away from miles flown to determine status and are gravitating towards cash spent to determine status levels. In other words, programs have become revenue based and the trend is spreading through the airline industry.
What may happen to Miles & More? A few things…..
According to trusted sources that are near and dear to Lufthansa, it appears that one major change to Miles & More will be a move towards a revenue-based loyalty program. From an airline’s perspective, this model has obvious advantages to the balance sheet and only makes sense to be implemented. What remains to be seen is what the spend requirements will be for those striving for Frequent Traveller, Senator or HON Circle status levels. Should the revenue model come to pass, expect the program to be favored towards passengers who are paying for full fare classes (F, A, C, D, J, E, G, B, Y).
Discount fare classes such as P and Z along with most Economy Classes will be on the losing side of the proposition as far as helping you gain status is concerned. Another major concern will be how the program handles passengers who fly a lot of segments within Germany and Europe, but don’t spend a lot of money because even the most premium fares are not very high in most cases.
Other considerations on the drawing board for Miles & More include revamping the program to better integrate Eurowings (Lufthansa’s Low Cost Carrier unit) and how mileage/spend credit will be calculated from flights operated for Star Alliance member airlines. Not much has come out of the rumor mill on these points, but it is obvious that Miles & More will need to be amended to account for these points should the transition to revenue-based loyalty take place.
Am I a fan of this? Mostly yes.
What I like about revenue based programs is that it does reward an airline’s best customers and that is what a loyalty program should do. Reward those that spend the most money, not those trying to ‘game’ the system just so they can get into a lounge. What I don’t like is that I’ll have to focus more on the dollars I spend vs. the fare classes I buy, but the benefits of the program and my travel habits easily support the decision to accept a revenue-based plan.
With the current Miles & More platform for example, it is easy to gain Senator Status for as low as $4000-5000. Especially when you can book United ‘A’ fares within the United States for only $800 (Chicago -Washington DC – Seattle as an example). A smartly built itinerary can easily yield 18-20,000 status miles with something like this. Book 5 or 6 trips, and you’re Senator. You never would even have to board a Lufthansa operated flight to earn SEN, yet Lufthansa now bears the costs of that Senator’s membership including Lounge Access, E-Vouchers, etc. Creating a true loyalty program that actually rewards loyalty is in my opinion the proper business decision for any airline.
Predictably, there will be a lot of protesting, snorting and grunting if and when these changes come to pass. In my humble opinion, the Snorters and Grunters will ultimately be those that will be priced out of a loyalty program simply due to their lack of loyalty. In theory this should improve the quality of the program for those who actually are loyal (key words of course being ‘in theory’).
Much more to come as we get closer to September and October when I expect the rollout of any changes.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Dec 22, 2015 | Contests, Featured, Lufthansa, Miles & More |
Late last night I received a message from a reader who asked if I could help him find a good home for 2 eVouchers that are expiring at the end of this year. Unfortunately (or fortunately for you?) he won’t be able to use the vouchers for his own travels, but has generously offered them up to a deserving traveller…..
After thinking on it for a few hours I think I’ve come up with the perfect way to get these vouchers into the hands of someone who can use them.
For the next 3 days, until midnight December 24, anyone who leaves their travel plans in the comment section of this post will have a chance to get the vouchers. Once the deadline passes, the person (grantor) donating these vouchers will review all entries and he will pick the one that he feels is the best one. One winner will receive both vouchers.
Keep in mind, your itinerary must already be booked. In order to get the vouchers, your PNR or Locator code must be used when the vouchers are redeemed by the grantor.
Even though the vouchers expire on December 31, they can be applied to bookings in the future. You do not need to travel by the end of this month.
Keep in mind that not every fare class is eligible for upgrade via voucher. It is your responsibility to know if your fares are upgradeable! The winner will not be awarded the vouchers if the fares in their itinerary are not eligible.
To learn about the various options, including fare classes and using the vouchers on Star Alliance partners, please visit the FlyerTalk thread that specifically addresses how to use the vouchers. Pay special attention to the ‘Wiki’ at the top of that thread. If you have any specific ‘what-if’ questions, feel free to post them in that thread.
You can also refer to the Miles & More ‘Terms and Conditions’ for additional rules governing the use of Vouchers. Please do not leave questions in the comment area as to how to use the vouchers. There’s no guarantee that I’ll be able to answer the question in a timely manner.
The winner will be contacted by email by December 27. Please make sure to leave your email address in the appropriate field when entering your comments.
LufthansaFlyer assumes no responsibility or liability as to the use of the vouchers.
UPDATE: The vouchers have to ‘clear’ before expiring on December 31. Should the winner’s booking not ‘clear’ the upgrade at the time the upgrade is requested, another winner may be selected if the Grantor choses to do so.
