Over the course of the past few weeks I have been debating whether or not it makes sense based on my travel patterns to change Frequent Flyer Programs. After hours of analysis, Pro-Con self talk and consulting with those whose opinions I trust I made the decision to stop using United’s Mileage Plus program (where I am a 1K) and focus all of my efforts in 2015 on Lufthansa’s Miles & More and SENATOR status. For the record, I have absolutely no problem with Mileage Plus and was treated very well as a 1K. As the old management axiom states, ‘I am running towards something, not away from something’.
The context and reason behind the switch is multi-fold and here is part of my rationalization and argument:
- EARNING ELITE QUALIFYING MILES: For 2015, I will have no less than 5 or 6 long haul round trips on Lufthansa in Business Class (P or Z fare classes) between the USA and Europe and an additional Business Class long haul flight between the USA and Johannesburg (via FRA) in P or Z as well. Worst case scenario would be to fly only P fares and earn 100% miles, which would come to approximately 65,000 miles for my planned activity. I expect that there will be a mix of Z and P fares that will drive the miles that I earn beyond this minimum. There will also be the opportunity to fly in the new Premium Economy cabin which for a fraction of the cost of Business Class, will credit me with at least 100% of miles flown. This also does not include my domestic travel in the USA on United. Though many of United’s fare classes only credit 25 or 50% of miles flown to Miles & More, I can pay a little bit more for higher fare classes that earn 100% mileage credit and not have trouble reaching 100,000 Elite Qualifying Miles with Miles & More. ADVANTAGE: Mileage Plus.
- STATUS LONGEVITY: SENATOR status with Miles & More is valid for 2 full years following the year you qualify. In other words, when I qualify for ‘SEN’ in 2015, my status level will expire at the end of 2017 (technically February 2018). This structure gives me the opportunity to take a ‘breather’ every other year and not worry about how I will come up with 100k EQM every year. 95% of my travel is for leisure so I do not have the benefits of being a corporate road warrior that would help me build my miles. It amounts in my mind to an Earn/Burn/Earn scenario: Earn miles in year 1 then use miles in year 2 or at least reduce the ‘earn miles’ component in year 2 and then ramp up for a big Earn Year in the following year. This was one of the most important reasons that led to my decision. It takes a lot of pressure off of me to repeat 100k each year. ADVANTAGE: Miles & More.
- REDEMPTION OPPORTUNITIES: Its no secret that United substantially devalued Mileage Plus as far as using miles for travel on non-United operated flights. No doubt in part to all of the miles you can get from all of the UA branded Chase credit cards. When I compare redemption tables, Miles & More in my mind is the much better option. For this comparison, I am looking strictly at redemptions for travel between the USA in Europe since that is my primary travel ‘corridor’.
To redeem a Business Class ticket on Lufthansa through Mileage Plus, it will take 140,000 miles. Through Miles & More it only takes 105,000 miles. In addition to the standard rate of 105,000 miles, Miles & More REGULARLY OFFERS Mileage Bargains where you can usually find Business Class award bookings for only 55,000 miles ROUNDTRIP! United comes no where close with Mileage Plus. For a First Class ticket, Mileage Plus will take 220,000 miles from you for your ticket whereas Miles & More will only debit your account for only 170,000 miles. That 50,000 mile difference is nearly the miles needed for a Business Class seat redemption! For an Economy ticket, redeeming through Miles & More as a US resident will take only 50,000 miles whereas United is 60,000 miles. Through the ‘Mileage Bargain’ offers, that becomes only 30,000 miles for a roundtrip. Additionally, Premium Cabin award inventory is far, far, FAR better than options offered by UA for Lufthansa operated flights. Another outstanding benefit is that ability for me to book First Class Award Tickets up 361 days prior to departure. Mileage Plus only allowing you to book LH First Class tickets 10-14 days prior to departure. Big advantage there.
However all is not perfect with Miles & More when it comes to redeeming miles for travel. Miles & More imposes significant YQ (a.k.a Fuel Surcharge) expenses on award tickets. For Economy tickets, typical YQ will be in the $350-400 range. For Business and First Class seats, the YQ for both will typically be around $1000. Some may say that I would be ‘stupid’ to pay such a high YQ surcharge because United’s Mileage Plus doesn’t collect this surcharge. However, I am not at all concerned with paying what I consider a very modest cost for the product that I get in return. Here’s an example that I think supports my argument: Is it more cost effective to pay $900 in YQ and spend 55,000 miles (Assuming Mileage Bargain Fare) to get a Business Class ticket through Mileage & More, or is it better to burn 140,000 miles through Mileage Plus for the same ticket? I can argue that I can redeem almost 3 Business Class tickets through Miles & More vs. only 1 through Mileage Plus for the same amount of miles. It would cost me about $2700-3000 in YQ to do this, but I’m getting in the neighborhood of $15-21,000 worth of tickets (Assuming a business class ticket from GRR to Europe typically costs between $5,000 and $7,000 when not on sale). The Cost / Benefit ratio in my opinion clearly sides with Miles & More. ADVANTAGE: Miles & More.
- STATUS INTANGIBLES: I’ll be the first to admit that I am not a Miles & More expert at this point, but that will change over time. What I do know is that Miles & More offers certain perks that are important to me as a Lufthansa passenger. One of the best ‘intangible’ benefits is the ability to be put on a wait list for an award booking when inventory is not available at the time that I look for an award redemption. I simply go on a waitlist and my ticket is booked automatically once inventory opens. This is a fairly important benefit! United does not offer a wait list for award bookings. Another benefit that makes little sense to me is the fact that SENATOR level members can access United Clubs in the USA when traveling on Star Alliance member flights no matter what class of travel they’re in. United doesn’t even let their own 1K members access the lounge without an expensive membership or an International Business Class ticket. United must have some logic to this, but I’m not a fan of the policy. ADVANTAGE: Miles & More.
- WHAT DO I LOSE / GIVE UP BY LEAVING MILEAGE PLUS?: Quite a bit actually. For one, I lose the ability to receive unlimited complimentary upgrades on travel within the US. This year, I had a success rate of over 75% as far as being upgraded on my UA flights within the states. That goes away and I’ll be relegated to sit behind the curtain. I’m not overly concerned since most flights for me in the USA are between 2 and 4 hours so I can manage a coach seat. I can always book an Economy Plus ticket if I want a bit more leg room.
I’ll also lose 4 Regional Upgrade e-certs as well as 6 Global Premier Upgrade e-certs. This is probably where I’ll feel the sting the most since these upgrades were a great benefit for me. However since most of my long haul travel for 2015 will be in Business Class, I think the impact of this sting will be minimal. Once I reach Senator status, I’ll be given 2 e-Vouchers for each year I qualify for SENATOR status. Between paid Business Class seats and award redemptions, the Vouchers will not be a critical issue for me to worry about.
Another downside to the switch is the fact that I will no longer earn 100% award bonus miles with United which is a great perk. For every mile I flew, I got another one for being a 1K; It makes for an easy run at award travel, especially for United operated flights. With Miles & More, I’ll only get a 25% miles bonus (known as Executive Bonus) as a SENATOR. However, the Executive Bonus miles count towards status attainment and renewal. ADVANTAGE: Mileage Plus
So there’s my argument for making the switch. Is it a perfect argument? Not even close and I’m sure many holes can be punched through my rationale. However when I look at the Opportunity Cost of the switch, I keep coming back to Miles & More being the better solution specifically for me, my travel habits and upcoming travel schedule. Especially since I will be flying LH more next year than United from a pure miles perspective.
I’ll still be a 1K for 2015 so that will help with the transition since I can still leverage my Star Alliance Gold benefits when traveling such as priority security, check-in and lounge access in non-UA lounges. Senator perks will take over in 2016 making it a smooth transition. I hope 😉 .
Lfthy Flyer, are you still putting the summary together? Lol. Would like to hear it, as I also am thinking of doing this.
I think the author of this blog is paid by Lufthansa… a bit bias. I don’t see any point on paying more… I guess hence Miles and >>More???
Would be very interested to hear how your year has gone so far since we are at the end of 2015. I have been considering the same, however so far I am having a difficult time justifying going to M&M. My last two flights with Lufthansa I had to pay to choose a seat.
A summary is coming shortly. I just need to put together all the details, pros & cons, etc. together!
I’am SEN for the last 6 years and will juust renew for another two but I would gladly trade for an United 1k membership if I’d be home in the US. It’s really Miles and Less than more.. I sit on 600k miles I never manage to convert into reasonable flights also 2 upgrade vouchers you’ll receive are required for one way intercon. They always almost expire because the upgrade isn’t applicable on my flights. There is a close to nothing chance of free upgrades. In fact I even move on to TK’s program because I can get the A* with far less effort..
Interresting, thanks for this comment! I am actually thinking of switching. but I believe United Miles is by far the best. This also includes the countless miles I need to book a hotel. Lufthansa Miles cost more to book for a Hotel Vs United. which gives United a big plus for me.
If you have the ability to qualify quickly, do it. A couple of years ago, I had a lot of travel and made Senator status by April. LH treated me like gold after that achievement. I had a couple of bumps to First and there was at least one additional challenge for some bonus miles. On-board and in-airport recognition was superb… I truly felt like a very valued customer.
It seems that your new strategy will cost more from what I can understand from your post. You will be going from buying UA Y + GPU and going to buying LH P/Z. How much more $$$ do you think this will cost? I know buying P/Z takes the headache out of wondering if your upgrade will clear at UA let alone paying more for a W fare, but with a bit of flexibility this can be minimized. I know UA has hit MP members twice first with the change in the award chart and then with going to a revenue based RDM earning scheme. Unless your travel has gone from personally being funded to one that is funded with OPM then I am having a difficult time following it.
You also mention the ability to waitlist for awards as a M&M member and being able to book awards > 15 days out. Yes being able to book more than 15 days out is a plus, but what are the odds that LH clears the waitlist. The only reason I ask is because if LH would rather let the seat go empty than open up award space what use is the benefit? I bring this up because SQ allows their KrisFlyer members to do the same. I attempted to waitlist for an award from Europe-SIN and the space never opened up and when I boarded the plane after buying a J ticket at the counter, the J cabin was almost 50% empty.
I think your decision is the right one – you should credit points on the airline with whom you fly the most to receive the benefits, especially if you are planning to have >100K status miles. In addition, this will avoid the whole PQD and RDM multiplier nonsense on MP.
Also, M&M provides 2 upgrade certs for Senators.
Lest not forget the bright red SEN luggage tags…
I also think you are making the wrong choice… unless your sole purpose for awards is to fly Lufthansa First Class On. Even then, M&M has serious limits on flight segments, and the FQ is totally insane.
Are you based in FRA or MUC? I agree with the 2 comments above. If you are based in USA, I think UA is still probably the best deal.
If you can get HON Circle, you will get access to FRA’s LCT but I think that’s pretty much it. If you were able to score the BOS-ICN first class r/t fire sale a few months ago, I believe 2 roundtrips on that for roughly $3500 and crediting to LH M&M will net you SEN.
Based in GRR, but most travel will take place to and within Europe next year.
I got two of those BOS-ICN tickets for my SEN renewal next year. Thinking of canceling, since I can’t even justify the cost with their benefits.
Lower bonus RDM earning potential, lower CC earning potential, fewer transfer partners and harder to reach *G status tier. Yeah, I’m really not seeing it here.
And the YQ surcharge completely consumes the points saved for redeeming M&M rather than UA even with a rather conservative valuation.
Putting any value in access to the UClubs is rather a joke IMO.
Yes, you can waitlist LH awards but UA offers the same on UA metal. And you can still fly on the LH PremE product crediting to UA; I’m betting they get the eligible fare classes fixed quickly enough to solve that confusion.
I suppose if you only fly LH metal it can be OK as a status to have. But why go out of your way to limit your choices??
W/A – like I mentioned in the post, I will have the majority (excess of 80%) of my travels on LH metal next year. Sure there are trade offs, like easier *G, but 100k is a no brainer for me so I don’t see it as being ‘harder’ based on my travel for 2015. Credit cards I’m not too worried about, never really ‘churn’ those anyway, I see them as an ancillary bonus thats nice to have and don’t base my travels solely on cc miles like so many others do.
Like I said, its not a perfect argument and their are flaws but given my criteria and interpretation, MM makes a bit more sense. If I’m wrong, it won’t be difficult to move back to UA MP.
SEN doesn’t really give an edge over UA*G when flying LH C class, earning wise metal is also not imporant. You can be happy camper 1K flying everything but 4 segments on LH.
Sure it’s easy to switch back. But why waste a year (and money)?
If you fly primarily LH, and things like advance seat selection, companion awards (companion flies along for 50% miles), premium award (book a seat as long as a revenue ticket is available for a 50% premium), can be advantageous…and there are also the cool red leather luggage tags–if you combine them with pieces of Rimowa luggage, you can almost be assured of being addressed in German by complete strangers… 🙂
Clearly you’re doing something wrong with your UA MP if you give M&M the advantage on redemption
You’re netting about 150-200k miles in UA just making 1k. Just making SEN gives you 100k miles. How many of those outstanding benefits first class redemption on M&M can you book with that (paying close to 1k USD in fees for the privilage)?
You’re not getting a mileage bargin out fo GRR too, so why use the discount 55k miles number?
Intangibles? I’ll take my 6GPU/4RPU over being address by name and given meal choice priority on 1 out of 10 flights. Waitlist? Sure, nice, take your chances. How about 50 EUR to change you award? How about a last minute redemption? That will be in two days sir SEN.
I also fail to see the logic how you don’t mind paying close to 3k for scam charges on awards, but find a $400 club access card expensive.
My tickets come out of my pocket too, have been a SEN and 1K for a couple years and my math contradicts yours by a wide margin.
Thanks for your thoughts.
I typically drive to ORD or can buy ticket to between ORD/GRR – I also have more than enough miles in my UA account to last for years if I have to burn 20k to fly GRR-ORD/IAD/EWR etc. for positioning. You raise a good point, but I had that solved.
Compared to what I get as a result of YQ vs the Club fee, I would argue dollar for dollar that the YQ is a better value. Regardless, I’m not worried about YQ. My decision is not driven by that expense. Its not an issue for me to pay YQ. I may be in a very small minority with that opinion.
The GPU issue is less important for me going forward because I’ll be booking biz class tickets for my LH flights, so there is no strong need for upgrade vouchers. but you are right, the upgrades are more attractive on UA but its impact on me will be lessened in 2015/16.
Like I said, its not a perfect strategy, but its one that I feel will work in my best interest. If it doesn’t, what happens? I lose a year, learn a lesson and do something different at that point. I try not to get caught up in too much minutiae.
So it’s 55k + drive or another 20k to hope for LH to include ORD/IAD in their milage promo sales on the exact time you want to travel half year ahead? Quite a diference then simply saying it’s a 3 for 1 deal.
Is W fare more expensive then P/Z nowadays? If now, then how can that be an issue of less importance?
If spending more money and getting less in return is in your best interest then you’re on the right track with M&M, I’ll give you that.
|Regardless, I’m not worried about YQ. My decision is not driven by that expense.
Your decision isn’t influenced by money? I thought you were trying to make a value-based decision here. I know that gold Senator card looks tempting but please don’t do this. It makes no sense.
He said his decision was not driven by that specific expense, not that his decision was not influence by money. And how is he not making a value based decision? Maybe he values things differently than you do.