Miles & More is the largest traveler loyalty program in Europe with 25 million members as of March 2014. It offers rewards to passengers of the Star Alliance travelling on certain types of tickets. The program was launched by Lufthansa (LH) in 1993 and is used by 13 European airlines. The programme enables its members to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles on all of the fully integrated airlines, all Star Alliance members as well as several other partner airlines. Customers are able to build status, which gives them access to certain privileges. Miles & More is free of charge.
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Partnership history
- 1993 - Lufthansa introduces Miles & More on January 1, 1993
- 1997 - Star Alliance is founded by Air Canada, United Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways International
- 2000 - The Austrian Airlines Group joined Miles & More
- 2003 - LOT Polish Airlines becomes a fully integrated partner
- 2006 - Swiss International Air Lines is bought by Lufthansa and its frequent flyer program, Swiss TravelClub, is converted to Miles & More on 1 April 2006
- 2009 - Brussels Airlines joins Miles & More and its frequent flyer program, Brussels Airlines Privilege, is converted to Miles & More on 25 October 2009
- 2012 - Luxair Luxembourg Airlines joins Miles & More.
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Airline partners of Miles & More
Fully integrated Airline Partners
The following airlines are partners of the Miles & More program:
- All Lufthansa owned and managed airlines
- Lufthansa
- Lufthansa Regional (Air Dolomiti and Lufthansa CityLine)
- Lufthansa Private Jet
- Austrian Airlines Group (since 2000)
- Brussels Airlines (since March 29, 2009)
- Eurowings
- Swiss International Air Lines and Swiss Global Air Lines (since April 1, 2006)
- LOT Polish Airlines (since 2003)
- Adria Airways
- Croatia Airlines
- Condor Flugdienst (formerly owned by Lufthansa)
- Luxair (stake formerly held by Lufthansa)
Other partners
- all Star Alliance members
- Air Astana
- Air Malta
- Jet Airways
The miles
There are three types of miles within the program.
Award miles
These are miles that can be collected in the account of a member and 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. (Miles are not extended by having any activity on the account as with most other airlines). 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 and/or used. 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.
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 that are able to qualify for a higher status on the basis of the status miles that they have collected in one year.
HON Circle miles
HON Circle miles can only be earned when flying in business or first class on the fully integrated partner airlines and Air-Rail trains in Germany (up to a total of 600,000 miles within two consecutive 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 mile on United Airlines. This option no longer exists. HON-miles have to be accumulated within two calendar years. 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. HON Circle qualifying miles balance is also visible to Frequent Traveller and Senator members when logged in their Lufthansa iPad or Android app.
Flying
The miles that a member receives after having completed a flight depend on the Airline issuing ticket, mileage flown, the class of service and the booking class.
European flights
Tables show the number of miles earned with Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS. The number of miles earned with other airlines can be calculated using the Mileage Calculator available at the Miles & More website.
Intercontinental flights
These mileages apply for flights operated by Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS. There is the possibility to earn 10,000 miles on all flights operated by the Lufthansa Private Jet.
Other earning opportunities
Lufthansa always has a number of promotions, most lasting 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 ways to collect award miles when not travelling. The Lufthansa Miles & More Credit Card can be subscribed to (which may be issued as a VISA, MasterCard or American Express card, depending on the country in which it is issued) and collect one award mile for every Dollar/Euro spent. A one-time sign-up bonus is given and sometimes introductory promotions may apply, such as double or triple award miles for an introductory period.
Award miles can be earned on certain Deutsche Bahn 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, and others. For all offers see Miles & More website as offers vary between countries. However, all these offers do not earn any status miles. If a customer does not have enough miles for an award then up to 12,000 miles can be acquired for EUR290.00.
Redeeming miles
Once a member has collected the necessary number of miles, they can be used to buy flights, upgrades and products from the Lufthansa Worldshop (offer restricted to residents of some countries only).
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. Additional fees and taxes will still apply for award flights (but can be paid by additional miles).
Fuel surcharges on award tickets
Lufthansa does add fuel surcharges hidden as fees on award tickets. This is prohibited for US based carriers. A transatlantic award flight (regardless which airline is actually flown) with Miles and More can cost up to 500 EUR in additional taxes and fees whereas the same itinerary booked with the US based Star Alliance partner (United) and their miles would cost less than 100 EUR in fees and taxes (even if the itinerary involves Lufthansa aircraft). So Miles and More may have a much lower value than US based Miles.
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. The exact number is found on [2]. Passengers are only allowed to upgrade one class of service. Only certain booking classes qualify for upgrades.
Redeeming miles for car, hotel, shopping etc
Miles can be redeemed for rental car, hotel, shopping etc. Avis car rental in US costs 47000 miles at the minimum, finding a Hilton hotel and shorting the list based on miles is impossible, selection of hotels in Best Western is very limited (The hotels are available in Best Western but most of the hotels in the list in US are NOT available for miles).
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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).
There are four status level on Miles & More:
Miles & More member status
This is the normal status that everybody gets after they join the program. This status does not receive any officially documented privileges. A Miles & More member starts with a temporary paper-card, which is usually cut out from one of the Lufthansa magazines or printed from the internet; a plastic card is sent once the member has credited at least one award mile to their Miles & More account.
Frequent Traveller status
The frequent traveller card is given to all Miles & More customers that received a total of over 35,000 status miles. This status remains valid for two years and a member can requalify in any one of those two years. All status cards expire in February of the third year, i.e. if status is earned in November 2009, the status will be valid until February 2012.
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 the Lufthansa Welcome Lounge at Frankfurt with valid Lufthansa Boarding Pass from an intercontinental flight
- Access to contract lounges at some airports (depending on airline flown)
- 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 International Air Lines, United Airlines, Austrian Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Air One, Air Dolomiti, Brussels Airlines, Continental Airlines and Air Canada
- Miles retain unlimited validity can
- Increased registered baggage allowance: 40 kg on fully integrated M&M airlines (when weight concept applies), 2 pieces 23 kg each on fully integrated M&M airlines (when piece concept applies)
- All Star Alliance Silver Benefits
- Exclusive FTL reservation hotline
Senator status
Having collected 100,000 Status Miles within one calendar year, Miles & More members will receive "Senator" Status with a validity of at least two years.
The main benefits of Senator status are:
- All advantages of Frequent Traveller status, in addition:
- Access to all Senator Lounges with a M&M partner airline boarding pass (needs to be a departing boarding pass for Austrian and Swiss Senator lounges)
- Access to the Lufthansa Welcome Lounge at Frankfurt with valid Lufthansa Boarding Pass from an arriving intercontinental flight
- 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 (and J on Lufthansa), 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 the companion of the Senator 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" before the status expires or each mile will be charged 0.024 EUR.
- Senator Premium award: By using 150% of the 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
HON Circle status
Having collected 600,000 HON Circle Miles within two calendar years, Miles & More members receive HON Circle Status with validity of two 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.
- Six eVouchers on achieving status, and six more for every status retention.
- Booking guarantee: Up to 24 hours before departure in booking classes C (and J on Lufthansa), 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 Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, Zürich, Geneva and New York/JFK
- Access to the Lufthansa Welcome Lounge with valid Lufthansa Boarding Pass regardless of origin
- Exclusive HON Circle reservation hotline
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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