LUFTHANSA Group
announced last month
that it was amending its
frequent flyer programme,
Miles & More, in order to
reward the purchase of
higher-priced tickets more
strongly.
The new system will
award miles based on the
price of the flight and on
the frequent flyer status
of the participants in the
programme rather than on
booking class and length
of route.
Miles & More participants
will now receive four to
six award miles per euro
spent for tickets booked
from March 12 onwards.
The new system applies
to flights with Lufthansa
Group airlines – Lufthansa,
Swiss, Austrian Airlines,
Brussels Airlines and
Eurowings – as well as all
other Miles & More partner
airlines, provided the ticket
was issued by a Lufthansa
Group airline.
The bonus award miles
that status members
receive for flights with
the network airlines and
transatlantic joint venture
partners will double to
50% from the current 25%.
On flights with Eurowings,
Brussels Airlines and all
other Miles & More partner
airlines, the award mile
bonus will remain at 25%.
Award miles can only be
credited according to this
new system if the tickets
for the flight were issued
by a Lufthansa Group
airline, not by other
airlines.
Frequent flyer status,
allocation of status
miles and the privileges
associated with that status
will not be affected by the
new system for awarding
miles.
Richard Beadle, sales
and marketing director of
the German Speaking Travel
Alliance, said the Lufthansa
Group was considered
a market leader in the
industry and any major
change implemented in its
operations was likely to be
followed by other airlines
down the line, similar to
the implementation of
LH’s push away from GDS
bookings.
However, SAA rolled out
a similar change to its
Voyager mile awards in
February 2015 with the
introduction of the RE5
programme, which also
awards passengers with
miles based on the cost
of the fare and carrierimposed
fees rather than
on mileage and class flown.
At the time, the programme
was highly criticised as an
attempt by SAA to positively
spin its decision to write
off a huge debt in Voyager
miles by liquidating stored
miles. Clients complained
that they saw their miles
devalue overnight.
