Yesterday, I wrote about the changes to the Lufthansa Miles&More program that will come into effect from June 3, 2025 and aside from devaluations of the award chart there are other negative impacts.
Most notably, the popular Mileage Bargains will become a thing of the past as the program is going to be abandoned, but from the wording of the email, it also seems like Lufthansa will cut back on status benefits on award tickets.
You can access the bad news on the website here and we also have a press release document prepared by Lufthansa.
Many of these changes that are now coming our way were in the pipeline for many years, and Lufthansa had originally planned to implement them much earlier, but outside influences such as the pandemic delayed everything quite a bit. As such, it’s not exactly a surprise that this is happening now.
Here is my article from yesterday where I mostly outlined the devaluations of the award chart:
Lufthansa Devalues Miles&More Program, Dynamic Redemption Pricing From June 3, 2025
Aside from the award chart there are a few other things that were briefly hinted on in the communication to members without further details provided.
Here is one such item:
The way this sounds t suggests that Lufthansa will soon follow the example of other airlines to exclude things such as lounge access from certain “saver” award fare types, which, in my opinion, is rather unbecoming of a full-service carrier.
I had bad experiences with this before for example with Qatar Airways. They exclude certain fare types from accessing the Al Mourjan lounge and even from using the express premium immigration channel in Doha. Now Lufthansa is following in the same footsteps?
Where will this start and end? HON’s no longer being able to use the First Class Terminal/Lounge on certain fares? Senators on awards not being able to use the lounge while a random Star Alliance Gold on a cheapo ticket can still enter?
Lufthansa should really think well about opening that can of worms here.
Another thing is these aforementioned, restricted fare types:
Until now, award bookings were always treated like regular fare tickets and not as light fares with a bunch of restrictions. Lufthansa wants to change that.
If awards were actually cheaper due to this then I wouldn’t have a problem with that but they won’t be. Lufthansa just announced the culling of their award chart and now they tighten the screws even more.
Add to that the high surcharges for which Miles&More is famous and you have a dumpster fire.
Last but not least they take away the beloved Mileage Bargains:
From 3 June 2025, the amounts in the Award Flight chart will no longer apply to bookings with Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, Lufthansa City and SWISS. Mileage bargains will also no longer be available for these airlines, but will still be offered for LOT Polish Airlines and other Miles & More airline partners. Instead, we’re working hard to bring you more offers, features and fares that will improve your booking experience.
As I said yesterday, it’s very hard to make a case for why anyone should still actively collect miles or pursue status with this program. The value has pretty much evaporated for earning miles, redeeming miles, pursuing status, and receiving benefits.
Interestingly, last week, I was invited to a Lufthansa corporate event for status customers here in Bangkok, with many Lufthansa board members in attendance – including CEO Carsten Spohr.
While it was a nice event (though way too hot outdoors in high humidity and business attire) there was really not much information about products, fleet changes or what Lufthansa’s future plans are. Then a week later you get hit with this – ouch!
And I already dare to make a prediction for Lufthansa First Class fans: Once Allegris First is implemented fleet-wide, we can pretty much kiss goodbye to First Class awards as well. The limited number of seats alone will take care of it, and I’m sure there will be additional restrictions as well.
Conclusion
In addition to the award chart devaluations, Lufthansa also announced additional modifications to Miles&More which will be to the detriment of the customer.
Some include the introduction of restricted/light fares in the award booking options. These fares would no longer be eligible for certain status benefits, which are – so far – unspecified. Additionally, even basic features, such as the option to cancel awards, are no longer available if you want to believe yesterday’s email.
The devaluation of the awards is one thing, every airline does this and members should always have a good pace to burn their miles just so they won’t get hit by these massive devaluations down the line. But to essentially cull the entire program on every corner… I don’t know. I wish Lufthansa the best of luck, but I don’t see people who have a choice going along with it.
