Miles & More is a free frequent flyer program for Lufthansa Group. This will include Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, and SWISS.
Check out our list of the best credit card bonuses here.
When you sign up for Miles & More, you’ll be able to gain and redeem Lufthansa miles and work your way towards elite status. Plus, it’s even part of the Star Alliance, you have several options when it comes time to use your miles.
Read below for more information on what they have to offer.
Miles & More Quick Facts
| Lufthansa Group | Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings & SWISS |
| Airline Alliance | Star Alliance |
| Lufthansa US Destinations | Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, Washington D.C. |
| Credit Cards | Miles & More World Elite Mastercard (Barclays) |
| Redemption Options | Award flights, upgrades, airline taxes & fees, hotel stays, car rentals, gift cards, merchandise, donations |
| Average Mile Value | $0.014 |
Miles & More Elite Status
Your Miles & More benefits will depend on your elite status: Frequent Traveler, Senator, and HON Circle. With higher status, you’ll be able to enjoy more perks like reduced mileage awards and lounge access.
To earn elite status, you’ll need to build up enough status miles or board enough flights on Adria Airways, Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Croatia Airlines, Eurowings, LOT Polish Airlines, Luxair, Lufthansa, SWISS, and Star Alliance partners:
| Status | Requirements |
| Frequent Traveler | 35,000 status miles OR 30 flights in 1 calendar year |
| Senator | 100,000 status miles in 1 calendar year |
| HON Circle | 600,000 status miles in 2 consecutive calendar years |
After you’re eligible for the elite status, you can enjoy your benefits immediately for two years.
Below is a summary of notable status benefits:
Frequent Traveler:
- No mileage expiration
- Up to 50% more award miles
- Up to 25% more status miles
- Additional baggage allowance
- Business class lounge access
Senator:
- Frequent Traveller benefits
- 2 upgrade vouchers
- Senator and Star Gold lounge access
- More flight award availability
HON Circle
- Senator benefits
- 6 upgrade vouchers
- First class check-in (FRA)
- Lufthansa First Class, SWISS First & Austrian HON Circle lounge access
- Limo & transfer service
Earning Lufthansa Miles
Even though the Miles & More program encompasses different carriers, the award miles you earn are called “Lufthansa miles.”
There are 3 primary ways to collect Lufthansa miles:
- Flying Lufthansa or its partner airlines
- Spending on the co-branded Miles & More credit card
- Spend on co-branded Marriott Bonvoy credit cards.
Lets go over all the ways you can earn Lufthansa miles in more detail below:
For Lufthansa and partner flights, the miles you earn will depend on the distance flown and the “factor.” The latter is based on your Miles & More status and the airline operating your flight.
Tip: like status miles, you’ll want to use the Miles & More calculator to decide the amount of Lufthansa miles you earn for a particular flight.
Other than Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Lufthansa, and SWISS, partner airlines are:
- Adria Airways
- AEGEAN Airlines
- Air Astana
- Air Canada
- Air China
- Air Dolomiti
- Air India
- Air Malta
- Air New Zealand
- ANA
- Asiana Airlines
- Avianca
- Cathay Pacific
- Condor
- Copa Airlines
- Croatia Airlines
- EgyptAir
- Ethiopian Airlines
- EVA Air
- LATAM
- LOT Polish Airlines
- Luxair
- Olympic Air
- SAS
- Shenzehn Airlines
- Silk Air
- Singapore Airlines
- South African Airways
- TAP Air Portugal
- Thai Airways
- Turkish Airlines
- United Airlines
You can credit miles to your account for flights you’ve already taken. If you forget to include your member number when you purchase your ticket.
U.S. residents can earn Lufthansa miles by spending with the Miles & More World Elite Mastercard, issued by Barclays.
| Welcome Bonus | 50,000 miles |
| Bonus spend | $3,000 in your first 90 days |
| Bonus value | $700 |
| Ongoing Rewards | 2x miles on Miles & More tickets 1x miles on all other purchases |
| Lounge access | 2 Lufthansa Business Lounge vouchers annually |
| Other perks | 1 Companion Ticket annually Convert award miles to status miles Up to 15% off hotels & cars |
| Foreign transaction fees | None |
| Annual fee | $89 |
Earn Lufthansa miles with a variety of hotel, mobility, shopping, travel, finance, entertainment, and charity partners. For a full list with more information click here.
Earning Miles with Marriott Bonvoy
Miles & More has one flexible point program partner: Marriott Bonvoy
The hotel brand’s co-branded credit cards are an excellent way to earn Marriott points, which can be transferred towards your Miles & More account.
Marriott points convert at a 3:1 ratio, with a 5,000-point bonus for each 60,000 you transfer. In other words, you’ll receive 25,000 Lufthansa miles (instead of 20,000) when you convert 60,000 Marriott points.
The best way to rack up on Marriott Bonvoy points is by getting a Marriott co-branded credit card and qualifying for its welcome bonus.
Chase offers two personal credit cards that earn Marriott points while American Express (AmEx) offers one personal and one business card. If you want to apply for a Marriott credit card, remember:
- The Chase 5/24 rule. If you opened 5 or more new credit cards in the past 24 months (from any bank), you won’t be approved for a new credit card from Chase.
- The Amex once-in-a-lifetime welcome bonus rule. You can only qualify for the introductory offer on each Amex personal and business card once in your life.
 The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card offers 185,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after you use your new Card to make $6,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Each Card renewal year, get up to $300 in statement credits per calendar year (up to $25 per month) for eligible purchases at restaurants worldwide. With this card, you'll earn: • 6X Marriott Bonvoy points for each dollar of eligible purchases at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy. • 3X points at restaurants worldwide and on flights booked directly with airlines. • 2X points on all other eligible purchases. • $300 Brilliant Dining Credit: Each calendar year, get up to $300 (up to $25 per month) for eligible purchases made on the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card at restaurants worldwide. A Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite member will earn 50% more points on eligible purchases at participating hotels for each U.S. dollar or the currency equivalent that is incurred and paid for by the member. Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck: Receive either a statement credit every 4 years after you apply for Global Entry ($120) or a statement credit every 4.5 years after you apply for a five-year membership for TSA PreCheck (up to $85 through a TSA PreCheck official enrollment provider) and pay the application fee with your Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card. If approved for Global Entry, at no additional charge, you will receive access to TSA PreCheck. $100 Marriott Bonvoy Property Credit: Enjoy your stay. Receive up to a $100 property credit for qualifying charges at Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis when you book direct using a special rate for a two-night minimum stay using your Card. Free Night Award: Receive 1 Free Night Award every year after your Card renewal month. Award can be used for one night (redemption level at or under 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy points) at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy. Certain hotels have resort fees. This card comes with a $650 annual fee and no foreign transaction fees. (See Rates & Fees) Furthermore, enjoy unlimited airport lounge visits when you enroll in Priority Pass Select membership. Terms Apply. |
 The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card offers 3 Free Night Awards up to a 150,000 Total Point Value (each night valued up to 50,000 points) after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. You'll earn: • Up to 17X total points per $1 spent at over 7,000 hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy • 3X points per $1 on the first $6,000 spent in combined purchases each year on grocery stores, gas stations, and dining. • 2X points for every $1 spent on all other purchase • 1 Elite Night Credit towards Elite Status for every $5,000 you spend. You gain an automatic Silver Elite Status each account anniversary year. Path to Gold Status when you spend $35,000 on purchases each account year. You'll receive 15 Elite Night Credits each calendar year & an additional Free Night Award (valued up to 35,000 points) every year after account anniversary. This card does carry a $95 fee; there are no foreign transaction fees. |
 The Marriott Bonvoy Bold® credit card offers 30,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on eligible purchases within the first 3 months from account opening. You'll earn: • Up to 14X total points per $1 spent at over 7,000 hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy • 2X points for all other travel purchases • 1X points per $1 spent on all other purchases This card comes with no annual fees or foreign transaction fees and you'll get 15 elite night credits each calendar year! |
 The Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card offers 3 Free Night Awards after you use your new Card to make $6,000 in eligible purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Receive a 7% discount on eligible bookings as a benefit of being both a Marriott Bonvoy member & a Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card Member when you book directly with Marriott through an eligible channel for a participating property under the Amex Business Card Rate. You can enjoy a complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status with your Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card. You'll earn: • 6x Marriott Bonvoy Points on each dollar of eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program. • 4x points for purchases made at restaurants worldwide, at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping. • 2x points on all other eligible purchases. You'll receive 1 Free Night Award every year after your Card renewal month. Plus, earn an additional Free Night Award after you spend $60K in purchases on your Card in a calendar year. Awards can be used for one night (redemption level at or under 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy points) at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy. Certain hotels have resort fees. This card does carry a $125 annual fee. (See Rates & Fees) Terms Apply. |
Spending Lufthansa Miles
Lufthansa miles will expire at the end of the quarter, 36 months after they are earned. For example, miles earned in November 2019 will expire on December 31, 2022.
You’ll be able to extend your miles expiration if you have:
- Miles & More elite status.
- The co-branded Miles & More credit card for at least 3 months and make at least 1 purchase a month.
Spend your Lufthansa miles on Lufthansa and their partners, Star Alliance partners, and Miles & More non-alliance partners. When pricing out an award flight, you’ll want to use both the award chart and the mileage calculator.
TIP: Miles & More requires you to have a minimum of 7,000 Lufthansa miles in your account to search for an award flight. If you don’t have the minimum miles required, use the mileage calculator. Or for Star Alliance availability, search via United or Aeroplan instead.
Additionally, you can use these miles for:
- Upgrades on flights operated by Lufthansa and select partner carriers.
- Cash and miles awards.
- Taxes, fees, and airline surcharges
Plus, you can even spend your Lufthansa miles on: hotel, car rental, gift card, and merchandise awards as well as charitable donations.
But, it’s not recommended since these award options because they don’t give you the best value for your miles. We suggest sticking to flight awards instead.
Miles & More Tips & Tricks
Adding open-jaws* and stopovers** is a great way to maximize your miles, and Miles & More has some of the most generous stopover rules in the frequent flyer world.
On roundtrip award flights, the program allows you to make two open jaws and two stopovers at no extra cost.
On one way award flights, you’re allowed two one ways to use two open jaws.
*An open-jaw is when you fly back from a different airport than where you landed. For example, you might fly to Munich from New York City, but on your return, you’ll fly from Paris.
**A stopover is where you have a layover in a city or country for more than 24 hours.
Book your flight in economy class more than 90 days in advance, and get up to 65% off the standard mileage pricing.
The following rules apply:
- Four-day minimum stay or earliest possible return flight on the first Sunday after the start of travel
- Only valid on non-stop flights with Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Air and Luxair
- Outbound and return flights must be booked with the same carrier
- Cannot be combined with other flight award products
- Rebookings and cancellations excluded
- Maximum stay of 3 months
For more information, click here.
Book your flight between two to 14 days before departure (in economy or business class) and save up to 50%.
This offer is available for all flights operated by Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, SWISS, Eurowings, Adria Airways, Brussels Airlines, Condor, Croatia Airlines and LOT Polish Airlines.
For more information, click here.
Miles & More offers monthly reduced flight awards called Mileage Bargains. Get 50% off the mileage price for certain destinations, but you must book within specific dates.
Remember, you won’t be able to include stopovers to Mileage Bargain awards. Furthermore, you won’t get a refund on these reduced mileage awards. This will include taxes, fees, and fuel surcharges.
A great use for Lufthansa miles is to spend them on domestic awards. Pay only 25,000 miles for a roundtrip flight in economy, and only 35,000 for a roundtrip flight in business class.
But these cheap rates come with a couple rules. You can only travel within one region, and there are no stopovers allowed.
Want a flight award that lets you use a stopover for a longer stay? Book a three-region flight award. Usually, this method requires fewer Lufthansa miles than two regular flight awards.
Below, you’ll find how many miles you’ll need for a three-region flight award:
| Travel Class | Miles Needed |
| Economy | 100,000 |
| Premium Economy | 140,000 |
| Business | 195,000 |
| First Class | 310,000 |
Use your Lufthansa miles to fly once around the world. Here are the rules:
- Must include one crossing of the Atlantic.
- You must include one crossing of the Pacific.
- Can include up to 10 flight segments.
- You can make up to 7 stopovers.
To book a Round the World award, you’ll need:
| Travel Class | Miles Needed |
| Economy | 180,000 |
| Business | 335,000 |
| First | 500,000 |
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Conclusion
Overall, the Miles & More program is a good frequent flight program. It comes with co-branded cards and is partnered with Marriott Bonvoy. Additionally, you’ll get good value for your miles if you know how they work.
