Yesterday, Lufthansa announced an upcoming devaluation of its Miles & More award chart. Thankfully, the most valuable award for U.S. travelers was spared.
International longhaul awards are not a particularly good deal on Lufthansa. They were not before and they are still not. One nice thing about having Miles & More points is the ability to book Lufthansa First Class further in advance than using partner miles. Other than that, though, the value proposition simply wasn’t there.
With one big exception.
Lufthansa currently charges 35,000 miles round-trip for a business class award within the Continental USA. Even better, you could (and still can until May 9th) book these on a one-way basis for 17,000 miles since it seems the system only collects miles in increments of 1,000. 34K r/t for a domestic award, even including a premium transcontinental award with lie-flat seats in business class, is a great value.
The price does go up on May 9, 2019. But only to 40,000 miles round-trip or 20,000 miles each way. That’s a devaluation we can live with…20K each way still represents an excellent value in many cases. I continue to earn Lufthansa points on a limited basis precisely for this award.
CONCLUSION
While Miles & More is a Marriott transfer partner and also offers a credit card in the USA, the points are generally hard to come by. Still, this one nugget on the award chart makes stockpiling a modest amount of Lufthansa miles a wise move. Thankfully, the most valuable award on the chart for those in the USA was (mostly) spared.
@Matthew- Doesn’t United Saver Business Awards need to be available to use Lufthansa Miles? How often do we see United Business Saver Awards? Thanks!
Space is absolutely dependent upon saver award space being available. That said, I see it from time to time, especially last-minute, on these premium transcon routes. It is generally not available in advance.
@Sam. Exactly. Never. The new everyday pricing has destroyed MileagePlus in my opinion. UA is one of the few, if not only major international carrier without domestic premium saver award availability.
I wish UA released more saver space in advance. I’d say AA is just as stingy these days, but that doesn’t excuse UA. I do appreciate that UA will often make last-minute space available. It is helpful for spur-of-the-moment travelers like me.