There are many different ways to rebuild an airline loyalty program, making it easier for consumers to understand. Implementing three different types of elite status qualifying points probably is not one of them. Welcome to the new, “simple and transparent earning system towards frequent flyer status” with Miles & More.
The new program tilts towards tier points, similar to Executive Club from British Airways or Experience Points from the Flying Blue program of KLM and Air France. Accrual is based on class of service, of course. Travel route also figures into the calculation, but only two classifications exist, “continental” and “intercontinental.” The airline flown also affects the earnings, and plays into the qualification requirements. These factors take away from the promised simplicity, of course.
Three types of status points
Passengers will earn status in three ways, each tracked separately by the program. Points are earned for every eligible flight (including Star Alliance partners), and are one of two status qualifying factors (650 for “Frequent Traveler” status or 2000 for Senator).
Qualifying Points are issued at the same rate as Points, but only when flying on a Miles & More participating airline (Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Croatia Airlines, Discover Airlines, Eurowings, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Luxair, SWISS). At a minimum, half the points for each status tier must be earned as Qualifying Points; it is not possible to qualify for status flying only on Star Alliance partners.
Finally, HON Circle points are earned only for travel on Miles and More participating airlines, and only for flights in Business or First class. A member must earn 6,000 HON Circle points in a year to qualify for that tier.
Two types of flights
The new Miles & More status program offers two types of flights, “continental” or “intercontinental.” Not surprisingly, the earning rates on intercontinental flights are significantly higher than on shorter trips.
Slightly more surprisingly, North Africa is considered part of Europe for the purpose of these earnings. This reduces points awarded on several key shorter-haul routes. The geographic selections also opens the program to some potential scheming.
Both Executive Club and Flying Blue use a sliding scale for points earning based on trip distance rather than simple regional borders. While the Miles & More version may be slightly easier to understand, two regional borders in particular offer opportunities for members to maximize earning on “intercontinental” trips, especially with partner airlines.
A return business class trip between Cairo and Amman on Egyptair or between Panama City and Colombia on Copa could offer very affordable options to quickly accrue points. Connecting from Peru to Colombia via PTY offers even better values in some scenarios, as each segment would count as an intercontinental flight.
The Middle East region also offers some interesting opportunities on Miles & More participating airlines, allowing a traveler to quickly and (somewhat) affordably accrue Qualifying Points to close out that portion of the earning requirements.
Ideally, a program revision should not have too many different types of points or complex rules for status. Miles & More is hardly the worst on that front, but also not a leader.
And every program must make a decision on simplicity of rules versus risk of manipulation. Given its membership demographics the geography-based rules may be a reasonable compromise on that front. Hopefully the two examples very quickly surfaced for outsized points value earning aren’t a surprise to the company.
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