Miles & More (Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, and other partners) - Miles & More

Out of curiosity, are there posters/lurkers in this forum that are residents in the United States and are Frequent Traveller/HON/Senator status? I am interested in learning why US residents choose M&M over other North American *A programs.

There are quite a few members on this board who live in NA and have status with LH M&M.

Especially SEN status is quite attractive for NA residents:

-you only need 100k miles to qualify (if you lived in Germany you´d need 130k)
- status is valid for remainder of the year in which you qualify + the next two years + Jan./Feb. of the year after
- you earn 200% for J flights and 300% for F flights (the latter is rather interesting for some as domestic F in the US earns 300%)
- LH offers some special promotions/events for US SENs they don´t offer in their home market (e.g. a "20% off cert" for award bookings for Christmas, though not sure if this still exists)
- as a SEN/HON you can use the UA/US lounges when travelling domestically in the US

status is valid for remainder of the year in which you qualify + the next two years + Jan./Feb. of the year after


actually:
remainder of the year in which you qualify + the next year + Jan./Feb. of the year after

cheers

ben

I am one of these SENs.
Two advantages for me:
- Triple miles for F, double Miles for C (plus 25 % of the base miles as SEN). The US programs are typically better for people travelling in economy with all the bonus miles and upgrade coupons.
- Good availability for award tickets on LH, Swiss in premium classes (not blocking you see as a UA member).

If you fly mainly in the US in paid economy the US programs are much better. If you fly intercontinental in paid C or F then the LH program is far superior.

Out of curiosity, are there posters/lurkers in this forum that are residents in the United States and are Frequent Traveller/HON/Senator status?
LHrelate (Michelle) is based in the US and is our official LH lurker. Several other members are based in the US as well. There are various reasons for this.

actually:
remainder of the year in which you qualify + the next year + Jan./Feb. of the year after

cheers

ben

I might be wrong, but the sticky in the M&M subforum states the same information as I did:
"Status is valid for the remainder of the year you qualify plus the following 2 calendar years, plus Jan & Feb of the third year."

Also one good thing about being a HON is the 50% discount on your companion award when you are flying togather in any class of travel even in First class.

This benefit made me and my wife fly many years in the summer time to Europe for a great bargain.

I'm an FT with Miles and More and live in the States. I am also a Delta GM (might get PM this year).

The reason I use M&M is that I seem to average between 35 and 50K on Star Alliance each year so FT works great for me. Most of my *A flights are to/through Germany so I get to use the Lufthansa business checkin and their lounges. If I was with United's program I don't think that I would make the *A Gold to get lounge access.

actually:
remainder of the year in which you qualify + the next year + Jan./Feb. of the year after

cheers

benNope, Jasper was right. If you qualify today, you are SEN for the rest of 2009, for 2010, for 2011 and for Jan/Feb 2012.

Also one good thing about being a HON is the 50% discount on your companion award when you are flying togather in any class of travel even in First class. .
The companion award is a SEN benefit too.

I'm a SEN based in the US but not a good example because I had to switch to UA this year and most likely drop to GM in 2011. I changed my job late last year and my new company books UA/US by default for business trips and intl trips are mostly to Asia, so it doesn't make any sense to stick to M&M considering E+ seating and upgrades.
But if you fly to Europe often and have the freedom to choose LH, I think that M&M is quite valuable as other people mentioned.

The biggest benefit for me now is that I can use UA/US/CO lounges even on domestic trips. I'll be sad for loosing this...