Air Berlin’s Topbonus Program Files for Insolvency

You might have heard that airberlin, Germany’s second largest airline, filed for bankruptcy protection a couple of weeks ago. Now, the carrier has said Auf Wiedersehen to topbonus, its frequent-flyer program.

Topbonus members received an email notifying them that the rewards program has filed for insolvency and that any earning or redeeming of the miles has been suspended. Just like that, without prior notification. Additionally, airberlin’s co-branded credit card issued by Landesbank Berlin has stopped earning miles. The card is still fully functional, but it is no longer associated with a rewards program.

It is unfortunate for all topbonus members to get zero warning about their miles simply vanishing into thin air. According to the program’s terms, “miles already collected can be used up until 18 month after due notice of termination has been received by the member,” but the airline’s earlier bankruptcy announcement might mean that all terms go out of the window.

The airline itself received a loan from the German government and will keep operating at least through fall. However, American Airlines already has pulled all airberlin availability from its website, and it’s just a matter of time before other airlines follow suit. It wouldn’t be surprising if many, if not all, oneworld partners removed airberlin-operated flights from their award availability and there wouldn’t be an option to book award travel with any program’s miles.

The announcement just goes to show that earning and burning is the best way to approach collecting frequent-flyer miles. You never know when an airline would file for solvency and terminate its operations.