Originally Posted by
Raffles
It's a bizarre system, surely? I can fly from London to Dubai on Turkish and pay 75k or I can fly UK to Dubai on Lufthansa / SWISS and pay, what, 250k at 1 cent per mile?
But will my redemption cost half the price of FRA-DXB, because the cash cost from the UK is often half?!
I reckon we're looking at 2 Eurocents per mile redeemed.
This would also explain why redemptions are restricted. The balance sheet liability will be FAR below 2c per mile and if you could effectively redeem for any seat at 2 Eurocents per mile then the accountants would want that liability sharply increased.
HfP makes the same argument:
https://www.headforpoints.com/2025/0...ption-pricing/
The only thing holding Miles & More back is the partner award chart. If you can fly Turkish Airlines to Dubai in business class for 75,000 miles return via Istanbul, it would be crazy to ask for 250,000 miles return (based on a €2,500 cash fare) for the same trip on Lufthansa or SWISS.
I suspect we’ll be looking at something closer to 2 Eurocents per mile. Assuming that redemption flights on Lufthansa Group carriers end up being cheaper for UK residents than German, Swiss or Austrian residents (because cash tickets are), there may still be some deals to be had during cash sales.
2 Eurocents per mile would also explain why redemption availability is remaining capped. Lufthansa’s book value per mile will be far less than this. Its balance sheet liability would increase massively if you could get 2 Eurocents per mile off any cash ticket. The accountants will have told them that by restricting reward seats to flights which won’t be full, Lufthansa can continue to argue that the seats booked have no value.
Actually your wording is very similar.