Torsten71

New improvements coming as of April 1st 2006
http://www.miles-and-more.com/online...nodeid=1556541

Cheers,
Torsten

JNBHEL

Well, that's going in the direction of more L&L... I wonder when they start charging for the drinks in the lounges...

demue

Thanks. Interesting. No count of status relevant flights. Guess there were still enough people around making 120 segments in lower Y fares to qualify for SEN. Otherwise why take that step?

Guess the no HON Circle miles for UA flights is going to "p*ss off" some HON's that want to renew status or SEN's aiming for HON.

FTL's won't all be cheering when they can't bring a guest anylonger but maybe the lounge crowding issue will get a bit aleviated by that measure, at least in the Business section.

Could have been worse, but certainly could have been much better too. Why is it always less of anything (okay except the FTL/SEN mileage quali threshold which is a mild improvement)

flysurfer

Thank you for posting this.

Not too bad for many, though nothing will change for me, personally.

HONs now really have to fly their 600,000 miles on LH and integrated partners, or it's game over. So I was right with my decision to not try to make HON in 2005/2006. Living in the U.S., HON is out of reach for me w/o at least some flights in paid F on UA metal.

It will now be easier to become a German based FTL, but you have to enjoy the lounge in solitude. So in effect, BUS/FTL lounges won't be more crowded as they are now. If you don't like that, go for SEN, which is now easier, too.

Oh, and the one-way award "discount" of 25% is really an additional fee of 50%. But that's typical LH marketing speech. If I need a one-way award, I'll rather take PPB points. No fee there.

Hamburger

That's really bad news!

For me this makes requalification for FTL hard. This year I had 50 status relevant flights with about 27000 status miles. I am FTL until Feb. 2009.

The question is: With my flying pattern (mostly inner german and some european discounted Eco tickets, T, L, W, ...) is there any program that will enable me to gain status in the future. With FTL I have lounge access and business check in as the main perks.

If there is no such alternative, that would mean to be even more strict on using the cheapest possible flight (being based in HAM there are many alternatives in LCCs) and get lounge access with Diners Club.

flysurfer

Unfortunately, I'm not aware of such a program. UA MP only works well with domestic flights in the USA.

Unlike MP, M&M appears to focus on rewarding high-yield pax. You are saying that you were price-hunting in the past (and even more so in the future, can't blame you for that, of course!), so I guess LH deliberately wants to make customers like you to either pay-up in the future – or become a price-hunting general member without any perks. But at least you will be free.

Of course, one single intercontinental *A vacation roundtrip in Z class (taken every 2 years, cost: about 2,000 EUR) will easily push you over the FTL limit in that year, even if you keep price-hunting on your professional travel pattern. So it's really up to you.

FLYGVA

The decreasing of miles needed for status is an improvement (though it is not so good, they have dropped the segments). But 35000 mls for FTL should be okay.

As I fly the most times alone, the guest privilege is a neutral point to me (sometimes, it could be positive if you colleague has to stay outside ).

The rest of the changes, well, it could have been worse ...

totti

No count of status relevant flights is quite worse for all flying low eco. Reducing status miles for FTL seems to be more interessing and will get some ohter guys into status. interessing to me is that miles for FTL are the same for german and non-german residents now, while for Sen germans still got to fly 30k more

Lounge excess is quite an important point, but Sen-lounge will be still crowded as ever. So sometimes it'll make sense now to move to business as it'll be less crowded in future. But if I'd be FTL I'd be quite annoyed not to take my wife into lounge when traveling in Y for leisure.

dia15222

This is typical marketing wording of LH: Give you something and at the same time take away something from you.
If they wont change amount of miles for non-germans and segments it wont be a change for me at all. Lucky!

But what I doubt is that the majority of FTL will get upset is that they cannot bring a guest anymore to the lounge!
And my theory is that LH is not thinking right about their decicion!

It wont make the lounges less crowded. The vast Majority of the PAX in the C-Lounge travel on C or have an FTL-Card. What i have observed is that if two people want to enter an FTL-Lounge and both have a card only one fumbles his FTL-Card out of his wallet. The other FTL will be ticked as "guest" even if he is also an FTL (Same with SEN, all the time I travel together with somebody).
The only one who will suffer is the business-traveler who wants to take a leisure-trip with his spouse. Before that he sticked to LH because he could use the lounges. Now he may moove to another Airline.

And guess what an FTL will do who reads not frequently the lounge-access rules? He will bring his wife to the lounge and will be refused by a lounge-dragon? Will he be a loyal customer? I know people who stopped flying LH for less!
Sorry LH even if it does not affect me in the next years this is wrong!
This BMIrisation of LH!

Still wondering!

BTW: Mr. Mayerhuber said that he would put some features of STC in M&M: Here we have one!

flysurfer

What? You don't put your wife in F or at least C when you are taking her out?

Torsten71

Same thought here.

totti

She hates spending much money on intra eurpean flights. So yes, we fly Y or use reward tickets all across europe. Flying to US or elsewhere she likes to fly F so I have to pay

flysurfer

LOL! Seriously?

I mean, I'd pay with miles for F awards to the U.S. and buy the intra-European flights in Y with $$$. With all the "taxes", "fees" and "surcharges", intra-European coach awards are one of the most ineffective ways to spend miles. So if your wife really hates spending much money intra-Europe, thinking rationally, she must hate you for wasting valuable miles like that. And valuable money for paid F to the U.S.

totti

for sure your right. But taking 'fly smart' it's just 25k for a eu biz. But as you suggested taxes and fees are that exorbitant comparing to flight prize, that we don't do that often. Miles for F is best ^

andre1970

All new rules were expected and are marginally (except the FTL lounge access...) to the right direction.

Just a couple of remarks on how I read those rules (while I agree with most of you):

• The minimum mileage improvement for Germany based FTL and SEN implicitly gives us a measure of the number of German ...immigration to other countries for mileage related reasons. Too big.
• Also, the HON Circle "enhancement" (anyone in this forum predicted that the HON Circle were soon to be enhanced?) gives us a measure of the number of UA-flyer HONs. Too big.
• We used to whine that LH doesn't properly distance FTL and SEN status apart. There's the answer (of course, always self-serving for LH! What did you expect? Caviar in lieu of Leberkäse in the SEN lounges?)!

Cheers,
A.
PS What scares me most with LH is the yet-to-come enhancements...