Should I join Miles n More?

Old Feb 21, 2009, 3:41 am
  #1  
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Washington, DC
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Should I join Miles n More?

Hello all

I recently relocated to Brussels. My work travel area spans all of Europe, Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and Indian Sub-continent. I just booked my first biz trip (BRU-FRA-BLR) round trip in Business Class.

I was Gold preferred on USAir but lost it (just dividend miles member now - with a 30k balance).

Question: Should I join Miles n More? Rumor has it Lufthansa is going to increase it's presence in Brussels. It seems like LH has many mileage partners so it makes sense to join them but of course, I would like to ask you all first.

Looking forward to your suggestions...
aardee is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2009, 4:03 am
  #2  
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
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Hello aardee, welcome to beautiful Brussels!

Yes, I think M&M is a good programme to join if you fly business class. Another one to consider is bmi Diamond Club (although this would probably be changed into M&M as well at some point in the future). If you achieve SEN status, you can also use the Brussels Airlines lounges in Brussels.

And at some point this year or early next year, I would expect Brussels Airlines to be a M&M airline as well.

If you decide to sign up, let me know, and we can both earn some miles if I recommend you.
SmilingBoy is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2009, 4:08 am
  #3  
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,063
Aardee,

I would get the hell out of dodge and dump the Useless Air program. Altough you could earn *A miles also in your old program I would recommend starting M&M straight away. The chance that US goes bust is close to 100%, in which case you would most likely loose everything.
M&M has a solid financial base.

Welcome, to charming Europe!
Fendant is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2009, 5:20 am
  #4  
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
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No.

Any *G membership will get you into LH's quirky lounges as well.
weero is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2009, 6:36 am
  #5  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: FRA,HAM
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If your goal is to become a *G with no sweat, then Aeroplan is a good program to join. Only 35,000 miles per year will make you a *G.
If you fly mainly C and intra european, then it would be better for you to join the M&M program.

Originally Posted by aardee
Hello all

I recently relocated to Brussels. My work travel area spans all of Europe, Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and Indian Sub-continent. I just booked my first biz trip (BRU-FRA-BLR) round trip in Business Class.

I was Gold preferred on USAir but lost it (just dividend miles member now - with a 30k balance).

Question: Should I join Miles n More? Rumor has it Lufthansa is going to increase it's presence in Brussels. It seems like LH has many mileage partners so it makes sense to join them but of course, I would like to ask you all first.

Looking forward to your suggestions...
flytofly is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2009, 8:30 am
  #6  
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
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I would also look at bmi Diamond Club, which gets you to *G very quickly as well. They will likely be taken over by Lufthansa Miles&More relatively soon, with miles and status probably migrated over, so it can be a useful shortcut to LH status.

In addition, the problem currently offers fantastic redemption opportunities. For details, see the bmi Diamond Club forum here on FT.
alex0683de is offline  
Old Feb 22, 2009, 6:48 am
  #7  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: LH Senator, Hilton Silver
Posts: 71
Thank you -

Thank you all for your helpful posts.

Aeroplan and bmi Diamond club both give Gold at 35k miles. With that I would get the Frequent Traveler status in Lufthansa. Are the benefits very different?

Thanks.
Aardee
aardee is offline  
Old Feb 22, 2009, 7:17 am
  #8  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
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Originally Posted by aardee
Thank you all for your helpful posts.

Aeroplan and bmi Diamond club both give Gold at 35k miles. With that I would get the Frequent Traveler status in Lufthansa. Are the benefits very different?

Thanks.
Aardee
DC gives you Gold at 3k + 16k + 38k. You need to climb up the ladder step by step and your status miles are reset after reaching one tier forcing you to start from scratch again (however, the program is pretty good). So you need 57k miles to qualify in year number one to qualifiy for one year and 38k miles to requalify making it 95k miles in two years. In M&M you need 100k miles every second year to qualify for two years.

Again: If you fly intra Europe C (or D or Z) class, sign in for M&M (this gives you 2000 LH miles compared to 1200 miles or 2500 LH miles with LH executive bonus compared to 1500 DC miles with DC executive bonus). If you mainly fly premium classes outside Europe, sign in for DC.

Or: If you travel a lot, sign in for both (like I do).
Flying Lawyer is offline  
Old Feb 24, 2009, 2:03 am
  #9  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: LH Senator, Hilton Silver
Posts: 71
Thinking of going with Miles n More then!

Thanks everyone for your input.

The problem is we seldom have a choice of which airline to fly (basically going with the cheapest)...so I think M&M might be better since it has a lot of miles earning partners.

I can change my strategy later on if I find that I am only flying to certain places and certain destinations.

Looking forward to my years in Europa!

Thank you.
aardee is offline  

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