German airline Lufthansa is removing the ability to buy miles in its Miles & More frequent flyer program from next month.
Mileage purchases put travellers within reach of award bookings when they’re short just a few points, but many savvy travellers frequently stock up on miles for more creative reasons.
We’ve previous covered the strategy of buying miles for cheap business and first class flights, although Lufthansa’s Miles & More program wasn’t an ideal suitor for this purpose.
Until June 30, members of Miles & More can buy up to 20,000 miles with a 20% bonus, serving up a grand total of 24,000 miles.
With Lufthansa a member of the Star Alliance, miles held in the Miles & More program can be redeemed for travel on its partner airlines.
Closer to home, that includes Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Air New Zealand, EVA Air and Air China.
Sadly, 24,000 miles won’t get you from Sydney to Auckland and back in economy on Air New Zealand, so you should only max out the promotion if you already have a positive Miles & More balance.
Otherwise, we’d recommend grabbing a quick 150,000 United MileagePlus miles for around $3,400 – that's more than enough to get you to Asia and back, twice, in a mix of business and first class.
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Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
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