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With no qualifying activity, Lufthansa Miles & More miles expire after 36 months. That said, there are a few ways to keep your miles from expiring:
- If you hold elite status within the Miles & More program
- You have an eligible co-branded credit card, you have been a Miles & More Credit Card holder for at least three months, and each month you need to make a minimum of one purchase (that is not returned or refunded) which is eligible for miles with your Miles & More Credit Card. (short answer: you have to have and use your credit card)
If you don't hold elite status with Miles & More the only way to extend the validity of your miles indefinitely is to hold one of the many Miles & More co-branded credit cards and meet the spend requirements.
What are the Co-Branded Credit Card Options with Miles & More?
Luckily, Miles & More has a huge range of options for co-branded credit cards, with options for residents of most European countries, and plenty of other countries including China, Japan, India and the United States.
How to Build up a Balance of Miles with Miles & More
If you have a mileage balance that might be expiring and you're looking to bolster it in plans for a redemption, you can transfer Starpoints to Miles & More at a ratio is 1:1 with the standard bonus of 5,000 miles if you transfer 20,000 Starpoints. Do remember that transferring points into miles this way will not extend the life of your miles.
Although Miles & More is primarily a European-based reward program, it still has a very strong exposure in the US market, and for those who are regular travelers to Europe from the US, there are plenty of options to earn miles with the program.
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Another program w/o a shopping portal that makes it harder to keep active. But if you use them regularly, you shouldn’t have an issue.
Good point. Wish all programs have easy ways to extend expiration.
you can periodically skip using the card for a month and they will still not let your miles expire, as long as you continue to use the card.
That is my experience as well. Sometimes I forget to use the card at least once in a given month and I don’t seem to have any problems.
Lufthansa first class is quite the experience and I love the little ducks that they give you in the first class lounge.
Is it just me, or is the Award Space limited since a few Months?
Helpful hints. First time for me seeing the AW blog–awesome!
Interesting…I didn’t even know there were M&M credit cards available in the U.S.
Always good to know the options…thanks!
Still no replacement M&M credit card for France… makes me sad 🙁
Next card on my list.
Same here. My LH FTL (Silver) status expires early 2018 so I want a way to preserve my miles after that…
The M&M VISA sign-up bonus over here is pathetic at the moment (1500 miles…) so I’m waiting to see if that improves before pulling the trigger…
I think its usually a lot more. But never enough which is why I have never applied
Sucks that transferring points from SPG doesn’t count as activity to extend the life!
Wow that mist be almost unique!
Looks like the credit card is the only way to go – does it have a good sign-on bonus?
Too bad they do not have a shopping portal!
And, the USA credit card is with Barclay’s (i.e, not Chase!).
I’ve got a M&M Amex which I sometimes don’t use for a month, my miles never expired yet.
I don’t think using it once a month is mandatory.
Transferring SPG points to acquire rewards is worth it. Just have to find the sweet spot in the system. Lufthansa has some great routes from US to Europe hot spots.
Is 36 month the longest expiration for any major airline points? Except for non expiration points systems
Off the top of my head, I think so.
There are not as many options to keep your points from expiring as most programs.
Preventing mileage expiration seems a bit high maintenance if one doesn’t fly LH regularly.
Worldshop is another option to burn your miles if they are going to expire soon
If you keep an eye out there are occasional offers to buy Lufthansa points via special promos in your account. The last one was 2000 miles for buying and registering a PAYG sim card, these will keep your accounts alive.
I wish they had a shopping portal too!
Interesting! I don’t think I have ever seen a program have this type of restriction. Does anyone know how the seats are? My husband hasn’t traveled on them in a long time. Has anyone transferred from UR to Lufthansa? Any problems with losing points, etc.? I’m wondering how the first class is with them? Any thoughts?
well crap my memory is faulty can’t transfer to Lufthansa but can to United. Please anyone remind me when you can book Lufthansa from a United account?
Looking into getting a cobrand with them. Waiting for a good offer.
I have some miles expiring next June.
It’s a pity but maybe it’s better to let some miles expire than use them in a bad way.
There are almost no valid alternatives to reedeming miles for flights.
Then I have much more miles expiring in September and then I think making a reservation for next summer.
few comments from Germany 🙂
LH has a shopping portal – see milesandmore.com
no need to use the LH credit card, (exept the LH white) as long as you pay the fee miles are save.
if you talking about international first: amazing – but from my point of view EK give more “bang” for your bucks….
Very bad program and not jus because of its expiry policy but overall too, look at their fuel surcharge for instance. Unfortunately the brand Lufthansa still has some attraction for newbies in the points game.
So hard to book reward ticket with them. I don’t fly them anymore.
I earn milesandmore miles every year or two but i cant ever accrue any meanigful amount as those keep expiring every three years. only way is to get a credit card and i dont want that. other programs allow you to shop online to reset your expiration counter. but not this one. too sad. will donate my expiring miles and avoid getting new ones in the future if i can by switching to another program.
What is the best way to use 60K X 2 miles (120,000)
for a lie-flat business class flight to Europe (Frankfurt?).
Lufthansa or are their any better deals with their partners?
George, you’re best to ask this question here: https://Award.Travel/101 – in our Faceobook community
Do you actually want to proactively earn M&M miles if you are not based in Europe?
It depends – study their award chart and see if there are sweet spots for your particular desired destinations.