Lufthansa elite levels. Image Credit: lufthansa.comLufthansa Elite Status
Lufthansa’s Miles & More program has 3 elite tiers: Frequent Traveller, Senator, and HON Circle (highest tier).
Once you qualify for elite status in a calendar year, the benefits begin immediately and are valid for 2 years.
Frequent Traveller: The lowest elite tier offered by Lufthansa, which comes with the following benefits:
- No mileage expiration
- Earn up to 50% more award miles, 25% more miles towards elite Status
- Additional baggage allowance
- Access to the business class lounge
Senator: After earning this status level, you’ll have access to additional benefits including:
- All of the benefits of Frequent Traveller, plus;
- 2 vouchers to fly one class higher
- Access to Senator and Star Gold lounges
- Additional flight award availability
HON Circle: The highest elite tier that you can earn comes with the following benefits:
- All of the benefits of Senator, plus;
- 6 vouchers to fly one class higher
- First class check-in at the First Class Terminal in Frankfurt
- Access to the Lufthansa First Class, SWISS First, and Austrian HON Circle Lounges
- Limousine and transfer service for flights
If you’re interested in diving into more detail about the Lufthansa elite benefits at each tier, go here.
Value of Lufthansa Elite Status
Earning elite status with Lufthansa makes the most sense if you fly Lufthansa, Austrian, or Swiss regularly — or if you are looking for elite benefits when flying a Star Alliance partner like United Airlines.
If you meet one of these criteria, access to premium lounges, additional award availability, and mileage earning bonuses are all reasons as to why you might want to earn elite status.
Earning Lufthansa Elite Status
Miles & More is the free frequent flyer program for not only Lufthansa, but also major airlines including Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, and LOT Polish Airlines.
By signing up for a Miles & More membership, you’ll have the ability to earn and redeem Lufthansa Miles, as well as work your way toward elite status.
The Miles & More program requires you to earn miles or board a certain number of flights in a calendar year to reach elite status.
Miles & More calculates the miles you earn on flights differently for each airline that is a part of the program, using different factors to determine the number of miles you earn.
For Lufthansa, the Miles & More program calculates the miles you earn by multiplying the fare by a factor of 6.
As an example, if you take a $290 round-trip flight from Frankfurt to Munich on Lufthansa, you’ll earn 1,740 Lufthansa miles ($290 fare x 6).
The best way to determine the number of Lufthansa miles that you’ll earn is to use the award calculator on this page.
Hot Tip: Lufthansa requires you to reach a certain threshold of miles or a number of flight boardings to earn elite status. The program doesn’t have a revenue requirement as you’ll see with the major U.S. airlines.
Lufthansa and its partner airline flights are eligible to earn Lufthansa miles.
When you qualify for elite status, the benefits begin immediately and continue through the following calendar year.
The elite tiers in the Miles & More program work as follows:
- Frequent Traveller: Earn 35,000 miles or 30 scheduled flights in a calendar year
- Senator: Earn 100,000 miles in a calendar year
- HON Circle: Earn 600,000 HON Circle miles in 2 consecutive calendar years
Find more details about the Lufthansa requirements for each elite tier level here.