Miles and More has announced a revamp of its award miles earning structure from next spring, moving towards a revenue-based structure.

From March 12, 2018, members will receive a base of four miles per Euro spent (based on the ticket price and any additional fees charged by the respective airline).

Frequent Traveller, Senator or HON Circle members travelling with Lufthansa Group carriers Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Airlines, as well as with transatlantic joint venture partners United Airlines and Air Canada, and Miles and More participants Adria Airways, Air Dolomiti, Croatia Airlines and LOT Polish Airlines, will receive a 50 per cent bonus, so six miles per Euro spent.

Meanwhile status members on flights with Eurowings, Brussels Airlines and all other Miles and More partner airlines will receive a 25 per cent bonus, so a total of five miles per Euro spent.

Note that the new reward system only applies to flights on tickets issues by a Lufthansa Group airline (ie: Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings or Brussels Airlines).

If the flight is booked as part of a package tour, or ticketed by an airline outside the Lufthansa Group, miles will continue to be calculated according to booking class / length of route.

Customers booking via a third-party sales channel (ie: a travel agent or online travel agency) will be able to tell by the ticket number whether award miles will be calculated according to the new system.

If the first three digits of  the ticket number are 220 (Lufthansa), 724 (Swiss), 257 (Austrian Airlines) or 082 (Brussels Airlines) or Eurowings, the new system will applies to the flight – if not, the award miles are calculated according to the old system.

The Lufthansa Group said that “the frequent flyer status of participants, the privileges associated with that status and the allocation of status miles will not be affected by the new system for award miles”, adding that “This change will also not have a fundamental impact on the number of award miles that are distributed by the airlines over all, or on the availability of flight rewards”.

The group said that the change will mean it is “rewarding the purchase of higher-priced tickets more strongly than is currently the case”.

It said that applying the new system from March will give customers “enough time to take the transition to the new reward system into account in their travel plans”. Tickets booked before March 12, 2018, will be subject to the old system, even if the trip itself begins on or after that date.

Lufthansa said that the move will create “a consistent system for assigning award miles”.

Last month Air France-KLM unveiled the new-look Flying Blue programme, which will also see miles earned according to expenditure, and award tickets available “until the last seat available for sale”.

lufthansagroup.com, miles-and-more.com