In November 2019, Miles&More announced a general overhaul of its current frequent flyer program (as we reported). Qualifying (and requalifying) for a frequent flyer status was going to work with a new system starting January 2021. This system replaced the status miles with points. Those points were going to be credited depending on the travel class, regardless of the flight distance and booking class.
The scheduled start on January 1, 2021, however, has been postponed. In May 2020, Miles&More stated that the changes would not become effective in January 2022.
In October, it started to seem that that date would also be postponed. This has now happened. This morning, Miles&More sent an email to its status holders:
As 2020 draws to a close, we can look back on some extraordinary months. As a frequent flyer and loyal passenger, you will be aware of the challenging situation in our industry and the dynamic nature of the current situation, which are continually demanding modifications to our services.
A few months ago, we introduced you to our new status programme, which was supposed to come into effect from January 2022. Unfortunately, we regret to inform you that we are unable to implement the new frequent flyer programme as planned.
E-Mail from Miles&More
The new frequent flyer program will thus definitely not be released in January 2022 but instead postponed indefinitely. Until then, the current rules stay in place. You can continue to earn status miles instead of points and a status will continue to be valid for min. two years.
Conclusion
Some passengers would have profited from Miles&More’s new system, others, however, would have been worse off. The fact that the launch has been postponed can thus neither be classified as clearly positive nor negative news. Currently, it doesn’t even seem to be clear if these new rules will ever become effective or if they will be modified.
What does seem to be clear is that the flight frequencies in 2021 will by far not be the same as before the Corona crisis. It is therefore about time that Miles&More finally publish a fair goodwill policy for its current status-holders. For now, only a frequent flyer status expiring in February 2021 has been extended, while all others have stayed the same. Other programs have been fare more customer-friendly in this aspect.
Translated by Ditmar Lange