Miles&More: Sweet Spots for Cheap Status Points in 2024 (FTL from approximately €570 & Senator from €1,660)

Miles&More first revealed plans for a new status system in 2019. These were initially intended to be implemented for flights from 2021, but then the pandemic intervened. Even back then, the plans were very concrete, and we presented ways for you to theoretically earn Senator status for around €1,500 and HON Circle for around €5,000.

Since then, Miles&More has made some adjustments, moving North African countries into the “Europe” region. However, this doesn’t change much. Based on the new points table, we have searched again and found some similarly affordable options for a cost-effective status run. In the best case, you could pay only €0.70 per status point.

Whether one really wants to endure flying from Saudi Arabia to Ethiopia just for the miles is another question. So, let’s get started, but before that, we’ve compiled the key details about the new status system.

How the new points system works

Since January 1, 2024, Miles&More no longer uses status miles. The old system was replaced by “Points,” “Qualifying Points,” and “HON Circle Points.” From our perspective, it doesn’t get much simpler, even though Miles&More sees it differently.

The different currencies are distinguished as follows:

• (Status) Points: Regular status points, earned for all flights with Star Alliance partners and selected other airlines (e.g., Eurowings, Discover Airlines), on all booking classes that also earn award miles. Miles&More only call these points Points; we add Status for better differentiation.
• Qualifying Points: The value is identical to Points but is only earned on selected airlines: Air Dolomiti, Austrian, Brussels, Croatia, Discover, Eurowings, LOT, Lufthansa, Luxair, and Swiss.
• HON Circle Points: Similar to Qualifying Points, but only earned on flights in first & business class.

For a frequent flyer status, the following are needed per calendar year:

• Frequent Traveller: 650 Points, including 325 Qualifying Points
• Senator: 2,000 Points, including 1,000 Qualifying Points
• HON Circle Member: 6,000 HON Circle Points

Important: The status is now valid for only one year, previously it was at least two years.

The points credit is no longer based on distance but only on whether a flight is categorized as “continental” or “intercontinental.” Depending on the flight, you can earn between 20 and 300 Points.

Travel class	Continental	Intercontinental
Economy Class	20	60
Premium Economy	20	80
Business Class	40	200
First Class	40	300

For the continents, the following map is crucial: Flights within the same zone (= same colour) are considered continental. A flight that touches multiple colours is considered intercontinental. In other words, a flight from Frankfurt to Tel Aviv earns the same Points as a flight from Frankfurt to Buenos Aires.

More on this in the following articles:

Examples of cheap status points – from €0.70 per Point

Now, let’s move on to the promised examples of how you can earn status points as cheaply as possible:

Aegean Economy Class Athens – Tel Aviv: 120 Points from €85

According to our research, the best price per point is offered by an economy ticket from Greece to Israel. Currently, travel to Israel is not recommended, but this sweet spot will likely be relevant again in the future.

Availability for under €100 is relatively scarce, but for around €130, you can find quite a few options on the Athens – Tel Aviv and Thessaloniki – Tel Aviv routes.

In the best case, you pay only €0.70 per status point here. Unfortunately, there are no Qualifying Points for this:

• 120 Status Points
• 0 Qualifying Points
• 0 HON Circle Points
• 742 Award Miles

Show map and mileage calculator

Copa Business Class Ecuador – Colombia: 800 Points from €588

If you look for the Star Alliance hubs in Central America, you will quickly come across Copa. The Panama hub falls into the North America zone according to Miles&More, but the neighboring country Colombia is already considered South America. Flying the South America – Panama – South America route earns you 800 status points for a roundtrip.

As an example, we have selected the route Guayaquil – Panama – Bogota and back. This costs approximately €588 and earns you a whopping 800 status points.

The price per status point is excellent at just €0.74. Unfortunately, there are no Qualifying Points for this, meaning you can’t reach Senator or FTL status with this alone:

• 800 Status Points
• 0 Qualifying Points
• 0 HON Circle Points
• 3,822 Award Miles

Show map and mileage calculator

Lufthansa Group Business Class Athens – Tel Aviv: 480 Qualifying Points from €391

Even if you want to collect Qualifying Points, the Middle East region stands out. A bit of a detour, but with Brussels, Lufthansa & Swiss, you can fly from Greece to Tel Aviv for around €400 or to Beirut for around €500. Currently, this area is unfortunately a powder keg, so such a trip might only be considered for the second half of the year.

The price here is €0.81 per status point. And unlike Copa or Aegean, you also get Qualifying Points and HON Circle Points:

• 480 Status Points
• 480 Qualifying Points
• 480 HON Circle Points
• 1,160 Award Miles

Show map and mileage calculator

Egyptair Business Class Riyadh – Addis Ababa: 800 Points from €683

The new Miles&More program should have started in 2021, as mentioned above. At that time, North Africa was still considered part of Africa and was particularly attractive for point accumulation. Miles&More has since corrected this and included North Africa in Europe. Ultimately, the zone border has simply shifted a bit further south.

This can be advantageous because the route Saudi Arabia – Cairo – Ethiopia now forms its own intercontinental triangle and earns 800 status points at prices starting from €683. Due to the visa requirements for Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia, this is, however, a rather theoretical sweet spot.

The price here is €0.85 per status point. Unfortunately, there are no Qualifying Points:

• 800 Status Points
• 0 Qualifying Points
• 0 HON Circle Points
• 7,616 Award Miles

Also, 800 status points could be obtained with the route Amman – Nairobi and back (€1,080).

Show map and mileage calculator

LOT Economy Class within Poland: 80 Qualifying Points from €74

In the past, LOT flights within Poland were ideal for a segment run: Only 30 segments were needed under the Silver Promotion for Frequent Traveller status.

And even after the switch to the points system, it remains very attractive. For FTL, you now need 33 segments, for Senator 100. Few people will do that, but the good thing is that missing points can be earned easily and inexpensively without having to travel around the world.

To give you a random example, a roundtrip Stettin – Warsaw – Rzeszow earns 80 points and costs a budget-friendly €74. This amounts to €0.93 per status point:

There are numerous examples in Poland that yield similar prices per point. And for those needing only 40 points: A roundtrip Katowice – Warsaw (non-stop) is available for just €46.

The mileage credit for the above example:

• 80 Status Points
• 80 Qualifying Points
• 0 HON Circle Points
• 500 Award Miles

Show map and mileage calculator

LOT Business Class Gothenburg – Dubai: 480 Qualifying Points from €617

Let’s move on to an example that might be more practical. Although LOT unfortunately only flies with a Boeing 737 to Dubai, there are sometimes super-price tickets available. A roundtrip from Gothenburg costs just over €600. And with LOT, like with Lufthansa, you can earn both Qualifying and HON Circle Points.

Here, the price per status point is €1.29. Fortunately, award miles at LOT are distance-based:

• 480 Status Points
• 480 Qualifying Points
• 480 HON Circle Points
• 10,240 Award Miles

Show map and mileage calculator

Lufthansa Economy Class with Rail Connection: 80 Qualifying Points for €127

It was unclear for a long time whether there would be status points for bus and train journeys. Miles&More has now answered this question on their website. Train journeys are treated like flights, but there are no points for bus rides. However, there is an upper limit on the points you can collect on the train:

Yes, you can earn Points, Qualifying Points and HON Circle Points on journeys with Austrian AIRail, Lufthansa Express Rail or the SWISS Airtrain service in the same way as you would on flights operated by Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa or SWISS. […]

The maximum thresholds are: 160 Qualifying Points for Frequent Traveller status, 500 Qualifying Points for Senator status and 1,000 HON Circle Points for HON Circle Member status.

Miles&More-Website

An economy-class flight within Europe can be quite interesting. For €127, you can get, e.g. a roundtrip Munich – Frankfurt – Riga, with the domestic German leg by train:

At €1.59 per status point, the price is at least acceptable. But more importantly, at similar prices, there are flights to numerous destinations in Europe that you might want to visit anyway.

The calculation looks like this:

• 80 Status Points
• 80 Qualifying Points
• 0 HON Circle Points
• 244 Award Miles

Note the above limit: For FTL, a maximum of 160 Qualifying Points can be collected on the train, meaning it’s over after 8 train journeys. For the Senator, there are at least 500 points = 25 journeys possible.

Simple Path to Frequent Flyer Status

Based on these examples, you can now calculate the best possible price for each frequent flyer status. We tried to keep it as simple as possible, primarily based on the Greece – Tel Aviv example. Due to the example in South America, a Senator might be slightly more affordable in theory, but you still have to get there first.

FTL from approximately €569

With the following combination, we reach a total of 660 points (including 660 Qualifying Points) for a price of €569:

• 1x Business ATH-TLV roundtrip = 480 QP for €396
• 2x Economy SZZ-WAW-RZE roundtrip = 160 QP for €148
• 1x Economy RZE-WAW one-way = 20 QP for €25

If you want to forgo Israel, you can also earn FTL solely with Polish domestic flights starting from €614.

Senator from approximately €1,658

2,000 points (including 2,000 Qualifying Points) can be achieved with the following combination for a total price of €1,660:

• 4x ATH-TLV roundtrip = 1,920 QP for €1,584
• 1x SZZ-WAW-RZE = 80 QP for €74

Similarly theoretical: One could fly 25x a roundtrip within Poland (e.g., SZZ – WAW – RZE) for a total of €1,860.

In practice, it will look different, of course: To make the status worthwhile, you will likely undertake several long-haul flights per year anyway. The missing points can then be filled in either with one or two status runs to the Middle East or with several flights within Europe. If you’re already in South America, it’s a bit cheaper there.

HON Circle Member from approximately €5,150

You probably already suspect where this is going: If you undertake 13 roundtrips from Greece via BRU/FRA/ZRH to Israel, you would pay around €5,000 and have 6,240 HON Circle Miles in your pocket.

However, trying this is strongly discouraged: Aside from the travel warning, there are strict security interrogations for travel to and from Israel. The justification of “Mileage Run” is likely not well-received there, at least not on the fifth entry within a few weeks.

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For the sake of transparency: A similar guide was published on Meilenoptimieren a few days ago. We have been working on this article for a long time and found all our examples through Google Flights – but of course, the content partially overlaps. If you are interested in more examples from around €1.25 per status point (with e.g. Turkish or Avianca), also take a look at our colleagues’ work.

Translated by Ditmar

Cover Picture: Ditmar Lange