Lufthansa launches Miles & More mileage transfers via its mobile app

Lufthansa has launched a new feature via the Miles & More mobile app – the ability to transfer your miles to someone else for a ludicrous price.

And yet …. and yet …. you still might end up using it.

For some reason the new transfer feature is only available in the app.  For a cost of €10 per 1,000 miles, you can move your Miles & More miles to someone else.  There is a 35,000 miles per year cap on either transferring or receiving miles.

This is NOT great value at 0.9p per mile, given that no new miles are being created.

However …. Lufthansa may have you over a barrel.  Miles & More miles have a hard expiry date of three years.  Unless you have elite status, your miles expire irrespective of how much account activity you have.  The only way to stop it is to get the Miles & More credit card, and even then you need to spend on it regularly for three months before protection kicks in.

My wife has 8,000 miles expiring on 30th September.  Her total balance is only 17,000 miles.  17,000 is enough for a one-way from the UK to Germany in Economy but, with full taxes due, it is still a bad deal compared to 4,500 Avios + £17.50 with BA.

Should I pay €80 to move her expiring 8,000 miles to me?  I’m not keen.  If a promo came along to acquire Miles & More miles for 0.9p, I probably wouldn’t do it.  It makes no sense that I am even contemplating paying the same to move expiring miles from her to me. And yet, a nagging voice doesn’t want to see them wasted.

I could also redeem 9,200 miles for a £25 shopping gift card – a pathetic 0.27p per mile.  Despite being terrible value, it is still something – so transferring 9,200 of her miles to me effectively costs me 1.17p per mile (0.9p transfer fee and the 0.27p of Amazon gift card I would otherwise get).

Let’s see where I end up – I have until 30th September to decide how we spend them.  If you want to transfer any expiring Miles & More miles, you will find the option in the app but not on the Miles & More website.

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How to earn Star Alliance miles from UK credit cards (April 2025)

None of the Star Alliance airlines currently have a UK credit card.

There is, however, still a way to earn Star Alliance miles from a UK credit card. 

The route is via Marriott Bonvoy. Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty points convert to over 40 airlines at the rate of 3:1.

The best way to earn Marriott Bonvoy points is via the official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. It comes with 20,000 points for signing up and 2 points for every £1 you spend. At 2 Bonvoy points per £1, you are earning (at 3:1) 0.66 airline miles per £1 spent on the card.

There is a preferential conversion rate to United Airlines – which is a Star Alliance member – of 2 : 1 if you convert 60,000 Bonvoy points at once.

The Star Alliance members which are Marriott Bonvoy transfer partners are: Aegean, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Avianca, Copa Airlines, Singapore Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines and United Airlines.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points for signing up and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review