There are many guides outlining strategies for reaching Lufthansa Frequent Traveller (FTL) status. Unfortunately, I have repeatedly come across websites that recommend approaches which are barely feasible in practice. For example, who realistically flies 33 segments back and forth within Poland on LOT?
Since a lot has also changed recently within Miles & More regarding Points for Frequent Traveller (or Miles & More Silver) status, I would like to summarize the new options.
In this article, I deliberately focus on practical and realistic ways to reaching FTL status as efficiently as possible. The emphasis is not on theoretical edge cases, but on strategies that can be integrated into everyday life and, ideally, combined with one another.
Naturally, many of the approaches in this article also apply to Senator status. A separate article on this topic will follow in the future.
1. How Can You Reach Lufthansa Frequent Traveller Status?
The Frequent Traveller status is the entry level into the Miles & More status world. Currently, the following requirements apply:
- 650 Status Points
- 325 Qualifying Points
- within a qualification period of one calendar year
Status Points are generally earned through flights with airlines of the Lufthansa Group as well as selected Star Alliance partner airlines. Qualifying Points, however, are only awarded for flights with Lufthansa Group airlines and fully integrated Miles & More partners (such as LOT Polish Airlines).
The classic way to achieve Lufthansa Frequent Traveller status is therefore through a sufficient number of (paid) flights. The following applies:
| Flight class / Region | Status Points | Qualifying Points |
|---|---|---|
| Economy Class – continental | 20 | 20 |
| Business Class – continental | 40 | 40 |
| Economy Class – intercontinental | 60 | 60 |
| Premium Economy Class – intercontinental | 80 | 80 |
| Business Class – intercontinental | 200 | 200 |
| First Class – intercontinental | 400 | 400 |
2. Creating an Annual Plan for Flights and Points
Anyone aiming for FTL status and already realizing that it might be tight should start with a realistic annual plan. This helps clarify early on whether achieving the status this year is feasible and how much may still be missing.
You should ask yourself the following questions:
- Which flights are already planned anyway? (business or private)
- In which class will these flights be booked?
- When will these flights take place?
- Will these flights occur before or after the desired time of achieving status?
Especially with planned vacation trips or regular business travel, small optimizations can often be made that add up to a significant effect overall. Without planning any additional trips.
3. Earning Points & Qualifying Points Without Additional Flights
Before planning extra flights, it is worth taking a look at ways to reduce the required number of points in advance:
- 🏨 Hotel partner Marriott Bonvoy: Three times per year, you can earn 40 Points per stay (120 Points in total). Registration is required. Note: Formerly, 2 nights per stay were necessary. This constraint has been removed.
- 💳 Lufthansa credit card: Both applying for the card and converting miles into Points can earn Points.
- 🎟️ eVouchers: If you already have eVouchers, up to four can be converted into 50 Points & QPs each. Also interesting: eVouchers can alternatively be used to roll over 100 Points and QPs per voucher into the following year.
- 🎯 Promotions and special programs: From time to time, the Lufthansa Group offers promotions where you can earn extra Status Points and Qualifying Points. The Uptrip app also regularly releases collections that award status points (100–200 QPs per year). Subscribing to Lufthansa and Uptrip newsletters is worthwhile.
Possibly, you can directly combine a Marriott stay (including more affordable Bonvoy brands such as Moxy) with already planned trip.
4. Correctly Calculating the FTL Status Gap
A common mistake is to only look at the status gap at the end of the year. It makes much more sense to calculate early in order to remain flexible throughout the year:
- ✓ Aktueller Stand: Status- und Qualifying Points prüfen
- ✓ Geplante Flüge: Alle Flüge bis zum gewünschten Statuserhalt berücksichtigen
- ✓ Factor in promotions: Points from promotions, hotel programs, or Uptrip
Especially if the status is needed before major vacation trips (e.g. for lounge access or extra baggage allowance), this advance planning is worthwhile. I personally use a small Excel spreadsheet, but even a rough mental calculation is often sufficient.
Reaching Lufthansa Frequent Traveller Status – Practical Options
Depending on the remaining gap, different strategies may be suitable forreaching Lufthansa Frequent Traveller status:
5a) Optimizing Existing Flights
Planned flights can often be optimized without much additional effort:
- Connections with a stopover instead of a direct flight (e.g. via Frankfurt or Munich). Sometimes this even results in more convenient flight times or lower fares.
- Checking rail feeder connections (Lufthansa Express Rail), which count toward status up to a certain limit (maximum 160 QPs).
Sometimes, connections departing from Cologne or Düsseldorf with a rail feeder to Frankfurt are cheaper (or at least not more expensive) than departing directly from Frankfurt. This can be worthwhile even if you still fly directly from Frankfurt. In practice, there is currently no systematic check as to whether the booked train was actually used.
5b) Getting More Points from Existing Flights
If only a few points are missing, upgrades can help. A distinction must be made between upgrades purchased at a fixed price and bid-based upgrades.
On long-haul flights, an upgrade can provide a noticeable boost in Points. However, cheap upgrades at the gate or onboard do not earn points. Nor do upgrades via miles or upgrade vouchers.
5c) Compensating Flights and Receiving Extra Points
Miles & More has recently started awarding QPs for CO₂ compensation of flights (link directly to the offer). Depending on the package booked, up to 80%(!) extra points are possible. However, the Euro-to-Points ratio should be carefully considered. Compensation can be worthwhile especially for short economy flights, whereas compensating long-haul business class flights is often expensive.
Tip: According to Miles & More, Award Flights can also be compensated.
5d) Cheap Weekend Trips and Blind Booking Offers
There are regularly attractive offers for:
- ✈️ Blind booking flights: via Eurowings, Austrian, or the Lufthansa website.
- 🛒 ALDI Reisen (Travels): Eurowings blind booking flights, e.g. €80 round trip.
- 🌍 Regional airports: Poland or Italy are often interesting. Deal portals such as Travel-Dealz.de are worth checking.
These trips can often be added spontaneously.
5e) Shifting Departures Abroad
Unfortunately, Lufthansa Group flights are often cheaper when the journey starts in another European country. In particular, it is frequently worth checking the following cities using flight search engines:
| Budapest | Stockholm | Copenhagen | Oslo |
While the additional flight to the starting point may negate the price advantage, it also provides extra Points and an additional travel experience.
5f) The Fast but Expensive Route: Business & First Class
- Business Class long-haul: A quick way to earn many Points. Consider Star Alliance partners if only Points are missing.
- First Class: More of an experience, less price-efficient for status purposes. Details on long-haul Business and First Class will follow in the Senator article.
A comparatively short route with a high Qualifying Points yield is Beirut (200 QPs per segment). This is a destination I personally fly to often and which is served by several Lufthansa Group airlines (e.g. from Düsseldorf, Berlin, Frankfurt, and Zurich). However, caution is advised: Anyone looking for the comfort experience of a true Business Class seat should choose a different destination. Beirut is served by the A320 fleet, thus standard short-haul seating.
5g) Last Resort at Year-End: Converting Miles into Points
If only a few Qualifying Points are missing at the end of the qualification period, miles can be converted into Status Points via the Lufthansa credit card. A maximum of 100 Points and QPs can be obtained for 25,000 miles. The exchange rate is painful, but it can help secure an otherwise lost status.
Example: Annual planning for LH FTL status (click to expand)
Planned flights & Status Points
| Planned Flights | Calculation | Status Points | Qualifying Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3× Europe Economy for job (Round trip) | 3 × 2 × 20 | 120 | 120 |
| 1× long-haul Premium Eco vacation (inkl. Eco-Zubringer) | 2 × (80 + 20) | 200 | 200 |
| 1× Europa Eco (inlc. connection) for job | 4 × 20 | 80 | 80 |
| Subtotal of planned flights | 400 | 400 | |
Status Gap to FTL
| Category | Required | Planned | Missing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status Points | 650 | 400 | 250 |
| Qualifying Points | 325 | 400 | 0 |
Options to close gap
| Action | Description | Status Points | Qualifying Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marriott Bonvoy Hotels | 3× 2 nights in participating hotels | 120 | – |
| Upgrade by Bidding | Long-haul round trip | 120 | 120 |
| CO2 Compensation (Pakacge „M“) | Europe Round trip (+30 %) | 12 | 12 |
| Uptrip Collection | Exemplary Status Collection | 40 | – |
| Additional Status Points | 292 | 132 | |
Result: 692 Status Points & 532 Qualifying Points → FTL Status reached (incl. Buffer)
Alternative: FTL Status Completely Without Points via Uptrip
In addition to all these strategies, there is a completely different way to achieve Frequent Traveller status. Without any Status Points or Qualifying Points.
Through the Miles & More Uptrip app, FTL status can currently be unlocked via a special collection. Instead of points, collected cards from flown segments and promotions count. The flights also do not need to have been completed within a single year.
This approach is particularly interesting for:
- Frequent flyer beginners without an existing status
- Travelers who cannot meet the status point requirements
- Travelers with limited flight frequency or mainly short-haul flights
👉 Here you can find the detailed step-by-step guide to FTL status with Uptrip, including calculation examples, pitfalls, and current updates.
Conclusion: Reaching Frequent Traveller Status
There is no single perfect path to Lufthansa Frequent Traveller status. The most efficient approach strongly depends on:
- which flights are already planned anyway
- how flexible you are in terms of time and geography
- and when the status is actually needed
Those who plan in a structured way and combine different approaches can significantly reduce both the required effort and costs. For beginners without any status, the Uptrip approach in particular currently represents an exceptionally simple alternative.
