For weeks, I hoped the disappearance of long-haul Lufthansa First award availability through partner programs that began on June 1 was temporary. But about a month later, it still hasn’t returned — and it now appears to be the new reality.
Granted, even before June 1, it was difficult to book Lufthansa First through partner programs. You had to watch for awards to pop up within 72 hours of departure and be prepared to fly pretty much any route.
My husband and I once waited near Frankfurt, extending our hotel day by day, until we eventually snagged two seats from Frankfurt to Mexico City. We’d set up award alerts across multiple services, but we were still checking multiple times per hour ourselves, and our manual searching was what eventually got us the flight.
Before June 1, if you were flexible and determined, it was usually possible to book Lufthansa First at reasonable rates through partner program award charts. For example, we redeemed 192,000 Avianca Lifemiles plus $389 in taxes and fees to fly from Frankfurt to Mexico City in October 2024. That’s 96,000 miles plus $195 per person — which is a lot for a transatlantic flight, but a reasonable amount for the experience we got.
But now, the primary option left for award travelers who want to fly Lufthansa First appears to be booking directly through the carrier’s own Miles & More program, which uses dynamic award pricing for Lufthansa flights. Luckily, Rove miles transfer to Miles & More at a 1:1 ratio, but none of the other major transferable currencies partner with Miles & More.
And as Live and Let’s Fly pointed out, business-class and first-class award availability through Miles & More is much scarcer than it used to be.
For example, let’s consider the same Frankfurt-to-Mexico City route I flew. At the time I wrote this article, ExpertFlyer showed there were two first-class seats still for sale on the flight later that day, seven on the flight the next day and seven on the flight in two days. Meanwhile, the airline was still selling at least nine business-class seats each day.
Before June 1, at least some of this unsold business- and first-class inventory likely would have been made available as awards to partner programs. But now, Seats.aero doesn’t even show any Miles & More premium-cabin award space on these flights. And, it only shows economy award space for partner programs.
Sadly, Lufthansa won’t allow travelers to search for award flights unless they have at least 1,500 miles in their account. But, Seats.aero and ExpertFlyer show it’s a similar situation from Frankfurt to New York.
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EXPERTFLYER
You can book Lufthansa first class or business class on select dates through Miles & More, as shown in the Seats.aero Lufthansa First dashboard. The taxes and fees on the San Diego to Munich award cost an additional $1,404 in business class and $1,529 in first class, though, according to Seats.aero.
Also, keep in mind that a major part of the overall Lufthansa First Class experience is the Lufthansa First Class Terminal in Frankfurt, which you won’t experience if your itinerary only connects through or departs from Munich. If you’re booking an itinerary that arrives in Frankfurt in Lufthansa First, consider adding an onward flight on the same ticket so you’ll have access to the Lufthansa First Class Terminal before your onward departure.
Related: 7 amazing first-class seats you can book with points and miles
Why this matters
Most TPG readers will never even consider booking Lufthansa First Class. And although I’m glad I experienced Lufthansa First Class in 2024, I likely wouldn’t splurge on it again. After all, I only have a limited number of transferable rewards, and there are so many other airline award sweet spots I could book.
So, the primary reason this matters is that it’s yet another example of an airline loyalty program deciding — seemingly permanently — not to release premium cabin award space to partners. This is a growing trend that makes transferable rewards more important but removes much of the value we’ve previously seen when booking through partners.
But, perhaps even more interesting is that Lufthansa isn’t even releasing most of its unsold premium cabin space to its own members within 72 hours of departure. Given the carrier’s high award rates and taxes and fees, it’s surprising not to see more business- and first-class seats open for Miles & More award bookings.
Related: Devaluations are coming thick and fast right now — here’s what you need to know about how to protect yourself
Bottom line
Lufthansa First Class wasn’t easy to book with partner miles before June 1. But for flexible travelers, close-in award space made it one of the most aspirational redemptions still realistically within reach. Unfortunately, that appears to no longer be the case.
With long-haul Lufthansa First awards no longer showing through partner programs — and Miles & More seemingly releasing far less premium-cabin award space than before, even to its own members and often with steep taxes and fees — this sweet spot is now significantly less accessible. For most travelers, it’s another reminder not to hoard rewards for one specific redemption, as premium-cabin partner award space can disappear with little or no warning.
