Last December I wrote a post and linked to a Booking.com deal found by Tim at Frequent Miler Since I was planning to make several hotel and apartment reservations on that website anyway, it was a no-brainer for me to take advantage of it and earn 30X Lufthansa miles at no additional cost. The deal is no longer available.
It took several months after our stays in Europe were completed, but my miles have finally posted:
Sweet. Since Lufthansa miles expire 36 months after they are earned, I definitely want to find a good use for them ASAP for trips I’m planning to take anyway. So, I started to poke around Lufthansa.com and made an unexpected discovery.
You can redeem Lufthansa miles on LATAM!
I had no idea that’s possible, since LATAM used to be part of OneWorld and now partners with Alaska Airlines and Delta. As a miles and points nerd, this is fascinating stuff to me, since Lufthansa is in Star alliance. How did this partnership come about exactly? Anyway, you can redeem your miles on LATAM flights, but only ones with LA code. Those used to be operated by LAN before their merger with TAM.
I got all excited, thinking I could rebook my flight from Santiago to Easter Island for 17k Lufthansa miles per person, and cancel tickets that I previously got via Alaska Mileage Plan. Between the two currencies, I definitely prefer to hang on to the latter. Unfortunately, I could not find award availability online despite the fact that seats are bookable through other partners. I even called Lufthansa and sadly was not able to get anywhere. Let me know if you had success redeeming on that route.
However, some LATAM routes are definitely bookable and the pricing isn’t too bad. For example, Santiago-Miami flight costs 30k miles in economy, while Alaska Mileage Plan charges 25k miles.
Many routes are not competitively priced, so you will be better off sticking to Alaska program. But if you have expiring Lufthansa miles, it might be worth it to take what you can get.
I was actually debating on whether I should buy some Lufthansa miles, which would allow me to get two tickets from Santiago to Miami. I’ve previously booked this flight with Alaska miles for 30k miles per person, though my multi-city routing also included a flight from Cuzco.
If I canceled, I would lose $50 in partner booking fees and would need to book Cuzco-Santiago flight separately for 7,500 Alaska miles. Plus, apparently, when you buy Lufthansa miles, they don’t post instantly. I’ve reluctantly decided to find a use for my Lufthansa stash elsewhere.
Using Lufthansa miles on flights to Asia
Next year I’m planning to book award flights to Japan as a 2026 graduation present for my daughter. The best ROI for my Lufthansa stash is booking ANA flight in business class for 71k miles per person plus $200 in fuel surcharges.
However, I doubt I will go this route since I would need to buy additional miles to cover just one ticket. Economy class costs 40k miles, which is much better.
Plus, if you fly from Tokyo to Seattle, we are talking 8.5 hour flight, which isn’t that bad. Unfortunately, even if you fly on United to Asia, you are still stuck with fuel surcharges.
One potentially decent deal is to redeem Lufthansa miles on award flight from Honolulu to Tokyo. It costs 20k miles per person, plus fuel surcharges. I just might go this route and spend a few nights in Hawaii with my daughter on the way to Japan. Why not?
If you are hoping to fly to Taiwan in business class, you can redeem Lufthansa miles on Eva Air where fuel surcharges are somewhat palatable. 
Many possibilities, so perhaps I will find a good way to utilize my miles for this specific trip. Who knows, maybe we can even find a domestic saver award on United for a positioning flight, though it’s a long shot.
Find Lufthansa Star Alliance award chart here
Plan B: Europe
If I can’t find a good way to burn miles on a trip to Japan, I will try to use them towards a flight to/from Europe. I’m tentatively looking at doing a family reunion in Poland in 2027, assuming my relatives are still able to cross the border.
Lufthansa program does impose fuel surcharges on most partner tickets, but they are relatively mild on LOT Airlines.
United award tickets to Europe booked through Lufthansa also have fuel surcharges, which surprised me. I thought this was only an issue on trans-pacific tickets.
If I saved my Lufthansa stash for Europe, I would need to buy additional miles in order to cover two award tickets, and use another currency for the remaining two seats.
I do have 47k miles in United program, which should be enough for the third ticket, and a small stash in Avianca that I can top off with Amex MR points. One of our readers has once said that it’s entertaining to read posts on how I cobble up miles and points for our award tickets. That’s a good description.
Occasionally Lufthansa lets you use more miles to cover award fees on specific tickets, which can be a worthwhile option. Last but not least, they have promo awards and mileage bargains, which can present terrific value as well. So even for economy flights this program can be quite useful. Now that United has devalued its award chart (several times), programs like Lufthansa look far more interesting by comparison. Of course, the biggest issue is the fact that Lufthansa doesn’t partner with any flexible points programs, aside from Marriott (which doesn’t really count).
Plan C: Amazon gift cards
There is an option to use Lufthansa miles towards hotels and car rentals at around 0.4 cents apiece. However, if it looks like my miles are about to expire, I will likely just use them on Amazon gift cards at 0.33 cents apiece. Not great, but better than losing them.
However, I am fairly certain I’ll burn them towards flights. I have three years to find a good use, which I’m sure will provide me with hours of entertainment looking for that “unicorn” deal. Maybe this will be a kick in the pants to finally book that trip to Quebec City. I could also apply for Lufthansa co-branded card, which would prevent my miles from expiring.
Readers, please share your “unicorn” Lufthansa award deals!
Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
Miguel, that is a sweet deal! The “scarce” part is the main issue, as we would need to find award availability for four. However, three could sit in economy.
The Miles & More Miles Bargains are 55,000 miles round-trip in business class between US & Europe. Availability is scarce and high surcharges in all but LOT.