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Exceptional Lufthansa and SWISS companion fares on flights from Italy

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SWISS and Lufthansa have launched some fantastic First and business class fares from Italy. Unfortunately, these are companion fares which require two people to travel – bad luck if you are a solo traveller.

From Milan, the best fares in business class are (per person):

Singapore €1090
Hong Kong €1180
Bangkok €1180

Exceptional Lufthansa / SWISS companion fares from Italy

Seoul €1250
Delhi €945
Sao Paolo €1200
Johannesburg €1300

Flights from Europe to Singapore for less than £1000 in business class are, frankly, a steal. The caveat is that these fares are from Italian starting points, so you must position yourself there first. You will also be connecting in Switzerland or Germany, so it will be a long day.

The full list of starting points is Ancona, Bologna, Bari, Cagliari, Catania, Rome, Florence, Genoa, Milan (Linate & Malpensa), Naples, Olbia, Palermo, Pisa, Rimini, Lamezia Terme, Turin, Trieste, Venice and Verona.

These fares are widely available. You can virtually take your pick from dates between May and August 2020, and in theory they are available from 21st October 2019.

First Class is on offer as well. You’ll find (per person):

Bangkok €2150
Shanghai €2170
Singapore €2470
Seoul €2670
Hong Kong €2780

There is slightly less availability on these First Class fares, although you can find them from May until August 2020.

You must book by 3rd November and stay for at least six nights.  You can see our review of SWISS business class here, Lufthansa business class review here and our review of First Class on Lufthansa as well as a review of SWISS First Class, too.

Rob recommends Lufthansa First Class over SWISS – because of the excellent food and service (the seat is nothing special) and because of the First Class Terminal in Frankfurt where you get driven to your plane.  For business class he leans towards SWISS although, as these are companion fares, the main problem with Lufthsansa – having to play footsie with your neighbour on the shared footrest – is less of a concern!

You can’t earn Avios from these flights as both airlines are in Star Alliance, not oneworld.  Our article from yesterday on how to earn Star Alliance miles from credit cards will give you a few tips on topping up what you will earn.

If you don’t have a credit card with 0% foreign exchange fees, your best option for paying is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold which offers triple points – 3 per £1 – when you book flight tickets in a foreign currency.  This is because the transaction triggers the ‘double points for airline spend’ and the ‘double points for foreign spend’ bonuses.  Our review of Amex Gold is here.

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How to earn Star Alliance miles from UK credit cards

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

Category

Lufthansa and Miles & More

Comments (78)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Rash says:
    15 Oct15 October 09:15

    If booking the Swiss fares would folks recommend paying on their Amex (incurring the 2.99% foreign transaction fee) or using their Curve?

    • Rhys says:
      15 Oct15 October 10:04

      2.99% almost always cancels out any points you earn from your Amex.

    • Harry T says:
      15 Oct15 October 10:29

      I think it would get 3 membership rewards points per pound if paying on a Gold Amex (extra point for foreign spend, another extra point for airline spend). If you redeem MR at 1p per point then that would offset the 2.99% fee.

      • Waddle says:
        15 Oct15 October 10:33

        And if that spend counts towards the 10k annual bonus for spending £15k then you can add another 0.67 MR to it so you are effectively earning 3.67 MR per £ which could cover the 2.99% fee.

        • Rash says:
          15 Oct15 October 10:44

          Thanks guys, its a Plat charge card. Just thought that paying by Amex would give me some kind of extra security/insurance as opposed to Curve with my flights. Especially as I am considering Hong Kong for next March

          • Lady London says:
            15 Oct15 October 12:00

            You are correct. Every time you pay with Curve (or PayPal for that latter) you lose protections offered you by thé underlying card and also s75

          • Harry T says:
            15 Oct15 October 12:04

            I would consider paying on a credit card, not a charge card like Platinum or a debit card like Curve, if you are concerned about disruption or cancellation of your flights. Charge cards and debit cards don’t get you Section 75 protection. This is why I have a Halifax Clarity credit card – free foreign spend and section 75 protection.

  • Anon says:
    15 Oct15 October 09:28

    Flying Blue can’t be useless if it’s the best and most reliable way to get seats on Air France La Première….(aside from paying)

    • E says:
      15 Oct15 October 10:04

      Premiere only if you have status I think. Gold and Platinum only now I think?

      • BJ says:
        15 Oct15 October 10:45

        Yes, correct. Better option us to book a revenue business class ticket and then hope you get a very sweet cash upgrade offer, unless they have stopped those too.

      • Anon says:
        15 Oct15 October 13:16

        Silver can book as well, although mileage calculator does say to get anywhere very far it’s 260k+ miles

    • Rob says:
      15 Oct15 October 10:35

      Have you seen the new increased mileage rates for that? No longer worth it.

  • bill says:
    15 Oct15 October 09:33

    OT – I cannot login to aerlingus.com, or avios.com/ie/en. Aerlingus.com states it will send me a verification email but I never receive it. Avios website informs me there are technical difficulties. Having said all that, I used to be able to login until relatively recently. My wife’s account is able to login just fine. I’ve contacted aer lingus on twitter and avios through chat but they’ve both tried to fob me off. is there another way to resolve this?

    • Lady London says:
      15 Oct15 October 12:05

      Was Reported by other posters thé underlying Avios.com IT system had an upgrade fail and system is not currently working this week while they try to sort it out.

      I’d HUACA including by phone. Sorry i dont have a current number to give you.

    • Craig says:
      15 Oct15 October 12:42

      The Avios website is a mess at the moment, I have 2k stuck in limbo somewhere between Iberia and Avios.

  • Sussex Bantam says:
    15 Oct15 October 10:11

    For those still looking at the Now TV offer – new members can get 3 months sky cinema for £24. 50% off that is £12. Go through the site that can’t be named and get a further £12 back – so effectively free..

    AMEX offers expire tomorrow so jump in quick if you’re interested

    • Anna says:
      15 Oct15 October 13:53

      Would that work with a new email address and credit card?

    • SG says:
      16 Oct16 October 06:38

      I have bought exactly this pass with this calculation in mind.The website which can’t be named only gave me a £5 for my purchase instead of £12
      I’ll wait and see if that changes,then need to contact their CS!

  • Jack says:
    15 Oct15 October 10:17

    Hi guys, OT here – if I book a flight (through BA flight and car) with Aer Lingus from LGW to MCO via DUB in Business; the short leg shows as booking into “Economy checked baggage” – does anyone know if I would be able to select one of the seats with an empty middle row up front as per AerLingus’ new Aerspace product?

  • EvilDoctorK says:
    15 Oct15 October 11:21

    OT- Amusingly given Rob’s dislike of the new ‘FREENOW’ branding you’ll be pleased to note that it doesn’t appear on your AMEX statement at all as that

    The charge appears as
    `HAILO NETWORK LIMITED – LONDON`

    and the credit then appears as
    ‘MYTAXI UK
    DOING BUSINESS AS
    HAILO’

    So despite the offer being to promote their dubious new branding neither the charge nor the credit makes any reference to ‘FREENOW’ .. we can only hope that they will have to have a new offer after Christmas to rectify this oversight 🙂

    Apart from that the 40% rebate worked fine .. instant notification and credit posted a day or two after the charge … 40% back is a good deal in my book ( don’t use enough cabs to bother with the other flavour of deal offered )

  • Mark says:
    15 Oct15 October 12:17

    Hi guys, another OT. Can anyone tell me if I can pay off tandem or milesandmore cards with a debit card? There are no details on the statements. Also do either of these charge cash fees for paying off other cards through curve?
    Many thanks!

    • chris says:
      15 Oct15 October 14:17

      I think we need an article on the best ‘loophole’ uses of curve. which of these fintechs can we abuse?

  • Aston100 says:
    15 Oct15 October 12:28

    Did I miss the Qatar business class lounge review?

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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