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Miles & More extends expiry protection for ex-payment card holders

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The current Lufthansa Miles & More Global Traveller payment cards closed on 4th April 2021.

One of the key benefits of holding this card, and paying the £79 annual fee, was that it stopped your Miles & More miles from expiring.

Lufthansa has an unforgiving expiry policy with your miles disappearing three years after being earned, irrespective of activity. The only way to stop it was to have Miles & More elite status or to hold a Miles & More payment card, which hasn’t been possible in the UK for the last 16 months.

lufthansa miles expiry uk credit card

Lufthansa has just given you another three months grace. If ex-cardholders check their Miles & More statements, they will see that they were credited with 1 mile yesterday, ostensibly marked ‘credit card spend’. This tells the Miles & More computer not to expire any miles this quarter.

This has only pushed back the problem, of course. Your miles will now start to expire on 31st December unless another extension is imposed.

As we covered last week, Cornercard has dropped plans to launch a new Lufthansa payment card in the UK. It did say that the airline is now talking to new issuers so we may yet see something turn up. I imagine that if Lufthansa had thrown in towel completely it would start letting miles expire.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2024 update

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In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

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You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

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Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

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American Express Business Platinum

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American Express Business Gold

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Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

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For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.

Barclaycard Select Cashback Business Credit Card

1% cashback uncapped* on all your business spending (T&C apply) Read our full review

Category

Lufthansa and Miles & More

Comments (46)

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

  • Indy500 says:
    20 Aug20 August 06:53

    Mine turned up today. Used to pay my buildings insurance. Payee was A Plan Insurance. BA app shows transaction was with Sevenoaks Sound and Vision including their website address. I wish. Queried A Plan. They definitely have the money so what the crap is going on here? Any ideas?

  • DaveP says:
    20 Aug20 August 07:15

    I have spent the required amount on the card. How long after this will the Avios be credited to my account?

  • tony says:
    20 Aug20 August 08:35

    I picked up a slew of LH points via the MBNA credit card years back. I spent some but the small remainder still show as valid in my account.

    • RussellH says:
      20 Aug20 August 08:50

      +1

      Still have 116 M+M points from way back. No extra points ever credited since shortly after the MBNA card.
      Last flight credited in 2016, used most of the points for a trip to Dresden in 2017. Probably a few partner credits since then; used up miles at World Shop.
      Last activity was exchanging for an M+S gift card and that must have been 2018 or perhaps 2019.

  • Gordon says:
    20 Aug20 August 08:37

    I applied for the Prepaid MasterCard with the promo code before the deadline. However, my application kept being sent for “manual review”, until earlier this week they asked for me to resubmit my documents. So will I still qualify for the bonus? I assume I should, since I applied before the deadline, but given the faffage in getting it approved I’m not confident!

    • Rob says:
      20 Aug20 August 08:45

      If it doesn’t arrive (and I don’t know how quickly it should arrive) we can chase it up for you.

  • Luke says:
    20 Aug20 August 08:54

    Check your transactions carefully, card was declined using contactless at Costa so I inserted and did chip and pin.

    Two duplicate transactions have cleared.

  • To dare is to do says:
    20 Aug20 August 09:36

    I’ve tried 5 times to register my First Direct debit card but it won’t accept it. A tad annoying!

    • Jacob says:
      20 Aug20 August 09:56

      Someone mentioned in the forums that it doesn’t work with First Direct as apparently FD consider the platform/network the BA MC is using as fraudulent. 🤷‍♂️

      • To dare is to do says:
        20 Aug20 August 10:07

        So I can’t use First Direct at all then? It’s funny I have same problem trying to pay people with TSB account. I’ve got a back up account I can use but means faffing about transferring £ one to other. I told my friend to get card as well and she’s only got a FD debit card. Does any one know how I get round it to register FD debit card? Thanks for info.

        • Graham D says:
          20 Aug20 August 14:03

          I’m with First Direct and initially couldn’t deposit – got an error message. A quick call to FD confirmed card was blocked – fraud team then unblocked, was able to deposit and no problems since

      • yorkieflyer says:
        20 Aug20 August 14:00

        As an FD customer who did a body swerve on this dodgy product I’m sure our friends at FD are saving us from ourselves

        • Spurs drive me mad says:
          21 Aug21 August 08:41

          Thanks … my aim like a lot of people hit the bonuses cancel card. I’ve registered my other card for now. I nearly didn’t bother with it as I’m points rich but the 20 year habit of collecting/chasing was just to strong.

  • sayling says:
    20 Aug20 August 09:37

    Thanks for sorting things out, Rob/HfP Team

  • Ros says:
    20 Aug20 August 10:16

    I applied for the BA prepaid Mastercard and had the no-promo-box issue … ROB-THANK YOU FOR SORTING THAT.
    BUT …
    card not yet arrived …. How long are they taking to be issued please? A normal credit or debit card is often delivered within days .

    • yorkieflyer says:
      20 Aug20 August 14:05

      I had this problem and decided to pull the plug and neither BAEC or the card issuer could stop the application! It’s just sat their waiting for me to faff about with verification. Perhaps your stuck at the verification stage? Could be worth checking the app?
      Though with all the issues being reported you may be wise to leave it at that??!!

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

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