STILL ON: British Airways Silver and Gold members can get a rare Lufthansa status match

If you’re still struggling to see a way to earn or retain status in British Airways Club, I wanted to remind you today that the Lufthansa / SWISS / Austrian status match into Miles & More which we mentioned in February is still running.

Miles & More is running a status match for Silver and Gold members of British Airways Club. Elite members of Iberia Plus can also participate.

A €99 administration fee is payable.

British Airways Club Silver members will get Frequent Traveller status in Miles & More. This offers lounge access with Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian, but only in directly run lounges. This includes the newly refurbished lounge in Heathrow Terminal 2 which we covered here. The full list of Frequent Traveller benefits is here. You don’t get lounge access with other Star Alliance airlines.

British Airways Club Gold members and above will be offered Senator status. This gets you Star Alliance-wide lounge access. The full list of Senator benefits is here.

Whichever level of Miles & More status you get, it will stop your existing Miles & More mileage balance from expiring as the three year ‘use them or lose them’ rule is suspended.

How long will your status last?

You will receive status until 28th February 2026.

To requalify you will need to meet the standard qualification requirements by the end of 2025.

Lufthansa uses a system similar to the old British Airways one. The only criteria are whether your flight is short haul or long haul, and what travel class you are in. It’s simple.

50% of the points needed for qualification must be earned on Miles & More airlines. You cannot earn or renew status purely by flying on other Star Alliance carriers.

I won’t go into requalification in detail because each person will have a different mix of travel – short haul vs long haul, economy vs business and Lufthansa Group vs other Star Alliance carriers. If you qualified for status under the old British Airways system you should be OK under the current Lufthansa system.

Note that Lufthansa only adopted its current status model this year so major revenue-based changes are unlikely in the medium term.

Is it worth it?

This page of the Miles & More website compares the benefits of Senator and Frequent Traveller status. You should study it before applying for a match.

Senator (from BA Gold) – definitely worth it

If you have British Airways Gold status or higher, this is an excellent opportunity to get top tier status, including lounge access, across all of Star Alliance.

You will also get fast track security and priority boarding across all Star Alliance carriers.

Frequent Traveller (from BA Silver) – maybe, maybe not

Silver status has fewer benefits – fewer than you get with your British Airways Silver status.

You only get access to lounges operated by Lufthansa Group airlines and NOT the broader Star Alliance. If your Star Alliance travel only takes you around Europe on Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian then you’ll be good. On other carriers, less so.

You can access Business Class check-in desks irrespective of which Star Alliance airline you fly, but that is about it in terms of benefits with TAP, United, Singapore Airlines etc.

You do not get fast track security or priority boarding with anyone, whether you are flying Lufthansa Group carriers or not.

How to apply

The website you need is here. Remember that there is a €99 admin fee.

IMPORTANT: do not send a photograph of your British Airways membership card as it will be rejected. It must be be a screenshot from the BA app.