Richmond Savers
  • Reward Credit Cards
  • FREE Course Signup
  • Testimonials
  • About
  • Contact

Cheapest Way to Fly Lufthansa First Class: 35k AMEX/Chase/Citi/SPG Points!

August 24, 2017 by Dominik Żmuda 6 Comments  Travel Miles 101 has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Travel Miles 101 and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Disclosures.

Hello everyone! It’s me, Dominik Żmuda from BoundlessMiles and Travelling the World. I’ve already worked with many of you in helping book your dream trips using miles and points through my award booking service. Alexi and Brad have asked me to jump in and write articles specifically for the Travel Miles 101 community – so here I am! I will be sharing with you a variety of all things related to travel, including some of my favourite tips and tricks to ensure you maximise your miles and points!

My Favourite Way to Fly

My absolute favourite way to fly is Lufthansa First Class. It is one of the world’s best products with both an incredible soft and hard product, as well as phenomenal ground services to ensure you fully relax and unwind even before your flight! I’ve flown Lufthansa First Class more times than I can count, on every single Lufthansa aircraft with First Class:

  • Airbus A330-300
  • Airbus A340-600
  • Airbus A380-800
  • Boeing 747-8

My favourite Lufthansa First Class configuration is on the Boeing 747-8 aircraft, as First Class is located in the nose of the plane – exactly right below where the pilots sit. The First Class product feels extra special as it is completely partitioned off and away from Business Class. The galleys and lavatories are also located further away from the cabin – minimising noise.

Lufthansa First Class A380

Lufthansa First Class A380

Redeeming Miles for Lufthansa First Class

Lufthansa First Class is at most only bookable 14 days before departure using partner airlines’ miles and it isn’t cheap. Lufthansa imposes fuel surcharges on award tickets – which can easily range upwards of $400 USD for a one-way flight! The only Star Alliance frequent flyer programmes which do NOT impose fuel surcharges for travel on Lufthansa are Avianca LifeMiles and United Airlines MileagePlus. However, the downside is that Avianca LifeMiles are harder to collect and incredibly difficult to redeem. United MileagePlus miles are easy to collect (instant transfer from Chase Ultimate Rewards), but United charges 110k miles for a one-way First Class ticket from America to Europe on Lufthansa… which is an insane amount of miles and not a great deal at all.

The Cheapest Way to Fly Lufthansa First Class

One of my favourite frequent flyer programmes is Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer. The programme has a great award chart for many regions, including a few sweet spots which I love to maximise. While KrisFlyer does impose fuel surcharges on Star Alliance airlines, these can be easily minimised – even if redeeming miles for Lufthansa First Class.

My favourite sweet spot in the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer award chart is:

  • First Class – Europe to Middle East/North Africa: 35k miles one-way

Europe is Lufthansa’s home, therefore you can fly Lufthansa from just about any European airport. The good news is that Lufthansa has several destinations in the Middle East/North Africa that feature a First Class cabin – including:

  • Bahrain
  • Dammam
  • Doha
  • Dubai
  • Jeddah
  • Kuwait City
  • Riyadh

Doha and Dubai are probably the only two destinations in the Middle East that I don’t mind visiting – and I always fly Lufthansa First Class from Europe for just 35k miles.

Lufthansa First Class Lounge, Frankfurt

Lufthansa First Class Lounge, Frankfurt

Earning Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles

You are in luck! You can transfer just about any major transferable points currency to KrisFlyer, making these miles really easy to collect. The following transfer to KrisFlyer at a 1:1 ratio:

  • American Express Membership Rewards
  • Chase Ultimate Rewards
  • Citi ThankYou Rewards
  • Starwood Preferred Guest (5k bonus for every 20k transferred)

This means that Lufthansa First Class from, say, Stockholm to Frankfurt to Dubai will cost just 35k AMEX/Chase/Citi points or just 30k SPG points one-way (5k bonus for every 20k transferred).

The taxes/fees and fuel surcharges will range depending on where you are originating your travel and will cost you around $200-$300 USD one-way (just make sure you do NOT originate in the United Kingdom as that will add another $100-$200 USD on top of the taxes/fees and fuel surcharges).

Pro Tip: Originate your travel in Scandinavia – the fuel surcharges will significantly drop.

Other Important Factors

No transferable points currency transfers instantly to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.

  • AMEX and Chase transfers take 12-24 hours
  • Citi transfers take 24-48 hours
  • SPG transfers take 7 to 14 days.

This means that the award space you found today may no longer be available for booking tomorrow (by the time the transfer posts to your KrisFlyer account).

Important: You can only book partner awards with KrisFlyer over the phone. This means that you must call KrisFlyer to book Lufthansa awards using KrisFlyer miles. Don’t worry, the agents at KrisFlyer are competent and willing to help – the process usually takes less than 15 minutes. Use United.com to locate the award space and then provide those flight numbers and dates to the KrisFlyer agent who should be able to create an itinerary exactly matching what you have found on United’s website.

Bottom Line

This is an incredibly cheap way to fly Lufthansa First Class. For just 35k points from just about any credit card, you can experience one of the world’s best First Class cabins… and the amazing Lufthansa First Class Terminal at Frankfurt Airport!

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Also, if you have any suggestions on what I should write about in the future – please comment below!

Who’s going to fly Lufthansa First Class cheaply?

Travel Miles 101 has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Travel Miles 101 and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

Filed Under: Travel Rewards

Never Miss a Post

Sign up to get an email when a new Travel Miles 101 post is published.

Thanks for signing up! You'll get an email from Travel Miles 101 each time we post.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

Powered by ConvertKit

Comments

  1. the Financial Hippie says

    August 24, 2017 at 2:06 pm

    Stopovers allowed?

    Reply
    • Dominik Żmuda says

      September 13, 2017 at 12:50 pm

      On a roundtrip award, you can do one stopover and one open jaw. On a one-way full award, you can do a stopover.

      Reply
  2. terry kaiser says

    January 24, 2018 at 2:08 pm

    I am able to fly anytime in June from LAX to NBO. I was hoping to book Luft through Asiana first class for 50K lax to FRA and then Kris Flyer FRA to NBO however I don’t see anything for luft on their website. Could you help me with this?
    Thanks so much,
    terry

    Reply
    • Dominik Żmuda says

      January 26, 2018 at 1:00 pm

      Hi Terry,
      You can only book LH F at most 14 days before departure as that’s when they release award space. LAX is a very hard route for award space, and if it does happen, it usually will be only 1-3 days before departure.

      Reply
  3. Terry kaiser says

    April 8, 2019 at 8:36 pm

    Hi Dominik,
    I never thanked you for your reply, thank you. I have now flown LH 3 times in first booking close in. However your article said krisflyer can book lax to fra for 35K in first, I just called and while they had the space it was 95K plus over $1,000 usd? Any thoughts about that?

    Reply
    • Dominik Żmuda says

      April 20, 2019 at 1:13 pm

      The article does not state that FRA-LAX is 35k. 35k applied to other FRA routes.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

Our Top Recommended Card

Chase Sapphire Preferred

csp sidebar

Earn 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points when you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months.  $95 annual fee.

top cards sidebar

Disclaimer

This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuer Affiliate Program. TravelMiles101.com makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. TravelMiles101.com does not include the entire universe of available financial or credit offers.

Copyright © 2021 TravelMiles101.com | Privacy & Terms | Contact