A microcosm of the broader decline in German society, Lufthansa is the perfect example of how a reputation for efficiency and competence has been turned on its head. At this point my mental model of Lufthansa is that everything they do is somehow illogical, incompetent, and incoherent. So, too, with upcoming changes they’ve announced to their Miles & More frequent flyer program.

The End of the Award Chart—and Mileage Bargains

Lufthansa is scrapping its award chart on several Lufthansa Group carriers effective June 3, pricing redemptions instead based on paid ticket cost – including basic economy fares which will carry basic economy restrictions. This applies to Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, Lufthansa City and SWISS – but in typical complicated and bumbling Lufthansa fashion this isn’t rolling out across the full Lufthansa Group.

The changes mean you’ll also be able to choose between Light, Classic and Flex fares for flights within Europe and Light, Basic, Basic Plus and Flex fares for intercontinental flights. Depending on the fare, you’ll be offered various baggage and seating options. Different rules and fees for cancellations and rebookings will also apply.

• This is the end of outsized benefit from their program. The value proposition that has undergirded the success of loyalty programs is taking a spoiling product (unsold seat) and offering those to customers who value it near its retail price at a discount. Customers gain access to travel they wouldn’t otherwise be able to take advantage of, and it becomes a huge behavioral motivator.

• Dynamic pricing doesn’t even get you access to any seat on the flight, like other airlines do. The whole reason many carriers move to dynamic pricing is to increase award availability as they print more miles without a corresponding increase in unsold seats on the carrier. At Lufthansa, they will continue to restrict award availability to when they’re selling the cheapest seats in a cabin.

• And just to make sure no one gets real value out of the new program, they’re dropping the ‘Mileage Bargains’ feature of the program where they discount routes with plenty of unsold seats and low demand. Even Delta, the pioneer of gutting the frequent flyer program and treating miles as a mere low value currency, still runs discounts and deals on lightly booked routes. And they call this “simplification.”

Partner flights will still price based on an award chart. Coach roundtrip to Europe goes down from 30,000 to 25,000 miles each way but this has never been a good deal and still won’t be because the program adds fuel surcharges – and often surcharges represent the bulk of the cost of a coach transatlantic ticket.

Meanwhile, U.S. – Europe in partner business class will go up from 56,000 to 62,500 miles and first class from 91,000 to 107,500 miles each way (plus surcharges).

A Kick In The Teeth To Elite Members, Too

Many programs treat their elites better when they redeem miles, extending status benefits (even upgrades) on award tickets and making miles go further by discounting the price of redemptions. Not so Lufthansa.

British Airways just treated its high-flyers like a bunch of proper numpties, saying, ‘bugger off, muppets.’ Lufthansa said hold my (German) beer, declaring: ‘Hau ab, ihr Trottel!’

Since award bookings will increasingly resemble discounted, non-refundable fares, the option to cancel or change award tickets will vanish unless spending more miles.

Status benefits—such as free seat selection, checked baggage, and lounge access—are being scaled back on the cheapest awards, too. Redeeming miles becomes a punishment for loyalty rather than a benefit.

The primary benefit of Miles and More today is access to greater premium cabin inventory than through partner programs, and access to first class awards in advance of travel. However it’s expected that first class awards may be severely restricted or eliminated entirely as Lufthansa’s new first class product rolls out.

The Worst Of All Worlds

There’s no longer a reason to bank miles when miles are just a currency. But banked (unredeemed) miles are the best for program economics. U.S. frequent flyers, who (as a consequence of German law) don’t have points transfer options, aren’t really being hurt here – aside from holders of the Barclays co-brand. Because most haven’t bothered with the program. But those who have are hurt more, because U.S. point of sale fares are generally higher than those in Europe. How much you pay will be based on ticket price and tickets are more expensive here. Plus, you still pay fuel surcharges!

And despite giving us all of this information about how they’re destroying the program, they’re still possibly saving the worst information for later? They do not say how much a mile will be worth towards the price of a (restricted) ticket. Your miles may be worth even less than you think when redeeming for travel on ‘core’ Lufthansa airlines.

Lufthansa’s announcement about these changes begins “The best thing about the miles you’ve earned is the experiences they can give you.” Even they are admitting that the best thing about your miles is no longer the travel experience, but merely that you get transportation to something else that’s actually valuable. Sad.