Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa frequent flyers get shared earn & burn

Cathay Pacific and Lufthansa will allow members of their respective frequent flyer schemes to earn and redeem points across both airlines as part of an overnight 'co-operation agreement' signed between the unlikely allies.

The 'earn and burn' proposition for Asia Miles and Miles & More will however be limited to codeshare flights.

For Cathay Pacific, this will mean Lufthansa flights between Frankfurt and Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Dresden, Hannover, Hamburg, Munich, Nuremberg, Oslo and Stuttgart; Swiss flights between Zurich and Berlin, Brussels, Florence, Geneva, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Venice; and Austrian Airlines flights between Vienna and Frankfurt, Zurich and Düsseldorf.

Those flights will provide the opportunity to earn Asia Miles as well as Marco Polo Club status points, and redeem those Asia Miles for a seat on the Lufthansa flight.

From Lufthansa's side of the deal, the German airline will share Cathay's flights between Hong Kong and Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns and Auckland – with the option to earn and redeem via Miles and More.

Sadly, clocking up Miles & More 'Status Miles’ on those codeshare LH/CX flights isn't part of the deal, as this is restricted to Star Alliance members.

Also missing from the hookup are other perks often associated with reciprocal arrangements of frequent flyer schemes, such as lounge access, priority checkin and priority boarding for top-tier members.

David Flynn

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.