Lufthansa Miles & More: The Best Day, Time, and Season to Book Award Flights

Miles & More — the program of Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, Brussels, and the rest of the group — has the most distinctive timing rule in the loyalty world: Lufthansa First Class award space is largely held back until roughly 15 days before departure. If chasing the famous Lufthansa First product is the goal, this is a last-two-weeks game, not an eleven-months-out game. The other thing to know up front: Miles & More is not a transfer partner of Chase, Amex, Citi, or Capital One — there is no easy flexible-points path in. You earn these miles by flying the Lufthansa group, transferring from Marriott Bonvoy, or holding the US Miles & More credit card.

Lufthansa First Class: book it close-in

Lufthansa releases most of its First Class award inventory to partner programs around 15 days before departure, and Miles & More members can sometimes see it a little earlier than that. So the strategy is the opposite of every other program here: do not try to book Lufthansa First a year out — it mostly will not be there. Instead, watch your route in the two weeks before departure, be ready to move, and treat schedule flexibility as the price of admission. (Business class is different — see below.)

Business class: book it early, like a normal award

For Lufthansa-group business class, the chart rate applies and the usual logic holds: schedule and award inventory load roughly 360 days before departure, and booking close to schedule open gets you space on peak-season dates before it is taken. Star Alliance partner awards through Miles & More follow each operating carrier's own release pattern (around 11–12 months out, plus close-in space).

The surcharges are the catch — budget for them

Lufthansa, Swiss, and Austrian pass steep carrier-imposed surcharges onto award tickets — often several hundred dollars each way in business, and more in First. A "free" Lufthansa First seat can still cost a meaningful sum in cash. This does not make the redemption bad — the product is extraordinary — but price the cash component honestly, and check whether routing on a lower-surcharge Star Alliance partner (Aegean, LOT, United, Air Canada, Avianca) gets you to a similar place for less.

Best season to fly

The chart rate is fixed, so "season" is about availability:

• Easiest: mid-January through February, late August into September, and the first half of November.
• Hardest: summer, the December holidays, Oktoberfest season around Munich, and the big school-holiday windows. Business space goes first on these peaks; First space, being close-in, is more about luck on the specific flight.

Best day of the week

To fly: midweek departures carry more award space than weekends — Tuesday and Wednesday are the dependable picks. For a close-in First Class hunt, weekday flights tend to have the open seats.

To book: no day-of-week effect on award inventory. "Book on Tuesday" is a cash-fare myth.

Best time of day to search

Lufthansa-group inventory refreshes overnight in Central European Time, so newly released space — including that close-in First inventory — tends to appear in the European morning, which is late evening to early morning in the US. For the 15-days-out First hunt especially, an off-hours check is the one most likely to catch the release.

How to actually get the miles

With no major flexible-points partner, your realistic paths are: credit the miles from Lufthansa-group flights you fly anyway; transfer from Marriott Bonvoy (a slow transfer — plan ahead); or earn on the co-branded Miles & More credit card. Miles & More miles expire after roughly 36 months unless you hold elite status or the qualifying credit card, so do not let a balance age out.

A worked example

Say you want the US to Europe.

• Lufthansa or Swiss business class, chart rate, booked at schedule open for a February date: wide-open space at the fixed price — just budget several hundred dollars each way for the surcharge.
• Lufthansa First Class, hunted 10–14 days before departure on a flexible weekday date: the realistic way to land it, since the space barely exists before then.
• A lower-surcharge Star Alliance partner routed through Miles & More: a way to trim the cash side if the Lufthansa-group surcharge stings.

Quick reference: the Miles & More booking calendar

When	What to do
~15 days before departure	Hunt Lufthansa First Class space — this is when it mostly opens
About 11–12 months before peak travel	Book Lufthansa-group business at schedule open at the chart rate
Before you book	Budget for the steep surcharges; price a lower-surcharge partner routing
Mid-January to February; late August–September; early November	Easiest windows for business-class availability
Whenever	Keep miles from expiring — they lapse after ~36 months without status or the co-branded card
Avoid	Trying to book Lufthansa First a year out — the seats almost never exist that early

A few caveats

Miles & More award charts, surcharge amounts, and the First Class release window have all been adjusted before — confirm the live price, surcharge, and availability rules before you commit. The lack of a flexible-points path and the expiry rule are the two things that catch US travelers. Treat this as a framework for when to look; let miles-and-more.com (or the airline) tell you the actual price.

The habit that does the most work: book Lufthansa-group business early at the chart rate and budget for the surcharge; for First Class, set a reminder for two weeks out and be ready to pounce.