I’m a huge fan of the bmi Diamond Club as a frequent flier program. The accrual rates are great and the redemption options are phenomenal, including one-way rewards and cash + points rates that are ridiculously reasonable. When Lufthansa exercised their right to buy out the carrier the writing was on the wall for the program, but for the first 10 weeks or so that Lufthansa has owned bmi they haven’t really done anything.
Until now.
They have quietly announced a change to their redemption charts from May 1, 2009, increasing the costs of first class tickets by a whopping 25%, plus an additional 10K point surcharge if you’re flying on Lufthansa. There are still a lot of open questions about the changes, like if they are for travel after May 1 or bookings made after May 1, and whether the 10K surcharge “per flight” on Lufthansa is per segment or per direction or something else.
At the end of the day it sucks, but the F reward on bmi is still one of the best values out there in the frequent flier world, even after this change. Too bad I don’t really know what I’d like to redeem my miles for now or I’d cash some in at the old rates; I guess I’ll just suffer the new rates when the time comes. Life goes on. The real question in my mind is when the other shoe will drop, and what that drop will signify.
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