Lufthansa to buy out Bishop to take controlling stake in BMI
Argh - it happened. I belong to one of the more generous frequent flyer mile redemption schemes - diamond club at bmi - which allows you to redeem your miles on one-way itineraries and also using a combination of miles and cash for all levels of fare, including business and first class. Now, those are not features of many other schemes and I have used the business class redemption before - and they are very reasonable in terms of cost.
I have built up something of a liability in the number of miles I have nestled in my account due the traveling I have racked up over the past 3-4 years. So, the Lufthansa deal is bad news in that it probably spells the end of the bmi diamod class scheme which will likely be replaces by the Lufthansa ‘Miles & More’ programme, known by some as ‘Miles & Less’. A recent precedent from Lufthansas takeover of Swiss Air means that its likely we’ll see some kind of transitional period. But if and when I re-qualify for Gold status this year, I think its time to start burning miles on some buying tickets for some planned trips and reducing my liability of miles - which are about to become far less valuable than they were.
