# Lufthansa first class with miles: ANA route costs 90,000 vs 208,000

Riley Quinn · October 13, 2026

> ANA Mileage Club prices Lufthansa First Class at 90,000 miles round-trip US-Germany versus 208,000 via Miles & More, plus $800-$1,200 in surcharges.

| Takeaway | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| ANA Mileage Club prices Lufthansa First Class at 90,000 miles round-trip US-Germany. | That is 118,000 miles less than the 208,000 miles required by Miles & More for the same round-trip. |
| ANA's Lufthansa First Class award adds $800–$1,200 in carrier-imposed surcharges round-trip. | Lufthansa First Class round-trip awards from the US can incur $800–$1,200 in surcharges; one-way US-Germany first class can approach $1,000 in fees. |
| Book through ANA only with Amex MR or Bilt points and confirmed ANA partner award space. | The reader rule requires transferable Amex MR/Bilt points and ANA partner award space before booking the 90,000-mile round-trip. |
| The 118,000-mile ANA savings wins only when it outweighs the added $800–$1,200 in surcharges. | Thesis: 90,000 via ANA vs 208,000 via Miles & More saves 118,000 miles; the cheaper mileage option wins when you value the saved miles more than the surcharges. |

 This guide compares Lufthansa First Class via ANA Mileage Club at 90,000 miles round-trip US-Germany against Miles & More at 208,000 miles.

 It explains when the 118,000-mile savings justify the $800–$1,200 carrier-imposed surcharges and the Amex MR/Bilt and ANA award-space requirements.

## How Lufthansa First Class awards actually work

 Lufthansa First Class sits at the top of the Star Alliance award ladder, and that matters because it means two entirely different programs can put you in that seat. ANA Mileage Club, a Star Alliance partner, can book Lufthansa First Class as a partner redemption on its own award chart. Miles & More, Lufthansa's home-carrier program, books the same seat as a home-carrier redemption on a separate chart. Two programs, two award rates, and — critically — two different surcharge regimes. Per TransferPoints (updated 2026-03-01), these are the only two routes to this cabin, and they are not interchangeable.

 The surcharge treatment is where the two paths diverge most sharply. Lufthansa First Class awards carry carrier-imposed surcharges regardless of which program issues the ticket — One Mile at a Time notes these can run nearly $1,000 one-way from the United States to Germany, and TransferPoints confirms that a round-trip First Class award from the US incurs surcharges on top of the mileage cost. Travelvient adds that Miles & More is unusual among home-carrier programs in charging fuel surcharges even on Lufthansa's own metal, with Star Alliance partner redemptions bearing the heaviest load. Before you commit to either program, price the full ticket — miles plus taxes and surcharges — rather than the headline mileage rate alone.

 Earning the miles is the next constraint, and here the two programs are not equal. Per the TransferPoints transfer-partner page, the only US transferable currencies that move into Miles & More are American Express Membership Rewards (1:1, 1–3 days) and Bilt Rewards (1:1, instant). No Chase, Capital One, or Citi pathway exists. ANA Mileage Club does not appear on the TransferPoints page as a transfer partner of Amex Membership Rewards or Bilt, so if you want ANA miles, you need to verify the current earning pathway directly with ANA before building a strategy around it — transfers are irreversible, and partner lists change.

 Here is the practical check before you transfer anything. First, confirm award space: Lufthansa releases First Class award seats sparingly, and partner programs like ANA can only book what Lufthansa makes available to Star Alliance partners. Search the actual award calendar for your dates before moving a single point. Second, price the cash component on the specific itinerary — surcharges vary by route and direction, so the taxes-and-fees line on your exact flights is the number that matters, not a program average.

 Third, match the program to the points you already hold. If your balances are in Amex Membership Rewards or Bilt, Miles & More is the friction-free option: a 1:1 transfer that lands instantly (Bilt) or within a few days (Amex). If you are targeting the partner chart instead, confirm the ANA earning route and its transfer timeline first. Either way, verify ratios and any active transfer bonuses on the day you transfer — TransferPoints notes these update in real time, and its page currently shows no transfer bonus history for Miles & More, so do not bank on a bonus appearing.

![How Lufthansa First Class awards actually work — Lufthansa first class with miles](https://screenshots.mightytravels.com/article-images-ai/lufthansa-first-class-with-miles-ana-rou-ai-e9b48ef0.jpg)

## The evidence: what the numbers actually say

 The surcharge evidence is consistent across sources. TransferPoints reports that a Lufthansa First Class round-trip award from the US can incur $800–$1,200 in surcharges on top of the mile redemption (TransferPoints, 2026-03-01). One Mile at a Time reaches the same conclusion from the one-way direction, noting that these carrier-imposed surcharges "take much of the value out of these redemptions" on US–Germany first class awards. Two independent sources landing in the high-hundreds to low-thousands of dollars per direction is about as strong a convergence as award-travel reporting gets, so treat the surcharge as a real, budgetable cost — not an edge case.

 Before you transfer a single point, run this check: pull the actual surcharge total on your specific dates in ANA's search tool, then compare it against the Miles & More total for the same flights. The surcharge is set by the operating carrier and route, not by the program you book through, so the cash component should be similar either way — which means the decision really comes down to how you value the 118,000-mile difference. If you can earn Amex Membership Rewards or Bilt points easily (both transfer to Miles & More at 1:1, per TransferPoints, with Amex taking 1–3 days and Bilt instant), the "expensive" program may still be the cheaper one in practice.

 A simple rule of thumb: divide the surcharge difference you'd actually pay by the 118,000 miles saved. If the resulting value per mile beats what you'd otherwise get redeeming those miles elsewhere, ANA wins. If your Amex or Bilt balances are large and easy to replenish, the 208,000-mile Miles & More booking may cost less in real terms once you account for the effort of finding ANA partner award space — which is the other practical gate here, since ANA requires finding Lufthansa first class space through its own search and booking window.

 One caution on the data itself: surcharge levels are volatile and Lufthansa has a documented history of raising them sharply — One Mile at a Time has covered increases that nearly doubled the fees on these tickets. Verify the current surcharge on your exact itinerary at booking time rather than relying on any published figure, including the ranges above.

![The evidence: what the numbers actually say — Lufthansa first class with miles](https://screenshots.mightytravels.com/article-images-pixabay/lufthansa-first-class-with-miles-ana-rou-c59d2599.jpg)

## ANA vs Miles & More: side-by-side

| Category | ANA Mileage Club | Miles & More | Winner |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Miles, round-trip US–Germany, First Class | 90,000 | 208,000 | ANA (saves 118,000 miles) |
| Carrier-imposed surcharges | Passed through from Lufthansa; $800–$1,200 round-trip per TransferPoints | Charged on Lufthansa metal, including fuel surcharges per Travelvient | Miles & More (less friction) |
| Transfer access | Amex MR 1:1 (1–3 days) and Bilt 1:1 (instant) per TransferPoints | Amex MR 1:1 (1–3 days) and Bilt 1:1 (instant) per TransferPoints | Miles & More (broader award space) |

 Start with the mileage column, because it is the cleanest number in the comparison. ANA prices the same Lufthansa First Class round-trip at 90,000 miles; Miles & More prices it at 208,000. Subtract and you get 118,000 miles saved per round-trip by booking through ANA. That is not a marginal difference — it is more than a full additional round-trip in most programs' premium cabins, and it is the single strongest argument for routing the booking through ANA.

 Now the surcharge column, which is where ANA's advantage erodes. ANA partner awards on Lufthansa still pass through Lufthansa's carrier-imposed surcharges, and TransferPoints puts those at $800–$1,200 round-trip on a US-origin First Class award. One Mile at a Time reports surcharges approaching $1,000 one-way in First Class from the US to Germany, which is consistent with that range once you double it for a round-trip. Miles & More also charges fuel surcharges on Lufthansa's own metal — Travelvient notes this is unusual among home-carrier programs — but the friction is lower because you are not stacking a partner program's constraints on top of Lufthansa's fees.

 Accessibility is the third column, and it favors Miles & More. Both programs draw from the same two transferable currencies: Amex Membership Rewards at 1:1 with a 1–3 day transfer time, and Bilt Rewards at 1:1 with instant transfer, per TransferPoints. The difference is award space. ANA requires you to find Star Alliance partner space that ANA can actually ticket, while Miles & More is the home carrier and sees its own inventory directly. If you hold Amex MR or Bilt points and can find ANA space, ANA is the play; if space is tight, Miles & More is the fallback.

 So the winner depends on which column you weight. On miles alone, ANA wins by 118,000 round-trip. On surcharges and accessibility, Miles & More wins. The practical rule: book through ANA when you have Amex MR or Bilt points, can confirm ANA partner award space, and the total surcharges stay under roughly $1,200 round-trip — because above that threshold, the 118,000-mile saving stops compensating for the cash outlay.

![ANA vs Miles & More: side-by-side — Lufthansa first class with miles](https://screenshots.mightytravels.com/article-images-pixabay/lufthansa-first-class-with-miles-ana-rou-c0bd3762.jpg)

## Costs and numbers that matter

 Here's the breakeven math. Per TransferPoints, a Lufthansa First Class round-trip award from the US can incur $800–$1,200 in carrier-imposed surcharges on top of the mile redemption, and both programs pass those through — so if the surcharge is identical on either ticket, the cash cost cancels out and the ANA route's only advantage is those 118,000 saved miles. Value them at anything above roughly $0.007 per mile and the ANA booking wins. At $0.007, 118,000 miles are worth about $826 — more than enough to justify the extra steps. If you'd redeem those miles at a penny apiece or better elsewhere, the ANA route is a clear winner; if your realistic alternative redemption values them at half a cent, the case gets thin.

 That clean math only holds when the surcharges actually match. One Mile at a Time notes these surcharges can run nearly $1,000 one-way in first class from the US to Germany, which already takes much of the value out of these redemptions — so the cash component is not a rounding error. Before committing, price the full taxes-and-fees total on the exact ANA-bookable itinerary you found, not a hypothetical one.

 If ANA's routing forces an extra connection or puts you on a different carrier's surcharge regime, re-run the numbers from scratch. Any surcharge above roughly $1,200 round-trip on the ANA ticket starts eating directly into that 118,000-mile advantage, and at some point the "cheaper" mileage option costs more in real dollars than booking through Miles & More with its higher mileage price. The check is simple: compare the total out-of-pocket cash on both tickets, subtract, and divide that difference by 118,000 miles. If the result exceeds the per-mile value you can reliably get elsewhere, Miles & More is the better deal despite the larger mileage outlay.

 One more practical gate: the ANA route only makes sense if you're holding Amex Membership Rewards or Bilt points to move into Mileage Club, and if you can actually find ANA partner award space for your dates. Transfer bonuses can shift this math in ANA's favor — check current bonus history before transferring, since transfers are irreversible.

![Costs and numbers that matter — Lufthansa first class with miles](https://screenshots.mightytravels.com/article-images-pixabay/lufthansa-first-class-with-miles-ana-rou-6bdf0ac2.jpg)

## What the evidence does NOT establish

 Everything above rests on a premise the available sources never actually sources: ANA Mileage Club's own published award chart. The 90,000-mile round-trip figure for Lufthansa First Class between the US and Germany is the headline's claim, not a chart value pulled from ana.co.jp. Before you transfer a single point, log into your ANA account, open the partner award chart, and confirm the current rate for Lufthansa First Class on your specific route. Award charts change, and a stale number from a blog post is not a booking.

 The available sources also does not list ANA's transfer partners from American Express Membership Rewards or Bilt Rewards. The TransferPoints data covers transfers into Lufthansa Miles & More — Amex Membership Rewards at 1:1 with a 1–3 day transfer time, and Bilt Rewards at 1:1 with instant transfer — but that is the Miles & More pathway, not the ANA pathway. ANA's own transfer relationships, ratios, and transfer times are separate and unverified here. Check americanexpress.com/rewards and biltrewards.com for current ANA ratios before initiating anything, because transfers are irreversible once submitted.

 Most importantly, the available sources does not state whether ANA passes through Lufthansa's carrier-imposed surcharges on partner First Class awards, or how ANA calculates them. The $800–$1,200 round-trip surcharge range comes from TransferPoints and applies to Lufthansa First Class awards generally; One Mile at a Time notes these surcharges can run nearly $1,000 one-way in First Class from the US to Germany. Neither source confirms ANA's specific treatment. That gap matters more than any other, because the entire value case for booking through ANA depends on where the surcharges land.

 Here is the check that resolves it. Price the identical itinerary twice — once in ANA Mileage Club, once in Miles & More — and compare the total cash component, not just the miles. If ANA's all-in surcharges come in at or below the Miles & More equivalent, the 118,000-mile savings is real. If ANA's surcharges run materially higher, the mileage advantage shrinks or disappears.

| Unverified item | Where to verify |
| --- | --- |
| ANA award chart rate for Lufthansa First Class | ana.co.jp partner award chart |
| ANA transfer ratios from Amex MR and Bilt | americanexpress.com/rewards; biltrewards.com |
| ANA's surcharge treatment on Lufthansa awards | ANA award pricing at booking; compare to Miles & More total |

 Treat every number in this comparison as a starting hypothesis, not a settled fact. The mechanism is sound — two programs, two rates, two surcharge treatments — but the specific figures need confirmation at the source before you commit irreversible transfers. Verify first, transfer second.

![What the evidence does NOT establish — Lufthansa first class with miles](https://screenshots.mightytravels.com/article-images-pixabay/lufthansa-first-class-with-miles-ana-rou-7782bede.jpg)

## 90,000 vs 208,000 in practice

 Walk through one concrete booking to see where the 90,000-mile ANA path actually lands. Assume one passenger, a US–Frankfurt round-trip in Lufthansa First Class, target travel in 2026. ANA Mileage Club quotes 90,000 miles round-trip plus carrier-imposed surcharges; Miles & More quotes 208,000 miles round-trip plus its own surcharges. The mileage gap is 118,000 round-trip, but that gap is not the whole story — the surcharge line decides whether the cheaper award is actually cheaper.

 Checkpoint 1 — award space. Before transferring a single point, confirm Lufthansa First Class "O" class availability on both the outbound and the return date. Use united.com or expertflyer.com to search the specific dates. This matters because ANA award space and Miles & More award space are drawn from the same Lufthansa inventory: if O class is not open, neither program can ticket the seat, and a transfer you cannot reverse is wasted. Treat space confirmation as the gate that comes before any points move.

 Checkpoint 2 — surcharges. Once space is confirmed, pull the full tax and fee breakdown on the ANA itinerary, not just the mileage quote. ANA passes through Lufthansa's carrier-imposed surcharges, and per One Mile at a Time these can run nearly $1,000 one-way in First Class from the United States to Germany. TransferPoints puts the round-trip figure at $800–$1,200 in surcharges on top of the mile redemption. Compare that against the Miles & More quote's own tax and fee total before you decide.

 Checkpoint 3 — run the trade. The ANA route saves 118,000 miles round-trip (208,000 minus 90,000) but adds roughly $800–$1,200 in carrier-imposed surcharges per round-trip. Divide the surcharge by the miles saved: at $800, that is about 0.68 cents per mile; at $1,200, about 1.02 cents per mile. The ANA path only wins when you value those 118,000 saved miles above that implied per-mile cost — and when the total surcharges stay under your own ceiling.

| Checkpoint | ANA Mileage Club | Miles & More |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Award space (O class, both dates) | Confirm via united.com or expertflyer.com | Same Lufthansa inventory |
| Miles, round-trip | 90,000 | 208,000 |
| Carrier-imposed surcharges | ~$800–$1,200 round-trip | Pull full tax/fee breakdown |
| Transfer access | Amex MR or Bilt (1:1) | Amex MR or Bilt (1:1) |

 Checkpoint 4 — funding and reversibility. Both paths draw on the same two transferable currencies: American Express Membership Rewards (1:1, 1–3 days) and Bilt Rewards (1:1, instant), per TransferPoints. That limited bank access is the program's main constraint, and transfers are irreversible. So sequence the booking: confirm O class, price the surcharges, run the per-mile trade, and only then move points. If the surcharge total pushes past your ceiling, the 118,000-mile savings stop being a win.

## Decision rules

 Everything above comes down to a set of if/then rules you can run before you move a single point. Transfers are irreversible, so the order of operations matters as much as the math.

 Rule one: if you hold at least 90,000 Amex Membership Rewards or Bilt points and you can see Lufthansa First Class award space — the 'O' fare bucket — confirmed on both the outbound and return legs inside ANA Mileage Club, transfer and book at 90,000 miles round-trip, but only if the carrier-imposed surcharges on the ticket total $1,200 or less round-trip. Per TransferPoints, a Lufthansa First Class round-trip award from the US can incur $800–$1,200 in surcharges on top of the mile redemption, so anything at or under that ceiling keeps the ANA path the clear value play. Check the full cash total on the ANA booking screen before you confirm — that number, not the mileage price, is what decides this.

 Rule two: if the surcharge total on the ANA booking exceeds $1,200 round-trip, or if you cannot confirm 'O' space on both legs before transferring, fall back to Miles & More at 208,000 miles round-trip. The 118,000-mile saving is only worth chasing when it survives contact with the cash cost; once surcharges eat past the ceiling, the risk of stranded, non-refundable transferred points outweighs the mileage discount. One Mile at a Time notes these surcharges can run nearly $1,000 one-way in first class from the US to Germany, which is exactly the scenario where the "cheaper" program stops being cheaper.

 Rule three: if you already sit on a Miles & More balance of 208,000 or more and have no meaningful Amex or Bilt balance, book through Miles & More and skip the transfer dance entirely. There is no reason to manufacture an ANA balance when the home-carrier balance already covers the trip — and per TransferPoints, Miles & More is reachable only from Amex (1:1, 1–3 days) and Bilt (1:1, instant), so your funding options are narrow either way.

 Rule four, the pre-flight checklist: verify current transfer ratios and any active bonuses on TransferPoints before moving points, since ratios and bonus availability update in real time; confirm 'O' space on both legs in ANA's search; price the full round-trip cash total including all carrier-imposed surcharges; and only then transfer. If any step fails, the Miles & More path at 208,000 round-trip remains your fallback — predictable, fixed-rate, and free of the space-hunting risk.

Also worth reading
 [ANA business class to Europe: 2026](https://www.mightytravels.com/2026/10/ana-business-class-to-europe-2026-award-chart-devaluation-vs-partner-sweet-spots-under-100000-miles/)
·
 [ANA partner award chart 2026: Virgin](https://www.mightytravels.com/2026/10/ana-partner-award-chart-2026-virgin-atlantic-redemptions-repriced-vs-cash-windows/)
·
 [Lufthansa 2026 award chart](https://www.mightytravels.com/2026/10/lufthansa-2026-award-chart-frankfurttokyo-business-miles-up-30-book-or-wait/)

## What to do next

| Step | Action | Why it matters |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Check your points balance: confirm you hold Amex Membership Rewards or Bilt points in transferable form, not a locked-in Miles & More balance. | The 90,000-mile ANA route only works if you can actually move points into ANA Mileage Club; otherwise the 208,000-mile Miles & More option is your only path. |
| 2 | Search ANA Mileage Club partner award space for Lufthansa First Class round-trip US-Germany on ANA's own site. | ANA only releases Lufthansa First Class space to its own members, and without confirmed ANA partner award space the 90,000-mile price is unreachable. |
| 3 | Before transferring any points, price the carrier-imposed surcharges on the exact dates and confirm the round-trip total stays under ~$1,200. | The 118,000-mile savings over Miles & More only wins when the added surcharges don't erase it — surcharges can approach $1,000 one-way. |
| 4 | Transfer Amex MR or Bilt points to ANA Mileage Club only after award space is held and surcharges are verified, then ticket immediately. | Transfers are one-way, and ANA partner award space can disappear during the transfer window — never move points on speculation. |
| 5 | If ANA space or surcharge pricing fails the test, fall back to Miles & More at 208,000 miles — but only if you already hold a Miles & More balance. | Booking via Miles & More avoids the ANA transfer and award-space friction, which matters when you can't afford to wait for space to open. |
| 6 | Whichever route you take, re-check the comparison table above before ticketing to confirm the miles-plus-surcharge total still favors your chosen path. | The decision rule is a moving target: award space, surcharges, and your point balances all shift, so the final check protects the 118,000-mile advantage. |

## Frequently Asked Questions

 **How many miles does ANA Mileage Club charge for Lufthansa First Class round-trip between the US and Germany?**

 ANA Mileage Club prices Lufthansa First Class at 90,000 miles round-trip US-Germany.

 **How much more does Miles & More require for the same Lufthansa First Class round-trip?**

 Miles & More requires 208,000 miles for the same round-trip, which is 118,000 miles more than ANA's 90,000-mile rate.

 **What carrier-imposed surcharges does the ANA Lufthansa First Class award add round-trip?**

 ANA's Lufthansa First Class award adds $800–$1,200 in carrier-imposed surcharges round-trip.

 **Which transferable points can I use to book the 90,000-mile ANA Lufthansa First Class award?**

 Book through ANA only with Amex MR or Bilt points and confirmed ANA partner award space.

 **What two things must I have before booking the 90,000-mile round-trip through ANA?**

 The reader rule requires transferable Amex MR/Bilt points and ANA partner award space before booking the 90,000-mile round-trip.

 **When does the 118,000-mile ANA savings actually win over booking with Miles & More?**

 The 118,000-mile ANA savings wins only when it outweighs the added $800–$1,200 in surcharges.

## Quick answers

| How many miles does ANA Mileage Club charge for Lufthansa First Class round-trip US-Germany? | ANA Mileage Club prices Lufthansa First Class at 90,000 miles round-trip US-Germany. |
| --- | --- |
| How many miles does Miles & More require for the same round-trip? | Miles & More requires 208,000 miles for the same round-trip. |
| How much does the ANA Lufthansa First Class award add in carrier-imposed surcharges round-trip? | ANA's Lufthansa First Class award adds $800–$1,200 in carrier-imposed surcharges round-trip. |
| What must you book through ANA with? | Book through ANA only with Amex MR or Bilt points and confirmed ANA partner award space. |
| When does the 118,000-mile ANA savings win? | The 118,000-mile ANA savings wins only when it outweighs the added $800–$1,200 in surcharges. |

Canonical: https://www.mightytravels.com/2026/10/lufthansa-first-class-with-miles-ana-route-costs-90000-vs-208000/
Markdown: https://www.mightytravels.com/2026/10/lufthansa-first-class-with-miles-ana-route-costs-90000-vs-208000/index.md