Miles & More HON Circle Status: Requirements, Benefits and How to Get There

What HON Circle Member status is

HON Circle Member sits at the top of the ladder, above Senator and Frequent Traveller. It includes Star Alliance Gold and every Senator benefit, then adds a layer of service that the other tiers do not come close to.

The thing to understand is that HON Circle runs on a different currency from the other two statuses. Frequent Traveller and Senator are about Points and Qualifying Points. HON Circle is about HON Circle Points, which are much harder to earn.

HON Circle requirements

Here is the number. It is a big one.

• 6,000 HON Circle Points in one calendar year
• The window is the calendar year, January to December

There is no separate qualifying minimum the way there is for Senator. With HON Circle, every point that counts is already the hard kind to earn.

What HON Circle Points are and why they are different

This is the part that defines the whole status. HON Circle Points are not the same as the Points that build Frequent Traveller and Senator.

You earn HON Circle Points only on Business Class and First Class flights, and only on the Lufthansa Group and fully integrated Miles & More partners. Economy and Premium Economy earn nothing toward HON Circle. Partner airlines outside the integrated group earn nothing toward HON Circle either.

In other words, HON Circle rewards people who spend real money in the front cabin on Lufthansa Group metal. There is no shortcut around that. The points come from premium flying, full stop.

How to actually earn HON Circle

There is one honest answer: a lot of intercontinental Business and First Class flying on the Lufthansa Group.

Points depend on cabin and on whether the flight is continental or intercontinental, with long premium routes earning the most. Reaching 6,000 HON Circle Points in a year means a heavy schedule of paid front cabin tickets, typically a regular pattern of intercontinental Business or First Class trips on Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian and the other integrated airlines.

A few things to keep in mind:

• Only Business and First Class count, so Economy and Premium Economy segments do nothing for this status
• Intercontinental flights earn far more than continental ones, so long routes do the heavy lifting
• Only the Lufthansa Group and fully integrated partners count, so flying Star Alliance partners will not move your HON Circle total

How long HON Circle lasts and how to requalify

Qualification runs on the calendar year. Once you reach HON Circle, you keep it for the rest of that year plus the following year, with the card running until the end of February of the year after next. To hold on to it, you have to earn 6,000 HON Circle Points again within a calendar year.

If you do not requalify, you drop to Senator for the following year, since you will almost certainly still be clearing the Senator thresholds along the way.

Miles & More rewards long term loyalty with Lifetime statuses as well, though Lifetime applies to Frequent Traveller and Senator rather than HON Circle. Check the official Miles & More site for the current Lifetime thresholds before you count on them.

HON Circle benefits

This is where HON Circle earns its reputation. On top of all the Senator and Star Alliance Gold benefits, you get a level of service usually reserved for First Class passengers. Verify the current detail on the official site, since the Lufthansa Group adjusts these, but you can expect:

• Access to the Lufthansa First Class Lounges, SWISS First Lounges, the Austrian HON Circle Lounge and the First Class Terminal in Frankfurt, no matter which cabin you are flying
• The exclusive chauffeur and limousine transfer service to and from the aircraft at hubs such as Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Geneva and Vienna
• A personal assistant who handles your formalities at the First Class Terminal and First Class Lounges
• Senator status for your spouse or partner on request, for as long as you remain a HON Circle Member
• Four upgrade vouchers to fly one class higher when you reach or renew the status, plus extra perks through the Extra Benefits programme at higher point milestones
• The highest waitlist priority and booking guarantees up to 24 hours before departure
• Your miles do not expire while you hold the status, and you get bonus award miles with certain partners

For most members the First Class Terminal and lounge access alone are the reason to chase it, especially if you are based near Frankfurt, Munich or Zurich.

Common mistakes that cost people HON Circle

• Counting Economy or Premium Economy flying toward HON Circle, when only Business and First Class earn HON Circle Points
• Booking premium cabins on partner airlines outside the integrated Miles & More group, which earn nothing toward this status
• Spreading flying across the year without tracking the running total, then realising the gap is too large to close
• Assuming Senator level effort is enough, when HON Circle needs a far heavier front cabin schedule
• Forgetting the calendar year cutoff and leaving too much to the final months

The pattern is always the same. People underestimate how much paid premium flying 6,000 HON Circle Points really takes.

Is HON Circle realistic for you?

Be honest with yourself before you chase it. HON Circle suits people who already fly intercontinental Business or First Class on the Lufthansa Group as a matter of routine, usually for work. If your flying is mostly Economy, mostly continental, or mostly on partners, Senator is the smarter target and HON Circle is out of reach without changing how you travel.

If you are close, though, tracking the exact gap is what makes the difference between making it and missing by a few hundred points in December.

How to track your HON Circle progress

Miles & More shows you a HON Circle Points total, but it does not tell you what that number means for the rest of your year, or how many more front cabin trips you actually need.

MileHunter does. It tracks your HON Circle Points, shows exactly how far you are from the 6,000 target, and tells you what kind of premium flying closes the gap. Set it once and check it when you book. No spreadsheets. No nasty surprise at year end.

Already flying the front cabin a lot, or want to without waiting for HON Circle? Our sister project FareHunter monitors 190 business-class routes for real cash deals, no status required. Check out FareHunter →