ITA Airways Joins Miles & More: What It Means for UK Travellers

From 1 April 2026, ITA Airways becomes a full partner of Miles & More, the Lufthansa Group’s frequent flyer programme. For most UK travellers, Miles & More sits in the background — a programme associated with Lufthansa, Swiss, and Austrian Airlines rather than something directly relevant to everyday life in Britain. But this development is worth paying attention to, particularly if you fly between London and Italy, or use Star Alliance airlines to travel further afield. Here is what is changing, what it means in practice, and whether Miles & More is worth your attention as a UK-based points collector.

What Is Miles & More?

Miles & More is the loyalty programme of the Lufthansa Group, one of the world’s largest airline groups. It covers Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Air Dolomiti, and Discover Airlines — and now ITA Airways. Beyond the Lufthansa Group itself, Miles & More members can earn and redeem miles across the entire Star Alliance network, which includes over 25 airlines worldwide such as Singapore Airlines, ANA, TAP Air Portugal, and Turkish Airlines.

The programme currently has over 39 million members and operates on a two-currency model. Award miles can be saved and redeemed for flights, upgrades, and merchandise. Points (a separate currency) are earned on flights and used to build towards elite status tiers. The two currencies serve different purposes: award miles fund your rewards, while Points determine your status level.

Status tiers in Miles & More are as follows:

What Is ITA Airways?

ITA Airways (Italia Trasporto Aereo) is the Italian national carrier, founded in 2021 as the successor to the collapsed Alitalia. It operates from its main hub at Rome Fiumicino Airport, with a secondary hub at Milan Linate. The Lufthansa Group holds a 41% stake in ITA Airways, with the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance holding the remaining 59%. Full integration into the Lufthansa Group — and into Star Alliance — is underway.

ITA is a significant carrier for UK travellers. The airline currently operates up to 43 weekly frequencies between London City Airport and Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate. From 29 March 2026, ITA Airways reinstates its direct service between Rome Fiumicino and London Heathrow with two daily flights, marking a return to the UK’s largest international gateway after a period operating solely from London City. The London City to Rome service closes the day before Heathrow launches, while flights to Milan Linate from London City will continue as a business-focused point-to-point route.

ITA’s long-haul network from Rome covers destinations including New York, Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Tokyo, Bangkok, New Delhi, Miami, and Los Angeles — making Rome Fiumicino a viable connecting hub for travel beyond Europe.

What Changed on 1 April 2026?

It is worth being precise here. Miles & More members have been able to earn and redeem miles on ITA Airways flights since 3 February 2025. That initial arrangement allowed basic award mile earning on ITA flights. What changes from 1 April 2026 is a deeper integration: ITA Airways becomes a full Miles & More partner, meaning members can now earn status-qualifying Points on ITA flights — the currency that counts towards Frequent Traveller, Senator, and HON Circle status.

This is a meaningful upgrade. Earning award miles on a partner airline is useful, but earning Points is what allows you to build elite status — and elite status is where the real benefits of Miles & More lie. From April, flying ITA Airways between London and Rome or Milan, or connecting through Rome onto ITA’s long-haul network, will contribute to your Miles & More status in the same way as flying Lufthansa or Swiss.

Members can register for Miles & More directly through ita-airways.com or its app from 1 April, in addition to the main Miles & More platform. ITA Airways customers who already hold frequent flyer status with ITA’s previous programme will also have the option of a status match into Miles & More.

Why Does This Matter for UK Travellers?

The practical significance depends on how you currently fly. Here are the main scenarios where this development is relevant.

If you fly London–Rome or London–Milan regularly: ITA Airways now gives you a direct path to earning Miles & More status from UK-based flying. If you travel to Italy several times a year for business or leisure, those flights now count towards your Points tally. Combined with Star Alliance partner flights elsewhere, building towards Frequent Traveller status — which unlocks mileage protection, priority check-in, and extra baggage — becomes more achievable without needing to fly Lufthansa, Swiss, or Austrian specifically.

If you connect through Rome on ITA’s long-haul network: ITA’s expanding intercontinental network from Rome Fiumicino includes destinations not always well-served from the UK. If you are flying to South America — Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro — or to lesser-served destinations like Tokyo or Bangkok via Rome, earning Miles & More Points on the ITA segment adds value to a journey you might already be taking.

If you are building a Star Alliance strategy: Miles & More is one of the more useful Star Alliance programmes for European redemptions, particularly for business class travel on Turkish Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, or Singapore Airlines. Expanding the ways you can earn into the programme — including via ITA flights from London — is genuinely helpful for members pursuing this strategy.

The Miles & More Earning Problem for UK Members

Here is where honesty is important. Miles & More is one of the most difficult loyalty programmes to earn into from the UK, and that reality has not changed with this announcement.

There is currently no UK credit card that earns Miles & More miles directly. The Miles & More Global Traveller card closed in April 2021 and has not been replaced. The primary workaround available to UK members is via Marriott Bonvoy — Marriott points transfer to Miles & More at a 3:1 ratio, meaning you would need 30,000 Marriott points to generate 10,000 Miles & More miles. This is an indirect and relatively expensive route.

The result is that, for most UK members, the only realistic way to earn meaningful Miles & More balances is by flying — on Lufthansa Group airlines, Star Alliance partners, or now ITA Airways. If you fly frequently enough to accumulate miles this way, the programme has genuine value. If you are primarily a credit card points collector looking to transfer into an airline currency, Miles & More is among the least accessible options from the UK market.

Miles Expiry: A Critical Warning

Miles & More carries one of the strictest expiry policies of any major loyalty programme, and UK members need to understand this before building a balance.

Miles are valid for 36 months and expire at the end of the quarter — and critically, this is a hard expiry that activity on the account does not prevent. Unlike British Airways Avios, where any earning or spending transaction resets the 36-month clock, Miles & More miles expire on a fixed schedule from the date they were earned, regardless of what else happens in your account.

Miles can be protected from expiry through elite status — Frequent Traveller, Senator, or HON Circle — or through holding a Miles & More credit card. However, as noted above, there is currently no UK Miles & More credit card. That means UK members without elite status face a hard three-year countdown on every mile they earn.

The practical implication: do not accumulate Miles & More miles unless you have a clear plan to use them within three years, or are actively working towards elite status that will protect your balance.

What About Dynamic Pricing?

Miles & More moved to fully dynamic redemption pricing for Lufthansa Group airline flights from June 2025. This means the miles cost of flying on Lufthansa, Swiss, or Austrian now fluctuates based on the cash price of the ticket — a significant shift away from the fixed award chart that previously made certain redemptions predictable and valuable.

The key nuance is that partner airline redemptions — including Star Alliance carriers — continue to use a more structured pricing approach. For UK members, this makes redemptions on airlines like Turkish Airlines, TAP, or Singapore Airlines more attractive relative to flying Lufthansa Group metal. A business class return on Turkish Airlines to a long-haul destination, for example, may still represent solid value in miles terms when cash prices are high.

ITA Airways’ redemption pricing as a full partner will be worth monitoring. As a lower-cost carrier relative to Lufthansa or Swiss, ITA flights may offer reasonable award pricing — particularly on the London–Rome route where cash fares are competitive.

Is Miles & More Worth Joining for UK Travellers?

The honest answer is: it depends on how you fly. Miles & More makes sense for UK travellers who fall into one of the following categories.

It is a good fit if you fly regularly on Star Alliance airlines and want to consolidate miles in a single programme with a wide network and genuine status benefits. It works well if you travel frequently to Europe on Lufthansa Group airlines or now ITA Airways, and can realistically build towards Frequent Traveller status. It is also worth considering if you have specific redemption targets in mind — particularly business class on partner airlines — and can plan around the three-year expiry window.

It is a poor fit if you primarily earn through UK credit card spend, as there is no direct earning route from a UK card. It is also less suitable if you accumulate miles slowly and are unlikely to redeem before the hard three-year expiry kicks in.

For the occasional UK traveller who flies ITA Airways to Rome once a year, joining Miles & More is still worth doing — earning miles on every ITA flight costs nothing and adds to a balance that can eventually be used for a meaningful redemption. Just keep a close eye on your expiry dates and have a plan for how to use what you earn.

Summary

ITA Airways joining Miles & More as a full partner from 1 April 2026 is a genuine step forward for the programme’s relevance to UK travellers, particularly given ITA’s expanding presence at London Heathrow. The ability to earn status-qualifying Points on ITA flights — not just award miles — gives London-based members a new on-ramp to Lufthansa Group elite status that did not previously exist.

The broader context, however, remains challenging. Miles & More is hard to earn into from the UK without a co-branded credit card, and its hard three-year expiry policy demands careful management of any balance you build. For travellers who fly regularly to Italy or connect through Rome on ITA’s long-haul network, this development adds meaningful value. For everyone else, it is a useful update to be aware of — but not a reason to overhaul your loyalty strategy.