The deadline —
six months

Miles & More allows retroactive credit for missing miles and points up to six months after the flight or partner activity. After that, a claim generally isn't possible — the clock starts on the date of the activity itself, not the date you notice something's missing.

In practice: note the date and don't let it slide. Five months in, you still have room. Seven months in, there's usually no way to claim it.

At a glance
Before you apply

How long to
wait first

Automatic crediting takes time — applying too early is one of the most common reasons a claim gets rejected, simply because the system hasn't processed the activity yet. Miles & More gives different windows depending on the partner type:

Activity Automatic credit usually lands within
Flights Up to 7 days after the flight
Hotel stays Up to 14 days after checkout
Online shopping / shopping partners Several weeks — until the merchant's return window has closed

Only once that window has passed and the miles still haven't appeared is a retroactive credit request worth filing.

Preparation

What you'll need
to apply

The documents you need depend on what you're claiming:

For flights
For partner activities (hotels, shopping, car rental)

A common reason for rejection is simply that the name on the ticket doesn't exactly match the name on file in your Miles & More profile. Worth a quick check before you apply.

The claim

The process,
step by step

Four steps to retroactive credit
If it stalls

If the online claim
doesn't work

If the miles still haven't been credited roughly 10-14 days after your online claim, the next step is Miles & More's general contact form — with your boarding pass or booking confirmation attached. Manual processing after that typically takes another 5-10 business days.

If it still doesn't resolve, contacting Miles & More customer service directly is the most reliable route to get to the bottom of it — particularly for edge cases like codeshare flights or travel-agency bookings, where the airline attribution isn't always clear-cut.

How long do I have to claim missing Miles & More miles? +

Six months from the date of the flight or partner activity. After that, retroactive credit generally isn't possible.

How long does automatic mileage crediting normally take? +

It depends on the partner type: up to 7 days for flights, up to 14 days after checkout for hotels, several weeks for shopping partners. It's only worth filing a claim after that window has passed.

What documents do I need for a retroactive credit request? +

For flights: account number, ticket number, and flight details. For other partners: account number plus proof of purchase (invoice, receipt, or booking confirmation).

What if my online claim doesn't get processed? +

After 10-14 days with no response, follow up via the contact form with your boarding pass or booking confirmation attached. Manual processing after that usually takes another 5-10 business days.

Edge cases

Common problems
with the form

Most claims go through cleanly, but a handful of specific situations come up often enough to be worth addressing directly.

The retroactive credit form won't submit, or gives an error +

First check the basics: you're logged into the correct Miles & More account, the flight is within the 6-month window, and the automatic-crediting period for that partner type has actually passed (submitting too early is a common cause of a rejected or stuck form). If the form itself is technically broken — not just rejecting your claim — Miles & More's general contact form is the reliable fallback; attach your boarding pass or booking confirmation directly rather than retrying the broken form repeatedly.

I don't have my ticket number +

Miles & More's own instructions say to keep your boarding pass or booking number — a ticket number isn't strictly the only reference that works. If you have neither, the airline that issued the ticket (or your travel agent, for agency bookings) can look up the ticket number from your name and travel date. Don't skip the field or guess a number; an incorrect ticket number is more likely to get the claim rejected than an honestly incomplete one submitted via the contact form instead.

My name isn't on the passenger list +

This usually comes down to a name mismatch — your Miles & More profile name needs to match the name on the ticket exactly, including middle names and transliteration. It's a common issue with codeshare flights and travel-agency bookings, where the name on file with the operating airline can differ slightly from what you entered when booking. Check your profile name against your passport first; if they already match and the claim still fails, this needs Miles & More customer service directly — the online form can't resolve a passenger-list mismatch on its own.

Flying a partner airline like Turkish Airlines — does the process differ? +

The form itself works the same way — select Turkish Airlines (or the relevant Star Alliance partner) from the airline list rather than Lufthansa Group. Two things genuinely differ in practice: partner claims commonly take longer to process than Lufthansa Group flights, and not every fare/booking class earns Miles & More miles at all — if a partner claim gets rejected outright rather than just delayed, check the booking class you actually flew against that airline's mileage-earning chart before resubmitting.

Mileage account a mess?

Let's sort your setup out.

Missing miles are often a symptom of something bigger — the wrong account number on bookings, multiple accounts, or just no visibility into what's happening. In 30 minutes we go through your setup and clean it up.

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