How to Save on Lufthansa Flights to Europe (Without a Huge Points Stash)

Big news for those of us who live in or near Columbus, Ohio: beginning in May 2027, we’ll have non-stop service to Frankfurt, Germany three times per week on Lufthansa’s 787 Dreamliner. This marks a huge step forward.

While Frankfurt isn’t a top leisure destination and this particular route is driven more by business, those of us looking for a great vacation can take heart: Lufthansa Group airlines can connect you to plenty of cool experiences, whether you’re more interested in Oktoberfest in Munich or a safari in Kenya.

That Friday departure is great for families bound to a school calendar: pull the kids out a little early, eat dinner on board, and (hopefully) sleep your way across the Atlantic. You’ll land early enough to connect onward to places like Munich, Vienna, Zurich, Rome or Barcelona and still have most of the day to explore.

When these flights go live in May 2027, you’ll be able to travel to Europe and beyond without making a domestic connection first and thankfully it looks like pricing should be very reasonable… especially if you follow this no-cost tip!

What is Rove?

Unlike most airlines, there’s no good way to rack up Lufthansa Miles and More points via transferable credit card points here in the United States – while there is one card available, it won’t earn points quickly after the initial welcome offer and you can’t transfer points from the major programs like Chase and Amex.

But there’s a fantastic option available, and it truly comes with no cost or risk:

Rove Miles – sign up free to get 500 bonus miles

Rove is a transferable points program that has a ton of valuable travel partners and four distinct ways to earn: clicking through the Rove portal when you shop; booking flights or hotels through the Rove website; dining at select restaurants using a linked credit card; or referring friends to join the program (like via my link).

The easiest way to earn Rove Miles is to click through when you shop – you can either do that by finding the website you want on the Rove shopping portal or you can install the shopping extension for Chrome or Safari to get a pop-up notification. I use the extension for a very simple reason: Rove has so many more shopping partners than I realized.

While I typically default to checking Rakuten, TopCashback and Capital One Shopping, there are plenty of random merchants that are unique to Rove. For others, Rove has much more generous payouts. For instance, last summer I needed to receive a one-time fax and decided to sign up for a free trial of eFax. The Rove shopping extension popped up a little box offering me 865 miles to click through their link (it’s up to 980 miles as I write this!) – and as you’ll see in a moment, that has huge value when it comes to booking Lufthansa flights from the US to Europe.

One heads up: miles from shopping portal purchases aren’t instant. They typically take a couple of months to post (the Ulta offer above estimates 49–89 days). If you’re eyeing a trip on the new nonstop next summer, now is a great time to start.

Booking hotels or flights through Rove can be even more lucrative. I may need a night in Fort Lauderdale later this year and spotted this hotel offering 31 Rove Miles per dollar spent on a refundable booking. Other hotels might offer 10x or 20x. Typically those most lucrative rates don’t earn your usual chain hotel points and you won’t get any elite status benefits, but in this case I could instead opt for the “loyalty eligible” rate that earns all the same points and benefits I’d get if I booked directly with Marriott but also earns 5 Rove Miles per dollar spent.

You can also link a credit card to earn on select in-store purchases and restaurants, but the list is limited enough that I don’t count on it.

Those Rove Miles you earn can transfer to nearly two dozen different airlines and some, like Lufthansa, are unique to Rove. There are some other unique offerings like Air India Maharaja Club (to book discounted United flights in the US) and Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus (which might not be useful but has a great name).

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How Rove Miles can save money on Lufthansa

Now back to Lufthansa.

If you’ve read this blog before, you know I don’t really like paying for flights. I’d much rather cover our family’s airfare (and hotels) with points and then save our travel budget for activities and meals.

Lufthansa’s frequent flier program, Miles and More, wouldn’t necessarily be my go-to option to fly my family to or from Europe, as the taxes and fees on their award tickets are generally $300-400 per person in economy and much, much higher for the front of the plane.

However, you can often book one-way flights from the U.S. to Europe on Lufthansa for just 88 miles plus the taxes and fees. I don’t consider it a “free” flight (or even close), but comparing to cash you can basically get a $100+ discount for just 88 miles.

Here’s a real example from JFK to Frankfurt this fall (Columbus flights won’t show up in award searches until they’re loaded into the schedule, but I’d expect similar pricing). Booking an Economy Light fare directly through Lufthansa would run $549 per person, or you could use 88 points and only $384 per person. That’s a difference of $165 per ticket, which is $660 for our family of four.

You’ll notice in the screenshot that you could also book this flight for 40,000 United miles plus $6. That may be a better option if you have a big stash of United miles and don’t want to spend any cash, though it’s not great value from an objective perspective. But if you’d rather save those miles, 88 miles plus $384 is hard to beat.

One important catch: you’ll need at least 2,000 Rove Miles to make your first transfer to Lufthansa, and Miles & More requires at least 1,500 miles in your account before you can even book an award. So consider the 500-mile sign-up bonus a head start rather than the final hurdle.

The good news? It doesn’t take much to get you to 2,000 Rove Miles. That eFax sign-up alone got me nearly halfway, and a single hotel night like the Fort Lauderdale example above would go way beyond the minimum in one shot. Once you’ve moved 2,000 miles over, you’ll have enough for many, many 88-mile bookings!

Even if Frankfurt isn’t your final destination, you can still get an awesome discount on a Lufthansa flight with Rove Miles. Check out this example: you can save $293 on a one-stop ticket to Rome by using 881 miles transferred from Rove.

A few things to know before you book: award tickets generally don’t earn miles, your fare type’s baggage rules still apply (Economy Light doesn’t include a checked bag), and finding four seats at the 88-mile price can take some flexibility, especially on a route that only runs three days a week. Search early and be open to shifting your dates.

Want to take advantage of these deals? Sign up for Rove Miles with my referral link to pad your account with an easy 500 miles. Then click through Rove next time you buy a new pair of sneakers, some makeup or even book a hotel. You’ll be well on your way to big savings on your next non-stop flight to Europe!

Pssst… you can also get 500 Lufthansa Miles and More points for free when you download their app and log in the first time!

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Wrapping up

The new Columbus–Frankfurt nonstop is a game changer for Central Ohio travelers, and you don’t need a huge stash of points to save money on it. Sign up for Rove (it’s free, and you’ll get 500 bonus miles), install the shopping extension, and work your way to 2,000 miles before you’re ready to book. Then you can knock $100+ off each ticket, which adds up fast for a family.