In 30 days Volare "expires." From ITA and Lufthansa zero communication and even Amex is at the window

The countdown has begun: In 30 days Volare, ITA Airways' loyalty program, will be just a memory.

Too bad, as we have had occasion to write several times, there are still so many aspects to be defined and that I honestly thought would be clarified earlier, of course the process is complex, but loyalty program and frequent flyers are non-marginal aspects of an airline's economy and are therefore not secondary to maintenance or the sales systems.

Goodbye Flying, comes Miles&More

Mine is not meant to be a criticism, Lufthansa group said it practically on the first day, that is, at the first joint press conference Carsten Spohr had sanctioned the transition: "Miles&More will become ITA's loyalty program as it is for all Group companies."

Almost 10 months later, since the day of the announcement, we have seen several activities, but so many things are still "hanging" and more than 3mln users, that is, Volare subscribers, are still unaware of the future.

No official communication

To date from Volare or ITA Airways. not even an email reminding of the end of the program has arrived yet, for comparison Millemiglia sent as many as 5 communications during the month of November alone, and the situation is the same: Volare ends on 12/31 and there will be no 2026 edition.

Not even in the restricted area within the site is there a communication alerting users.

In Rimini, during the TTG, To my questions, management starting with CEO Joerg Eberhart had merely commented on the following "just read the regulations" And the regulations are clear: collection expires on 12/31, and points must absolutely be used by January 31, 2026 Or they will be lost forever.

Status match (but not for all)

This year LH launched two status match campaigns for Volare status holders: the first was ad personam, the second open to all.

Several users, however, have reported to me that they have been left out from this opportunity for different reasons: those who had already taken advantage of a Miles&More status match in the past, and those who, on the other hand, having made the first one could not see the higher level membership accrued in the meantime with ITA renewed.

Not forgetting that, according to what I learned, no one to date has had the courage to write to the Executives Forever Who will not, rightly, see the Senator for Life card.

The status Executive forever has always been an alicorn. It was never made official as a status, nor was Limitless, yet it had been released to the old Winged Arrow Forever complete with metal tiles.

From Miles&More and Volare no response

TFC has attempted several times to get responses from Miles&More and from Volare. To date, our requests have either fallen on deaf ears or, as mentioned, the response received has been "Read the regulations."

The thorny issue of ITA/American Express co-branded cards.

In the FAQ on the ITA Airways website. it clearly reads that there are no changes coming as far as cardholders are concerned, which I remind you, tamong the many benefits have the main purpose of making the user accumulate Volare points With daily expenses.

Again in the regulations, however, it is clearly stated that points back, like points accumulation is valid until the transaction expires: that is, 12/31. Again, it would be really important for ITA to send a notice to all members, who may be unaware of the exact deadlines.

There is no explanation of whether and how Points Back will be disbursed to users who have booked a ticket taking advantage of this benefit, but with the flight scheduled after January 1, or to those who have flown in recent weeks and have not yet received points as per the regulations.

American Express has suspended the issuance of the ITA Airways American Express Platinum Card.

The cards have disappeared from the American Express website and from all points of contact, however, remained requestable through theITA Airways website.

In recent days, however, a couple of users have reported to me that the most important card, namely the Platinum Card, has disappeared.

We contacted American Express to ask for an explanation, and the response we received was as follows:

"ITA Airways American Express Cardholders can continue to use their cards. In view of the conclusion of the edition of the Flying Program, scheduled for December 31, 2025, American Express has temporarily suspended the promotion of the Cards and the issuance of the ITA Airways Platinum American Express Card, pending the updating of the terms of the program."

I guess the issuance of the Platinum was suspended to prevent users from using it as a shortcut to Senator status, via Status Match, but also because of the rich benefits it brings in terms of point accumulation and beyond. What I don't understand, however, is the sentence

"...pending update of program terms."

There should be no update since the program expires and will not be renewed, but then if that is the motivation why continue to leave basic and gold cards available?

In conclusion

If you are enrolled in Volare and don't want to be left holding the bag, as happened with the Millemiglia points, you better start evaluating your options well, this is coming from a bum who has over 700 thousand Volare points in his account.

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