【Updated 2024.9】 The welcome bonus has increased to 80,000 miles. You only need to spend $3,000 in three months and pay the annual fee, which is relatively easy to do.
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Barclays Lufthansa Miles & More Credit Card Review
Barclays Miles & More Lufthansa Credit Card
Annual companion ticket on Lufthansa + 2 lounge vouchers!
- Welcome bonus: 80,000 miles (spend $3,000 in three months and pay the annual fee)
- Rewards: 2x on flights within the Miles & More program; 1x on all other purchases
- Redemption: Redeem for flights within the Miles & More program and on its Star Alliance partners
- Annual fee: $89
- Apply now>>
Benefits
- 2 lounge passes: Each year after opening the card, you can receive 2 one-time passes to Lufthansa Business Lounges, valid only when flying on Lufthansa Group airlines: Lufthansa (LH) , Austrian Airlines (OS) , Brussels Airlines (SN) , Swiss (LX) , Germanwings (4U) , or Eurowings (EW) .
- One companion ticket each year: Each year you can purchase one economy-class companion ticket for free, but you still need to pay fuel surcharges and taxes. It also requires a relatively high fare class (H, M, Y, or B) , which is Economy Flex II or above on Lufthansa's website, so in general it is not very useful.
- Convert miles into status miles: Once each year, you can convert Miles & More miles earned from flying into Lufthansa elite status miles at a 5:1 ratio. The minimum is 5,000/1,000 miles, and the maximum is 25,000/5,000 miles.
- Award redemption discount: Receive a 15% mileage discount when redeeming Miles & More miles for hotels or car rentals.
- No foreign transaction fee
Drawbacks
- Earning rewards is not especially attractive. The 2x earning rate is worse than the 3x rewards from Citi Prestige, Citi ThankYou Premier, and AMEX Premier Rewards Gold.
About Miles & More
Miles & More is a frequent flyer program used jointly by multiple airlines led by the Lufthansa (LH) Group. In addition to Lufthansa, other well-known airlines in Miles & More include Swiss (LX) , LOT Polish Airlines (LO) , and Austrian Airlines (OS) .
Using miles: Miles & More lets you search and book almost all Star Alliance flights online (such as UA) , as well as Miles & More partner flights outside the alliance. Flights from the U.S. to Europe and to Hawaii can both offer solid redemption value.
Mileage pooling: As part of its mileage-combining feature, Miles & More members can earn and redeem miles together as a group (that is, a mileage pool) . A mileage pool can include up to two adults and up to five children/teens. This benefit is currently available to members in the following countries: Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia.
My Take
This card is not a good fit for everyone, and it is hard to use its benefits within the U.S. But for people who travel to Europe often, it is easy to get good value from the card's perks. On top of that, the welcome bonus is also quite good. Round-trip domestic U.S. flights (excluding Hawaii) cost only 25,000 Miles & More miles. If you applied when the welcome bonus was 50,000, you could redeem it for two round-trips. Therefore, we recommend this card for people who travel to Europe frequently.
Companion Ticket
Here we searched Lufthansa flights two months out to see whether the companion ticket is a good deal. I randomly picked one day on the LAX-LHR route.
The cheapest ticket is far less than half the price of an H fare ticket. So there is really no reason to use this companion ticket. The only times it makes sense are when fares are very high, such as last-minute travel or peak season, or when the ticket can be reimbursed.
Application
- This is an airline co-branded card. You can enter your own frequent flyer number when applying; if you do not have one, one will be assigned automatically.
| Barclays Credit Card Application Guide |
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| Barclays application status check link(login required) . Or call: 888-232-0780 |
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| More on applying for Barclays credit cards |