Barclays has always offered the Lufthansa Miles & More Premier Mastercard with a $79 annual fee and 20,000 Lufthansa miles after the first purchase. Last week, Barclays Bank introduced a better offer for the existing card with 20,000 Lufthansa miles after first purchase and an additional 30,000 miles after $5000 spend within 90 days. There is a $79 annual fee which is not waived for the first year. This seems to be a limited time offer with an expiration date of June 30, 2013. Aside from the bonus Lufthansa miles, you get 2 miles per $1 spent directly with Lufthansa and 1 mile per $1 spent everywhere else.
It is possible that if you don’t qualify for the Premier card, you may get a Platinum card instead. However, don’t be alarmed. The platinum card still gives the same 50,000 miles.
A few concepts that you should know to understand what makes Lufthansa miles valuable
1. Lufthansa charges fuel surcharges on all airlines except United, US Airways, and LOT. Thus, you will get the most value when redeeming on only those 3 airlines.
2. Lufthansa Charges 50,000 miles roundtrip in economy class from US to Europe. In comparison, United and US Airways charge 60,000 miles. So, you are getting a 10000 mile discount for a US – Europe trip.
3. United domestic first class books as business class using Lufthansa miles. US Airways domestic first class does not book as business class using Lufthansa miles.
4. Lufthansa offers 1 way awards. According to the Lufthansa mileage calculator, a flight from Houston to San Francisco costs 12000 miles for 1-way economy and 17000 for 1 way business. United would charge 12500 miles for economy and 17500 for 1 way business. US Airways of course does not allow booking of one-way awards.
5. According to Lufthansa’s domestic award chart, it charges 25,000 miles for round trip economy class on United and US Airways. As mentioned above, United domestic First Class (unlike US Airways domestic first class) books as business using Lufthansa miles. So, you can get a United roundtrip domestic first class for 35,000 miles. If you booked the same award on United, you would be paying 50,000 miles.
6. You get access to Lufthansa and Swiss first class awards. Lufthansa has been known to release first class seats to star alliance partners about 2 weeks before departure which is not always convenient. Swiss doesn’t seem to release first class seats to US star alliance partners at all. However, you can book Swiss first class space with Lufthansa miles. Of course, you will pay fuel surcharges on.
7. According to the Miles and More terms and conditions:
You can book flight awards online at www.lufthansa.com or www.miles-and-more.com for all flights operated by Adria Airways, Austrian Airlines Group, Brussels Airlines, Condor, Croatia Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines (does not apply to flight awards in Premium Economy Class), Lufthansa and SWISS
That means you have to call to book awards for flights on United or US Airways.
Is the Barclays Lufthansa Miles & More Mastercard worth it?
This is a generous bonus coming from Barclays Bank, the highest for this particular card. However, this card seems to be worth it only for the signup bonus of 50,000 miles. Since the best use of Lufthansa miles is limited to United, US Airways, and LOT to avoid fuel surcharges, it doesn’t seem worth it to pay $79 to collect Lufthansa miles after the first year. In addition, $5000 is a decent minimum spend to collect the full bonus. But in the world of Bluebird and gift cards with PINS, spending $5000 can be fairly easy.
A similar unofficial offer with a lower spend?
There is a different unofficial offer which gives the same 50,000 miles but with a lower spend ($2500 in 3 months). With this offer, if you don’t get approved for the Premier card, and get the Platinum instead, you will only get 5000 miles altogether. Unless you are a risk taker, I do not recommend applying through this unofficial offer.
Links for the application to the official and unofficial offer can be found on the card’s summary page.