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Miles & More Premier World MasterCard Credit Card Review

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Who Is the Miles & More Premier World MasterCard Credit Card Good For?

Booking directly with Miles & More award miles is the easiest way to get in Lufthansa’s coveted first class cabin, for which seats only open for partner airlines’ frequent flyer bookings two weeks before departure, and SWISS first class, which is only open to Miles & More members.

Since you can no longer buy Miles & More award miles outright, and it is only possible to transfer points from Starwood Preferred Guest, these hard-to-come-by miles are best accrued with the Miles & More Premier World MasterCard which is issued by Barclays.

If you’re looking to use your miles for premium travel to or within Europe, this is an ideal card for you. But check your wallet to see how many other Barclays-issued cards you have before applying. Barclays is strict about multiple applications and will want to see that you are using your other cards before issuing you a new one.

If this card is out of your reach, but you’d like another way to earn Miles & More award miles, Barclays also offers a very similarly named product, the Premier Miles & More World Mastercard, which earns a 5,000 mile welcome bonus and one award mile per dollar spent, with no annual fee.

AIRLINE TRANSFER PARTNER
Adria;
Austrian;
Brussels Airlines;
Condor;
Croatia Airlines;
German Wings;
LOT;
LuftHansa;
Luxair;
SWISS
ANNUAL FEE
$79 annual fee (waived for upper-echelon status holders)
APR0 percent for the first 12 months, 15.99 percent or 24.99 percent after, depending on creditworthiness
RECOMMENDED CREDIT SCORE
700+

TYPE OF CARD
Mastercard

ISSUER
Barclays

Sign-Up Bonuses:

Miles & More Premier World MasterCard typically carries a 35,000-award-mile sign-up bonus with an unusual breakdown.

After the first purchase or balance transfer, 20,000 award miles are credited to the cardholder’s account as a welcome bonus. The remaining 15,000 miles are awarded for balance transfers (one award mile per dollar transferred) within the first 30 days of opening the account.

As balance transfers come with a 3 percent fee, this is not a very attractive way to earn miles. However, once or twice a year, the sign-up bonus reaches as high as 50,000 miles, though the additional miles require a significant spend. After the initial 20,000-mile welcome bonus, the 50,000-mile offer requires a $5,000 spend in the first 90 days of holding the card to receive the remaining 30,000 award miles.

Miles & More Premier World MasterCard®
Miles & More Premier World MasterCard®

Points Earned:

  • 2 award miles per dollar spent on Miles & More airlines
  • 1 award mile per dollar on everything else

What Do Your Miles Get You?

Though Miles & More awards carry high fuel surcharges, their redemption rates are relatively comparable to the main domestic airlines, though occasionally with a bit of a discount, such as 50,000 miles for round-trip flights between the U.S. and Europe in economy class. Miles & More members can also use up to 18,000 award miles to cover their taxes and fees.

Miles & More award miles will get you seats on all Miles & More airlines:

  • Lufthansa
  • SWISS
  • Austrian Airlines
  • Brussels Airlines
  • Condor Airlines
  • Croatia Airlines
  • Adria Airways
  • Luxair
  • Germanwings
  • LOT Polish Airlines

As well as the remaining airlines of the Star Alliance:

  • Aegean Airlines
  • Air Canada
  • Air China
  • Air New Zealand
  • ANA
  • Asiana Airlines
  • Avianca
  • Copa Airlines
  • EGYPTAIR
  • Ethiopian Airlines
  • EVA Air
  • Scandinavian Airlines
  • Shenzhen Airlines
  • Singapore Airlines
  • South African Airways
  • TAP Portugal
  • THAI
  • Turkish Airlines
  • United

Some of the best perks of the Miles & More program are the mileage bargains, which cut the usual price of award flights in half. You can, for instance, fly from the U.S. to Geneva for just 55,000 miles roundtrip in business class, little more than you would usually pay for economy.

Usage Perks:

  • No foreign transaction fees on international purchases
  • Miles do not expire as long as the card is used monthly
  • Round-trip U.S.-Europe economy awards on Lufthansa, SWISS or Austrian Airlines booked through Miles & More only require 50,000 award miles
  • One-way award bookings permitted
Redeem your miles for a round-trip flight
Redeem your miles for a round-trip flight

Usage Quirks:

  • Award tickets carry very high fees
  • It is not possible to buy Miles & More miles to top off your account if you are short miles for an award
  • Award flights cannot be booked less than two days before departure
  • Award miles cannot be transferred
  • Award miles expire with 36 months of inactivity

How Far Do Your Miles Go?

Even though the taxes and fees on premium cabins are naturally higher, first class flights still pack a powerful punch in terms of cents-per-mile value:

first-class-flight1

If you bought this ticket outright, the lowest you could get it for is $11,042. Subtracting the fees on the award ticket, that’s still 5.9 cents per mile. Not too shabby.

The mileage bargain fares get you almost as high value:

fly-smart1

If you paid cash, this flight would cost $3,895, so your award mile value clocks in at 5.3 cents per mile.

Additional Cardholder Benefits:

  • FICO score access and tracking
  • Annual companion pass

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.

UGC Disclosure: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Lufthansa Miles & More Program Review

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Lufthansa-MilesMore

Who Is Lufthansa Miles & More Good For?

For many North American frequent flyers, Lufthansa is best known for its uber-luxurious first class, but in Europe, it is actually the largest airline, and it has the largest frequent flyer program on the continent. The program has more than 25 million members.

Miles & More may have started as a Lufthansa-specific program, but it is now the primary frequent flyer program of 13 European airlines, including SWISS, Brussels Airlines and Luxembourgs Luxair.

Award flights on Lufthansa, in particular, fall into an interesting catch-22. You don’t get good availability on Lufthansa flights when you book through other Star Alliance partners, such as United and Air Canada, and if you book them through Miles & More, you’re facing hefty fuel surcharges. British Airways-level hefty: $300-$600 to get across the pond.

PROGRAMALLIANCECURRENCY
MILES & MORESTAR ALLIANCEMILES
POINTS TRANSFER PARTNERS
SPG (STARWOOD PREFERRED GUEST)

Airline Partners

  • Air IndiaAir India
  • Air MaltaAir Malta
  • Condor AirlinesCondor Airlines
  • LANLAN
  • LuxairLuxair
  • TAM AirlinesTAM Airlines
  • Adria AirwaysAdria Airways
  • Aegean AirlinesAegean Airlines
  • Air AstanaAir Astana
  • Air CanadaAir Canada
  • Air ChinaAir China
  • Air DolomitiAir Dolomiti
  • Air NewZealandAir NewZealand
  • ANAANA
  • Asiana AirlinesAsiana Airlines
  • AustrianAustrian
  • AviancaAvianca
  • Brussels AirlinesBrussels Airlines
  • Copa AirlinesCopa Airlines
  • Croatia AirlinesCroatia Airlines
  • EgyptairEgyptair
  • Ethiopian AirlinesEthiopian Airlines
  • EurowingsEurowings
  • Eva AirEva Air
  • Jet AirwaysJet Airways
  • LOTLOT
  • LufthansaLufthansa
  • Scandinavian AirlinesScandinavian Airlines
  • Shenzhen AirlinesShenzhen Airlines
  • Singapore AirlinesSingapore Airlines
  • South African AirwaysSouth African Airways
  • SwissSwiss
  • TAP PortugalTAP Portugal
  • Thai AirwaysThai Airways
  • Turkish AirlinesTurkish Airlines
  • United AirlinesUnited Airlines

However, if you are looking to use your points not just to get around, but for really premium products, Miles & More may be the program for you. Award space in some of the world’s most luxurious cabins, Lufthansa and Swiss first class seats opens up nearly a year in advance only to members of these programs, and first class awards on partners can be a major bargain if you play your cards right.

Hubs:

  • Dusseldorf Airport
  • Frankfurt Airport
  • Munich Airport

How Can You Use Lufthansa Miles & More Miles?

Though the hefty fuel surcharges levied on its own flights seem to make Lufthansa an unattractive frequent flyer program choice, it’s incredibly flexible routing rules can still allow you to get a 3-cent-per-mile value on your awards.

On the standard U.S.-Europe round-trip, U.S. residents get a discount, so the award costs 50,000 points. Pretty standard. Fees can easily add up to $600, which is not so attractive. But if you take advantage of a stopover and open-jaw each direction, you can easily create an itinerary that would ticket at several thousand dollars and allow you to have quite the European city tour.

Lufthansa uses two different award charts: one for Lufthansa (and associated airlines like Swiss) flights, and one for Star Alliance partners, which is based on regions. Awards are calculated primarily on the number of regions traversed, and you are allowed more segments (thus stopovers and creative routings) the more regions you go though in one itinerary.

If, for instance, you need to lay over somewhere in a different region to get between two destinations in the same region, your award price will reflect the number of regions you travel through, not the number of regions you would cross as the crow flies between your departure point and destination.

  • No fee for booking by phone
  • No fee for cancellations before award is ticketed (typically 24 hours)
  • Five-day itinerary holds on Lufthansa, Swiss, Asiana Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Croatia Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines
  • One-way bookings available on Lufthansa
  • One open-jaw per ticket
  • One stopover per direction on tickets that cross regions
  • Fly Smart fares bookable two weeks before departure require 50 percent fewer miles
  • Award tickets in Swiss first class may only be booked by Miles & More members
  • Taxes and fees can be paid in award miles on intra-European flights
  • Award flight bookings available 361 days before departure
  • Award tickets for children 2-11 require 75 percent the usual award miles
  • U.S. residents pay 10,000 award miles less for a round-trip flight to Europe

Booking Quirks:

  • $60 change or cancellation fee
  • No changes to departure or destination airports permitted
  • Award flights cannot be booked less than two days before departure
  • Award miles cannot be transferred
  • Award miles expire with 36 months of inactivity
  • Many cash tickets do not earn 100 percent mileage credit

Best Value Awards:

Lufthansa Airlines award chart
Lufthansa Airlines award chart

While it seems like the coveted Swiss and Lufthansa first class would be the best award you could get with Lufthansa award miles, they actually stretch the farthest when used on United. Surprise, surprise!

As Lufthansa has very high fuel surcharges, especially when you cross an ocean, flying a partner with no fuel charges within one region is often your best use of Miles & More, and with United, you can actually fly first class domestically for 17,000 miles one-way. That’s barely more than you would pay for the lowest award level for economy flights on United.

Worst Value Awards:

While many frequent flyers use Lufthansa miles to get into their (and Swiss) first class cabins without waiting until the last minute, as Lufthansa doesn’t release first class awards to partners until very close to departure, first class redemptions with Miles & More can in many cases be the worst value awards because of fees.

Booking first class awards using Miles & More to fly on other airlines typically cost far more than booking through that airline directly. First class to Europe on United will run 85,000 miles and several hundred in fees each way when booked through Lufthansa, but 80,000 miles and typically less than $50 in fees through United.

The Good Stuff: Upgrades and Elite Status

Miles&More upgrade award chart
Miles&More upgrade award chart

Upgrading with miles through Miles & More is difficult because you must purchase a B or Y economy ticket or business class ticket to be eligible. If you have one of those fare classes, upgrades run relatively standard, but high. Rates: 10,000 to business and 15,000 to first in Europe; 35,000 to business and 50,000 to first from the U.S. to Europe.

They have recently launched an option to upgrade to premium economy that is only available on flights to Germany, but it can be used in H, M, Q, S, U, V, and W fare classes.

Lufthansa Miles & More Elite Levels and Perks

In the 2014 Freddie Awards, which recognize frequent flyers most beloved award programs, Lufthansa jumped from the number four spot the previous year to take the top ranking, in no small part because of the access to Lufthansa’s outstanding first class products that the higher elite levels provide.

Each subsequent level includes the perks of the previous level, unless stated otherwise.

  • Frequent Traveler: Miles never expire, 25 percent more miles earned from cash flights, wait-list priority, business class check-in, one additional checked bag, one golf bag checked free of charge, business lounge access, exclusive service line
  • Senator: Two upgrade vouchers per year, guaranteed seat availability 48 hours before departure, first class check-in, two to four additional checked bags depending on route and class, senator and star gold lounge access, priority baggage handling, companion awards, miles advance of up to 50,000 miles
  • HON Circle: Six upgrade vouchers per year, guaranteed seat availability 24 hours before departure, first class lounge access, first class terminal access, limo transfer service, miles advance of up to 100,000 miles

Associated Credit Cards

In the U.S., Barclaycard issues the cards associated with Miles & More, chief among which is the Premier Miles & More World MasterCard.

For a cobranded airline card, this card offer relatively standard perks:

  • Two award miles per dollar on purchases from Miles & More airlines
  • One award mile per dollar on all other purchases
  • $89 annual fee

Notably, the Miles & More card gives you the option to earn up to 15,000 points on a balance transfer, and all cards come with a companion pass issued at the time of your first purchase, as well as each year on your anniversary.

Lufthansa’s 50,000-point sign-on bonus in spring 2014 made it one of the hottest credit card applications, but the card usually offers a 35,000-point sign-on bonus. Compared to many programs, this is very generous, especially considering that cardholders receive the first 20,000 miles with their first purchase.

The lower-reward Miles & More World MasterCard and Miles & More Platinum MasterCard come with a lower sign-on bonus that corresponds to a lower annual fee and earning rate (one award mile per dollar on all purchases).

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