@Gold @Robert Hanson I didn t mention it because it requires you to purchase a H fare economy ticket

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Barclays increased the sign-up bonus from 20,000 miles to 50,000 miles with the Lufthansa Miles and More card.   The $79 annual fee is NOT waived in the first year.  But $79 for 2 domestic coach trips seems worth it to me.
That said, the $5,000 minimum spending requirement is higher than it usually is for Barclays cards.  For example, doubletree hotel mahwah you get 35,000 miles with the US Air card after your 1st purchase , and have to spend only $ 1,000 on the Barclays Arrival doubletree hotel mahwah card to get the sign-up bonus (worth ~$440 in travel)
You also get a companion ticket , but it is almost worthless because it is valid only on coach tickets and you have to buy 1 coach ticket at a higher price than regular coach tickets AND also pay the taxes and fees for the free companion ticket.
doubletree hotel mahwah But this could be a good option, for folks who can manage the minimum spending requirement because the card is from Barclays which usually uses the TransUnion credit bureau, doubletree hotel mahwah which is often not used by the other banks.  It is nice to have a decent offer which is not from Chase!
Flyertalk member habsben has found a link to an offer with 50,000 miles, but with only a $2,500 minimum spending requirement within 3 months .  However, you will get only 5,000 miles if you re approved doubletree hotel mahwah for the lower card.
I hate these bait and switch tactics, so applying for the offer with the higher minimum spending ($5,000 within 3 months) could be worth it since Barclays doesn t spell out exactly what makes you qualify for the better card.
Here s a link to the Lufthansa award chart.   Note that you can fly entirely within 1 country (say within the US) for 25,000 miles round-trip or 35,000 miles (17,500 miles for a 1-way) in United First Class (since it books as business class) within the continental US.
It is only  25,000 Lufthansa miles for a round-trip in coach, within the Continental US or within Canada, on US Air or United .  If you find a low-level award on US Air or United, you can use your Lufthansa miles to book that award. There are no fuel surcharges on US Air or United.
It costs 50,000 Lufthansa miles in coach from the US to Europe on Lufthansa or any partner airline.  Note that you will pay fuel surcharges (~$300+ per 1-way) if you re NOT flying US or LOT, so this may not be worth it in coach.
But you will pay a lot!  It costs 170,000 miles for a return first class award (or 85,000 miles for a 1-way award) + fuel surcharges of ~$400+ per 1-way segment.  On the other hand, you may get to sleep in a bed while flying!
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Thanks for the informative post! I do plan on using one of your links up top to sign up for this card. Quick question though, I see that you have SPG personal/business listed for referral doubletree hotel mahwah links. I was under the impression that those cards referral links weren t around anymore. Would you mind telling me how you accessed the link? I have a few friends that are going to sign up for them and I d like to refer them.
I appreciate your repeated warnings about the high fuel surcharges. It looks like a good offer on the surface, but with a partner doubletree hotel mahwah that has devalued its miles to where that kind of spend is better placed elsewhere, as I look at it.
I have no luck so far with Barclays that they declined me twice even I called the reconsideration line. They said that I have enough credit line with other banks so that they are unwilling to extend credit to me. Low income kid suffers
Any mileage not redeemed within 36 months of the date of accrual (date of flight, start of hotel stay, time of car rental) will expire at the end of that quarter (e.g. miles expiring in August of any given year would expire at the end of September of that same year), failing other arrangements doubletree hotel mahwah published in the Miles More communication media. Attention will be drawn in good time to the date and extent of the lapsed mileage in the Miles More account information or in the personal Internet mileage doubletree hotel mahwah account.
That better offer has been discussed for the last few days on other blogs (who reads blogs when you are on the road?). No need to bring it up here. Darius needs the commission. This clearly passes the "mother-in-law doubletree hotel mahwah rule"!
@ABC perhaps im reading an updated post, but clearly he points out the lower spend link re FT post HOWEVER if you get bait and switch -ed for the lower card, you will only receive 5k. Are you willing to take that risk?
Per T C: Miles More Platinum MasterCard cardmembers will receive 5,000 bonus miles upon the first use of your new Account for a purchase or balance transfer within doubletree hotel mahwah the first 60 days that the Account is opened.
From what I have read elsewhere, not only do you need to use it every single month, but the spend has to be in each billing cycle, so you need to really watch those dates. But after what we have seen recently with HHonors, etc. it s better to use those miles up in less than 3 years anyway.
@Eric - Thanks for using our links! The SPG link is an affiliate link which I get from my affiliate network. AMEX isn t offering a referral bonus (where you get points for referring the card) any more.
@Kalboz I ve listed doubletree hotel mahwah the card with the $2,500 minimum spending doubletree hotel mahwah in the post, but you could also get 5,000 miles with that version, whereas you always get 50,000 miles with the $5,000 minimum spending version.
@tassojunior I don t believe there are fuel surcharges on those airlines when using Lufthansa miles. I ve edited the post to clarify that the chart applies for flights within the US OR within Canada (and flights between the US and Canada will be higher!)
@Gold @Robert Hanson I didn t mention it because it requires you to purchase a H fare economy ticket which is much higher than the regular economy tickets. And because the companion pass is valid only in economy and you have to pay the high taxes and fees on the companion ticket as well. But I updated the post to mention doubletree hotel mahwah the companion ticket!
@ABC - Perhaps you should read a little more closely! The post *does* mention the offer with the lower spend and also mentions that you may get only 5,000 miles if you get approved for the lower offer with the $2,500 spending requirement.
Miles More integrated airline partners are: Adria Airways, Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines Group, Brussels Airlines, Croatia Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Lufthansa Regional, Lufthansa Private Jet, Luxair and SWISS. Certain restrictions apply. See Terms and Conditions or details.
50,000 award miles is enough to redeem for a round-trip flight award from the U.S. to Europe, on a flight operated by Lufthansa, SWISS or Austrian Airlines (with a marketing flight number of the respective carrier). Taxes and fees are not included in the flight award. Taxes, fees and carrier charges up to $1,000 may apply.
Also, is there a way to check a ball park pricing for the companion ticket eligible price on a specific travel. It is mentioned you have to call their customer care and the pricing on lufthansa.com could be lower at times. Which code classes are eligible?
doubletree hotel mahwah Daraius great post. I understand that to book a United flight, you have to call LH, are there phone booking fees? Also, seems like a 1-way economy award prices at 12k and a RT prices at 25k. Almost makes more sense to book two 1-ways?
doubletree hotel mahwah @MissMiles doubletree hotel mahwah - There are no phone booking fees. It does make sense to book 2 1-ways instead of a return, but note that you will pay $60 twice if you do decide to cancel the ticket (vs. once if you booked a round-trip).