Unlike the British Airways card where you have to spend $30,000 within 1 calendar year to get their

[Disclosure:  Emily and I get a commission if you're approved using the link to the  Barclays Lufthansa 50,000 mile card  in this post.  We always include the best offer for a card even if it doesn't pay us a commission.  You don't have to use our links, but thanks for your support!]
If you're  new to miles and points ,  like my mother-in-law ,  there are  better  cards for you to apply for like the  Chase Sapphire Preferred hotels and motels in downtown cincinnati ohio ,   American Express Starwood card ,  Chase Ink Plus , or the other cards on the  Hot Deals tab .  But if you've been doing this for a while, the  Barclays Lufthansa  card could make sense for you – especially if you can use their miles for travel within the US and save your more valuable miles.  But make sure you know the quirks of the program BEFORE  you apply.
Unlike hotels and motels in downtown cincinnati ohio the British Airways card where you have to spend $30,000 within 1 calendar year to get their companion ticket, the Lufthansa companion ticket is just given to you every year you keep the card which has a $79 annual fee.
This means that you cannot use the Lufthansa companion ticket when you redeem miles for an award and that you have to fly on Lufthansa operated flights.   Flights on other Miles and More airlines (say Austrian Air) are excluded and so are other Star Alliance partner airlines such as United.
2.   Have to Book Expensive Fare Classes.   Most discounted hotels and motels in downtown cincinnati ohio economy tickets are NOT eligible for the Lufthansa companion ticket.   This really kills any potential value of the Lufthansa companion ticket.
The terms say that your paid ticket hotels and motels in downtown cincinnati ohio must be booked in H Class or higher.   This means that you have to book your ticket in either  H, M, B, or Y (full fare economy) to use the Lufthansa companion ticket.
Airlines have different fare buckets (denoted by a letter of the alphabet) for the same seats on a plane.  For example, tickets which cost more cash may earn more miles and have less restrictive cancellation policies than cheaper fares.
1.   Valid Only From the US.   The Lufthansa companion ticket is only valid for flights departing from the US.  This means that you cannot use the companion pass on a flight going from Europe to the US or starting in any other region.
This means that you CANNOT hotels and motels in downtown cincinnati ohio use the companion pass for flights to India and Southeast hotels and motels in downtown cincinnati ohio or Central Asia.   However, one phone agent said that I could use it for flights to India, but her supervisor said that it wasn t possible.
I used ITA Matrix to find fares in order to display the results in a calendar view, but you use the Lufthansa website to more easily find fares on Lufthansa and Kayak to find the cheapest fares on other airlines.
In contrast, you will have to buy one higher priced ticket on Lufthansa for $1,598   AND pay  ~$650  in taxes and fees on your companion s ticket.  So you re paying  $2,248  for two tickets and you re NOT earning miles on the second ticket.
Another question, when following your example but different dates and location, the ITA Matrix shows me flights that seam to be operated by others (like United, and Lufthansa cityline gmbh). I assume that these flights would NOT be allowed with the companion pass?
@Adam I edited the post to show an easier way to find the booking class for Lufthansa flights. You can t use the companion ticket with codeshare flights so United or Swiss flights would not be eligible.
Good post and pretty much shows its a useless benefit. Can you do a post on the BA companion pass at 30K spend? Seems worth it to me when considering the cost of the taxes/fees vs the value of Avios (or alternative miles) that are being saved.
@Jeremy - I like the BA Companion Pass when you spend $30K if you use it for business class or first class redemptions. You will pay ~$900 in fuel surcharges for a return trip so this is not worth it in coach.
I m not sure if this is the correct post to comment on but here it is.. I changed hotels and motels in downtown cincinnati ohio my award-booking flight with United by calling customer services and was told that if my departure and arrival airports remain the same and I change only the date of flight, there is no penalty fees no matter my original award-booking is in Economy or Business/First. I found this very convenient. I did not know this before so would like to share
I successfully did that using BA and United Miles programs and found it very useful and beneficial hotels and motels in downtown cincinnati ohio considering it was almost impossible to book flights using these programs during high season and on days I need. But with the hotels, I was able to do this without any problems.
But many times no value. Worth checking out. Also good to great using United Cruises Usually 4 to 8. Points per $. Sometimes UR mall to Travelocity is better. Have found no value in using points/ miles to pay for cruises.
Yes, I also used United miles to book a hotel in DC and it was well worth it. So if with this card I will find difficulty booking flight tickets for the dates I need, at least I can use the miles to book hotels or car rentals.