The Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® is an airline credit card offering unique Europe-focused travel benefits — which will be most useful to frequent Lufthansa fliers.
For travelers who frequently fly Lufthansa and its partner airlines, this card can definitely be worth it; for those who don’t regularly fly Lufthansa or travel within Europe, other airline and travel rewards cards may be better suited. This card lets you redeem your miles for flights and upgrades on Lufthansa and its partner airlines, so while this can provide great value as a supplemental card for traveling to Europe, U.S. travelers may not find much use for it.
If you think you can make decent use of the Lufthansa credit card, however, it comes with a pretty sizable sign-up bonus: You can earn Earn 50,000 award miles if you spend $3,000 in purchases and pay the annual fee, both within the first 90 days. Despite its relatively low earning rate, cardholders can enjoy perks like an annual companion ticket after each account anniversary, two complimentary Lufthansa Business Lounge vouchers annually and a low intro APR on balance transfers.
Lufthansa’s U.S.-branded credit card issued through Barclays, the Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® is best for travelers that either fly often with Lufthansa or its partners, or have a trip to Europe they’re planning and could benefit from the perks. Because most of Lufthansa’s flights and partner airlines are focused in Europe, this card makes the most sense for someone who regularly travels to Europe.
Intro Purchase APR
N/A
Regular Purchase APR
21.24%, 25.24% or 30.24% (variable)
Intro BT APR
0% introductory APR for the first 15 billing cycles following each balance transfer that posts to your account within 45 days of account opening.
Regular BT APR
21.24%, 25.24% or 30.24% (variable)
Annual Fee
$89
Cash Advance Fee
29.99% APR on cash advances
Foreign Transaction Fee
0% of each transaction in U.S. dollars
Balance Transfer Fee
The balance transfer fee is either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® cardmembers can earn Earn 50,000 award miles if you spend $3,000 in purchases and pay the annual fee, both within the first 90 days. This sign-up bonus can be extremely valuable if you’re planning a trip to Europe and want to earn a significant amount of miles towards your flight.
The Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® offers a subpar earning rate: Earn 2 award miles per $1 spent on Miles & More ticket purchases and 1 award mile per $1 spent on all other purchases.
If you’re looking to get the Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® for the sole purpose of earning travel rewards, we think you’ll do better with other rewards credit card options. Other cards offer higher rewards rates in everyday spending categories, which can help you rack up miles for travel with more flexible redemption options.
The Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® charges an $89 annual fee. While this is lower than what some other travel cards are charging, other no-annual-fee credit cards offer higher earning rates and comparable benefits. However, the Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® does offer several top benefits that, if used, can make up for the annual fee.
Miles earned with the Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® can be used for flights and upgrades on Lufthansa and its partner airlines, including Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, SWISS and other Star Alliance partners. For those who rarely fly Lufthansa or its partner airlines, though, these redemption options are very limiting.
The Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® gives cardholders the unique option to put their award miles towards earning Miles & More status with Lufthansa instead of redeeming them for flights or upgrades. Cardmembers can do this once per calendar year, and you have the option to convert 5,000 to 25,000 award miles.
However, this wouldn’t be your best choice for redemption as miles transfer at a 5:1 ratio — for example, 5,000 award miles convert to 1,000 status miles, so your points will be more valuable if redeemed for flights or upgrades.
The Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® offers cardholders an economy class companion ticket after every account anniversary. While this can be extremely lucrative, note that the companion ticket doesn’t include taxes and fees, which can end up being quite expensive.
Still, from a value perspective, the companion ticket is probably the most significant benefit of the Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard®. Unlike the sign-up bonus — which you only get once — the companion ticket is a perk that you’ll qualify for every year after you make your first purchase.
Another of the Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard®‘s top perks are the two complimentary Lufthansa Business Lounge vouchers cardholders receive annually. Business lounge access starts at $25, so this can save you $50 annually. For travelers who appreciate lounge access, this can be a valuable perk.
As with most airline credit cards, the Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees. This is an essential feature of any travel card, as it’ll save you a fee of up to 3% of the transaction applied to all purchases made in a currency other than the U.S. dollar.
The Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® offers an introductory APR: 0% introductory APR for the first 15 billing cycles following each balance transfer that posts to your account within 45 days of account opening. After that, there will be a 21.24%, 25.24% or 30.24% (variable) This can be a nice benefit for consumers who are paying down debt but still want to enjoy the perks of a travel rewards card.
There are plenty of great alternatives to the Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® that are worth considering when choosing the best credit card for you.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is one of the top travel rewards cards on the market, and for good reason. Cardholders can earn Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3x on dining, and 2x on all other travel purchases, and $50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit, plus more.. Plus, your points are 25% more valuable when you redeem them for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
You can also Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. These features alone are much more valuable than what you’ll get with the Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard®, at an annual fee that’s only slightly higher ($95).
If you’re looking for a credit card with even more flexibility, consider the Chase Freedom Unlimited®, which allows you to redeem your rewards for cash back, travel or other redemption methods.
This card comes with a $0 annual fee and lets you Enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, our premier rewards program that lets you redeem rewards for cash back, travel, gift cards and more; 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and 1.5% on all other purchases. The earning categories with this card are much more varied and are more likely to benefit the average user than what’s offered by the Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard®.
Similar to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers consumers flexibility and top travel perks, all for a moderate $95 annual fee.
Cardholders will earn 2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day; 5 Miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and can earn unlimited 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. Plus, Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel. Using a general travel rewards card like this one can end up being more beneficial long-term than sticking with a more limiting co-branded card like the Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard®.
We would only recommend getting the Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® if you frequently fly with Lufthansa and its partner airlines. If you don’t, there are plenty of other, more rewarding travel rewards cards available that may offer you greater value. Whether you choose a co-branded travel card or a general travel rewards card, you’ll need to make sure your travel and spending habits align with what’s offered by the card before making your decision.
Lufthansa miles can be worth it if you frequently fly Lufthansa or any of its partner airlines. Lufthansa is part of the Star Alliance, which also includes major airlines like Air Canada and United. However, Lufthansa and its partners are mostly based outside the U.S., so earning Lufthansa miles may only be worth it if you regularly travel abroad.
No, the Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® charges an $89 annual fee.
You can redeem your miles by heading to Lufthansa’s website, logging in, searching for the flight you’d like to redeem your miles for, choosing the amount of miles you’d like to redeem and completing the transaction.
Yes — Lufthansa is part of the Star Alliance, as is United. This means that you can transfer your miles to United, or any other alliance member.
The information related to the Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® has been independently collected by LendingTree and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card prior to publication.
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