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BEST CREDIT CARDSBEST CREDIT CARDSLUFTHANSA MILES & MORE REVIEW: POTENTIALLY VALUABLE FOR FLIGHTS ABROAD

Lufthansa Miles & More Review: Potentially Valuable for Flights Abroad

This card may offer useful benefits if you fly where Lufthansa and its partners can take you. Just be aware of perks that come with taxes and fees.
Gregory Karp Author Avatar
Mar 26, 2024 6:42 p.m. PDT
Edited by
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The Bottom Line

3.7

NerdWallet rating

This card can offer value if you’ll use rewards to fly with Lufthansa and its partners, can capitalize on perks like the companion pass and airport lounge vouchers, and are familiar with reward limitations.

Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® Image
Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard®
Annual Fee
$89
Rewards Rate
1x-2x
Miles
Intro Offer
50,000
Miles
Recommended credit score
Intro APR
0% intro APR on Balance Transfers for 15 billing cycles
Regular APR
20.49%-29.99% Variable APR
Recommended credit score
Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® Image
Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard®
Annual Fee
$89
Rewards Rate
1x-2x
Miles
Intro Offer
50,000
Miles
Recommended credit score
Intro APR
0% intro APR on Balance Transfers for 15 billing cycles
Regular APR
20.49%-29.99% Variable APR
Recommended credit score

  • Annual fee

    $89

  • Rewards rate

    1x-2x

  • Bonus offer

    Earn 50,000 miles if you spend $3,000 in purchases and pay the annual fee, both within the first 90 days.

  • Intro APR

    0% intro APR on Balance Transfers for 15 billing cycles

  • Ongoing APR

    APR: 20.49%-29.99%, Variable APR

    Cash Advance APR: 29.99%, Variable

  • Balance transfer fee

    Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.

  • Foreign transaction fee

    0% of each transaction in U.S. dollars.

  • Earn 50,000 miles if you spend $3,000 in purchases and pay the annual fee, both within the first 90 days.
  • Earn 2 miles per $1 spent on ticket purchases directly from Miles & More integrated airline partners.
  • Earn 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases.
  • Receive two complimentary Lufthansa Business Lounge Vouchers after each account anniversary.
  • Receive a Companion Ticket after each account anniversary (taxes and fees apply).

Pros and Cons

Pros

Intro APR on balance transfers

No foreign transaction fee

Cons

Has annual fee

Needs excellent credit

Detailed Review

The Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard®, Lufthansa airline’s loyalty-program card in the U.S., has potentially valuable benefits if you have specific needs — for example, if you want to regularly fly where Lufthansa and its Miles & More partners can take you, which generally means Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

But the card comes with significant downsides. Among them: a lack of useful bonus-spending categories, which limits how quickly you can rack up reward miles. And potentially steep taxes and fees on award tickets devalue rewards you earn.

A potential upside is the card’s annual companion ticket, essentially a buy-one/get-one deal on an economy class ticket for a traveling partner. But on that “freebie,” you have to pay the taxes and fees, which can be hundreds of dollars.

Overall, unless you have a specific need to fly Lufthansa or its partners, you might skip this card because it doesn’t keep pace with the best airline credit cards from major U.S. carriers.

Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard®: Basics

Card type: Airline.

Annual fee: $89.

Sign-up bonus: Earn 50,000 miles if you spend $3,000 in purchases and pay the annual fee, both within the first 90 days.

Rewards rate: Earn 2 award miles per $1 spent on ticket purchases directly from Miles & More integrated airline partners and 1 mile per $1 spent on everything else.

Companion ticket: Annual economy-class companion ticket. Taxes and fees apply.

Lounge access: Two one-time-use Lufthansa Business Lounge vouchers annually.

Intro APR on transfers: 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 15 billing cycles, then an ongoing APR of 20.49%-29.99%, Variable APR.

Balance transfer fee: Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.

Foreign transaction fee: None.

Credit score required: Excellent.

Compare to Other Cards

ANNUAL FEE
$0
INTRO APR
0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers
REGULAR APR
18.49%-27.49% Variable APR *Rates as of December 12, 2024.
RECOMMENDED CREDIT SCORE
ANNUAL FEE
$95
INTRO APR
N/A
REGULAR APR
20.74%-27.74% Variable APR
RECOMMENDED CREDIT SCORE
ANNUAL FEE
$325
INTRO APR
N/A
REGULAR APR
See Pay Over Time APR
RECOMMENDED CREDIT SCORE
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Benefits and Perks

Companion ticket

The primary cardmember is eligible for an economy class companion ticket after using the card a first time and on the cardmember anniversary every year after. You must book by phone. The potential catch is that the companion ticket is subject to restrictions and taxes and fees, which can raise the price considerably.

Rewards

Book award flights on Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, SWISS, Star Alliance airlines — including United Airlines in the U.S. — and other partners. Taxes and fees are not included and could be quite costly for some redemptions. You can also redeem miles for hotel stays, car rentals and merchandise, among other redemption options.

Other benefits

  • Lounge passes. Cardholders get two free one-time-use Lufthansa Business Lounge vouchers annually.

  • Convert to elite-status miles. Convert award miles earned on purchases into elite-status miles. Once every year, you can convert 5,000 to 25,000 award miles at a 5-to-1 ratio. For example, 5,000 award miles converts to 1,000 status miles.

Drawbacks and Considerations

Complexity

As with most airline loyalty programs, Miles & More can be confusing and will take effort to use well. And you’re locked into using awards on Lufthansa and its partners, as opposed to awards on general travel cards, which can erase a wide variety of travel expenditures.

Far simpler is the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. 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. Earn 2 points per dollar on most purchases and redeem points towards any travel expenses charged on the card. The annual fee is $95.

Spending rewards

Double miles for Lufthansa-related spending and a single mile per dollar for everything else is lackluster for use in everyday spending, such as buying groceries, dining out or filling your vehicle’s gas tank. At least the double miles rewards apply to more than just flying Lufthansa, including direct Miles & More partners: AirDolomiti, Austrian Airlines Group, Brussels Airlines, Croatia Airlines, Eurowings, LOT Polish Airlines, Luxair and SWISS. Still, it’s not a line-up of airlines popular with most Americans.

Annual fee

No one likes to pay an annual fee, but it can be worthwhile if you get enough benefit from a credit card every year to easily compensate for it. The fee on the Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® is $89.

If that's a dealbreaker, consider the $0-annual-fee Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card. Cardholders earn an unlimited 3 points per dollar spent on

  • Restaurants.

  • Travel and transit.

  • Gas stations (and electric vehicle charging stations).

  • Popular streaming services.

  • Select phone plans.

Other purchases earn 1 point per dollar. Points are worth 1 cent each, and you can redeem them for travel, gift cards, statement credits or when checking out online with PayPal.

How To Decide If It's Right For You

If you’ll use Miles & More rewards to fly with Lufthansa and its partners and are familiar with reward restrictions and potential added taxes and fees, the Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® could be a valuable product to hold as a membership-type card rather than as an everyday-spending credit card.

Alternate Pick: Greater flexibility
Book directly or transfer points

This card earns bonus rewards in a variety of popular spending categories, including dining and travel. You can transfer points on a 1:1 basis to about a dozen airline and hotel programs or you can use them to book travel through Chase at 1.25 cents per point. However, you won't get any airline-specific perks. Annual fee: $95.


Methodology

NerdWallet reviews credit cards with an eye toward both the quantitative and qualitative features of a card. Quantitative features are those that boil down to dollars and cents, such as fees, interest rates, rewards (including earning rates and redemption values) and the cash value of benefits and perks. Qualitative factors are those that affect how easy or difficult it is for a typical cardholder to get good value from the card. They include such things as the ease of application, simplicity of the rewards structure, the likelihood of using certain features, and whether a card is well-suited to everyday use or is best reserved for specific purchases. Our star ratings serve as a general gauge of how each card compares with others in its class, but star ratings are intended to be just one consideration when a consumer is choosing a credit card. Learn how NerdWallet rates credit cards.

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