Miles & More World Elite Mastercard

Rewards by category

Our take

The Miles & More World Elite Mastercard is built for one traveler: someone who flies Lufthansa or its partner airlines and books directly with the airline. The 2x rate covers only tickets billed directly by Miles & More integrated partner airlines — Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Air Dolomiti, Croatia Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines and Luxair; all other spending earns 1x. With no foreign transaction fees, it also works as the card you carry on trips abroad.

The $89 annual fee is really a perks purchase. Barclays throws in two complimentary Lufthansa Business Lounge vouchers each year and a Companion Ticket after every account anniversary, though taxes and fees still apply on that second seat. Earning is the weak side: at SwipeCaddy's 1.1-cent valuation of Miles & More miles, the 1x base works out to roughly 1.1% back, thin for everyday spending.

Treat it as a specialist in a two-card wallet. Put direct partner-airline tickets and foreign purchases on it, and run everything else through a flat-rate card that beats a 1.1-cent-per-mile floor. One quieter perk for program loyalists: once per calendar year you can convert 5,000 to 25,000 miles into Miles & More status points.

Store bonuses

• Lufthansa2x

Key benefits

• Two complimentary Lufthansa Business Lounge vouchers annually
• Annual Companion Ticket after each account anniversary (taxes and fees apply)
• No foreign transaction fees
• Convert 5,000-25,000 miles to Miles & More status points once per calendar year

Common questions

Does Miles & More World Elite Mastercard have an annual fee?

Yes — $89 per year.

What rewards does Miles & More World Elite Mastercard earn on everything else?

1x on all other purchases, in Miles & More.

Is the Miles & More World Elite Mastercard worth the $89 annual fee?

That depends on the perks, not the earn rate. The card includes two Lufthansa Business Lounge vouchers a year and a Companion Ticket after each account anniversary, with taxes and fees still due on the companion fare. If you fly Lufthansa or its partner airlines at least once a year, either perk can outweigh $89; if you don't, skip it.

Do Lufthansa tickets booked through a travel site earn 2x miles?

No. The 2x rate applies only to tickets billed directly by Miles & More integrated partner airlines: Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Air Dolomiti, Croatia Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines and Luxair. The same flight booked through a travel agency or booking site earns 1x. If the bonus rate is the reason you carry this card, book on the airline's own site.

Related reading

• How we value points and miles (and why our numbers are lower than everyone else's)SwipeCaddy ranks cards by reward rate × a conservative cash value per point: 1¢ for cash back and transferable points (Chase, Amex, Citi, Capital One, Bilt), 1.1–1.3¢ for airline miles, 0.4–1.4¢ for hotel points, and 0.8–0.9¢ for store currencies. Optimistic transfer values are recorded for context but never ranked, because most people never achieve them.