Update 6/30/2014: The current sign-up bonus has been reduced to 35,000 miles. All links in this post go to the following offer:

• Earn 20,000 award miles after your first purchase or balance transfer
• Earn up to 15,000 award miles with balance transfers (1 mile per $1 transferred) within 30 days of account opening
• Earn 2 award miles per $1 on ticket purchases directly from Miles & More integrated airline partners
• Earn 1 mile per $1 on all other purchases
• Annual Companion Ticket after first purchase
• No foreign transaction fees on purchases made outside the U.S.
• Redeem miles for flight awards and upgrades on Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, SWISS, Star Alliance airlines and other partners
• $79 Annual Fee, waived for SEN and HON Circle Members

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The Premier Miles & More® World MasterCard® has returned with its 50,000 miles signup bonus offer after spending $5,000 in 3 months. The previous offer is usually only 35,000 miles so this bonus offer is one to take advantage of if it’s on your radar because it is only a limited time offer.

The last time Barclays offered 50,000 miles for the Premier Miles and More Mastercard was in December and this one is only expected to last until June.

With the 50,000 point bonus, you can redeem the miles for some extensive travel adventures. For one, Lufthansa is an excellent airline and considered to be a top card for travels to Europe especially if you’re flying on any of the premium cabins (think flatbeds!).

Here are the Premier Miles and More card’s details:

• Earn 20,000 award miles after your first purchase or balance transfer
• Earn up to 15,000 award miles with balance transfers (1 mile per $1 transferred) within 30 days of account opening
• Earn 2 award miles per $1 on ticket purchases directly from Miles & More integrated airline partners
• Earn 1 mile per $1 on all other purchases
• Cardholders receive a companion ticket annually after each account anniversary
• No foreign transaction fees on purchases made outside the U.S.
• Redeem miles for flight awards and upgrades on Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, SWISS, Star Alliance airlines and other partners
• $79 Annual Fee. Please see Terms and Conditions for complete details

Application Link: Barclays Premier Miles and More Mastercard

Annual Fee

The 50,000 miles sign up bonus is the highest bonus that the Premier Miles and More card has ever had offered and even though it’s been offered in the past, it’s likely that this time around the bonus will also be for a limited amount of time.

There is a $79 fee for having the card and unfortunately it’s not waived the first year like other Barclays’  credit cards. Even though there is an annual fee, I still think the card is worth it because the miles you will be earning are worth about $1,200 in rewards which is enough for either 2 round trip domestic awards or for a 1.5 round trip award to Europe on first class. With that all said, this is a card I am looking forward to getting since this time around since I didn’t take advantage of the offer the last time it became available.

How to Use the 50k Miles

The 50,000 Lufthansa Miles and More bonus miles that you can earn by meeting the minimum spend, can get you a few different options for free travel, with the exception of taxes and fees. Traveling for almost free is better than not traveling for almost free, so this a really great bonus to take advantage of to save money on travel expenses.

Here’s what the bonus will get you:

1 Round trip award to Europe originating from the US on economy: 50,000 miles per award
2 Domestic round trips within the Continental US on economy: 25,000 miles per award
1.5 Domestic round trips on United within the Continental US on first class: 35,000 miles per award (United books first class awards at the business class level on US domestic flights)

If you’ve already been earning Lufthansa Miles and More points, then for 60,000 miles you can fly to South America on economy round trip which is a great deal as well. The Lufthansa Miles and More award chart has a much more detailed layout of the cost of awards which you can find here.

Companion Ticket

Another perk of having the Premier Miles and More Mastercard is that it comes with a companion ticket. The companion pass is earned after your first purchase or balance transfer as well as each anniversary year of having the card open. The ticket is only eligible on economy flights that are originating from the US. This is a great perk because a round trip to Europe typically costs at least $1000 depending on the time of year you’re going, so basically the $79 annual fee pays for a flight to Europe for a companion.

Since Lufthansa is within the Star Alliance, the 50,000 miles earned with the Premier Miles and More MasterCard can easily be redeemed on any of the 26 partner airlines. To book an award with a partner airline, you have to call Lufthansa’s reservation line to finalize your itinerary at (800) 581-6400 during office hours.

 

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