Using 2 current credit card sign-up bonuses, I’ll show you how you can fly in style round-trip to Europe. Or get 5 one-way award flights to Hawaii!
You could get the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express personal AND small business card. Or you could get 1 and pair it with the Barclaycard Miles & More card to earn a total of 100,000 Lufthansa miles!
I’ll show you how it works!
About the AMEX SPG Cards
Link: Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express
Link: Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express
Link: How to Fill Out an American Express Business Card Application
Link: How to Use Starwood Points
Apply before March 30, 2016, to earn the increased bonus on both cards. You’ll get:- 35,000 Starwood points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the 1st 3 months of opening your account (personal card), OR
- 35,000 Starwood points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the 1st 3 months of opening your account (small business card)
- 2 points per $1 you spend at Starwood hotels (includes Aloft, Design Hotels, Element, Four Points, Le Meridien, Sheraton, St Regis, The Luxury Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Westin and W brand hotels)
- 1 Starwood point per $1 you spend on everything else
- Unlimited use of Boingo Wi-Fi hotspots (excluding in-flight)
- For small business cardholders, access to Sheraton Club lounges (free breakfast and hors d’oeuvres) for cardholder and 1 guest staying in the same room (3rd party bookings are excluded).
- 2 stay credits or 5 night credits toward Starwood Elite Status
- $95 annual fee, waived for the 1st year
- No foreign transaction fees
- Terms & limitations apply
How to Get 50,000 Lufthansa Miles With the AMEX Starwood Cards
You can transfer Starwood points to 30+ airline partners, including Lufthansa.
When you transfer 20,000 Starwood points to an airline with a 1:1 ratio (like Lufthansa), you’ll get 5,000 bonus miles. So your 20,000 Starwood points becomes 25,000 Lufthansa miles!
When you complete the minimum spending requirements, you’ll have at least 38,000 OR 40,000 Starwood points (depending on which version of the card you get). Because for each dollar you spend, you earn at least 1 Starwood point.
When you transfer 40,000 Starwood points to Lufthansa, you’ll end up with 50,000 Lufthansa miles. Because you get a 5,000 mile bonus for every 20,000 Starwood points you transfer.
It’s possible to get both versions of the card, because they’re considered different card products. If you got both (and met the spending requirements), you’d have close to 80,000 Starwood points.
With 5,000 bonus miles for every 20,000 Starwood points, you could transfer 80,000 Starwood points and get 100,000 Lufthansa miles!
Note: You can usually only be approved for 1 AMEX card per day.Earn 50,000 Lufthansa Miles With the Barclaycard Miles & More Card
Link: Barclaycard Miles & More – 50,000 Mile Offer
You can earn a total of 50,000 Lufthansa miles with the current offer on the Barclaycard Miles & More card.
You’ll earn 20,000 Lufthansa miles after your 1st purchase and payment of the $89 annual fee.
And another 30,000 Lufthansa miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the 1st 90 days of opening your account.
Plus, you’ll get:
- 2 Lufthansa miles per $1 you spend on tickets purchased directly from Miles & More airline partners (such as Brussels Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, & SWISS)
- 1 Lufthansa mile per $1 you spend on all other purchases
- Companion certificate after 1st purchase and payment of annual fee, then each year when you renew the card
- 2 Lufthansa Business Lounge passes annually
- NO foreign transaction fees
The $89 annual fee is NOT waived for the 1st year.
The regular offer on this card is 35,000 Lufthansa miles. And it hasn’t been this high since summer of last year, so now is an excellent time to get it!
Emily and I don’t receive a commission for the Miles & More card but we’re highlighting it here because we always want you to know about the best ways to get Big Travel!
Note: AMEX only allows you to have 4 credit cards at 1 time. So if you’re close to your limit with AMEX, you could get 1 of the AMEX Starwood cards. And then get the Barclaycard Miles & More card.Or, if you don’t have any cards with Barclaycard, you might consider the Barclaycard Miles & More card because it’s a different bank.
Keep in mind Barclaycard typically only allows folks to sign-up for 1 to 2 of their cards per year.
What Can You Do With 100,000 Lufthansa Miles?
Link: 17 Ways to Use Your Lufthansa Miles
Link: How to Redeem Lufthansa Miles
Link: Lufthansa Mileage Calculator
Link: Mileage Bargains
Once you collect 100,000 Lufthansa miles, you’ll have more than enough to get lots of Big Travel with Small Money!
Note: Lufthansa adds hefty fuel surcharges to many award tickets, so remember to factor in the cost. Here’s a post on how to avoid them. Certain award tickets (like United Airlines to Hawaii or LOT Polish Airlines to Warsaw) have minimal or low fuel surcharges.One-way coach flights to Hawaii from anywhere in the US or Canada cost 20,000 Lufthansa miles on partner United Airlines.
100,000 Lufthansa miles is enough for 5 one-way award tickets to a Hawaiian island! Or 2 round-trip flights. And, you’d have 20,000 Lufthansa miles left over for your next adventure! Maybe you’ll return to hike the Pali Puka trail – NOT for the faint of heart!This could also be useful if you find a cheap fare to OR from Hawaii. Because you could use Lufthansa miles in 1 direction. And pay for the cheaper flights. With that strategy, you could fly a family of 5 to Hawaii for vacation.
Or, you could visit Hawaii with a partner for some romance in paradise! 🙂
Lufthansa charges 52,000 Lufthansa miles 1-way for a Business Class award seat between the US and Europe. Or 105,000 Lufthansa miles for 1 round-trip ticket. See my post on Lufthansa award pricing rules to learn why a round-trip ticket isn’t exactly double the cost of a 1-way!
You’d need to earn 5,000 more Lufthansa miles to fly Business Class on their Star Alliance partner airlines.
Remember, you can always use Lufthansa’s Mileage Calculator to check how many miles you’ll need for an award ticket.
Lufthansa also has monthly Mileage Bargains that allow you to book award flights for nearly 50% fewer miles.In March 2016, for example, there are 177 routes on sale. So you should be able to find at least 1 that interests you!
With Mileage Bargains, Business Class flights cost 55,000 Lufthansa miles round-trip. So 100,000 Lufthansa miles is more than enough to fly to Europe if you can find a city pair that works for your travel dates!
Better yet, if you can boost your Lufthansa balance to 110,000 Lufthansa miles, you can get 2 round-trip Business Class tickets to Europe with Mileage Bargains!
Considering Business Class flights on Lufthansa can cost thousands of dollars, this is an excellent way to redeem your miles. In the example above, each Lufthansa mile is worth over 9 cents each.
You can also get a 1-way flight within the US for 12,000 Lufthansa miles. So 100,000 Lufthansa miles is enough for 8 one-way flights. Or 4 round-trip flights! You could spread your trips out. Or take the family with you on an adventure!
Be sure to read my guides about how to use and redeem your Lufthansa miles to give you even more ideas!
Bottom Line
You’ll earn 35,000 Starwood points when you sign-up for the AMEX Starwood Preferred Guest personal or small business cards and complete the minimum spending requirements.
That will get you at least 38,000 OR 40,000 Starwood points from each card, depending on which 1 you get, after completing the minimum spending requirements. And, it’s possible to get both.
When you transfer 20,000 Starwood points to Lufthansa, you’ll get 5,000 bonus miles. So 40,000 Starwood points is worth 50,000 Lufthansa miles!
There’s also an increased sign-up bonus of 50,000 Lufthansa miles for the Barclaycard Miles & More card.
When you get pair any 2 of these cards, you can get 100,000 Lufthansa miles. That’s enough for 5 one-way flights to Hawaii. Or a round-trip award flight to Europe in Business Class with monthly Mileage Bargains!
Let me know what trips you’d take with 100,000 Lufthansa miles!