For a long time, Barclays has flown under the radar.  The best offers have been coming from Chase, and the second best offers from American Express.

Well, it seems as though Barclays wants to step things up a little.  They made their first move with the Barclay Arrival World MasterCard.  That card offers 40,000 points after spending $3,000 in the first three months.  Those points can be worth $440 when applied to travel.

Barclay’s most recent sign up bonus is for the The Premier Miles & More World MasterCard.

Miles & More Lufthansa 50,000 Bonus Point Offer Details

• Earn 20,000 award miles after your first purchase.
• Earn an additional 30,000 miles after you spend $5,000 within the first 90 days

There is a $79 annual fee that is not waived for the first year.

A Primer on the Miles & More Program

I’m guessing most of you are probably thinking that you don’t know much about the Lufthansa Miles & More program.  That’s OK; it’s a program we don’t talk much about.  Hey, I still struggle to spell l-u-f-t-h-a-n-s-a!

Of course, in order to understand the value of Lufthansa, you’ll need to know a little bit about the program.

1.  You can travel domestically in the US (Star Alliance) for 25,000 miles in economy and 35,000 in business class.  The 25,000 mile threshold is definitely on par with most US programs, but 35,000 miles is lower than most.  In fact, with the exception of short haul flights using Avios, it might be the least number of miles required for domestic business class flights.

2.  Lufthansa charges fuel surcharges on airline partners except their US partners – United and US Airways.  They also do not charge fuel surcharges on flights operated by LOT.

3.  One-way travel is permitted for half the miles.

4.  Lufthansa Miles & More members have access to first class seats on Lufthansa and Swiss.  With US Airways you cannot book Lufthansa first class, and with United you can only do it days in advance.  However, if you use Lufthansa miles, you can book first class further in advance.  Expect to pay about $400 each way for flights to Europe.

For most of you, I don’t think this is going to be a card to go crazy over.  However, if you’re looking for an easy way to get a couple more domestic US flights, then this is an ideal card because it is from Barclaycards so you can get a decent offer without wasting a Chase or American Express opportunity.

To get more information or to apply now, click here.

Complete List of Benefits:

• Earn 20,000 award miles after your first purchases or balance transfer
• Earn an additional 30,000 award miles when you spend $5,000 in purchases within the first 90 days of account opening
• Earn2 award miles per $1 on ticket purchases directly from Miles & More integrated airline partners and 1 mile per $1 on all other purchases
• Cardholders receive a companion ticket after first use of the account and 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 member airlines and on other partners
• $79 Annual Fee. Please see Terms and Conditions for complete details