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Well two years ago I decided to take an application for the Barclays Mastercard as the means to preserve my LH Miles. Part of the advertised deal was a free companion ticket which sounds attactive when travelling with family. Everything went well and I was approved for the "blue" version of the card (my wife has the silver) and have been using it ever since always paying on time my full balance. Fast forward two years when I decided to take LH and Barclays on the offer that made me pick up the card. The free companion ticket.

To get started I called the companion ticket LH service, some call center in India, and after an hour of waiting was adviced of the terms. You must buy a full fare ticket to get the companion for which you have to pay the "taxes". Taxes amount to about 30% of the ticket according to Lufthansas calculation, and the full fare ticket is about 40% more expensive. I guess you still save a few hundred dollars but it is definitely not FREE. But my story does not stop here. I proceeded with accepting the terms and conditions, made a reservation and then asked to wait for the "blessing" from LH since they have to approve the ticket. After a week from this date, the reservation was to expire so I called to check on finalizing the "deal." To my surprise I was informed that the offer was declined because my card did not qualify for the offer???? After a call to Barclays, it turns out that one of the two versions of the Mastercard (the blue) does not qualify for a companion ticket!!! Yet they advertise both with that particular benefit on every web page I could find. Further they claim that my card carries no annual fee and therefore the lack of this feature, yet my first year I was billed 59 USD for the privilige. They just did not charge me the follow up year.

It is sad to see how LH and Barclays are misleading people with their ads about the card which do not have a disclaimer warning that you may not get all the advertised benefits. I agree that one should read carefully the agreements they receive instead of what they were promised but honestly who takes the time to review ten pages of fine print when you receive the shiny new card in the mail. Yes it is fair game to have rules in fine print, but not advertise benefits that one cannot get for one reason or another. Applying for a card affects one's credit report so by tempting you to apply, may ask you to add liabilities on your credit report. Their advertising should explain what is "FREE" and that they may change the benefits in the middle of service...

I wanted to share my experience with those considering Barclays and LH Miles and More programs.

Good luck

George