new Germanwings Credit Card
 

Just got an email about the Germanwings Card, which is in my opinion pretty good. here the facts:

First, worldwide cash withdraw free of charge.

Second, no credit card fee of 6 €, booking at germanwings.com

Third, pretty high interest rate of 3,8% p.a. for balance on the current

Forth, 10 kg more free luggage, Preboarding function and on top a free of charge Boomerang Club membership (1€ turnover = 1 boomerang).

The annual fee of 19€ (1st year 0€) is pretty much ok if you consider all the advantages. In my opinion best credit card of an European airline, ..?

www.germanwings.com

With the exeption of the Germanwings-specific priviledges, it is exactly the same as the normal DKB-Cash offer by Deutsche Kreditbank (which is free, and which I already have). The only difference is that the Germanwings Card is a MasterCard, while the usual DKB Card is a Visa.

If you fly on Germanwings a lot, or even fairly often, the priviledges are probably worth the extra 19€ for the annual fee. For everyone else, the straigt-up DKB offer is probably better. I'll be sticking with my normal DKB card in any case.

Also, a word of caution: the withdrawals are only free if made from the credit card. If you withdraw money from the ec-/Maestro Card linked to the giro account, you will have to pay 4€ per withdrawal. Also, the 3,8% interest on your balance only applies to money parked in the credit card account - the giro account earns 0,5% p.a. interest.

But you're absolutely right, for someone who really is a frequent flyer of Germanwings, this is a really good offer, and quite possibly the best airline-affinity card offered in Europe (though perhaps the BA AMEX in the UK tops it).

Main difference between the Germanwings (the low-cost subsidiary of LH) and the Lufthansa card: the GW is not just a card - they force you to open a current bank account (giro) with DKB, and hide that fact quite well. The deal is super, though, although I do not understand what the bank was thinking: free cash worldwide means no ATM-fees, no ForEx fees: this is a great card for foreign travel - why use the credit card in a foreign country and pay 1.75% ForEx when I can go to any ATM from any bank and withdraw for free?
The card also offers pre-boarding (GW has free seating) and extra baggage, not bad for weekend trips..

Perhaps I misunderstand what you mean by "free seating," but I could have sworn that GermanWings gave me a seat assignment at check-in when I flew from Cologne to Rome last summer. This made an impression on me since I was used to standing in lines for hours on end to get a decent seat when flying RyanAir and Meridiana on that same trip.