Bonus improved from 40k to 50k miles for limited time. American Airlines and US Airways have announced new details about their upcoming merger. As expected, the two frequent flier programs will merge and all the miles will become American AAdvantage miles in 2015. (US Airways Dividend miles will convert at a 1:1 ratio.) Along with that, they have updated both the Citi American Airlines card and Barclaycard US Airways card slightly.
Here are the updated features of the US Airways Premier World MasterCard®. I got the bonus myself (unfortunately at only 40k miles) and have posted details on that below as well.
- Earn 50,000 bonus miles after your first purchase and payment of the $89 annual fee
- First checked bag free on eligible bags for you and up to four companions on domestic US Airways operated flights only.
- One companion certificate good for up to 2 guests to travel with you on a US Airways operated flight at $99 each, plus taxes and fees.
- Priority boarding Zone 2 on US Airways operated flights only.
- Redeem miles for award travel on US Airways and American Airlines booked through usairways.com or US Airways Reservations
- Earn miles on every purchase with 2 miles for every $1 you spend on US Airways and American Airlines purchases and 1 mile for every $1 on purchases everywhere else
- New! Receive a 25% savings on eligible US Airways and American Airlines in-flight purchases
- Please see terms and conditions for complete details
Again, the unique thing about this card is that American Airlines and US Airways are merging and these bonus miles will become American miles. You can already book reward flights on American with US Airways miles. That also means this Barclaycard-issued card will no longer be accepting applications and you won’t be able to get its sign-up bonus or other unique perks ever again. It is reported that this card will eventually convert essentially into a Barclaycard American Airlines card. So these are miles I didn’t want to leave on the table.
Note that 50,000 mile bonus does not require any minimum purchase amount and that there is an $89 annual fee that is not waived for the first year. 50,000 miles for example is more than enough for a roundtrip from the US to Hawaii or even two roundtrips within the continental US, so that is worth it for me. The US Airways companion certificate is also a unique feature which would be awesome if it eventually applied to American flights (though it probably won’t).
My bonus experience. Applied on 7/14. Approved on 7/21. First statement closed on 8/12, in which I charged $10 and also paid the $89 annual fee. I read some stories about other people making only a single purchase (the minimum technically required) but having to call in about the bonus. Thus, I put on another 4 small charges during the second statement period which ended 9/12 totaling about $49. My 40,000 bonus miles posted 9/13, one day after the closing of my second statement period. Here is a screenshot:
The card is issued by Barclaycard, which means you also get a free FICO score every couple months.
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“The eventual merger also means that the 40,000 US Airways miles you get from this card will turn into 40,000 American Airlines miles…” Is this a fact or an hypothetical statement? If it is a fact, could you point me to your source of info. Thanks!
American is by far the bigger company and the final company will keep the American Airlines name:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/merged-u-airways-american-airlines-152531870.html
So all the miles will turn into American miles. Here is some info about the integration of the two frequent flier programs.
http://www.businesstravelnews.com/More-News/Interview–American-Airlines-Group-CEO-Doug-Parker/?ida=Airlines&a=mgmt
The two sets of miles are already of similar status and value with AA and US Air in the same alliance.
Do you know when this offer will end? Do you know if I can still keep my free US Airways credit card and still get this one (at least for one year) ? The companion flight certificate is what I am interested in. I hope it doesn’t have as many restrictions as their flights using miles, which are nearly impossible.
Another experience with this card. I signed up for the same promo a couple years ago. The companion certificate expired before I could use it, the agent could not extend the certificate but did refund my annual fee!
What, a positive experience?! Will wonders never cease! 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Are these miles subject to black out dates, or hoops to jump through? The offer sounds enticing, almost too enticing.
They are US Airways miles, but will become American miles when the merger completes. Award miles redemptions are subject to seat availability for their “saver” awards, if you want no blackout dates you have higher “anytime” redemption rates. As it has been for as long as I can remember, redeeming miles is somewhat of a tricky game but you have the opportunity for higher value. If you just want guaranteed value, I’d check out the Barclaycard Arrival card below that offers you $400 value fixed towards any travel + 2.2% back towards travel:
https://www.mymoneyblog.com/barclaycard-arrival-world-mastercard-review.html
(I already got the Arrival card over a year ago, before I went for this US Airways one.)
I applied for this card but they rejected my application because I have another Barclay card 🙁 Strange to me. First time it has happened to me. I have a 800+ credit score.
Hmm… yes it appears that Barclaycard may only (most people? all people?) to have one open card from them at a time. I don’t think it was a reflection of your credit. You may need to call them up and ask to close your other Barclaycard and open this one instead (as long as you are okay with that).
Oops forgot to add Barclaycard credit reconsideration line is 866-408-4064.
Hi Jonathan!
Quick question- do you cancel these cards at some point?? I have 5 credit cards (no balances!), but am not sure about taking on another card, though the Chase Sapphire Preferred rewards (with the 1:1 conversion to SW and United!) is luring me in. Should I be closing any of these cards?
Hi Andrea,
I look at credit card sign-ups as trials. If they have an annual fee, I keep the card for the entire year and try to take advantage of all the perks and the sign-up incentives. If at the end of the year, I haven’t gotten enough value out to justify paying the annual fee for the next year (if there is one), then yes I do cancel the card.
In terms of the effect on your credit score, the two factors that matter are credit limit utilization and average age of accounts. As long as this card doesn’t comprise a huge chunk of your total available credit limits, it shouldn’t affect your utilization ratio very much. As for the average age of accounts – your account is already opened so closing it won’t make it any older. Nearly all the time I’d rather save the $50 or $100 for the annual fee, which also leaves me room for applying for another card in the future.
My bonus miles arrived the day after the second statement closed, too.
Jonathan, thanks for the reminder to get this card before it ceases to exist. Applied via your link and was instantly approved!
I got this card, made purchases and paid for them online. I just got my statement, it has zero balance and it did not ask me for $89 fee. Is there something I should do ? Or should I wait for second statemenet ?
Have you figured this out? I’m having same problem
“It is reported that this card will eventually convert essentially into a Barclaycard American Airlines card. But that’s still a different card that I can apply for later”
Minor correction, but no one will be able to apply for a Barclaycard AA card as Barclays will no longer be accepting new applicants for American Airlines cards once the merger is complete. Citibank will be the sole company able to offer AA branded cards. to new applicants. Those who have US Airways card will see their cards converted to Barclay AA cards, but they’ll be grandfathered into them. In effect, Barclays is trying to get as many new applicants it can while they still can, hence the increased sign-up bonus.
Thanks for the correction. Interesting that Barclaycard will just be allowed to have a zombie AA card but no new applicants. I bet they want to up the bonus even higher, but are only allowed to match the Citi AA bonus which is also 50k points right now.
Just thought I’d share – I applied 11/6, approved instantly. Made my first purchase 11/12. Charged annual fee 11/28. Paid annual fee 12/03. Statement closed on 12/06. Miles posted to my US Airways account 12/7! (Well it’s timestamped 12/6. I checked it at 7pm yesterday, the miles weren’t there yet).
There are foreign transaction fees and not having a chip card…I really need that for travel this year so the Barclay arrival+ would probably be better for me…but getting the 50,000 bonus miles without having to spend $3,000 within the first 3 months is pretty huge and probably worth it.
Thanks — in for one off your link. Approved instantly.
Question though: Will I provide them with my AA number eventually so they can move my points into my AA account? Basically, how do my points “merge” since I have accounts with both airlines.
Thanks! I don’t believe American and US Air have announced the exact mechanics of the merger yet. United and Continental did it recently and I remember it being pretty painless. You kept your Continental member number, but the airline was called United so they are United MileagePlus miles. You basically verify ownership of both accounts and choose to merge them. Did it previously with Northwest and Delta as well. The miles balances will combine into one pot.
Are there any exceptions to the only one credit card rule of Barclay’s? I’ve had the NFL Extras card for a while but it is sock drawered now.
You might have to cancel the other Barclaycard first.
Does anyone know if I can get this bonus again ? I had the card around 3 years ago and I cancelled last one on 2001.
Thanks for this post. Got an instant approval. The annual fee is worth it for the signing bonus.
I signed up for this card recently, while the bonus was still 40,000. And I haven’t gotten those 40,000 miles yet, but they should be posting in a week or so. I was wondering if anyone else in a similar position has tried calling customer service and getting them to up the bonus to 50,000 miles since that is what they are now offering to new card members. After all, I only just singed up last month. Has anyone tried? Did it work? Any tips?
According to the comments on http://millionmilesecrets.com/2014/12/04/limited-time-50000-point-us-airways-card-sign-up-bonus/ you should be able to call in and request the extra 10000 miles as long as you signed up after 11/1/2014
I called in and they were so accommodating. I didn’t even have to explain the situation in-depth; I guess they have been inundated with a lot of similar queries. No questions asked, just a quick account check, and 10,000 miles appeared in my account!
I signed up for the offer in late November, but activated it in late December due to travel. As well, I have not paid my annual fee so I had no existing miles when I made the call.
I’m usually not one to call, but moral of the story here: Don’t ask, Don’t get.
If you applied recently, then I would simply call the number on the back of your card (should be US Airways MasterCard® Customer Care, 866-419-0881) and nicely explain your situation. You applied, were disappointed that you just missed this new bonus, would they consider matching the currently available offer as a courtesy?
I called, but they said no. I guess I applied on 10-28, and they said this new 50,000 offer didn’t start until 12-03, so I can’t get it. I kept trying to explain that my miles haven’t even posted yet, so why can’t I get the offer they are advertising now, but they said no. Finally someone offered a 3,000 mile “courtesy bonus”, but I declined and said I would call back.
I got the USAir card a year or so ago. Recently got a mailer from them including the new benefits, but there are also some things being removed as they merge with AA also:
1. USAir Club day pass
2. Companion certificate
3. FIrst class check-in
4. Ability to redeem travel for 5000 fewer miles
5. Bonus miles toward preferred status if you spend more than $25K annually
The mailer also has some features which are “coming second quarter 2015”:
$100 flight discount – if you spend $30K or more annually
Additional redemption flexibility (awards for one-way, etc)
10% of your redeemed miles back up to 10,000 per year (seems like a watered down version of #4 above that they are taking away)
Overall I’m not sure I’ll stick with the card after this membership year ends. Really depends on if I continue to do a lot of travel for work, which allowed me to rack up the USAir miles this past year.
In case people don’t log into their account very often, you may want to as they are offering a $25 statement credit for US Airways cardholders that switch to paperless statement and also make one purchase by 12/31.
I was turned down for the card even though my credit rating is over 800. When I called to ask why, I was told this bonus was only available once. When I said I had never received the bonus, she said since I already had a US Airways no fee card, that made me disqualified to this card. She said I could convert to the $89 fee card but I would not get any bonus miles. Since that made no sense to me, I did not convert. Has anyone else had this experience?