Activate To Earn A 50% Bonus On Your US Airways/AA Aviator Cards

US Airways announced a nice promotion recently that allows US Airways Mastercard holders and Aviator cardholders the opportunity to earn 50% more miles on all purchases through June 30, 2015. Though the terms say it is for selected accounts, everyone of the accounts that I have access to show that it is available on those cards.

It is a nice offer and a good move by Barclaycard to encourage spending on these cards as the merger between AA and US continues. The link that the offer is at requires you to sign-in to access it (and just brings you to the card summary page) but you can use this to access the account and see if your account has the offer tied to it – link.

Earn 50% Bonus In Miles With Your US Airways/AA Aviator Cards

How It Works

The offer works for purchases between March 1 and June 30 and gives a 50% bonus on spending up to a total bonus of 10,000 miles. So, in order to max out the bonus, you would need to earn a total of 20,000 miles by regular spending. If you are spending in non-bonus categories, that translates to $20,000 in 4 months, or $5,000 per month.

One of the interesting things is that the terms say that you just have to register before June 30th to have all spending done in this period count for your bonus. However, I would play it safe while you are thinking about it and register right now to get it taken care of. Even if you do not plan to max out the bonus, still register for it to take advantage of the 50% bonus – miles are miles!

Good Deal?

While it is nice that they set the cap so high, it is a lot of spending to put on this particular card. To contrast this, if you were to put $20,000 on the American Express SPG card, you would receive a total of 20,000 Starpoints which could be transferred to US Airways or American Airlines with a 5,000 mile bonus (for transferring 20,000 Starpoints). That means it would give you 5,000 fewer miles than this Barclaycard promo. If US/AA miles are your goal, this promo could be a great way to get them.

One of the interesting aspects of the promo is that it says it applies to US Airways Mastercards or AAdvantage Aviator cards, but does not specify which Aviator card. If you have received the Aviator Silver card (the new mid-tier card from Barclaycard for AA) and you have access to this promo, it could be a great incentive. That is because you will receive 5,000 elite miles with $20,000 in spending. So, not only would you receive the 10,000 bonus miles, but you would also get 5,000 elite miles for that spend. That is a great deal!

Not only that, but you also have bonus categories with that card such as 3x on US Airways/AA purchases, 2x on hotels and rental cars, and 1x on everything else. Since the 50% bonus is on miles earned by spending, if you spend a lot of money in the bonus categories, it would reduce the amount of money you would have to spend during this promo. I do not have the Aviator Silver card so I cannot say with certainty if the offer appears in those accounts. If you have it and it shows it, let me know in the comments.

Terms:

Offer is valid for select cardmembers and is not transferable. Qualified cardmembers who register by June 30, 2015, will earn a 50% bonus on the miles they earned on purchases with their card between March 1, 2015, and June 30, 2015 (the promotional period) up to a maximum of 10,000 miles. Bonus miles will not apply to miles earned from other promotions during this period. To be eligible for this offer, the cardmember’s account must be open, active and in good standing throughout the entire promotional period and they must have registered for this promotion by June 30, 2015. Purchases made during periods when your account is delinquent, or your account is otherwise not in good standing as defined in your Cardmember Agreement do not qualify for this offer. Your bonus miles will appear on your statement 6-8 weeks after the end of the promotion.