Ok, I was wrong! I wrote during the last US Airways buy miles promo that it was probably going to be the last one. I did not think they would run yet another promotion as they prepare to merge the American Airlines and US Airways mileage program. But, I was definitely wrong because it is back again!
US Airways 100% Miles Purchase Promo
Apparently, this may appear as a tiered promo for some people (so, the 100% rate may not kick in until the higher purchase amounts) while others are getting the 100% bonus on all purchases. In my account, it does not kick in until the 30,000 mile option. Below that, it is in 25%, 50%, and 75% increments.
This offer mentions at the top that it is being marketed to “new” US Airways Mastercard holders. Well, it is valid for me and I have held the card for about 8 years. So, if you have a US Airways Mastercard, you should see the promo offered to you.
Need the US Airways Mastercard? US Airways Card With 10K Mile Anniversary Bonus
Here are the details:
- 1,000 – 9,000 miles – 25% bonus
- 10,000 – 19,000 miles – 50% bonus
- 20,000 – 29,000 miles – 75% bonus
- 30,000 – 50,000 miles – 100% bonus
- Valid for purchases through December 31, 2014
- Purchase Link
Should You Buy?
Just looking at the numbers, you can tell it really does not make much sense to purchase a small amount of miles during this promo. If you decide to purchase, it makes more sense to go big.
The maximum miles that can be received by one member through this promo is 50,000 miles. That means you can only purchase 50,000 miles, but you will receive the 50,000 mile bonus. This is per account, so if you want to fill other accounts you can do that.
Just note that the account that you are purchasing the miles for must be older than 12 days to be eligible for this promotion. To max out this promotion, it would cost $1,881 after figuring in the recovery tax of 7.5%. The terms also say that you must use your US Airways Mastercard to purchase the miles, but since it is being sold by points.com, you will not receive the bonus miles for a US Airways purchase.
As with all mileage purchases, do not purchase through this promo to save these miles. As we have seen, american airlines and us airways have no problem make changes without notice. Only purchase these miles if you have a trip in mind for the short-term and you can put it together soon. You do not have to fly soon, but you should be prepared to ticket soon.
Best Way To Use The Miles?
Probably one of the best reward options in the US Airways award chart would be to fly to North Asia in First Class. It would allow you to experience Cathay Pacific’s legendary first class as do so for only 10,000 more miles than business class (First Class to North Asia rings in at 120,000 miles roundtrip). – US Airways Partner Award Chart
If you were to max out this promo, you would receive 100,000 miles at a total cost of $1,881. Whether that is worth it to you or not depends a lot on what price ticket you are looking at. If an economy version is costing around $1,500, it could make great sense to spend a few hundred more for a business class redemption – especially if it is a long haul. Just remember – award tickets do not earn miles, so take that into consideration when deciding what way to go.
Flights from USA or Canada to the EU are VERY limited. I booked BA and YQ charges were $954!!!
AA flies only certain destinations. Miss my *A.
JL hardly opens up space.
I am a USDM fan but since changing to OW, very difficult to book.
You are so right. US Airway miles are certainly more valuable for travel to Asia and South America. The European thing is why I do not really concentrate on them anymore. I do not like to pay surcharges like that!
Charles, currently, AA is running a sale till the end of Nov, any idea if their miles are a good buy with their current promotion?
The problem with the AA sale is that the price you see until checkout is actually not inclusive of the 7.5% tax and ($35) processing fee. That means the cheapest you can get them for (at the max level) is still over 2 cents each. If you can get that value out of them, I would do it. But, that is still pricey for miles.
The good part is that you can actually get 125,000 miles with that promo instead of the 100K on this one.
Thanks for your reply, Charles. Does that mean US miles offer more value?
Both AA and US miles will have the same value eventually (since they will become one), but I would say that AA miles would have slightly more value since you can book one-way award tickets. But, looking at purchasing the miles, I would go with whichever program you have the best chance of using the miles from before the programs change. My guess is that when they do merge mileage accounts, they will also introduce an award chart that will resemble United/Delta. So, I would not buy with the thought of keeping the miles until programs merge.
Short answer, I think the US airways promo is a better deal from a standpoint of out-of-pocket costs.:)
Thanks again, Charles. I certainly did not expect such a high quality answer as most travel bloggers here tend to give 1 or 2 sentences reply.
Thanks for the kind words, but it is easier on me than the big boys as they have hundreds of comments to answer! Glad I could help!