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US Airways emailed me the following yesterday:
It’s some slick marketing, but I won’t be taking advantage of any of the “new” benefits. I have a US Airways Premier World MasterCard, so you’d think I’d be excited, but I’m not.
Why won’t I be taking advantage of any of these generous-seeming new benefits? Let’s go through the “additional travel benefits”:
- Zone 2 Boarding and First Class Check In: While nice, these aren’t new and have been benefits of the card for a while. If flying US Airways, I only carry on a bag, so I check in online anyway.
- Redeem Flights for 5,000 Fewer Miles: This is a great, but not new, benefit. Remember that to take advantage all segments need to be on US Airways metal. US Airways flies extensively to Europe, Brazil, and the Caribbean, which are your best bets to get the discount. The best part about this deal is that it stacks with off peak awards. Combined, they are one of the best deals in miles. 30k roundtrip to Europe or Brazil anyone?
- Annual Companion Certificate: This is a solid, and not new, benefit. I have never used my certificate, but a family of three could get pretty good value out of an expensive domestic transcontinental flight.
- One Complimentary Pass to the US Airways Club Annually: This is a solid, but not new, benefit. I haven’t used it because I get free access to the US Airways Club with my American Express Platinum Card (which ends 3/22/14).
- 10,000 Status Miles if You Spend $25,000 Annually: Not new and hard to see the value. If you spend $25k on this card, you get 25k redeemable miles and 10k status miles. If you spend $25k on the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express, you’d have 25k Starpoints which are worth 31,250 US Airways miles (1 Starpoint to 1.25 mile ratio if you transfer smartly). I’d rather have the extra 6,250 redeemable miles than 10k status miles, but some people want the status.
- Waiver of the $50 Award Processing Fee if You Spend $25k Annually: Not new, and of variable value. First, I’ll note that this fee is totally bogus. It doesn’t correspond to any US Airways cost–it’s just a money grab. But it exists for anyone below Gold elite with US Airways. If you’re below Gold Elite and book several US Airways awards per year, the savings could really add up. For me, I foresee one US Airways award booking in the next year, so I’d only save $50. Saving $50 is not worth redirecting $25k in spending to this card.
The bottom line is that several of these benefits are valuable, but none of them are new. Most of the automatic benefits have some solid value, but the need-to-spend-$25k benefits don’t have enough value for me to chase them. Instead of spending $25k per year on this card, that spending is far better directed toward minimum spending requirements or one of these three cards.
Furthermore none of these benefits are the reason I recommend everyone get the US Airways card now. The big reason I recommend the card is that I strongly believe the US Airways-American Airlines merger will go through. If that happens Citi will be the issuer of their credit card. That means the Barclay’s US Airways credit card and the bonus miles will no longer be available. Get them now while they last.
US Airways Premier World MasterCard® with 30,000 US Airways miles after first purchase.
- Earn up to 40,000 bonus miles on qualifying transactions
- EXCLUSIVE: Redeem flights for 5,000 fewer miles
- Zone 2 boarding on every flight
- Enjoy 2 miles per $1 spent on US Airways purchases
- Earn 1 mile per $1 spent everywhere else
- Annual companion certificate good for round-trip travel for up to 2 companions at $99 each, plus taxes and fees
- First Class check-in
- Please see terms and conditions for complete details
Application Link: Barclay’s US Airways Premier World MasterCard
Hat Tip to Gary for pointing out the fee waiver is not new.
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Great post as always. Are there many/any restrictions on the companion certificate? For a family flying long haul international on a paid ticket that seems like a good value? Thanks
Must be domestic flights. If you click on the application, the full T & C should be listed there.
I thought I’d mention that the link that you posted on March 31, 2013 to the US Airways Credit Card application is still working. This offer is for 35,000 miles with first purchase and the $89 annual fee is waived for the first year. All the perks listed above are also included. I followed your instructions to check application status when I received the error message and was approved in under 5 minutes. I now have 2 US Airway (personal) cards, and received $65,000 miles between the two of them. Yesterday I called customer service regarding the $89 annual fee I paid for the first card I opened. In less than 5 minutes, I had an $89 credit to my account. I’ve also had my $59 fee waived with my Capital One Venture Card with a quick phone call, thanks to your suggestion on a previous post. I’m new at this but am learning, Thanks to Milevalue.com
Excellent work. Enjoy the miles.
Are you sure the 5000 discount is good for international redemptions? I didn’t get it for mine.
Yes. Were all flights on your award operated by US Airways?
@Wade – I got the 5000 discount on a PHL-CDG//MAD-PHL trip in February. Are you sure you were on US metal?
The email didn’t say these were new benefits. They just said they came with the card
“now…additional” implies new to me.
Question on 5k discount benefit on award ticket. Does it apply to everyone on the same ticket or only discounted for cardholder alone?
Scott-
Good points on the card. I have it myself and am actually sitting on a US Airways flight right now. The lounge pass was luxurious because I actually got some sleep on my red eye-in the lounge.
I agree that the card is a good one to get for now.
I also noticed that US Airways had an offer for 40k at the check in desk and on my flight.
Are you sure it wasn’t 30k first purchase + 10k bonus transfer? (The bonus transfer is an awful deal.)