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Tuesday news broke that US Airways is not collecting fuel surcharges on British Airways flights on award tickets, which is surprising since American Airlines and British Airways have long collected fuel surcharges on British Airways flights.
US Airways miles are the most valuable miles around because of:
- US Airways’ very cheap award chart
- US Airways’ impressive roster of partners including surcharge-free British Airways
- US Airways’ lax routing rules on award tickets
Combining those three elements, I just put on hold a US Airways award from New York to Sydney with a stopover in Hong Kong one direction for 140k US Airways miles + $192.76 out of pocket.
The award features British Airways First Class, Cathay Pacific First Class, Qantas First Class, and American Airlines First Class and routes one direction via Europe and Asia with stops in Hong Kong and Sydney. It’s a fantastic award for destination lovers and luxury-flight lovers.
The award is really easy to book, and the miles necessary are very easy to earn. Right now the US Airways Premier World MasterCard is offering 40,000 bonus miles after first purchase.
- How can you book an award that maximizes destinations and luxury with US Airways Dividend Miles?
- How can you search for award space?
- How can you rack up US Airways miles?
Planning
US Airways has a number of sweet spots on its award chart. For this example, I decided to focus on Australia, since US Airways’ lax routing rules allow awards to Australia to transit Europe and Asia.
US Airways has a number of partners with fantastic business and first class products. Flying to Australia via Europe and Asia allows the award to sample several of these top products for only 140k miles roundtrip in First Class.
Between the United States and Europe, the best product of any US Airways partner is British Airways First Class. To fly British Airways First Class one way normally costs over $500 in taxes and fuel surcharges, but US Airways is not collecting fuel surcharges on British Airways flights.
Between Europe and Asia, the best products available to US Airways miles are Cathay Pacific First Class and Malaysia Airlines First Class.
Both feature massively wide thrones that turn into humungous comfortable beds.
Between Asia and Australia, Qantas First Class is a great choice.
For the return, the best product from Australia to the United States in Qantas First Class on an A380.
Qantas mainly flies to Los Angeles. From Los Angeles to New York, the best product available to US Airways miles is American Airlines’ new fully flat Flagship First Class on its transcontinental A321s.
Stopover
There is a misconception that routing via London drives the taxes on an award through the roof. The expensive tax is actually on departing the United Kingdom. Transiting the United Kingdom for less than 24 hours triggers a substantially lower tax. Arriving in the United Kingdom triggers no tax.
For that reason, I just wanted the award to layover in London and not stopover there. That meant the best place for a stopover on this award was Hong Kong.
Searching
I searched several different websites for award space. I planned all along to book with US Airways miles, but usairways.com only displays award space on US Airways and British Airways flights. This is a general strategy of award booking to search an easy-to-search site even when you’re using a different type of miles.
I did a lot of my searches on ba.com and aa.com for award space on other partners’ flights. All award space that displays on ba.com is bookable with US Airways miles, and all Saver award space on aa.com is bookable with US Airways miles.
JFK-LHR
The best place to search British Airways award space quickly across multiple dates is aa.com. BA.com shows the award space, but moving from one day to the next on the search calendar is much slower than on aa.com.
This route is a gold mine for award space next winter in British Airways First Class. I found several flights with First Class award space pretty much every day in late January.
LHR-HKG
The best place to search Cathay Pacific award space is ba.com. AA.com doesn’t display it.
This route has some award space in First Class next winter, maybe once or twice a week.
HKG-SYD & SYD-LAX
The best place to search Qantas award space quickly across multiple dates is aa.com. BA.com shows the award space, but moving from one day to the next on the search calendar is much slower than on aa.com.
Hong Kong to Sydney has OK First Class award space next winter, maybe once or twice a week.
First Class award space between Australia and Los Angeles is nearly non-existent. I found a few days with Business Class award space, so I used that when constructing the award.
US Airways charges the roundtrip First Class price if any leg of the roundtrip award is in First Class, so using the Business Class space offers no discount on the miles price of the award.
LAX-JFK
The best place to search American Airlines award space quickly across multiple dates is aa.com. BA.com shows the award space, but moving from one day to the next on the search calendar is much slower than on aa.com.
This route is wide open in First Class. (As an aside, American Airlines charges 32,500 miles each way on this route in First Class. US Airways charges 50k miles roundtrip because it treats two-cabin first and three-cabin first the same within the United States.)
Booking
With all the award space found, I called US Airways at 800-622-1015 and fed the flight numbers, dates, and cabins one segment at a time to the agent. She then put me on hold, while the rate desk priced the award.
They priced the award at 140k US Airways miles + $192.76. I asked her to put the award on a three-day courtesy hold, and she complied after giving me my record locator.
I can call back within the next 72 hours and ticket the award by giving the next agent the record locator.
The Award
New York to London to Hong Kong in British Airways First Class and Cathay Pacific First Class
Four Day Stopover in Hong Kong, then Qantas First Class to Sydney
Six Weeks in Sydney, then Return Sydney to Melbourne to Los Angeles in Qantas Business Class. After 23 hours in Los Angeles, the Last Leg is LAX-JFK in American Airlines Flat Bed First Class
Recap
This is a classic example of an extremely high value US Airways award that takes advantage of US Airways’ cheap chart, lax routing rules, and luxurious partners.
You can book an award to your dream destination with US Airways miles using the same principles.
Right now the US Airways Premier World MasterCard is offering 40,000 bonus miles after first purchase. This is by far the best credit card offer on the market with no minimum spending requirement.
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
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Do you happen to know if I applied for a second US airways card (already have one with the bonus), if I would eligible for the 40k bonus again
Jill, I was just approved for my 2nd one. TW states he has 4. 🙂
Jill, I have three US Airways cards and getting ready to go for a fourth…
TW,
Did you have to cancel the card(s) before applying for a 2nd or 3rd ? etc
Thanks
Oops, forgot to mention that I received the bonus each time plus a 15K bonus each time if I spent $750 per month for three months.
Did you get a targeted offer for the 15k with the $750 per month?
Did not cancel the cards. Reaping the benefits of the 10000 annual renewal bonus. Yes, targeted offer for 15k.
I’ll receive 5K bonus if I spend $1K within next 3 months.
How often would you apply for the card? Every 60-90 days? I have the card already but thinking of getting another one.
I didn’t think that you could do a round trip in one direction. I live in Hawaii and want to use my US miles to go to Europe in business class. The outbound schedules are OK, but the returns have 3 to 4 stops, one of which would be overnight, if returning back over the Atlantic. Are you saying that I could do something like HNL-FCO then return across Asia and the Pacific via HKG with a stopover there?
If you do that, you’ll likely be charged the r/t price to the more expensive region (HKG in biz and Europe in first), but it’s very possible.
I just cancelled my first US Airways card about 6 weeks ago. Is it too soon to apply for another ?
YMMV but it’s usually calculated from when you got the card not cancelled it.
Can you have a bit different return routing? If so, how about going through TYO to JFK or HKG to JFK respectively??
Either of those is fine, and would make getting First Class on the return easier.
Six weeks in Australia? I wish I had your free time.
More location independence than free time.
Hello! I just found your website yesterday and I’ve already learned a lot of information! This post is similar to what I’m trying to do in the next year but I wasn’t sure it was possible. I live in Tampa and want to go to SYD from Oct-May while au pairing there then go to London to visit family for a couple months before returning home. aka I would ideally like a roundtrip ticket one direction from the US to Australia with a stopover in London before returning. Do you think that would be possible??
It would be fine under current rules with US Airways miles if you keep the award to 10 segments total.