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Some US Airways MasterCard cardholders signed up for an offer that included not just a signup bonus, but also an annual renewal bonus.
I have a card from awhile back that had a $0 fee the first year, 40,000 bonus miles after first purchase, and this 10,000 mile annual bonus. That bonus makes it worth it to me to keep paying the annual fee. That, and I like the fact that I’ll have a card that can no longer be issued once the American and US Airways frequent flyer programs combine.
New cards have a 50,000 mile signup bonus. They do not have this annual bonus. Unquestionably, to me, the card is worth getting for the bonus points. And with rumors of an announcement of when the American and US Airways miles programs will be combined swirling, the card won’t be around long.
When the programs do get combined, miles from your US Airways account and your American account will get merged over to American. So miles from both places will be used towards a single award. That makes this signup bonus, that there’s only a short while left to get (ever), all the more valuable.
The big news out about the card today is that those of us who get an additional 10,000 miles per year will keep doing so into the future. There was speculation that this benefit might go away once new applications for the card closed when US Airways Dividend Miles shut down, and the card became an American co-brand credit card issued by Barclaycard. (Yes, it’s weird that American will have legacy cards issued by Bank of America and by Barclaycard that take no new applications, with only Citibank issuing new American Airlines cards.)
That’s good news, and means I will keep this card rather than just seeing mine as having been a good signup bonus play.
US Airways Premier World MasterCard
Update: Commenter Michael Crook shares a link for the card that also includes the 10,000 mile anniversary bonus! I didn’t think that was still out there. Thanks, Michael!
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I was very excited to receive that email today! $89 for 10k US/AA miles? Yes please!
Silly question and I may have missed it, but is there a way to currently link your AA/US Airways FF#’s together. Have you heard anything around the process for merging the two accounts. Would hate to sign up for the card then because of some minor issue with accounts not being linked, I now have 40k orphaned miles that I can’t combine with my existing AA account.
My recently opened account doesn’t have the 10k anniversary feature. I called and the representative said this feature comes and goes throughout the year. From the offer on Barclay’s web site the current anniversary benefit as of October 23, 2014 is “awarded on your first anniversary of account opening.”
Gary,
Seems like a no-brainer to keep the card if you have this feature. For those with the Citi AA personal card, do you know if there’s a similar perk? I am debating whether I should keep that one before the fee hits. Thanks!
Hi Gary. There is a current offer which includes the 10,000 anniversary bonus.
https://www.barclaycardus.com/apply/Landing.action?campaignId=1995&cellNumber=5
Let me clarify, the link I provided above includes an anniversary bonus, but only after the first year.
@john – there is not the same feature per se, but those with the Citi card do get a 10% rebate each year on miles redeemed up to 10k miles per year. So for folks who use their miles every year there is in effect a 10k retention bonus on the Citi card.
@Pat that does not exist yet. You will certainly be able to link your own accounts before the programs merge. But even if you don’t they’re going to do their best to match accounts. And any unmatched accounts you’ll be able to get manually fixed later for sure.
@Michael Crook – awesome, I didn’t know about that link, I’ll add an update to the post.
Yup, made my morning when I got the email from Barcalys as well.
@Pat: US/AA account balances cannot be combined yet. But there’s also no reason why one’s US miles would ever be orphaned during the merger. At some point, accounts will be combined; pretty much end of story.
Nice to hear, but every year I have to fight to get the anniversary miles awarded and am told many incorrect things each time while doing so (e.g., you get them only if you spend $25K in the year, you don’t get them at all or that’s only for a different type of card than you have). Yes, I finally get them, but it’s not as simple as paying the fee and getting the miles, and my time is worth something when it is a recurring issue like it has been. This next time I suppose it may include “oh, that’s only for US Air, not American” once the programs combine.
My 10k anniversary miles just posted. No muss no fuss. Keeping this card is an easy decision.
@DJ The email sent out today to those that have a card that qualifies clearly states that the benefit will continue post merger, and that the miles at that point will be AA miles. Doesn’t mean you won’t have to battle with Barclay’s to get them posted of course.
Actually one of the better cards out there too. Occasionally they run some spend category promotions, and unlike some others above, i never had to fight for the 10k bonus, always posts automatically.
Hi Gary. What is your estimate of odds that the 10k anniversary bonus gets extended to all US Airways cardholders as the card transitions to AA branding?
@Win – I don’t see why they would do that. If they were going to extend it, it would presumably be matching how Citi does it (as a rebate on miles spent). But extending 10k renewal bonuses to everyone just increases their costs.
Now, if they were afraid of cardmember attrition at a time that cardmemnbers can’t be replaced I suppose they MIGHT…
Gary, I currently only have the USAir Barclay MasterCard. Since that will now convert to a new American branded Barclay card, should I wait and apply for my first AA Citibank card (with the most signup miles) before or after the merger?
@MCB there is no conflict between having a Citi and a Barclaycard AA credit card, so apply for the Citicard whenever you find it most advisable to do so
US Airways card bonus will increase to 50K by some point in early December.
The current anniversary bonus is 10K _qualifying miles_, right? I didn’t see any indication that the future anniversary bonus is anything more than redeemable.
I just visited the link for the CC offer with the 1st year anniversary bonus. At the top of the page is says “exclusive offer for preferred members.” I don’t have any “status” with US Air, but would like to apply for the card with the bonus. What are the chances of getting the 10K bonus without being a preferred member?
Hold on there Cowboy – let’s see if you’re still willing to pay $89 for 10K miles after the impending devaluation.
@UnLuCky – I’ve written about what I expect to happen to the value of points, anything equal to my guess or better will mean that $0.009 cents a point remains a bargain. Heck, I’d even pay 10% less than a penny a point for Delta miles.
Link says “10k on FIRST anniversary of card opening” -doesn’t sound like it’s a recurring benefit – someone correct me if I’m wrong?
@larryinnyc You are correct. As far as I know, it is only for the first year with this offer.
@Gary, how are co-branded card perks determined and paid for, and what do you think might happen in the American Airlines card space, considering the legacy vs. primary issuers, the merger, etc.?
Just applied for the Mrs. using the link (she has no status) after 5 seconds, it came back with “We are experiencing technical issues, please try later or call…”
Gary and Michael the offer says for preferred members, can anyone get it with the 10000 annual bonus? Thanks
I had the same issue as James’s wife saying technical issue. Please try later
the anniversary bonus offer is only for 1 year, the first year of anniversary instead of each year