The Real Wind Down Schedule for the US Airways Credit Card, and The True Last Date to Apply

by Gary Leff

Earlier I wrote about the merger of US Airways Dividend Miles into AAdvantage coming this weekend.

One of the things I noted is that this weekend is not the last opportunity to apply for a US Airways MasterCard. Several readers noted that Lucky from One Mile at a Time wrote,

At some point this week, new applications for the US Airways Dividend Miles Card will no longer be possible, and soon these cards will be converted into an AAdvantage Aviator Card

Whereas I pointed out,

<

The Barclays co-brand credit card will remain available for application through the published dates of the final acquisition communications – e.g. April 12 or April 17 as various links have published – even though the Dividend Miles program will have ended.

My point was that each application channel for the card has its own end date. So I thought I would clarify the actual ends dates for the various application channels as Barclaycard’s acquisition of new cardmembers for the AAdvantage portfolio winds down.

According to American:

  • The public online application is slated to go away March 28
  • April 3 is the deadline for the final direct mail applications that were sent out
  • Final emails were sent out with an application deadline of April 12 (there are some reported as April 17)
  • There’s a remind later feature on the application which generates an email with a link valid for 30 days to apply. The last day an email with an application link can be generated is March 28, so April 27 should be the final day for these last links to still be around.

The last day to apply depends on the channel being used. While Barclays only gets to acquire new US Airways cardmembers while there is a US Airways frequent flyer program (who will then be transitioned into being AAdvantage cardmembers), there’s a wind down because different applications have different end dates and they have to honor the commitments made through each channel. Presumably to do otherwise would generate complaints to the credit card marketing office of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

And that creates a bit of a longer last window for some to apply for a card you won’t be able to get anymore otherwise.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

More articles by Gary Leff »

Pingbacks

Comments

  1. Thanks, Gary. I’ve been wondering about this since the “March 28th” date starting floating around. I was planning to call them.

    As for the part about the “remind” feature working until Apr. 27th, well, I’m not doubting, but I’ll believe it when I see it. 😉

  4. Where is the “remind later” box? I don’t see anything on the world got bigger website

  5. My wife and I canceled four of our five open US Airways cards and applied at the weekend, but both got Pending messages (no update yet, but I’m expecting they’ll both get rejected).

    I’d like to hold application open for each of us until the last possible minute in case we need to apply again. Exact instructions on doing that either by getting an email solicitation or using the remind feature would be appreciated.

  6. I got rejected for a 2nd card back in January when I still had my original card due to “too much credit” (I had 1 other card with Barclay).

    I have since cancelled that a couple weeks ago, think it’s worth taking 1 more shot?

    If so, what FF# do I put? My DM or AA #?

  7. Will the companion fare offed on US Air flights be honored on the AA flights once the merger is complete?

  8. DubZ – You can still put your DM number in the application as the systems are keeping up with which DM number is linked to each AADV number. Likewise, if you have a reservation with a DM number in it for travel after 28-MAR, it will eventually be credited to your AADV account.

  12. as per the flyertalk link above, I tried but still could not see the Remind Me option. Gary, Is the last day to apply today or tomorrow?

  15. Today is March 29. Since US Dividend miles are going away, is there any reason to use the Barclay US Airways credit card instead of a Citi AAdvantage card.

  17. Clarification. I meant ‘literally’ to use it when I have BOTH Barclay US Airways and Citi Business AAdvantage cards. Would the Barclay card get you AA miles when US Dividend miles no longer exist? In fact, as far as keeping both, will the US card close down?

Comments are closed.