More on the US Airways and United Marketing Agreement. As I mentioned yesterday, US Airways has entered into a marketing agreement with United Airlines. It will allow frequent flyers from both airlines to earn and redeem miles on each airline. In addition to the benefit of earning and redeeming miles on each airline,
US Airways and United passengers will also be able to make connections between both airlines on a single reservation and use each airline’s airport lounges if they are already a member of either. This partnership secures the value of USAirways miles, which were certainly in doubt, and opens up reward possibilities to Hawaii and Asia.
Dividend Miles and Mileage Plus members will be able to redeem their miles for awards on each airline, but they will not be able to combine miles from the two accounts. Another limitation is that the partnership does not extend USAirways flyers benefits to United’s other partners (e.g. Lufthansa, Singapore, Air New Zealand, etc.). I do expect, however, reciprocal benefits for elites of each airline (upgrades, etc.). These benefits will probably take a couple of months to come to pass.
Another thing to expect — United will probably sever its relationship with Delta. So, if you’re a Delta flyer who wants to book a United ticket… do it now. Likewise, if you’re a United flyer who wants a Delta ticket, do it now.
