In the Backpacker’s Guide to Miles and Points I will be going over airline mileage programs—I’ll cover the quickest ways to earn miles and how to maximize the miles to help make saving for the trip of a life time much easier. With careful planning and following a few strategies you can easily get a free flight or two within 6 months from now.
Backpacker’s Guide to Miles and Points Index
Part One: Introduction to the US Airways Program
Part Two: Ways to Earn US Airways Dividend Miles
Part Three: US Airways Award Charts and Stopover Rules
Part Four: Redeem US Airways Dividend Miles with Partner Airlines
US Airways is one of the most recognizable airlines based in America and many international routings that you can book awards on. Since it has started merging with American Airlines, now is likely the best time to earn US Airways Dividends to book award flights because once the merger is complete you will not be able to take advantage of US Airways’ generous award routing rules nor earn the hefty sign up bonus of 40,000 miles currently offered by the US Airways Premier MasterCard.
Below you will find an overview of best ways to earn and maximize US Airways Dividend miles through different strategies and award redemption possibilities.
Earn 40,000 Dividend Miles with the US Airways Premier MasterCard
One of the best airline credit card sign up bonuses at the moment is the The US Airways® Premier World MasterCard®. The current sign up bonus is 40,000 Dividend miles after making a single purchase and paying the $89 annual fee within the first three months of opening an account.
For the cost of a latte and the annual fee, you can book flights worth over $700. Though with the US Airways and American Airlines merger still going through, this credit card nor the offer will be around for much longer which is why the US Airways MasterCard is one to get sooner than later considering that the bonus offer does not have a minimum spend requirement.
Here are the details of the US Airways credit card:
- Earn 40,000 bonus miles after your first purchase and payment of the $89 annual fee
- First checked bag FREE on eligible bags for you and up to four companions on domestic US Airways operated flights
- One companion certificate good for up to 2 guests to travel with you on a US Airways operated flight at $99 each, plus taxes and fees
- Priority boarding Zone 2 on US Airways operated flights
- Redeem miles for award travel on US Airways and American Airlines booked through usairways.com or US Airways Reservations
- Earn miles on every purchase with 2 miles for every $1 you spend on US Airways purchases and 1 mile for every $1 on purchases everywhere else
- Please see terms and conditions for complete details
Application link: The US Airways Premier World MasterCard®
Earn Miles Through US Airways Shopping Portal
US Airways has a shopping portal called the Dividend Miles StoreFront with e-stores such as Apple, Macy’s and Nordstrom. Each e-store advertises a certain amount of miles you can earn per dollar spent. For instance, if you spend $40 at The North Face through the StoreFront with the 3 points/$1 offer, you would earn 120 Dividend Miles just for making the purchase through the US Airways shopping portal. If you make the purchase using a US Airways Premier MasterCard then you would earn 40 miles because you earn 1 miles/$1 spent. The amount of miles you can earn through the StoreFront depending on current promotions, but if you are a few hundred miles short of an award then this could be a way to make up for those miles if you already intend to make those purchases.
US Airways Award Charts and Stopover Rules
The US Airways Award chart offers international round trip destinations that start at 35,000 miles on economy and 60,000 miles on First Class for destination in Mexico and Central America. You are also allowed to book one way awards for the half the miles required on the chart, so if you have just enough miles to fly to Europe on First Class one way from the US, then you could book that for 62,500 miles! In addition to their regular award chart, US Airways has Off-Peak awards that offer significantly discounted mileage requirements that are available for most of the regions that US Airways services, but are only offered during specific time periods.
Off-Peak Awards Time Table with US Airways
| Between the continental U.S. (including Alaska) or Canada and the Caribbean | September 1 – 30, 2014Main Cabin: 25,000First Class: 50,000 |
| Between North America* or Hawaii and South America | August 12 – 28, 2014March 1 – 12 and April 19 – 23, 2015 Main Cabin: 35,000 First Class: 60,000 |
| Between North America* or Hawaii and Europe | January 15 – February 28, 2015 Main Cabin: 35,000First/Business Class: N/A |
* North America includes the continental U.S., Canada, Bermuda, the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico.
US Airways also allows for free stopovers on awards tickets, which is a huge benefits that allows you to maximize your miles. Essentially you are able to add a free flight to your award ticket as long as it is to and from a Oneworld airline hub. Stopovers with US Airways Dividends can only be made on round trip awards and the stopover must be at least 24 hour and less than one year from when you depart from your originating destination.
Redeem with Partner Airlines
Before US Airways began its merger with American Airlines, it was a member of the Star Alliance, but now US Airways is with the 15 Oneworld Partners which you could book awards with using your Dividend miles. A benefit of booking on partner airlines is that you are able to fly to many more worldwide destinations using US Airways miles. If you cannot find award availability with one airline, then you can try another. This is especially a good if you want to fly somewhere that US Airways just does not service.
Oneworld Members
Air Berlin, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines, TAM Airlines, SriLankan Airlines
To book a flight with any partner airline you will have to call in and make a reservation because partners are not available on the US Airways booking site.When making a reservation over the phone you most likely will have to pay a $25 fee, but you can ask if the agent is willing waive the fee.
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