US AIRWAYS MILES FLY HIGH
Just a friendly reminder that US Airways Dividend Miles program is still offering a 100% bonus on all dividend miles purchased until December 31, 2011. We wrote about this earlier in the month when it was first announced but thought you might like a reminder. If you don’t already have a US Airways Dividend Mile account you should sign up for one here because you have to have your account open for 12 days prior to buying the Dividend Miles.
Normally, buying miles is not worth the price. Sure, pretty much every airline will sell them to you but at a price that is generally worse than just paying for a ticket instead. Once in a while a deal comes along that makes it worth buying points directly especially when you need a few extra points to get a rewards ticket. US Airways is one of our favorites for running short term offers that make buying point directly a bargain. This short term offer from US Airways is pretty tempting. Here’s the gist as a reminder:
1. Points are sold for $.035 per mile (3.5 cents per mile) and for every mile you purchase you will recieve 1 bonus mile. They have sold for cheaper in the past (2.7 cents), but this is still a decent offer.
2. You are limited to 40,000 bonus Dividend Miles.
- This means that if you are maximizing your miles you will not buy more than 40,000 miles.
- Thad means you get 80,000 miles at 3.5 cents a mile for a total of $1,400, or 1.75 cents per mile.
The problem with buying 40,000 and earning a bonus of 40,000 is that the total 80,000 Dividend Miles Points will not earn a flight outside of the continental US. Within the Continental US, you are very likely to get a flight that costs you less than $1,400 dollars. Hence this deal is most likely to be used by someone who travels internationally.
Looking at US Airways flights from North America to Europe and Northern Asia, the cost of these flights is generally more than $1,500. If you fly business class the flights can easily reach $6,000 or more. However you can get an international flight booked with 90,000 Dividend Miles points. Therefore, this bonus program is much more useful for internationally flight.
You can purchase 50,000 Dividend Miles for $1,750. US Airways still only grants you a 40,000 bonus Dividend Mile award for a total of 90,000 miles, but the $1,750 price tag is still much lower than paying for an international flight in business class.
Also, note that US Airways routinely has seasonal offers to fly to Europe for 35,000 points in coach or 60,000 miles in business class.
Special Terms do apply:
"Offer available for purchases made between December 1 and December 31, 2011 11:59 MT. All purchases are non-refundable. Bonus miles will be awarded upon completion of the transaction. The maximum number of Buy Bonus Miles that can be received by one member for this offer is 40,000 bonus dividend miles. All miles purchased beyond this limit will not be eligible for a bonus. Offer is subject to change. Offer cannot be combined with any other offer. Share transactions are not eligible for bonus. Only purchases made online are eligible for the bonus.
Miles are sold for $.035 per mile plus tax recovery charge of 7.5%. GST/HST will be charged to Canadian residents. Miles purchased through Buy, Share or gift Miles do not count toward Dividend Miles Preferred status. All other Dividend Miles Terms and Conditions apply. Miles may be used based on award availability at the time of booking. Please note that Dividend Miles account less than 12 days old are not permitted to Buy, Share or Gift Miles. Are purchases are non-refundable."
How do you make the most of your US Airways miles?
Have you scored some great value purchasing points, or are the miles too costly to make sense that way?