Update: Today is the last day to open a new USAirways mileage account for it to be 12 days old by the 10/15 scheduled end date of this promotion in order to get miles for just 1.135 cents each.
Also if you are a USAirways cardholder (30K signup offer with landing page describing the offer, 35K offer without a landing page) be sure to check your email inbox for a targeted offer for a mileage rebate on an award redemption. I got an offer on 10/01 for 50% of my miles back (up to a 30,000 mile refund). Others got 10% and 25% targeted offers as well.
Coupled with the 5,000 mile cardholder discount when flying USAirways that means I can fly round-trip coach within the US48 for 10,000 miles (25K-5K discount-50% rebate) or $113.50 or to Europe or South America off-peak for 15,000 miles (35K-5K discount -50% rebate) or $170.25.Ā Business class round-trip to South America off-peak would be 27,500 miles (60K-5K discount-50% rebate) or $312.13.
Or I can fly business class to Hong Kong with a stopover in Israel along the way for just 60,000 miles (90K-30K max rebate) or $681.
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Originally posted on 09/30:
Get A 100% Mileage Bonus When You Share USAirways Miles
For your reference:
USAirways Partner/Star Alliance Award Chart
USAirways Star Alliance Partners
USAirways Non-Alliance Partners
Through 10/15 when you share up to 50,000 USAirways miles with a friend USAirways will double the transfer. The cost to share 50,000 miles is $567.50. So if you transfer 50,000 miles to a friend he will wind up with 100,000 miles instantly in his account and you will have effectively purchased 50,000 miles at a cost of $567.50 or 1.135 cents per mile.
This promotion is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to “buy” miles.Ā It last came around 12 months ago.
I have already tested it out and it’s instantly giving the bonus 50,000 miles.
Of course you can then share 50,000 miles right back to where they started or to another account where they will again turn into 100,000 miles for the same cost. However receiving accounts are limited to a maximum of 50,000 bonus miles during this promo period.
The transaction is processed by a 3rd party, so you will unfortunately not earn bonus travel points on cards like theĀ American ExpressĀ® Premier Rewards Gold Card or the Chase Chase Sapphire PreferredĀ® CardĀ® Card (though you can always ask for ’em afterwards).
Don’t have USAirways miles? Find a friend that does or you can always transfer 40,000 Starwood Starpoints to anyone’s USAirways account and they’ll receive 50,000 miles and then be able to start generating miles for just 1.135 cents per mile. Starpoints can take anywhere from 1-9 days to transfer to USAirways.
In other words “David” can transfer 40K Starpoints into 50K USAirways miles.Ā He can then transfer those 50K miles to his wife for $567.50 and she’ll have 100,000 USAirways miles.Ā If they want more miles his wife can then transfer 50K miles back to David for $567.50 and she’ll be left with 50K miles while he will have 100,000 miles.
Accounts need to be open for at least 12 days before they can share miles, but there’s still time to open an account and get in on this promotion.
USAirways is a Star Alliance member, so you can book award travel across dozens of partner airlines. You need to call USAirways to book Star Alliance award travel as it can’t be booked online. You can search for saver availability on Star Alliance airlines with more robust websites like United.com, ANA, and Aeroplan.com and then call USAirways to book flights.
USAirways allows 3 day holds on award flights (which can even be extended for another 3 days for making a small change) so you can first put a flight on hold and then purchase miles.
USAirways miles require activity every 18 months to keep them alive and this will count as activity of course to extend your miles.
Bear in mind that USAirways does charge a number of fees though they do not collect any fuel surcharges. Award fees include $150 to change dates, an award ticketing fee of $25-$50 depending on your destination, and a $75 fee for booking award travel within 21 days.
USAirways requires round-trip award travel. They do allow a free stopover.Ā If you book travel on partner airlines you can’t change anything once your trip has begun.
There are plenty of redemption bargains:
-A First Class United 777 flight with lie-flat seating from Houston-Honolulu is 80,000 USAirways miles, or $908 at 1.135 cents per mile. United charges 100,000 miles for First Class to Hawaii on 3 class aircraft.Ā A paid ticket would run you about $6,000.
-Off-peak coach awards to the Carribean are just 25,000 miles and to Europe or South America are just 35,000 miles round-trip if you fly on USAirways.Ā Off peak First Class/Envoy awards to the Carribean are just 50,000 miles and to South America are just 60,000 miles round-trip if you fly on USAirways.
-Award tickets to Israel are 80,000 in coach or 120,000 in business. Star Alliance nonstop options from North America include Air Canada from Toronto, United from Newark, and USAirways from Philadelphia. A coach ticket would be the equivalent of $908 and a business ticket would be the equivalent of $1,362 at 1.135 cents per mile.
-A business class ticket to Asia is 90,000 USAirways miles and a first class ticket is 120,000 USAirways miles. Compare that to 120,000 or 140,000 United miles that would be required for business or first. A business ticket would be the equivalent of $1,012.50 and a first class ticket would be the equivalent of $1,362 at 1.135 cents per mile.
Plus you can even stopover in Europe on the way to Asia for free for as long as you want, or you can even stopover in multiple cities as long as you are in the additional stopover cities for less than 24 hours.
-A business class ticket to Australia or New Zealand is 110,000 USAirways miles and a first class ticket is 140,000 USAirways miles. Compare that to 135,000 or 160,000 United miles that would be required for business or first. A business ticket would be the equivalent of $1,248.50 and a first class ticket would be the equivalent of $1,589 at 1.135 cents per mile.
Plus you can even stopover in Europe or Asia on the way down under for free for as long as you want, or you can even stopover in multiple cities as long as you are in the additional stopover cities for less than 24 hours.
Note that:
-USAirways award charts can change at any time.
-USAirways agents are fairly incompetent, so it may take a few phone calls to book what you want. Then again I’ve seen several people book travel from the US to South Africa with a stopover in Israel for a total of 40,000 miles round-trip, so incompetency works both ways…
-USAirways is planning on merging with American.Ā The US government is suing to block that and the case will be heard in November. If that does wind up happening your miles will convert over at a 1:1 ratio and they will leave the Star Alliance and join OneWorld.Ā Generally speaking American’s miles are considered more valuable than USAirways miles.
Will you be buying miles this way? Find any other great uses? Post a comment!
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53 Comments On "Get A 100% Mileage Bonus When You Share USAirways Miles!"
All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions arenāt provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.
Keep in mind US Air was shuting down accounts for this.
@Israeliphonerental:
Huh? Shutting down accounts for what exactly??
Dan-
Any idea how people booked USA-South Africa with stop in Israel for 40k miles? What can they possibly say, even to an incompetent agent???
@Bert:
Maybe it’s a glitch? Because at least 2 people have proved to me that they did it.
Try booking it and let us know if it still works š
how many I can buy? Can the miles transfer to American? Can I Use the black Amex?
I purchased a few weeks ago a few tickets to israel via phily, when Dan linked the great deal
would any1 know if there is an option of upgrading to business class with miles, points,,?
@Devorah:
Read the post.
@barry:
40K miles+$300 each way.
Pricey, though it is probably the best business class seat from the US to Israel.
Hi Dan,
Long time follower, first time writer.
Thanks for this tip and the many many other tips I have learned from you.
One question which is slightly off topic. I want to vacation in Israel but stop in Switzerland, what would be my best option?
@Moe:
80K USAir or United miles in coach/120K USAir or United miles in business can get you a ticket on Swiss from the US to Zurich, stopover, and then on Swiss from Zurich to Tel Aviv and then back to the US.
will it work with United-mileage plus chase card?
@sam:
Where did I write that this deal had anything to do with a specific credit card ā
you said USAIR
Dan while u write that a economy class ticket to Israel with this method is only $908 I think it should be mentioned that there is also taxes and fees of over $100 to book the ticket plus you won’t earn 11,000 miles for flying so its not such a great value. Business class is where the value is.
@Joey89:
Taxes and fees will be under $100 for a nonstop on United or USAirways.
And the value of miles is always for flying business and first class. That should be obvious given that you only need 50% more miles but a paid premium class ticket can cost 500% or 1,000% more than coach.
Though last-minute coach and coach with stopovers can also have great value. Plus USAir is generous with under 24 hour connections as well-you can add lots of ’em with the right rep.
Dan
I absolutely love how you started putting your foot down on the comments!!
@Dan
can you please explain how to go about getting the 40K deal to South Africa? How do I find out if they have availability Pesachtime?
Is it still worth it if I don’t have any US air miles (although I have do have SPG I can transfer…)?
Thanks!
Can I transfer chase points to usairways and then to United ?
does this make Sense ?
can i purchase more than 50,000 pts and receive extra bonus miles or is 50,000 pts the max?
@runnergirl:
Don’t believe Ts and Cs š
@YMKSA:
2 people that booked tickets from the US to TLV (stopover) to JNB and back to the US got it priced at 40K.
Probably a fluke, but who knows.
@Yoel:
No.
@Devorah:
50K max bonus per receiving account.
Dan you mentioned you might consider posting an ANA flight search screenshot post for star alliance flights to Israel. This would be a great to benefit to all of us on the east coast who want to use AMEX points for flights from EWR to Israel Is this still possible?
Hi Dan,
What did you mean “(though you can always ask for Ć¢ā¬Ėem afterwards).”
Please clarify how one attempts this.
thanks
Avi
Bit confused here.I my wife and my sister have usairways account and miles. We all have 60k miles each.If my sister transfers her 50K miles to my account, the fee is $500 before the fee and I get 100Kmiles but her 50k mile is gone? How the three of us can take advantage of this deal? If I transferred my 50k to her account, my balance is zero , isn’t it? Also what you think is better? Get 1008 Miles from 2 VR purchase or this share miles deal? Isnt this really about buying 50k miles for $567.50? Thanks
Dan –
Can I do anything with ultimate rewards points to take advantage of this deal?
Thank you.
Is the transffer done instantly?
Dan, first off I wasn’t trying to be confrontational just trying to point out to those that are new that economy wasn’t a great deal.
Second I know the individual that got the 40k to TLV via JNB, the logical (if u can call it that) conclusion we came to was that the agent thought TLV was in the Caribbean and charged the rate for RT travel to the Caribbean (being that us air has to manually redeam partner air travel) and added JNB as a stopover, (even though the individual asked to go to SA and have a stopover in TLV on the return) it’s helpful when agents are trying to be nice and flunked geographyĆ°ÅøĖā°
Is it worth it to transfer miles from united to get this deal?
I know u said it is processed by a 3rd party but any chance using the US Airways card will give double miles as a US Airways purchase?
kachnik, you will not get double miles on your us airways MasterCard for this.
Starting October 1, 2013 get 50% of your Dividend Miles back when you redeem at least 20,000 miles for an award trip. Just redeem between October 1 and November 30, 2013 for travel before March 31, 2014 and you can get up to 30,000 miles back.
IE half price for mileage tickets.
just fyi if any 1 signed up for the 2 35k Barkleys cc now would be a good time to do the bonus transfer and sell…. 35k alone not much value for flying or selling
Hi i would like if someone has an US airways account with miles if you can do a share with me please??
please email me at coolal500 AT gmail.com
thank you
@Kachnik: I have the same question, will i get double miles on my US credit card?
or will US/Barclaycard Customer Service be likely to honor the bonus afterwards (via SM) if it doesn’t come through automatically?
@mo: According to FT, this is a targeted offer, so doesn’t apply to most of us.
does anyone know for how much $ I can sell usair DM?
I also got the target offer. Do you know if I need to travel by myself or I can also book for someone else and get the bonus?
the 50% bonus targeted bonus miles offer is only valid on US AIRWAYS flight or all their star alliance partner flights to anywhere in the world?
please confirm
@Davidd:
Definitely possible š
@@dan:
SM, etc.
@jim:
a>b>c>a.
@Joy:
No.
@Shimon:
Read the post.
@I LOVE DAN:
Once miles are by an airline you can’t just transfer them to another airline.
@mo:
Congrats on being targeted!
@dovid:
No.
@dovid:
YMMV.
@Shimon:
Congrats!
You can book travel for anyone and get the rebate!
@jim:
It’s valid on USAirways AND all partners!
It’s even good on mileage upgrade awards.
any chance to get this if you redeem miles for any thing other than airline purchase?
what about any online purchase?
Dan,
If you click on “terms and conditions” it will clearly state that one will receive the 35,000 miles.
I don’t see why this would be a risk as to apply only for the 30,000 offer.
how come i wasn’t targeted? š
@Avi: Open one TODAY for someone else! Then you’ll still get in on the deal by the deadline.
Dan, is it a good idea to transfer MR Starwood points to USAirways for the transfer deal ?
Is there anyone here who knows if it worth transfering Member Rewards or Starwood points fort the transfer promotion ?
does the receiving account need to be open for 12 days to get the incoming transfer doubled? or just the sender account?
There is a US airways card Available with NO spending threshold .
It gives 40k signup bonus + up to 10k on balance transfers.
https://www.barclaycardus.com/apply/Landing.action?campaignId=1695&cellNumber=48
Might as well answer my own question. If only the “glitch” on points.com gets fixed it seems I could transfer MR points to Aeroplan and then to US Airways . Does anyone have an update on the points.com capability ?
@dan I just want to confirm (if you or another can) based on what you said that if I have 100k I can send 50k to one account and the remaining 50 to another
“last day to open a new USAirways mileage account for it to be 12 days old by the 10/15 scheduled end date of this promotion in order to get miles”.
That means the receiving account must be 12 days old?
Please confirm, Thanks.
I do not have any points … can i sign up for a credit card that will give me an immediate bonus of starwood points (40k?) and then transfer them to us airways and get the bonus 50k and then transfer back and get another 50? can i do all this in the remaining time to the end of this promotion? Please let me know if this will work- We want to fly with our whole family from israel to the states and therse points would be a great help.
Its not instantly for me, It said we will email you when this transaction completes..
Hi All,
I did some point sharing between acocunts, the AMEX I used was charged,however, the points are still sitting in my original account and have not moved to the accounts I was sharing to.
On previous occasions I emailed received a confirmation email.
This time nothing.
Any ideas? Processing times?
ThanksĆ¢ā¬Ā¦
@Anonymous: Me neither… Still waiting and has been over 14 hours