Targeted Offer: 100% Bonus on Purchased US Airways Miles

Aug. 02, 2012

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3 min read

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Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

US Airways is currently offering select Dividened Miles members a 100% bonus on purchased miles now through August 31. To see if you are eligible, go to the Buy Miles page at USairways.com, enter in your Dividend Miles number and name and see if the 100% bonus shows up. Sadly I was not targeted, but please feel free to comment if you were.

On US Airways' Buy Miles page, it will ask you for your name and Dividend number to see if you qualify for the bonus.

Purchasing miles from a frequent flyer program is usually a high-price / low-value way to add some miles to your account, and is generally only a last resort if you need to top up your account for a particular award. But every so often there are some purchased-mile bonuses that might be worth it to some travelers and depending if you have an upcoming award in mind.

Normally, it costs 3.5 cents per mile plus a 7.5% tax. With this promotion, the cost is closer to 1.9 cents. For instance, if you were to purchase the maximum amount of 50,000 miles, you'd get a total number of 100,000 miles for $1,881.25. That's enough for a low-level business class ticket from North America to Europe, which normally goes for between $3,000-$5,000.

Another example that might be worth it is if you needed 90,000 miles for a business class ticket from North America to Asia (on any Star Alliance carrier). Those tickets are normally around $5,000-$6,000. But with this promo, you could purchase 45,000 miles for $1,693.113 ($1575+ taxes) and get 45,000 bonus miles, for a total of 90,000 miles. Another significant discount.

Unfortunately, the US Airways website does not show any availability for the other 26 Star Alliance carriers. They have the same Star Alliance availability as United or Aeroplan, it’s just that they don’t show it on their website - you have to call 1-800-428-4322 to book an award and they will waive the phone booking fee since partner awards are not bookable online.

As always, whether a mileage purchase is worth it to you depends on your travel needs and the award you intend to redeem your miles for. If you are hoping for low-level domestic coach redemptions or even awards on competitive international routes, you’re probably better off just buying tickets. However, US Airways is a Star Alliance member and has a pretty generous award chart, so if you are hoping to redeem premium class awards on expensive routes with low taxes, then you could definitely reap some value from this promotion.

Note: These purchases are processed through points.com so they generally do not count as "Airfare" (for the Amex Premier Rewards Gold 3x category) or for reimbursements.

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.