US Airways Mastercard Bonus of Up to 50,000 Miles
Update: The offer mentioned below for the US Airways Premier World MasterCard is no longer available. View the current offer here.
Yesterday, I wrote that the US Airways Mastercard from Barclaycard is going to be around for a while longer (my guess is probably about a year) and that Barclaycard had sent out letters to cardholders assuring them so. Making this news even better is that a sign-up bonus offer of up to 50,000 miles for this card has resurfaced. The sign-up bonus alone of 40,000 miles (you have to make a balance transfer to earn up to 10,000 more) is 5,000 miles higher than the best offer available up to this point, so if you've been hesitating, now might be the time to apply.
Here are the rest of the details:
- 40,000 bonus miles with first purchase
- Up to 10,000 bonus miles for completing a balance transfer within 90 days (note: you will incur extra costs)
- Earn 2 miles per $1 on US Airways purchases
- Earn 1 mile per $1 spent everywhere else
- Redeem flights for 5,000 fewer miles. Reward travel now starts at only 20,000 miles
- Annual companion certificate good for up to 2 companion tickets at $99 each, plus taxes and fees
- Earn up to 10,000 Preferred-qualifying miles every calendar you spend $25,000 or more on purchases
- First class check-in
- One complimentary US Airways Club day pass every year
- $89 annual fee not waived the first year
So the main differences between this offer and the one for 35,000 miles out there are that to get the full bonus, you need to make a balance transfer - for each $1 you transfer, you get 1 mile. Just beware that you will pay either $10 or 4% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater. (During the first fifteen billing cycles after account opening, either $10 or 3% of each transfer, whichever is greater). And during the first 15 billing cycles, your balance transfer APR is 0%. So if you were to transfer $10,000 in balances, you'd be paying $300 in fees - which breaks down to 3 cents per bonus miles.
The other key difference is that there is no anniversary bonus of 10,000 miles, which might or might not matter depending on how long this card is around, but I think it will.
If you're deciding between which offer, here's how I see it breaking down. If you want 40,000 miles faster and actually need to transfer a balance, this newer offer might be better for you.
However, if you're willing to bank on the card being around for over a year, the 35,000-mile offer might be better because you don't have to make any balance transfers and you'll get 10,000 miles on your account anniversary, the rest of the perks are the same, and the $89 annual fee is waived the first year.
In any case, if you are going to apply for this newer, higher offer, I would encourage you to do so soon because they tend to disappear quickly.
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