US Airways
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US Airways MasterCard: 40,000 Miles with NO Spending Requirement

ByThe Miles Professor

Note: This offer is no longer available.

The US Airways Premier World MasterCard has raised its bonus to 40,000 miles after making a single purchase and paying the annual fee. This is a very easy way to rack up a bunch of miles quickly and a card I personally got myself. I’ve also made some great use of the $99 companion certificate that comes with the card too. I really like US Airways miles and have used them for lots of trips and written about them a bunch:

With US Airways merging with American Airlines, this card will be going away most likely in the next few months. The miles will eventually combine with American Airlines miles although they’re pretty useful now. What makes the 40,000 mile sign-up bonus here very nice is that there is actually no spending requirement whatsoever. You immediately get those miles after any purchase, even if you just spend $1 on the card. You do have to pay the annual fee of $89, but 40,000 miles is without a question well worth the $89 annual fee.

US Airways World MasterCard
US Airways World MasterCard

With the card going away soon, I would definitely take the opportunity to rack up some more US Airways miles.

Other than the 40,000 miles, the card has other benefits I definitely find useful:

  • 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.
  • 5,000 miles off award tickets redeemed on US Airways operated flights.
  • Free checked bags for card holder and up to four companions.
  • 10,000 elite qualifying miles after spending $25,000 on the card in a calendar year.

Using US Airways Miles

US Airways is now a member of oneworld, but has retained partnerships with several other airlines.

The oneworld award travel chart covers award costs with US Airways oneworld partners. The miles can be used on American Airlines, LAN, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, TAM and so on. As the US Airways website will not show most oneworld partner availability, it is best to search on the British Airways website and then call US Airways Customer Service to book.  For the time being, it offers far more generous routing rules on award tickets than its counterpart American Airlines. American Airlines will now allow transit through a third region in an award ticket and does not allow stopovers. US Airways has almost no routing restrictions and allows a stopover on any round-trip between different regions.

The Other airline partner award travel chart covers award costs with combinations of US Airways other partners Aegean Airlines, Air China, Air New Zealand, Avianca, EVA Air, Hawaiian Airlines, Jet Airways, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, TAP Portugal, and Turkish Airlines. It’s nice that US Airways has retained relationships with many Star Alliance partners as well.

On its own flights, US Airways has a very generous off-peak award chart that I wrote about previously: The US Airways Dividend Miles Off-Peak Award Chart. During off-peak times, we can fly to Europe for 35,000 miles round-trip or to South America for 35,000 miles round-trip in Economy or 60,000 miles in Business class. Pretty amazing ways to use miles!

Companion Certificate: Two Additional Tickets at $99 + taxes each

The US Airways Companion Pass, in my opinion, is a really great perk of the card. The companion pass works for paid tickets, not award tickets. The way it works is you basically pay for one US Airways ticket and then you can bring up to two additional passengers on the same itinerary for $99 plus taxes each. You have to book 14 days in advance, not fly on blackout days (there aren’t too many so it’s not very restrictive), flights must be operated by US Airways and within the 48 states.

Two years ago, we had a big family gathering in Chicago. We all immigrated from Russia over 20 years ago and, with everyone being split all over the country, it’s hard to get everyone together. My parents kept wavering back and forth and couldn’t commit because of work, but really wanted to go. A little more than two weeks before, they finally managed to work it into their schedules… but tickets were over $400 at that point with no award seats available. The three tickets to take my sister would have cost $1300! They ended up paying around $430 for the first ticket and $110 ($99 plus taxes) for each additional ticket. For the three of them, it ended up costing $650 – they managed to save about half right there and the US Airways card annual fee paid for itself many times over.

Full Offer Terms

  • 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.

32 Comments

  1. Thanks for posting this! I was going to get this to take advantage of the 35,000 mile off-peak to Europe I read on your website a few months ago and didn’t even know about the companion pass was. We live near Philadelphia and fly US Airways everywhere so would be awesome to get two more tickets for $99 each.

    1. I was able to get two of these cards last year without even canceling the first so it may very well work. If you get approved for the card, you should get the bonus.

  4. with chase I was able to ask for the increase in miles since they increase the CC bonus…anyone have experience with asking Barclays since my card is recent

    1. Yes, a lot of people have been able to churn this card. You’ll want to cancel your first card first (although some people are able to get a second without signing up). Also miles professor, how come no mention of the 30k+10k annual fee waived for the first year offer?

      1. I believe the 40,000 miles is a better offer to get the 10,000 miles up-front. For 30k + 10k offer, you must wait a full year to get the remaining 10,000 miles and still pay the annual fee, unless you cancel before. The 10,000 miles is also well worth the $89 annual fee as that’s an opportunity to buy the miles at 0.89 cents each right away.

  6. Any chance I can get a 3rd card? I cancelled the other 2 after the annual fee hit.

    1. People have reported being able to get new ones after canceling, even three and higher in a lifetime. If you don’t have any currently, it’s certainly a possibility.

  7. For the share miles promotion does this mean I can transfer to someone and they can transfer back to me up to 50,000 miles?

    Also, if I have more people to share with can I share up to 50,000 miles with them as well?

  8. Hi, do you have any suggestions how to get this card for someone living in the US a Virgin Islands? Doesn’t give me the option. I just got the citi bank card with 30,000.00 miles and would love to get this card! Thank you!

  9. How soon will I be charged for the annual fee if $89? The first statement has closed but I wasn’t able to get my 40K miles. I charged $10 on it.

    1. I believe the annual fee usually takes about a month to be charged and the miles get posted up to a few weeks afterwards. It’s not very quick, unfortunately. If in doubt, you can always give them a call to see how your miles are doing.

    1. They did give one at every anniversary, but the annual benefit will be going away once the two airlines merge and the card becomes an American Airlines credit card. You do get it when signing up for now, though.

  11. So I just got the card the 40,000 miles hasn’t transferred into my account yet!! Once they transfer in should I cancel the card and try to get the 40,000 Again? How do you get 2 cards and the miles when they have all your info on file what am I doing wrong?

  12. Pingback: What Will Happen to US Airways Miles and Credit Card with the Merger?
  13. Pingback: What Will Happen to US Airways Miles and Credit Card with the Merger? | Credit Owl

  14. Can you tell me if you can use frequent flyer miles to pay for the $250 minimum ticket and then use the companion certificates or do you have to PAY (money) for the $250 minimum when you use the companion certificate.

    1. When redeeming the first ticket for the Companion Certificate, it has to be a revenue ticket and companions are not valid on miles tickets. The base fare has to be $250 and you cannot use miles, unfortunately… so it’s best to use when you’re planning to pay anyway for a relatively expensive ticket.

  15. How soon after you sign up for the card do you receive the companion certificate? I am looking at some flights at the end of September and would like to know if I’ll get it in time?

  16. I have an AAvantage Platium CC, to get miles for travel to Australia, if I get this offer can I combine the mileage from both cards to enlarge my miles already earned on the AA card?

    1. You will be able to sometime next year once AA and US combine programs, but not yet. If you are not booking your travel for a while, then this will increase your American Airlines points balances eventually once the two programs combine.

      1. Can I use my US Airways Companion certificate for my daughter, her husband and son? I would boof the tickets using my US airways Bank of amerrica Visa. A US AIr agent told me that I’d have to be one of th ones flying, but since I’ve used my mikes for a trip for one of my oter children, it seems likely that I coulddo thids.

        1. Sorry for my posting full of typos! :( I don’t know how to edit my comment on your site.

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