| by Mr Credit Card |
US Airways used to issue their Visa credit card through Bank of America. But they have now switched to using Barclays Bank as their credit card issuer. We will now take a look at their cards. There are two credit cards (both MasterCard) – the World MasterCard and the PREMIER World MasterCard.
US Airways World MasterCard – The US Airways World MasterCard is the lower tier version. It comes with a $49 annual fee. With this card, you earn one mile for every dollar that you spend on the card. New cardholders get 5,000 bonus miles when they first use the card and another 5,000 bonus miles when they spend $750 on the card. If you do a balance transfer, you will get an additional 10,000 bonus miles.
You will also get benefits like getting an annual companion ticket certificate of $149. This version also comes with a 24/7 concierge service.
US Airways PREMIER World MasterCard – The PREMIER version has an annual fee of $89. But like other airline credit cards, you can earn double miles when you US AIrways tickets. New cardholders get 12,500 bonus miles after their first use of the card and an additional 12,500 bonus miles when they spend $750. If you transfer a balance, you will get 10,000 bonus miles as well.
The PREMIER version has other additional perks. For example, you get 10,000 miles that count towards preferred status. You will get to check in at first class counters and zone 2 boarding. You will also receive 2 $99 companion ticket certificate. Each year, you will also get one complimentary US AIrways Club day pass.
Verdict – If you are a true frequent flier on US Airways, I would be inclined to consider getting the PREMIER World MasterCard version as you can earn double miles, some generous sign up bonuses and also the annual 10,000 preferred status miles.
I am a little disappointed with the World MasterCard version because you cannot earn double miles. If you are not really a frequent flier and are considering this version, I would suggest you get the Starwood Preferred Guest(R) Credit Card from American Express because the Starwood Preferred Guest program allows you to transfer points into miles of over 30 airline partners. US Airways is one their partners and you can transfer points at a one for one ratio. Furthermore, when you transfer 20,000 starwood points to miles, you will get an additional 5,000 bonus miles! (see screen shot below). They also have a slightly lower annual fee.
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July 9th, 2011 at 17:18
We signed up in September 2010 on a flight to the Caribbean and stopped using all our other cards to accrue as many points as possible within the next 12 months so we could at least get one round-trip ticket with points. The deceptive advertising included earning enough points on the flight we were on to get a free round-trip for the same flight. Yeah, right. Ten months later, we still don’t have enough points. With 25,000 points, assuming all the Dividend Miles seats aren’t already sold out, you can buy the round-trip ticket. In every month except September, our chosen route required 60,000 points. Unless you travel and purchase extensively, this card is not worth it, particularly with its $89 annual fee. Any issues regarding the card must be answered by Barclays Bank. USAirways staff only sells the card on its flights; however, it offers absolutely no service and will not intervene if there is an issue with deceptive advertising or customer service.