Currently The US Airways® Premier World MasterCard® is offering 40,000 bonus miles after your first purchase and payment of the $89 annual fee. The high bonus paired with a no minimum spending requirement makes this a very attracting offer. Additionally these US Airways miles will eventually be combined with your American Airlines miles, so it’s a great opportunity to earn some extra miles before the card is gone.
US Airways miles are among the more valuable airline miles that can be used for award flights on Oneworld partners as well as a handful of Star Alliance partners. You’ll find some great uses for the miles for domestic flights and award tickets to Asia, South Africa Australia, and many other destinations. Overall the US Airways award chart is among the most competitive across all US carriers and has very flexible routing rules.
Earn 40,000 Bonus Miles
The highlight of this offer is that you will earn 40,000 bonus miles after the first purchase. Yes, that’s right, there is no spending requirement. This means you can get a free flight and much more just for buying your morning coffee.
Application Link: US Airways® Premier World MasterCard®
You’ll immediately earn the 40,000 miles after the first purchase, but note that you will still have to pay the $89 annual fee the first year. Even with the fee, the offer is well worth it and can get you upwards of $700 in free flights.
Grabbing the card now is a great choice because with the American Airlines and US Airways merging in effect this card will only be around for so long. As the merger completes you’ll have these miles converted over to American Airlines miles, which could be more useful for some. I’m planning on grabbing this card soon to earn the bonus and hope that I will be able to apply again before the card disappears.
Card Benefits
In addition to the 40,000 bonus miles the US Airways® Premier World MasterCard® offers some big perks.
Companion Pass. You’ll get a companion certificate good for up to two guests to travel with you on US Airways flights for $99 plus taxes and fees. If you fly on US Airways, this benefits could be extremely useful. You can use a companion pass to fly up to two friends, family members, and/or co-workers for only $99 when you purchase a ticket. The drawback is that it cannot be used on award tickets. Even with that said, if this is used on longer domestic flights, say LA to New York, it’s a huge value at only $99.
5,000 Mile Award Ticket Discount. The card also entitles you to a 5,000 mile discount off award tickets redeemed on US airways operated flights. This is a simple and easy perk that helps stretch your miles further. On top of that, as a cardholder you’ll get free checked bags for up to four travel companions on US Airways operated flights.
10,000 Elite Qualifying Miles. For any big spenders, you can also earn 10,000 elite qualifying miles after putting $25,000 worth of spending on the card in a calendar year. This isn’t for everyone since there are more valuable cards to use for everyday spending, but if you’re a US Airways flyer this could be the right offer for you.
Maximizing US Airways Miles
US Airways miles currently gets you the best of both worlds. Recently US Airways became a member of the Oneworld alliance, but it also remains a partner with a dozen airlines within Star Alliance. This gets you access to award flights to almost anywhere in the world on US Airways’ partners.
Oneworld Partners. Currently US Airways has two award charts to cover both of its alliance partnerships. The first is the Oneworld award travel chart that covers award tickets with US Airways Oneworld partners. The prices on this chart are good for any award booked on American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, LAN, TAM, Malaysia Airlines, airberlin, Iberia, and many more.
Currently the US Airways website does not show all Oneworld partner award availability. To get a much better idea of what you can book using your miles, search on the British Airways website to find the flights you want and then call US Airways Customer Service to book your award. Remember that you can also book awards with very generous routing options, and you’ll be able to get away with almost no routing restrictions and add stopovers on any round trip across two regions.
Star Alliance Partners. The other airline partner award travel chart covers award prices for travel on 12 additional US Airways partners that include 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 a huge benefit that US Airways has remained partners with many of its previous Star Alliance partners as well.
For award tickets on US Airways you get access to their discounted off-peak award chart. US Airways prices out generously discounted awards during off-peak travel times throughout the year, and each region included has its time period of where you can book off-peak prices. For instance, you can fly in economy to Europe or South America for 35,000 miles round trip. Off-peak Business class awards are also a great value, and it’s only 60,00 miles to fly round trip to Europe or South America. Both of these are great deals and among the best use of US Airways miles.
US Airways Routing Rules & Best Uses
You can get away with a lot as far as routing options go. Basically you can get one stopover and one open-jaw per round trip award using US Airways miles. Most awards will allow you to route almost entirely how you want from your origin to destination, however the total flight segments has to remain under 10 for the round trip.
An example of these generous routing rules is that you can route through almost any region en route to your destination region. For instance, you can travel through Europe en route to Asia or Australia.
US Airways has a very competitive award chart and with its added routing flexibility I would put it close to the top (among Alaska Airlines, but with more flexibility and partners). Check out my award chart comparisons to see how it stacks up. A few of the best uses of US Airways miles include:
- 35,000 miles for a economy off-peak round trip to Europe or South America
- 60,000 miles for a Business Class off-peak award to Europe or South America
- 120,000 miles for a First Class round trip award to North Asia
- 100,000 miles for a Business and 125,000 miles for a First Class round trip award to Europe
- 110,000 miles for a Business Class round trip award to Australia or New Zealand
- 90,000 miles for a Business and 120,000 miles for first Class round trip award from Central America/Mexico to South/Central Asia
All The Airlines You Can Fly On
Using US Airways miles you can fly on any Oneworld alliance partner airline as well as 12 Star Alliance partner airlines. Here is a complete list of airlines you can book awards on. Oneworld partners are in red, and Star Alliance partners are in blue.
- airberlin
- American Airlines
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- Finnair
- Iberia
- Japan Airlines
- LAN
- TAM
- Malaysia Airlines
- Qantas
- Qatar Airways
- Royal Jordanian
- S7 Airlines
- SriLankan Airlines (starting May 1, 2014)
- Aegean
- Air China
- Air New Zealand
- Avianca
- Ethiopian Airlines
- EVA
- Shenzhen Airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- South African Airways
- TAM
- TAP
- Turkish Airways
Full Offer Details
- 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 and American Airlines purchases and 1 mile for every $1 on purchases everywhere else
- New! Receive a 25% savings on eligible US Airways and American Airlines in-flight purchases
- Please see terms and conditions for complete details
Application Link: US Airways® Premier World MasterCard®
The Bottom Line
The 40,000 mile bonus offer on the US Airways® Premier World MasterCard® is a must-have for anyone interested in earning airline miles to cover the cost of travel. It’s one of the best card offers with a high bonus and no minimum spending requirement.
To top that, US Airways’ uber generous routing rules paired with their competitive award chart make the miles among the most valuable and flexible airline miles.
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