Goodbye USAirways (soon!) – You will not be missed

The end of US Airways is coming near. American Airlines and US Airways have both sent out emails stating that the mileage programs of US Airways will be combined with that of American sometime in Q2 2015. This is just one step of the merger process, but it is a major one. The rebranding and re-fitting of aircraft is progressing and will probably take some time. Heck, there are still United planes with Tulips on them…

I have not ever been a fan of US Airways. And I am not alone – just look at all the comments posted by readers to my ‘US Airways Sucks?’ blog post. That remains one of the most read posts I have even written and is by far the one with the most active, and ever active for comments. While I appreciate the traffic, for all us travelers, I will be glad when we no longer have US Airways to complain about.

The ending of US Airways Dividend Miles Program does provide with an earning opportunity that only happens once in a while – the ability to get sign-up bonuses on two Credit Cards, knowing that the miles will be combined. In this case as soon as by June 2015! So, if you don’t have both the US Airways and American Airlines credit cards, apply for both and get these extra miles in your account.

A total of 100,000 miles in one account is way, way more valuable than 50,000 each spread over two accounts!

Here are the links for both cards, showing the best offers I have been able to find:

• The US Airways Premier World MasterCard® – Current offer: 50,000 miles after 1st purchase (no minimum). $89 annual fee (NOT waived the first year) (Offer Gone)
• Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® MasterCard® – Same offer at US Airways, BUT fee waived for the first year)