Category Archives: US Air

Barclays Lufthansa Card with 50,000 Miles (Use For 2 Coach Tickets or 1.5 First Class Tickets Within the US)

Posted on May 4, 2013 by | 30 Comments

[Disclosure:  Emily and I get a commission to the 50,000 Mile Lufthansa card, the Arrival card, and the Starwood personal and business cards.  You don't have to use our links, but we're very grateful to all the readers who use our link!]

Barclays increased the sign-up bonus from 20,000 miles to 50,000 miles with the Lufthansa Miles and More card.  The $79 annual fee is NOT waived in the first year.  But $79 for 2 domestic coach trips seems worth it to me.

50,000 Lufthansa Miles

50,000 Lufthansa Miles

Lufthansa is a German airline, but is a member of the Star Alliance.  This means that you can redeem Lufthansa miles for flights on other Star Alliance airlines, including United & US Air in the US. Continue reading →

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Posted in Barclays, Lufthansa, Lufthansa, United Airlines, US Air

News You Can Use – Fewer Miles with Bank Direct, 100% US Air Share or Buy Miles Bonus & Marriott Promotion

Posted on May 3, 2013 by | 19 Comments

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1.   Fewer Miles with BankDirect Checking Accounts

I’ve written previously about earning American Airlines miles with a checking account with BankDirect.  You earn 100 miles (per month) for every $1,000 in your account, up to $200,000 in your account.  For every $1,000 above $200,000 you would earn 25 American Airlines miles per month.

This meant that a deposit of $200,000 would earn 240,000 American Airlines miles in a year!

That said there is monthly service fee of $12, but it is well worth it for folks (note: I’m not an investment advisor, so consult yours!) with large deposits of liquid cash who leave the money in other bank accounts.  That’s because you don’t pay tax on the miles (but you do pay tax on interest earned at other banks) and also because the American Airlines miles are worth more than the small amounts of interest which banks pay.

BankDirect Mileage Checking

BankDirect Mileage Checking

Continue reading →

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Posted in American Airlines, Marriott, US Air

Virgin Atlantic is a New Chase Ultimate Rewards Transfer Partner & Who Are Virgin Atlantic’s Partners?

Posted on April 8, 2013 by | 22 Comments

[Emily and I get a referral for links to the Chase Freedom Visa, Chase Freedom MasterCard, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Ink Bold & the Chase Ink Plus.  You don't have to use our links, but we're always very grateful to readers who apply using our link!]

Virgin Atlantic & ultimate rewards

Thanks to ay for commenting that Virgin Atlantic (a British airline) is a new transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards!

New Ultimate Rewards Partner

New Ultimate Rewards Partner

I was surprised to see that Virgin Atlantic was added as a transfer partner because I expected that Chase would sooner add Fairmont hotels as a transfer partner (since they already issue the Fairmont hotel credit card) than Virgin Atlantic whose credit card is issued by Bank of America. Continue reading →

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Posted in ANA, Freedom, Sapphire Preferred, US Air, VIrgin America, Virgin Atlantic

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News You Can Use – US Air and American Airlines Share/Purchase Bonuses, Starwood & Hilton Promotions & Andaz Maui Hotel

Posted on April 4, 2013 by | 14 Comments

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1.   50% Bonus on US Airways Miles Shared or Transferred from Hotels

Now through April 30, 2013 US Airways is offering a 50% bonus for sharing miles.

You can earn only 25,000 miles as a bonus, so you’re effectively paying ~2.27 cents for 1 US Air mile.  So you’d have to share 50,000 miles to max out on the share mile bonus.  2.27 cents per mile is more than other US Air promotions, but it could be worth it to top off for an award.

US Airways

50% US Air Share Bonus

Loyalty Lobby writes about a 50% bonus when you transfer your hotel points to US Air.  US Airways hotel transfer partners include Best Western, Choice hotels, Club Carlson, LaQuinta, Marriott, Starwood, and Wyndham . Continue reading →

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Posted in American Airlines, Hilton HHonors, Hyatt, Starwood (SPG), Uncategorized, US Air

Credit Card Updates: Southwest 50,000 Points & US Air 50,000 (Really 40,000) Miles

Posted on March 30, 2013 by | 29 Comments

Disclosure:  The Southwest 50,000 point offer is better than the 25,000 points offer on the Southwest website.  The US Air 40,000 mile offer isn’t as good as the 35,000 mile offer, but BOTH are better than the 35,000 mile offer (which earns me a commission, but which you should NOT apply for).

1.   Southwest 50,000 Point Cards

On Wednesday, I wrote that the Southwest 50,000 point offers would soon not be available.  By Thursday evening all 4 cards were offering the usual 25,000 points instead of 50,000 points.

I wrote that “I don’t know for sure if ALL the 50,000 point offers will still be available, but I’m pretty sure that at least 1 card will still offer a 50,000 point bonus.”

Well, it turns out that 2 out of the 4 cards are still offering 50,000 points!  As always, I updated the Airline Credit Card tab with the links yesterday.

I also wrote “The Premier version of the card seems to have the 50,000 point sign-up bonus less frequently than the Plus version.”

And sure enough, there are links to the Plus personal and business cards with 50,000 points.  But not to the Premier version! Continue reading →

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Posted in Barclays, Chase, Southwest, US Air

Points: A Love Story

Posted on March 10, 2013 by | 10 Comments

Note: This post is satire and you shouldn’t follow any of Points Envy’s suggestions, nor should you break the law.  Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental.

While we recognize that most people are not so quick to associate romance and the Points Game (aside from maximizing earnings on gift purchases and hotel rooms), this week on Billion Mile Secrets we recount the touching story of one points-enthused couple for whom lounges and premium cabins provided the backdrop for a thrilling but turbulent romance.

Like most of you, the first time we heard Rihanna sing that she had “found love in a hopeless place,” we assumed she was referring to the Admiral’s Club at LAX, a depressing place where we too had found love more than thirty times in 2012.  Once, while finding love in the shower room, we noticed the initials S.P. and D.M. carved into a heart in the ceiling.  We added the initials “P.E.” inside the heart for fun, and then vaguely remembered that we had seen the same initials in a heart in a Thai Airways first class restroom once, where we had also made our mark. Continue reading →

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Posted in American Airlines, Credit Cards, Southwest, Trip Reports, US Air

Credit Card Updates: 45,000 Miles Delta, 1 Free Flight + 10,000 Miles Virgin America & US Airways Update

Posted on February 19, 2013 by | 21 Comments

[Disclosure:  Emily and I get a (possible) commission for the link to creditcards.com.  The links to the Virgin American and US Air cards are better than my affiliate links.]

1.   45,000 Mile Delta American Express

Million Mile Secrets reader Jake (thanks!) emailed me about a possibly targeted Delta American Express card for 45,000 miles.

You get 25,000 miles after your first purchase and another 20,000 miles after spending $5,000 within 6 months.  Spending $5,000 for an extra 20,000 Delta miles seems a bit high to me, but this could be worth it for some. Continue reading →

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Posted in Delta Skymiles, US Air, VIrgin America

The Barclays US Air Affiliate Link for 40,000 Miles is Really for Only 30,000 Miles

Posted on February 17, 2013 by | 30 Comments

[Disclosure:  The link to the 30,000 mile Barclays credit card earns us a commission, but the 35,000 version does not.  The 35,000 mile version is much better because it waives the annual fee and gets you more miles.]

On Friday, I wrote that my affiliate link to the US Air card offers 40,000 miles after 1st purchase, but the annual fee of $89 was NOT waived.  And I strongly suggested that the links to the 35,000 mile offer from FlyerTalk with the annual fee waived and without the bait and switch wording in the affiliate offer is likely the better deal.

However, I checked my affiliate link today and it offers only 30,000 miles after your 1st purchase and 10,000 miles after a balance transfer.  Earning miles for a balance transfer is almost always a bad deal, because of the fees, so I see this as a 30,000 mile offer with the annual fee of $89 NOT waived (making it even worse).

Barclays 30,000 Miles Offer-001

Not Really 40,000 Miles, Since 10,000 Comes From a Balance Transfer

I also consider it misleading that the ad text screams out “40,000 Bonus Miles” and the fine print later says that 10,000 miles comes from a balance transfer for which you have to pay a fee. Continue reading →

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Posted in Barclays, US Air

Barclays US Air (& Soon American Airlines) 35,000 & 40,000 Mile Credit Card Updates

Posted on February 15, 2013 by | 44 Comments

[Disclosure:  Emily and I do NOT receive a commission for the 35,000 mile offer, but we do receive one for the 40,000 mile offer.  However, the 35,000 mile offer may be the better choice for many.]

As Points Envy hinted, American Airlines and US Air announced plans to merge on Valentine’s day.  The combined airline will retain the American Airlines frequent flyer program.  So your US Air miles will eventually become American Airlines miles.

Barclays bank issues the US Air credit card, and it is likely that in ~ 6 to 12 months Barclays will stop issuing the card because of the merger.

So it could be worth applying for the US card in the next few months because soon you won’t be able to apply for this card.  And also because it is a good way to build up American Airlines miles.

Us Air Credit Card Offers

The bad news is that link to the the best US Air credit card offer – which offered 40,000 miles after your 1st purchase AND waived the first year fee is no longer working (thanks to harvson3 for the update!)

I’ve written about this offer before and explained how it was better than the link which earned me a commission. Continue reading →

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Posted in American Airlines, US Air

Why a US Air & American Airlines Merger Is Bad For Most….& Good For a Few

Posted on February 11, 2013 by | 34 Comments

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It is pretty likely that American Airlines and US Air will announce plans to merge very soon.  In reality, Doug Parker, the current US Air CEO, will be CEO of the new American Airlines (which will be run a lot like the current US Air).

In my opinion, the merger is bad news for most folks who pay cash for airline tickets & has the long-term potential to ultimately be bad news for folks who collect and redeem airline miles for tickets.  But the merger is great news if you’re an airline investor or if you run another US airline!

I don’t expect the merger to be blessed easily by European and US anti-trust regulators, but I expect the merger to ultimately go through.

Bad News for Consumers

The American Airlines and US Air merger isn’t by itself bad news for consumers.  But it represents further concentration of the US airline industry.  And further concentration and fewer airlines means less competition and higher ticket prices.

I personally would much rather have more airlines, frequently competing with each other, making bad business decisions (fare wars and unprofitable routes, etc.) and going bankrupt (after subsidizing my travel with their bad decisions!), than to have fewer airlines operating more efficiently.  There are always billionaires and governments eager to help out failing airlines! Continue reading →

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Posted in American Airlines, US Air