One of the most popular promotions of recent years has been US Airways’ 100 percent bonus for purchased miles, an offer that effectively cuts in half the cost of buying frequent flyer miles, from 2.75 cents to 1.38 cents each.
It obviously worked well for US Airways as well, because the airline has reprised the offer multiple times, in various permutations.
And—good news for their customers—the airline today reprised the offer for the nth time.
Offer Details
Through September 15, Dividend Miles members will earn a 10,000-mile bonus for every 10,000 miles purchased, either for their own accounts or as gifts for others, as follows:
- Earn 10,000 bonus miles for buying 10,000 – 19,000 miles
- Earn 20,000 bonus miles for buying 20,000 – 29,000 miles
- Earn 30,000 bonus miles for buying 30,000 – 39,000 miles
- Earn 40,000 bonus miles for buying 40,000 – 49,000 miles
- Earn 50,000 bonus miles for buying 50,000 miles
A maximum of 50,000 bonus miles may be earned. Members’ accounts must be at least 12 days old before they’re allowed to buy or gift miles.
Deal or No Deal
As always with this offer, the math can be compelling.
Including the bonus, 100,000 miles will cost $1,375.
In US Airways’ program, 100,000 miles are enough for a business-class award trip between the U.S. and Europe.
For comparison, a business-class ticket between New York and Frankfurt in early September would cost between $3,329 (on Delta) and $6,132 (Lufthansa).
So in this case, buying the miles instead of buying a ticket would yield savings of between 59 and 78 percent.
True, we’re comparing a revenue ticket to a restricted award ticket. Due to limited availability, the award ticket is likely to require an additional measure of persistence or flexibility, or both, to book. But with such outsized savings at stake, the extra effort may be well worth making.
Reader Reality Check
Have you taken advantage of past US Airways buy-miles promotions? What did you use the miles for?
Stay in Touch
For more news like this, sign up to receive our free weekly newsletter. You can follow us on Twitter, too.