As a very frequent flyer of US Airways it might surprise you to know that before now I’ve never actually signed up for the The US Airways Premier World MasterCard. I was always content with the other cards I had and unlike many other bloggers, I’m very conservative when it comes to credit cards.
So why does The US Airways Premier World MasterCard make sense now? I believe, like many others, that the card will go away at some point in the future since US Airways is now a part of The New American Airlines.
The benefits of the card are attractive to me for the following reason: I want to plan a trip to LA using miles. By applying for, and getting, The US Airways Premier World MasterCard I will earn:
Bonus Miles – the offer is for 40,000 miles, however you get 30,000 after the first purchase or balance transfer. You can earn UP TO 10,000 additional miles for balance transfers – 1 mile per $1 transferred. So you would have to transfer $10,000 to the card to earn those miles. So for me, I’m looking at this as a 30,000 mile bonus offer.
Reduced Award Mileage – one of the perks of the card is the ability to book award tickets for 5,000 miles less than the standard award. So a 25,000 mile award ticket becomes 20,000 miles.
Boarding Zone 2 – as a card holder you can board with zone 2. For me this is not an important benefit as I’m Chairman and board first. However, if you don’t have status, this is a great perk as we all know how precious the overhead space is!
Earn 2 miles per $1 on US Airways purchases and 1 mile on all other purchases – for me this isn’t a make-it or break-it perk, but it’s a nice one if you’re booking a lot of US Airways flights.
Annual companion certificates – you get a certificate for up to 2 companion tickets at $99 each, plus taxes and fees. Now, since the card has an annual fee of $89 the way I look at this benefit is each companion ticket is really $143.50 each, plus taxes and fees. That’s still a really good deal (depending on where you’re traveling) so for me it’s a great benefit.
First class check-in – this could be a good benefit if you don’t have status with US Airways, but again, for me as a Chairman it’s not a reason to get the card. I do have some colleagues who have status with Delta and like this card because they can check-in with first class and board with zone 2.
So, for a trip to LA, this card would certainly cover it! A trip in the low-season to LA from Charlotte is 25,000 miles round-trip, with the cardmember benefit it becomes 20,000 miles plus tax and fees. Fees will vary based on your status – as a Chairman there are no award booking fees.
At 20,000 miles this deal would leave me with 10,000 miles left over (almost enough for a one-way low-seaon ticket at 12.5k miles) and on the way to the next free ticket!
Do you have The US Airways Premier World MasterCard? If not, will you be applying for one?
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