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Mar
You have to be logged in to see the bonus that you are offered. When I go to the purchase miles page I am asked to identify myself:
This is in order to discern the offer they are targeting me for this month. It appears everyone will be offered a bonus of some sort — in amounts that vary, ranging from 25% to 100%.
My own offer was:
Lucky You! You’re eligible to receive 75% in bonus miles when you buy miles today!
Hurry, this bonus offer ends March 31, 2013.
A 100% bonus means you’re buying miles at 1.88 cents apiece, which I generally consider to be worthwhile if you have a specific award in mind to book. Find the availability in an international premium cabin, set up the award, and then buy the miles.
And the bonus can be worth it for topping off an account towards a specific award goal.
But anything less than a 100% bonus I wouldn’t purchase with any degree of speculation — at a minimum, unless and until we can no longer count on a 100% bonus being offered most of the time or at least regularly.
Given that a 100% bonus is offered frequently, I wouldn’t “stock up” on miles at less than a 100% bonus. And lower bonuses make the transaction too expensive to me.
Log into your US Airways account and see what’s offered to you. The only reason I would buy miles with a bonus below 100% is if I had a specific need, this month, for the miles.
Andrew L said,
I’m LUCKY enough to get a 25% bonus…
DJP_707 said,
Sweet! I got:
Lucky You! You’re eligible to receive 100% in bonus miles when you buy miles today!
Hurry, this bonus offer ends March 31, 2013.
Mateo said,
25%. Noooo way.
Chris said,
25% on both mine and wife’s actts.
Bruce said,
Get ‘em at 50%+ while you can, with American AAdvantage the best deal I’ve seen in a long time is 50%.
Gary said,
@Bruce – but American at 50% is only about 10% more expensive per mile than US Airways at 100% since US Airways has a higher per-mile price. Basically they jack up the price of miles in order to make the discount look better…
Ryan said,
100% for me to buy or gift by 3/31
The Miles Professor said,
Last March, US Airways had a 50% bonus on transferring miles from hotel programs. 20k SPG points would get 37.5k US Airways miles. Guess we’re not so lucky this year!
DaninSTL said,
So I’m wondering if this changes every time you log in or if it’s set by account?
Also wondering if the % depends on if or how many miles you bought or didn’t buy in the past year, etc. ?
I doubt it’s random is my guess.
Robert said,
Gary–side question. Got the 100K Platinum AMEX offer (the short lived one) in January. I’ve had a personal Gold for years, but see no reason to keep it anymore considering it has a pretty hefty fee (plan on making the Platinum my “keeper” card). If I cancel an AMEX w/no pre-set limit, will that ding my score? Should I request a no-fee card? I dont mind a small ding, but want to make best decision. Thanks
Gary said,
Won’t ding your score it even stays on your report helping avg age for 7 yrs
Harold said,
I’m trying to plan a trip to S. Africa for June 2014 using USAir miles. I am short miles, is it worth it to buy now or by the time I can book the trip this July will it be to late to fly on Star? Basically wondering if I can use award tickets for June 2014 that came from USAir.
Thanks.
Sean said,
I am lucky because I received the 100% bonus. 50K = $1,750. That’s a good deal?
Sean said,
I forgot to mention that I have 50K US Airways miles & I want to book an award trip to Hong Kong.
Kalboz said,
Lucky You! You’re eligible to receive 100% in bonus miles when you buy miles today!
Emily said,
I also got 100% bonus, but note that it changed my gifting price from $0.01 per mile to $0.035 per mile. What’s up with that? It ultimately more than triples the price of gifting. Is anyone else encountering the same problem? Very sketchy.
Gary said,
@Emily — the transfer price is 1 cent a mile. The bonus doesn’t apply to transfers of miles from your account to someone else’s. Gifting is different — that’s buying miles but putting those miles into someone else’s account, and that’s the same price as buying miles for yourself, 3.5 cents a point.
Emily said,
@Gary–Thanks much for the clarification. I misunderstood and thought that gifting and transferring were the same. BTW, been a long-time follower of your blog and very much appreciate all your sage advice.
Benji said,
Can u get to the Maldives in an a380 suite with us airways miles?
Andy F said,
Thanks for the post, Gary!
I was fortunate enough to get the 100% bonus. My question is: does the 50k purchase limit apply to the combination of gifting AND buying? Or is it 50k for buying and then another 50k for gifting?
For example, could I buy 50k for myself (and get 50k bonus) and then gift 50k to my brother (again with 50k bonus)?
Simon said,
Got 100% bonus on mine and son’s accounts. 75% bonus on wife’s account.
Ed said,
@Benji- No.
1. SQ Suites awards are not open to US Airways members
2. an A380 flying to the Maldives? Really?
Benji said,
Not to the Maldives obviously, but man that would be nice. Maybe one day. I was hoping everyone would understand that I want to fly in a suite as much as possible on my way to the Maldives. Besides SQ, is there any other airline that flys a380 suites that you can somehow use us airways miles?
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