For the past few weeks, there has been an existing offer that offers 50,000 US Airways miles upon first purchase (and payment of the $89 annual fee). There has also been another offer that was initially targeted to US Airways elite members that ALSO offered 10,000 miles on your anniversary, for a total of 60,000 miles. I applied for (and was approved for) this card as part of my November credit card churn.
(SEE ALSO: Free $25 statement credit for Barclay US Airways card holders)
It seems that Barclays has been upping their game lately!!
Barclays US Airways card going away
The Barclays US Airways card is going away because…. well… US Airways is going away. US Airways merged with American Airlines earlier this year, and when they get a little further along on the path to actually being one company, there won’t be any more US Airways cards.
Current thinking is that the combining of the 2 frequent flyer programs will happen in the 2nd quarter of 2015. At that point, it seems likely that there will be no more Barclay US Airways card, and those cards will convert to be Citibank cards.
60,000 mile offer no longer available.
I first read it on View from the Wing, and there is (of course!) an extensive thread on Flyertalk. From the wiki, there have now been reports that applying for the enhanced deal (with 10,000 anniversary miles) now results in an insta-rejection, and then you are not able to apply for ANY Barclays cards for 30 days. From the Flyertalk thread wiki:
Do not use a Preferred Application (10K Anniversay bonus) if you are not Preferred Elite. The reconsideration csr said as of December 11, 2014 the Preferred numbers are programmed in their computer and non-Preferred are immediately kicked out with no credit check. You cannot apply for any Barclays card for 30 days after rejection.
from the rejection letter I received:
The Dividend Miles number you provided on the application does not currently reflect a Preferred Status within the Dividend Miles program, and unfortunately this offer is only available to Dividend Miles members with Preferred Status. A credit report was not used in making this determination.
Yikes! Looking through the Fyertalk thread, there have been some reports of non-elites still being approved for the anniversary bonus, so your mileage may vary. Personally, I think I’d be leery of applying for the card if a rejection meant I couldn’t apply for any Barclays card for 30 days.
The silver lining?
One silver lining to this cloud is that you do have to consider whether you were going to pay the 2nd annual fee anyways. Yes, in a vacuum I would value the 10,000 anniversary US Airways (American AAdvantage by then I suppose) miles as “worth” $89. But if you are someone who is miles-rich, it may not make sense. I turned down a similar offer a few months ago when I canceled my Chase Ink card.
If you were unlikely to pay the annual fee, then the standard 50,000 mile offer is just as good. I do recommend this card as a great one to get not only for the lack of spending that is required to get the bonus, but mostly for the fact that this card is going away and after US Airways and American combine early next year, you won’t be able to get a US Airways card.
This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as thepointsguy.com. This may impact how and where links appear on this site. Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers and that compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners and I do not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers and other offers and benefits listed on this page. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. Other links on this page may also pay me a commission - as always, thanks for your support if you use them
User Generated Content Disclosure: Points With a Crew encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.
Do you research first before posting crap. Ur post is definitely not true. You have a responsibility to report properly.
Thanks for your comment mike. I do in fact try to research to the best of my ability. Your comment was somewhat cryptic, but I am guessing that you mean that some people are still getting approved for the 50K + 10K offer even though they are not elites. I have updated the post to make that more clear. I do not have any referral links to the “regular” offer so I don’t have any skin in the game. I just try to report the facts as best I know them and let you, the readers, decide on the best way forward.
Happy traveling!
No your post is wrong. You have to pay the annual fee to get the first 50,000 points no matter what, the 10,000 points is an anniversary bonus and will post before you are asked to pay the second year’s annual fee so you can cancel before then.
The thing is, you get your 10K bonus anyway, and still have time to decide whether or not you want to close the card. Wife and I got the bonus every time before canceling the card.
That’s a good point Andy. I believe with US Airways you have 60 days to cancel the card to get a refund of the annual fee.
I have this from a year ago. I didnt cancel the card as they waive my annual fee. Can I apply for another of this card?
I’m not sure, but generally if you can get approved automatically it can happen. If you have to call into the reconsideration line, your odds are much lower (if not non-existent)
Wow, some folks are not in the holiday spirit…
Just a data point: I recently applied for my 2nd Barclay USAir Card (with my 1st card still open, I got the 40K bonus in August) but only for the 50K bonus (not using the preferred/elite link) and was approved. When my card arrived this week, I read the reward literature and it said that the 10K anniversary bonus would be included after a year (though it’s probably moot since this card will be no more come the Spring)
LOL @ Holiday spirit :-). Supposedly the new Citi American card that this is getting transferred to will also include the anniversary bonus, if you had it on the US Airways card