US Airways Buy Miles with 100 Percent Bonus (Targeted): Worth It with American Merger?

TravelSort reader Reginald writes “With the AA and US Airways merger do you think it is worth buying the US Airways mileage with the 100 percent bonus?”

Thanks Reginald for reminding me of this targeted bonus. I believe this offer was mostly emailed to those who already have the US Airways MasterCard. Per this Flyertalk post, the emailed offer would give you a 100% bonus up to 50,000 US Airways Dividend miles, e.g. buy 50,000 Dividend Miles at the regular price of $1750 + tax, get a 50,000 mile bonus for a total of 100,000 US Airways miles for a cost of 1.88 cents per mile, including tax.

If you received this buy miles at a 100% bonus offer, is it worth taking advantage of?

As usual, it depends on your individual situation:

• How much do you value US Airways miles, based on what you plan to redeem them for?
• How important to your redemption plans is it that the US Airways American merger is approved?
• How many miles do you already have?
• What are your alternatives for earning miles and at what cost per mile?

Usually buying miles only makes sense if you're topping up for an award, because of how expensive it is to buy miles. With the 100% bonus, it halves the cost, so it could make sense for more awards depending on what you value the miles at. As I discussed in How Much Is a Mile Worth? Value of American AAdvantage Miles you want to look at the award flights you actually plan to redeem for to develop your own personal valuation of a given frequent flyer mile.

Let's say you want to redeem for a business class roundtrip to North Asia for 90,000 US Air Dividend Miles before the merger with American goes through and the US Airways award chart changes. The retail price of the ticket may be $7000, which would give you a nominal value of 7.8 cents per mile redemption value, but say you value it at $3000, which would be 3.3 cents per mile redemption value. Buying miles could definitely make sense. But let's also look at the other factors.

Also keep in mind, if you're redeeming US Airways miles, that there are more restrictions than with United miles, such as roundtrip awards only, no changes after travel has begun, and that US Airways blocks Lufthansa First Class Awards as well as Singapore First Class and Business Class awards.

How Important to Your Redemption Plans is it That the US Airways American Merger is Approved?

In the example above, when you're looking to cherry pick the best US Airways award chart redemption values and use them before the award chart goes away or suffers a devaluation, the merger won't matter at all, except to the extent it moves up your award redemption plans because of concern over when the US Airways award chart will change (though I'd say unilateral devaluation by US Airways is a bigger risk at this point than merger-driven changes, given the recent unilateral increases in miles required for certain rewards–see Buying US Airways Miles: 5 Reasons Why It's Not a Good Deal).

If, however, you're planning to buy US Airways Dividend Miles with a 100% bonus only to redeem for oneworld partners, your award redemption plans definitely hinge on the US Airways American merger being approved by the bankruptcy court, US Airways shareholders and the Department of Justice, and on nothing else coming along that derails the merger. I'd say it's a small risk at this point, but a risk nonetheless–nothing comes with an iron clad guarantee.

How Many Miles Do You Already Have?

If you already have plenty of miles, I personally wouldn't recommend buying miles even with the 100% bonus. Buying miles is mostly useful if you're going to turn around and use them right away to book an award, and don't want to have to wait for a credit card to be approved, make minimum spend, and have the miles post.

What Are Your Alternatives for Earning Miles and at What Cost Per Mile?

The US Airways credit card will get you 40,000 miles after first use, and you can get the card again. In fact, I expect many folks will be able to earn the bonus at least twice before the card goes away. See US Airways MasterCard: Turn Dividend Miles into AAdvantage Miles?

Of course, if you're looking to pad your AAdvantage mile balances, there are also the Citi AAdvantage cards (see the current best offers on our Best Travel Credit Cards page) and you can supplement that with a BankDirect checking account to earn AAdvantage miles for as little as half a cent per mile, taking into account the $12 per month fixed fee.

Bottom Line: Only you can determine if the US Airways 100% Buy Miles bonus (if you were targeted for it, that is) is worth it, given the above factors. For me, even if I'd been targeted for it, it wouldn't be, but it could well be for you, especially if you don't have many US Airways miles and need more miles now to book an award from the current US Airways award chart.

If you plan to buy US Airways miles with a 100% bonus, which award do you plan to book with them?