[aside headline="For FCF Subscribers Who Live Abroad (or in U.S. Cities Not in Examples)" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]Knowing the five things to think about when it comes to the American-US Airways merger enables you to also take advantage of transition anomalies from many countries to the U.S. that participate in oneworld loyalty programs, like British Airways Avios, etc.[/aside]
Five things to think about…
1. Starpoint Transfers: Until the two current loyalty programs become one, American’s mileage program will often be the better way to go when a round-trip saver award is not available, because it offers one-way awards. So you can book awards with two different mileage programs. For example, fly American one-way and United the other. (US Airways does not offer one-way awards.)
2. US Airways Miles to Asia: US Airways’ mileage program is the better way to go if round-trip saver awards are available to north Asia (China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, etc.) because US Airways only charges 90,000 miles in Business Class and 120,000 in First, up to 20,000 fewer miles than American.
3. Domestic Premium Class: US Airways’ mileage program is the better way to go if round-trip saver awards are available in First Class on American’s transcon because US Airways only charges 50,000 miles, 15,000 fewer miles than American.
4. Code-Share Fare Inconsistencies: American is the king of heavily discounted international First Class fares on most major routes. Book AA-operated Chicago-Tokyo with US Airways code-share and pay $16,414 versus $4,940 on an AA-coded flight.
Neither airline has consistent code-share fares to Costa Rica. So book the operating airline, which means American from Dallas, Miami, and New York, and US Airways from Charlotte and Phoenix, etc. You could pay $2,435 for Charlotte-San Jose, CR, on American instead of $1,071 on US Airways, a difference of $1,354 (56%).
5. First Class Mileage Awards: It may become harder for AAdvantage members to redeem international First Class awards, given all of the US Airways members who now have access to them. This is a one-way street because US Airways does not have a First Class cabin. Sure, AAdvantage members can access US Airways (Business Class) network, but US Airways will now drag on AA’s many First Class routes.
Business Class mileage inventory and international fares appear to be the same on both airlines at the moment.
Stay tuned for more in the coming months.