A Rare Second Chance at US Airways’ 2-for-1 Bonus
An outstanding special offer from last year has returned, bringing opportunities for huge savings on First Class travel with 22 airlines. If you weren’t able to capitalize the first time around, here’s another chance to cut your flight costs in half.
US Airways is offering a 100% bonus on purchased miles: Buy the maximum of 50,000 miles and you net 100,000. Recruit a friend to buy and gift, and you can get up to 200,000 miles for only $2,750 (2.75¢ per mile). The offer ends on March 31.
Sample savings: US Airways has one of our favorite alliance-award-chart anomalies: It charges 50,000 miles for a domestic First Class seat on United—for which United charges 70,000 miles. With the US Airways promotion, you need buy only 25,000 miles, the usual cost of an economy award ticket.
For optimal value, buy 25,000 miles ($688) and use the 50,000 you net for a First Class Los Angeles-New York round-trip. At United’s fare of $5,344, you save $4,656, or 87%. (See FCF, Dec. 2009, page 3, for savings on other Star Alliance carriers.)
For details: US Airways Mileage Bonus
Save Thousands with Alaska Airlines’ Bonus Offer
Alaska Airlines is offering a 30% bonus on miles purchased through March 31. What makes this offer stand out is that although there’s a 30,000-mile limit per purchase, there is no limit to the number of purchases you can make. The miles give you access to Alaska’s many partners, which include American, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Delta, and Qantas.
Sample savings: As we have often mentioned, First Class award travel yields the highest return on miles. On American, a First Class Chicago-Shanghai round-trip costs about $20,000 (plus taxes). Both Alaska and American charge 135,000 miles for the ticket, but with Alaska’s promotion, you need buy only 104,000 miles ($2,860). You’ll save about $17,000. (You can’t buy that many miles from American, as the annual limit is 60,000.) We show mileage award availability to be plentiful in both directions on this route on American from July through December. (See FCF, Aug, 2009, page 6, for more sample First Class savings.)
For details: Alaska Airlines Mileage Bonus