How To Bump The Bonus On Latest US Airways Credit Card Offer

ByTerence Chan
a screenshot of a website

Last week the US Airways Dividend Miles Mastercard issued by Barclays increased its sign-up bonus from 40,000 to 50,000 miles. Earning the sign-up bonus is as easy as it gets, and comes after making your first purchase and payment of the $89 annual fee. And in case you were planning to be cheap and buy something for just 50 cents, reports have indicated that the purchase must be at least $1.

While I signed-up for the card primarily for the initial bonus, it does come with some nice perks when flying US Airways, including:

  • First checked bag free on eligible bags for you and up to 4 companions on domestic US Airways-operated flights
  • One companion certificate good for up to 2 guests to travel with you on a US Airways-operated flight at $99 each, plus taxes and fees
  • Priority boarding Zone 2 on US Airways-operated flights
With the ongoing merger between US Airways and American Airlines, everyone speculated that it was only a matter of time until it was announced that the card would be eliminated, and re-branded as an American Airlines credit card. That announcement came earlier this week, and the timing of the change will occur in Q2 2015. Barclays will remain the issuer of the new card, which will come with additional benefits such as a 10% refund on redeemed miles, making it very similar to the American Airlines card issued by Citibank:

Coming in second quarter 2015, you’ll also enjoy these benefits:*

  • $100 flight discount on your account anniversary each year with at least $30,000 in annual purchases
  • 10% of your redeemed miles back (10,000 miles maximum per year)

How to bump your bonus

Even though the increased sign-up bonus came last week, there’s good news for those of you who recently signed up for the 40,000 point offer. If you applied for the card on or after November 1st, 2014, Barclays will credit you the additional 10,000 miles to match the 50,000 point offer.

There are two easy ways to contact them:

  1. By Secure message: Log-in to your account via www.barclaycardus.com and in the top-left corner, you will see a link to your messages. From there, click on ‘Contact Us’ and fill out the form. I’ve been impressed with the response times, and have typically received replies within 4-6 hours.
  2. By Calling: Call the number on the back of the card (866-419-0881) and speak to a customer representative. Most of the reps I have talked to are familiar with this topic by now, and after giving a brief explanation of the situation, they will typically place you on a brief hold before coming back with a response.

Multiple denials for me

As is always the case in these situations, results will vary. Thus far, I have not seen any reports of someone being rejected for the increased bonus if they applied after November 1st. Some lucky folks have even been able to get the bonus matched if they applied in October.

When did I apply? October 31st. Which means that I missed the cutoff by a day.

I reach out both through secure message and with multiple phone calls, but was repeatedly denied for the higher bonus. After the first call, my account was notated which was basically the nail in the coffin, as all subsequent account representatives could see that I had already called and was previously denied.

Anyone that applied prior to November 1st have luck receiving the increased bonus?

2 Comments

  1. Yes–my wife applied Oct. 24. Via secure message she was denied the bump. She called US Air and the rep said he couldn’t credit the miles. After speaking to a very nice supervisor, he said that bc I was so close to the Nov. 1 cut off, he would credit the miles.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *