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usairwayslogoFor 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.


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