When UA and CO were going to merge, I opened a CO card. I already had a UA card. Each card gave 50k miles for signup. When they merged, the miles merged and I was left with 100k United miles.

Do I just need to sign up for US and AA accounts, then sign up for the credit cards and cross my fingers that they merge and the mileage merges?

All we can do is look at history and buzz, but the buzz is very very strong that they will merge, and history says it's overwhelmingly likely the points will merge.

No one can possibly know if they will end up with Citi or Barclays, but I'd go for getting the cards. What do you really have to lose?

And what else can they do but merge the points? One things that is true is that I don't think points have ever been actually lost in a merger. Or even a bankruptcy. (Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know what happened to Eastern, Pan Am, et. al.)

Just get 'em and don't sweat over it.

I know its merely speculation right now on what will happen, but perhaps those with more information on how the situation was handled in the past can provide insight:

After the merger is announced, how long do you think you'll be able to get the affinity card for the soon to be eliminated program? I want to get a US card in anticipation of a merger, but I'd prefer to wait about 3 months to get the card. Anyone care to venture a guess?

I'm young enough that United / CO was the only merger in my adult life, so I honestly had no idea what would happen when those two merged.

You're right though, nothing to lose by applying for both cards ^

The programs will likely continue to run as-is for the remainder of the year or thereabouts. The big changes will kick-in in '14 or '15.

Get them both (don't forget biz versions). Even if it takes a while for the cards to go away in their current forms (which it likely will), you aren't hurting anything.

And remember, there are multiple steps to a (possible) merger:

First it has to get officially announced.

Then it has to be approved by several agencies, most specially the DOJ (which among its most recent major decision nixed the AT&T - T-Mobile merger attempt, even though it did approve, prior to that, the last UA/CO and Southwest/AirTran).

So there's a gap of time between when it's officially announced and when it's an "absolutely sure thing".

(And meanwhile, as of this hour, it's not yet been officially announced even.)

Don't worry about whether the mileage merges, if they really really merge. That's not a real danger. But you do have to cross your fingers that they merge, and you can't necessarily uncross them just as soon as they announce they will merge (if they do announce that).

So unless you're willing to wait until all the approvals (that could mess up the deal if they don't happen) are over and done with, there's always some chance that US and AA could end up still separate at the end of it all. So if you're going to apply for a US card, have a backup plan of what to do with those miles in case the merger doesn't happen.

US miles can be used on UA, as long as US stays in *A, but 40k is not necessarily a "round number" for such use.

It worked for me with Delta/northwest and for United/Continental.

Merger approved by the two companies.

http://news.yahoo.com/ap-sources-ame...--finance.html