Miles earning strategy for AA/US merger
 

I got an email this morning saying the merger should be complete by 3rd quarter 2013. I want to get the most bang for my buck between now and then.

I have an old (2008) AA personal card, and a new US Air card plus a new AA biz card. I got the two newer cards in mid-October. Now that the 2BM method is 6 feet under, help me strategize my next move:

I'd like to apply for another US Aircard before it's too late, but without risking being turned down. How much success are people having before the 6 month mark for duplicate cards? Should we just get as many US Air cards from Barclays as we can, including the 25K biz card, since we know their days are numbered?

Here's what my email notice said in part:

Until the merger is complete, US Airways and American Airlines will remain separate companies and each company will maintain its current loyalty programs (US Airways – Dividend Miles and American Airlines – AAdvantage®). In the meantime, your existing miles will continue to be honored, and there will be no impact to your US Airways MasterCard® or US Airways Visa® card. You can continue to book travel and track and manage flights and frequent flyer activity on www.usairways.com. You can also continue to earn and redeem mileage for travel awards with us and our Star Alliance™ partners.

We expect the combination to be completed in the third quarter of 2013. Additional information will be provided to customers of our frequent flyer program on any future program updates, including account consolidation or benefit alignment. In the meantime, please visit www.usairways.com/arriving for the latest information.

Miles earning strategy for AA/US merger
 

My guess is that it'll be like UA and CO before the merger completed. Chase ran both their card programs and Citi runs them for both AA and US, and post merger you will have one combined acct with mileage from both accts integrated into a "new" AA FF acct (not a new acct being generated but new in that it is an integrated of both pre-merger accts). I say go for broke and churn both the World Elite MC for US Air and maybe the Top Tier card for AA for the miles and bank them.

US Airways card is run by Barclays. The announcement today didn't say who they would go with.

Simply based on number of users I can't see the Barclays card being the winner. Whatever. I just got the Barclays card for the 40k points and will bank those till they merge with the AA points. With no required spend it's an obvious move.

I guess we have atleast to the third quater of 2013 to churn this card.I was going to rush this in before my march app-o rama but decided to wait since the merger wont go into effect atleast until nov 2013.I guess we have time for atleast 2 more churns on this card.

What's the consensus on best churning strategy for the Barclay's USAir card? I've never held it before and I'd like to get the bonus twice before the merger is complete, if possible. I'll apply in the coming days, but for the 2nd round, what is the best avenue? Cancel immediately and immediately reapply, wait to cancel and then immediately reapply, wait to cancel and wait to reapply, or simply reapply as an existing cardholder?

Looks like the best offer of Chairman's card is pulled today.

Someone in another forum mentioned that Citi has an exclusivity deal with AA for all credit cards, so unless that contract is up soon I would be expecting only the Citi card to last.

How long do you think they will honor the 99 dollar companion pass for? I was going to book a trip to Vancouver in March and was hoping to use it!

Well considering this merger isn't going to be approved or rolled out over night....

And if I remember right NW had US Bank and Delta Amex, it seems that the NW card stayed around a while then US Bank converted members to Flex Perks. I would expect the Barclays to eventually lose the airline.

another thought: regardless of whichever card issuers wins, will there ultimately be a new card product with an entirely new bonus (e.g. something nobody would be excluded from having had already before in the past x months) for everyone to pounce on once this entire merger is complete?

Here's the only link I could find for the biz card... MMS origination and click through

You're good.

My next (and presumably final) round of CC goodies arrives in May. I'm not too worried about it...I suspect we'll have another year or so of separate operations. Remember UA/CO continued operating separately for quite a while after the formal merger.

The only unusual action I took in the waning days of OnePass was calling our corporate TA and asking for elite status. They were our preferred carrier and the TA could arrange for Silver or Gold easily enough. (They probably could have arranged for Plat for a more frequent traveler or higher executive.) I was cycling out of UA status, so the gift nudged me along through program year 2012.

If you're a no-status AA and US flier but might need a status in the future, you might see if your corp TA can hook you up with a Dividend Miles status. Alternatively, you could wait until July 1 (or whatever the optimal date is) and complete a US Elite Trial.

And yeah, if you have the ability to do so, I'd probably churn Barclays once or twice more. I seem to recall that Barclays is tighter than some other banks though...this isn't a bottomless pit.

No one can say for sure, but I think it's likely.