CLTFlyer

From Today's Charlotte Observer (free registration required to view full text of article)

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlot...s/12336532.htm

Posted on Tue, Aug. 09, 2005


OBSERVER EXCLUSIVE

US Airways breaks with BofA
Juniper Bank pledges $455 million to take over airline's credit card
TONY MECIA AND RICK ROTHACKER
Staff Writers

Holders of US Airways Dividend Miles Visa cards will eventually stop sending payments to Bank of America Corp., which is getting out of the business of sponsoring the airline's frequent flier cards.

Taking the place of Charlotte-based Bank of America will be Juniper Bank, a subsidiary of British-based Barclays PLC, which agreed Monday to pour $455 million into the merger between US Airways and America West Airlines. In exchange, Juniper will have the exclusive right to market the US Airways credit card beginning in 2008, after a two-year transition period in which both banks can offer US Airways cards, according to regulatory documents filed Monday.

The end of Bank of America's participation in US Airways credit cards was somewhat unexpected, given that the bank runs card programs for both US Airways and America West.

. . . .

2-year Transition

• Juniper Bank will start marketing US Airways card in 2006; Bank of America will stop offering card by 2008.

• Cardholders are unlikely to have to reapply for the cards, said an America West spokesman . The transition should be "very easy and seamless," he said.

Personally, I'm not familiar with Juniper's cards for Frontier or AirTran - so wonder if Signature, and its benefits will continue. Should be an interesting time.

MJonTravel

Well, bummer, but not totally unexpected from what I've been reading. We'll see what happens. I'm not familiar with Juniper Bank.

TPA us ff

One could only hope for better customer service.

Robertsonland

I don't have the US card but do have the HP card through BofA and we actually bank with BofA. I'll be fine with the switch depending on a couple things. The yearly fee will be a big thing. I hope that Juniper doesn't jack up the fee to something totally ridiculous and that we can go online at Juniper and pay from another financial institution electronically. Most bigger banks have this option where you just type in the routing and transit number as well as the account number and they debit it for you for that month only. I'll hate to see my account number go as we've had it for many many years and will now have to learn a new one. But I'll hang onto my card for as long as I possibly can before the switch.

Lance

myleguy

I have had the Frontier MC issued by Juniper Bank and have never had an issue. In fact, they are very good on pretty much everything.

bigred93

I'd not heard of Juniper Bank either, but I've certainly heard of Barclays... not exactly a strip mall storefront kind of outfit. Hopefully their website will be better than BofA...

kanerf

Goodie! I already had the HP card and applied for the DM card recently in order to get the 15K bonus which has already posted. I imagine that after the merger, the HP card will become a DM card, but who knows. This just means that you can apply for bonus miles when the Juniper card becomes available.

Robertsonland

Yeah I was thinking of applying for the US Airways card just for the 15K bonus. Do they charge you the $90 right away on that one or is it at your anniversary?

Lance

cltwbb

The poster that mentioned customer service at BofA must have never dealt with Juniper before! The BofA customer service I've received has been excellent in comparison!

Robertsonland

I've never had a problem at all. I've missed payment dates and gotten interest credited back on several occasions. Does anyone know if Juniper lets you put your picture on your card?

Lance

mileshound

Will they waive the annual fee if you threaten to cancel. BofA would not.

Spiff

Sure, cut one out and glue it on. You could also freehand a picture of yourself using a thin Sharpie if you prefer.

Robertsonland

LOL not quite what I meant. The picture is a nice thing for me. I was in MSP a couple months back. Someone got ahold of my walllet and took only those cards without my picture on them and then proceeded to charge about 4K on them within 1 hour of them being gone. The only cards left in my wallet were those with pictures on them because they couldn't use them. That and I hate having to show ID all the time when travelling. I just tell them to look at the card.

Lance

US AIRWAYS FAN

From reading this article BofA is not dumping US Airways it looks like the other way around. US Airways is dumping BofA. Juniper Juniper Bank pledges $455 million to take over airline's credit card.

The subject of the thread is not correct unless I am missing something.

EnvoyBoy

Well, it's accurate insofar that BofA dumped US by not pledging $455 million. I'm sure they were invited and their lack of action (things left undone) became the dumping of US.