US Airways Dividend Miles: UPDATED
Written: Jan 22 '06 (Updated Mar 19 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Free travel at 25,000 miles. Mileage Partners. Access to "Star Alliance Network".
Cons: Mileage can expire! Mileage Partners are skimpy. Airline offers sub-par service. Phone reservation:$5.
The Bottom Line: US Airways' Dividend Miles is best for travelers loyal to this airline. I would not alter travel plans just to use this frequent flyer program.
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| trailhound's Full Review: US Airways Dividend Miles |
About ten years ago I started using US Airways for most of my travel plans. Part of my strategy in using US Airways as much as possible involved enrolling in their Frequent Flyer program called Dividend Miles. This program promised to reward me with free flights on US Airways, and offered some nice travel perks to boot.
At first all was well. I earned a free plane ticket and an upgrade to First Class on one flight. But then the wheels (or wings?) seemed to come off of US Airways service, and the benefits of using US Airways and their Dividend Miles program went into a nosedive. So is it even worth enrolling in the Dividend Miles Program?
Earning Miles
US Airways Dividend Miles will reward an enrolled member mileage credits based on the distance of each flight, with at least 500 miles rewarded on all flight segments. First Class tickets will earn you an extra 50% mileage bonus too. The goal is to tally up enough miles so you get a free ticket, which starts at 25,000 miles.
US Airways provides mileage credits on airlines of the “Star Alliance Network”, which includes:
United Airlines, America West, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, LOT (Poland), Lufthansa, Varig, and a few others. Also, US Airways has several airline “Partners” where you can earn mileage on your Dividend Mileage Account. These are: Bahamas Air, Caribbean Star, Caribbean Sun, and Qantas.
Dividend Miles credits can also be accumulated using “Mileage Partners” on:
Car rentals (Avis, Hertz, Thrifty, and Dollar), Hotel chains (Choice Hotels, Radisson, Marriott, Holiday Inn, Sheraton, and more), VISA/Mastercard, Sprint telecommunications, Radisson Seven Seas Cruise Lines, a few on-line services and a few mortgage companies.
At one time I used the Dividend Miles VISA card, and racked several thousand mileage credits each year. But now the annual fee for this card is $90, so I canceled it due to the high cost. The other Mileage Partners will credit you with actual dollars spent or a flat amount, like 500 miles for each car rental. But most of their mileage awards are not very generous.
Redeeming Mileage
When your Dividend Miles account has 25,000 miles you are eligible for a Mileage Saver Award, which is one free coach class ticket within the continental United States or Canada. If you are envisioning international travel you are eligible to book on any airline in the “Star Alliance Network”, although more mileage credits will be required.
For overseas travel the Mileage Saver Award requirement ranges from 30,000 for Mexico or Central America, 35,000 miles for Hawaii, and 50,000 miles for Europe. First Class tickets to any of these destinations required double the Mileage Saver Award amount.
Blackout dates abound around major holidays and no frequent flyer awards are allowed on these dates. Also, there are restrictions on how many seats on each plane are set aside for free tickets. You can use awards for other travelers besides yourself though, or even buy frequent flyer points if you are just short of say, enough mileage credits for two tickets.
Redeeming your mileage award is best done on-line at www.usairways.com, where you can check which flights will allow for free ticket redemption. The website now has a chart that shows which destinations have seats readily available. If you redeem over the phone US Airways will charge $5 per award redeemed.
I redeemed mileage twice for a free ticket between Minneapolis and Philadelphia. I flew in the spring both times (not Easter, which is a blackout period) and easily booked the ticket on-line through the USAirways website. Note that if you have a high-demand destination in mind you may have difficulty using the free ticket. Your best bet is to plan well ahead of time, or try vacationing in Cleveland in February.
You can also use mileage to upgrade from a coach class ticket to first class with as little as 10,000 miles. I did this once, and it was a nice little bonus perk on a long flight.
Membership Levels
Dividend Miles has three levels of membership: Silver, Gold, and Chairman’s Preferred. The higher membership levels reward high-volume travelers with added perks like early check-in, a private phone reservation line, additional mileage credits, priority on stand-by flights, and first class upgrades. The highest level of traveler can also get guaranteed ticketing on any flight and a personal travel liaison.
**Drawbacks-UPDATE**
One drawback to the Dividend Mileage program is that effective January 31, 2007 mileage will expire if the account is inactive for 18 months, even if you have enough mileage for a free ticket. Mileage can be ''re-activated'' for a $50 fee plus .01 cent/mile charge. Also, accounts inactive for 36 months will be completely closed.
Accessing your account
A Dividend Mileage Statement is mailed to you when you have activity. However, I recently went on-line and requested to have my account e-mailed to me instead. By doing this I was credited with an extra 1,000 miles in my account!
Overall
Dividend Miles is best for air travelers who use US Airways quite frequently. This airline is not, in my opinion, a good travel choice though. On the other hand, I have been able to use one free ticket and currently have enough mileage for another award.
The fact that Dividend Miles can expire, their Mileage Partners’ credits (car rentals, etc…) are skimpy, the credit card partnerships have a high annual fee, and a fee is charge for phone reservations detracts from the program’s value. Overall I’ll rate the program as “average”, and as soon as I’ve used my last award I will try to accumulate frequent flyer mileage on another airline.
Other reviews that may interest you:
US Airways: Fear and loathing in the City of Brotherly Love
http://www.epinions.com/content_167287754372
Northwest Airlines World Perks Frequent Flyer Program
http://www.epinions.com/content_216046210692
© trailhound. 2006.
Recommended:
Yes
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