US Airways Dividend Miles closing in Q2 2015, miles transferred to AA

The integration of American Airlines and US Airways – both partners of British Airways in the oneworld alliance – is continuing. The airlines have now published guidance for the integration of their two frequent flyer programmes.

If you have a few random US Airways miles sitting in an account, the good news is that you will soon be able to merge them with any American Airlines AAdvantage miles you have.

Here is the published timeframe for the integration.

Early in 2015, American will add a feature to Dividend Miles to allow you to add your existing American Airlines account number.  If you do not already have one, American will automatically open an account for you.

In Quarter 2, Dividend Miles will be closed and your balance will be transitioned over to your American Airlines account.  The exact date is not yet known.

There is also a timeline now for the integration of status miles between the two programmes and how your existing US Airways status will be treated.  Few Head for Points readers will have US Airways status, however, so I will not go into that here – see the link above if you are interested.

The merger of bmi and British Airways, and the conversion of Iberia Plus Points and BA Miles to Avios points, led to a number of juicy arbitrage opportunities.  Most of these have now closed, although Le Club Accorhotels still awards you double miles if you choose to take Avios points in Iberia rather than BA!

I am not sure if there are any hugely generous US Airways / American arbitrages.  US Airways was exceedingly generous when selling its miles in the past, but the latest promotion was identical to one that American ran at the same time.  There is no US Airways credit card in the UK and it is not an American Express Membership Rewards partner, so you cannot pick up some American miles via that route.

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How to earn American Airlines miles from UK credit cards (April 2024)

American Airlines no longer has its own UK credit card.

There is, however, still a way to earn American Airlines miles from a UK credit card. 

The route is via Marriott Bonvoy. Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty points convert to American Airlines miles at the rate of 3:1.

The best way to earn Marriott Bonvoy points is via the official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. It comes with 20,000 points for signing up and 2 points for every £1 you spend. At 2 Bonvoy points per £1, you are earning (at 3:1) 0.66 American Airlines miles per £1 spent on the card.

You can apply here.