US Airways joins oneworld today – you can now book their UK regional flights on Avios

Today is the day that US Airways joins the oneworld alliance.  This follows its merger (ie takeover) of American Airlines last Winter.

British Airways is also a member of the oneworld alliance, and allows reciprocal ‘earning and burning’ of miles.  This means that you can now book US Airways flights with your Avios points.  You will also be able to earn Avios and British Airways tier points when you fly with US Airways.

The US Airways and American Airlines frequent flyer schemes will also be merged.  No date has been announced yet, but it is almost certain that US Airways miles will transfer at 1:1 into American Airlines.  If you have status with US Airways, you will receive the equivalent level of AA status.

(I wrote about this generous US Airways promotion yesterday, which could be lucrative for you if you regularly fly a number of different oneworld airlines.)

US Airways has key hubs in:

Charlotte

Philadelphia

Phoenix

Washington National

Anyone travelling to those parts of the US will see the most benefit.  However, in total there will be 60 airports where you can go with Avios for the first time – 56 in the US, along with 3 in Canada and 1 in Mexico.

US Airways flies to a number of regional airports in the UK.  Some interesting new Avios redemptions options are now open to you if you were planning to head to the States.

These are routes currently flown by US Airways from the UK:

London to Charlotte

London to Philadelphia

Manchester to Charlotte (starts May 2014)

Manchester to Philadelphia

Edinburgh to Philadelphia (starts May 2014)

Glasgow to Philadelphia

Dublin (I know its not UK!) to Philadelphia

Dublin (ditto) to Charlotte (seasonal)

Shannon (ditto) to Philadelphia (seasonal)

Now, you may never have wanted to go to Philadelphia.  However, US Airways has a major hub in Philadelphia, and can connect you from there to pretty much anywhere else you want to go.

As the flights are not loaded into ba.com at the time of writing (and there is no guarantee that they will be available first-thing today) I do not yet know what sort of taxes will be charged.  As already happens with American Airlines transatlantic redemptions on Avios, I fully expect BA to add the same fuel surcharges that it adds to its own flights, even though US Airways does not charge fuel surcharges itself.  BA just pockets this money …..

Don’t forget that American Airlines also offers regional services to the US from UK airports:

Manchester to New York

Dublin to New York

Dublin to Chicago

None of this makes up for British Airways failing to offer regional long-haul departures, of course, but the US / American merger will definitely lead to an improvement in the Avios offering for those outside the South East.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.