If you’re a US Airways cardholder, you probably received an email like this one:
Many banks offer cardholders referral bonuses like these, but I think this one is worth calling out because it should be easier than usual to convince friends to sign up for this offer:
- The Barclaycard US Airways card won’t be available to new applicants for much longer
- The 50,000 miles that your friend earns from this signup bonus will merge with their AA miles sometime in the 2nd quarter next year
- There is no minimum spend requirement! Use the card to buy one cup of coffee and your good to go!
The downside:
- Some people have only received an offer for 5,000 bonus miles per referral. And…
- Your friends could get a better offer! The alternate offer (found here) will give them a 10,000 mile anniversary bonus. That offer technically requires US Airways elite status, but in practice it seems to work for everyone.
So, the question is… who should get those extra 10,000 miles? Personally, I will continue to refer friends to the better offer, but there could be situations where it makes more sense for a referral:
- If your friend doesn’t have US Airways elite status and isn’t comfortable using the associated signup link.
- If it makes more sense to pool miles in your account than theirs. For example, if you have elite status with US Airways (or, later, AA), it could make more sense to book awards for them from your account in order to avoid change fees and the like.
- Maybe they just like you and want you to earn more miles
- Or, maybe they’re planning to cancel the card well before the anniversary date anyway.
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[…] Easy miles for US Airways cardholders – Current cardholders can earn miles for referring friends & family. […]
Hi
My wife got instantly approved for the US Air Premier MC 2 weeks ago and i would like to apply for it now. However she hasnt received any email for the refer-a-friend promo. Is there a way/link that i can use so that she gets the referral bonus? thanks.
As far as I am aware, the referral links for this offer came only via email. She can try contacting Barclay’s to see if they have another way to refer so that she can earn the bonus.
Thanks for the reply, called Barclays but no-go. So just applied it thru your link.
I was approved for the Barclay US Air Mastercard on 5/30/14. Reapplied for a 2nd card on 12/6/14- denied. Called recon line, twice. They both times said I could not have a 2nd card. Have 750+ Fico score so not sure what I did wrong or why others have two but not me. They referred me to the Barclay Arrivals card but I want miles that will eventually dump into my AA Advantage account.
If I cancel this card, how long do I have to wait to reapply (if it’s still available mid 2015)?
Good question. I don’t know.
How confident are we that those 10k anniversary miles will be awarded in 1 year. Won’t the card be converted to a different type of card at some point during the next year, which may or may not honor this 10k anniversary bonus?
I’m sure that the 10K anniversary bonus will be awarded even when the card first changes to an AA card.
If someone already has an open US Air card, is it possible for them to be approved for the 2nd card without having to close the existing one?
Yep, both my wife and I now have 2 cards each.
Yes
Has anyone had any luck getting Barclay to give a referral bonus on an application that was just approved last week? I have my US Air card for over a year now, and I just signed my wife up last week. I called Barclay prior to the application to ask about a referral but was told none was available. Now, literally a week later, we have this offer. My wife has received the new card, but have not activated it yet.
I haven’t heard of anyone trying this but it can’t hurt to call. They might be willing to give you something even if not the full 10K
Man, I was all excited until I saw your post. I received this offer email last night, but mine was for only 5,000 miles per referral! I am going to try to call them to get the better offer. Anyone else get > 10,000 per applicant, just so I know how much to ask for?
-theBOAT
I haven’t heard of anyone getting more than 10K per applicant