US Airways joins oneworld today – you can now book their MAN / EDI / GLA 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.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

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

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

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

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:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

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:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

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

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)