Preparing For The US/AA Merger

With the DOT giving its blessing, the AA/US Airlines merger is in its final stages. Late 2014 or early 2015 will see the end to one on my favorite frequent flyer programs, Dividend Miles.

Dividend Miles was the first frequent flyer program that I ever signed up for. Its the program that I earned the most miles with. Its been a fun ride. I am going to miss you, my friend.

The loss of the Dividend Mile program is a win for you. Why? Any miles that you earn now will later turn into American Airlines miles. Therefore, it is time to start thinking about earning Dividend Miles.


The most obvious place to earn Dividend Miles is by getting the Barclay's US Airways Mastercard. This credit card is definitely going away. The "New" American has already stated that they are going to be issuing credit card from Citibank. If you never had the card or had the card a while ago, why not apply for this card one last time. The current public public offer is for 30,000 miles. However, there are reports of 40,000 mile offer. A quick search will lead you to a landing page. Applying for a US Airways credit card is a great start of earning miles.

Similar to US Airway credit card, many other partnership will likely be discontinued. The best partnerships to target are the ones with overlap between US Airways and American already. When partnerships overlap, my best guess is that the US Airways program will be shut down or merged into the American program.

Here are some examples of programs that I am sure with go bye-bye:

Dining Rewards

 - I wrote about this program here. The current sign-up bonus is 1,000 miles.

eMiles

- More about the program can be found here. Check your email for bonus offers. American Airlines does
  not participate in e-Miles.

eRewards

-This is an invite only program, which I described here. Invites are sent out via email all the time. Check your  email for an invite from US Airways. AA does participate with this program, so you may be able to get

 two bonus eventually. 

Insurance Quotes

- 21st Century will give 200 points for getting a car insurance quote. 

Conclusion 

There are probably other partnerships that will end before the merger. The key to get double bonuses will be transferring points out and canceling the membership before the end of the program. My guess is that some of the programs above will merger with their AA Counterparts. Others like eMiles will simply stay put, but turn into AA affiliated. 

The biggest question is when will this merger with partnerships occur. Some might send emails to you letting you know its coming. When you get one these emails, make transfers quickly. However, the best indication is when you hear that US Airways Mastercard being turned into the Barclay's Arrival. This is the best indication the end is near.

The end of US Airways can be a great thing for the community. 

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Earning Miles for Switching Insurance Carriers

Last month, I received an email offering MilagePlus miles for getting switching one's insurance to Allstate.

At the moment, one can earn 500 miles for switching one's auto and home insurance.

The small print mentions that one needs to provide your local Allstate agent or the 1-800 agents your MilagePlus number from the beginning of your inquiry. In addition, the small print mentions that this offer will expire on August 12, 2013 and is valid in participating states only. However, it doesn't mention which states are participating.

A quick look at the United offer page, shows the offer valid in the following states and territories: Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire,
New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Washington, DC.

The offer page mentions one can earn from 500 to 6,500 bonus award miles for switching your insurance to Allstate. Call a local Allstate Agent or 1-855-514-9043 for your free quote and to find out how many miles you can earn. Therefore, one has a chance to earn more miles for switching to Allstate. This AllState webpage states that one could earn 4,500 miles for switching both your auto (2500 miles) and home insurance (2000 miles). I would recommend taking a screen shot of the page, if you decided to use this offer.

One should always check to see what the price of insurance with the miles and without the miles. I am not definite that the cost of a policy earning miles is more than one that does not. However, one could image a scenario where the policies could be different prices. Allstate has to pay for those miles otherwise.

At the moment, US Airways is the only other airline that allows one to earn miles for getting insurance. The big difference is that one can earn miles for simply requesting a quote.

Everyone needs insurance if they own a car or home, why not try to earn miles by doing it.

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 Have a question for us? E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com