US Airways apparently is skipping the Grand Slam promotion this year in favor of just selling points outright at a discount. For the month of October that comes in the form of a 100% bonus on purchases up to 50,000 points. For purchased miles the price tag comes out to around 1.88 cents each, up to 100,000 total points purchased. NOTE: Apparently this is targeted and I got lucky; go figure.
There is a second 100% bonus being offered this month for mileage transfers to a second account. This promo is also capped at 50,000 points but the price point is rather cheaper – only 1 cent per mile, plus $30 per transaction and 7.5% excise tax.
If your end goal is 100,000 total points the best approach is to buy 25,000 points using the 100% buy bonus. That should cost ~$900. Then transfer those points to a second account (spouse, child, pet, etc.) using the transfer bonus. The second transaction will run you about $570. Total cost for 100,000 points is only ~$1470. And that’s enough points for some very attractive rewards. For around $1400 in spend you can have enough to fly business class pretty much anywhere in the world from the USA. South America or Europe can be had in first class around $1400 as well.
Note that accounts less than 12 days old cannot participate in these promotions. If you are even considering it and do not yet have an account open one NOW! You can still think about it and get the transaction done later in the month once you realize that is is a good idea.
