More Holiday Shopping Miles From US Airways

In the run-up to Christmas—during the predictable spike in shopping that defines the period—the airline and hotel programs in recent years have offered bonuses for shopping at their mileage malls and at other program-affiliated retailers.

This year is no exception.

The promotions are a good opportunity to add significant numbers of miles to your loyalty accounts, for expenditures you would have made in any case, assuming you’re one of the millions of consumers who do much of their holiday shopping at online retailers. And the flip side: If you don’t choose to earn miles from merchants that offer miles and points through one or more travel-loyalty programs, you may be getting less-than-full value for your purchases since there’s no extra cost to get the miles.

While some of the airlines’ holiday shopping bonuses have been exceptionally lucrative, US Airways’ is decidedly modest.

Offer Details

Through December 30, Dividend Miles members can earn up to four extra miles per dollar spent at participating online retailers, as follows:

• Earn one bonus mile per dollar for purchases totaling $100 – $249
• Earn two bonus miles per dollar for purchases totaling $250 – $999
• Earn three bonus miles per dollar for purchases totaling $1,000 – $7,999
• Earn four bonus miles per dollar for purchases totaling $8,000 or more

There’s a maximum of 100,000 bonus miles that can be earned—a highly theoretical cap, since it would require spending $25,000.

Registration is required.

Deal or No Deal

Given US Airways’ recent history of lucrative bonus-mile offers—the 100 percent bonus for purchased miles is one example—this promotion is notably weak. You can probably find better mileage bonuses elsewhere.

If you decide to do your holiday shopping at Dividend Miles vendors anyway, be sure to download and use the Dividend Miles shopping toolbar—it comes with a 500-mile first-use bonus (1,000 miles for Dividend Miles Preferred members and Dividend Miles MasterCard cardholders) that could add a bit of holiday cheer to the disappointing shopping bonus.

Reader Reality Check

What’s your plan for maximizing shopping miles during this holiday season?

This article originally appeared on FrequentFlier.com.