mod - there are suggestions that some people have had difficulties with this deal in the past and perhaps some experience with the systems involved is needed or the deal can go quite badly wrong.
US Airways is a member of the Star Alliance network and their Dividend Miles normally cost US$27.50 for 1,000 miles.
However, there is currently a 100% bonus up to 50,000 miles (US$27.50 for 2,000 miles).
Whilst the present promotion ends November 15, slight variations have been run almost continuously for over a year, such as with a 100,000-mile maximum bonus, so similar offers could be expected in future.
When redeeming a Star Alliance award for return travel between Australia (South Pacific) and USA/Canada, one stopover or open-jaw in Europe is allowed at the inbound airline’s hub city.
The number of Dividend Miles required and their cost with the above promotion are:
First Class: 140,000 miles = US$2,475
Business: 110,000 miles = US$1,650
Ecomomy: 80,000 miles = US$1,100
There is a US$50 award processing fee and airport taxes are also to be paid.
Star Alliance member airlines include Adria, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Blue1, bmi, brussels airlines, Continental, Croatia Airlines, EgyptAir, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAM Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, THAI, Turkish Airlines, United, and US Airways.
Join Dividend Miles between October 11 and December 31, 2010 with promo code NMCB – earn 1,000 bonus miles.
http://www.usairways.com/en-US/dividendmiles/promotions/mcen…
Star Alliance award travel chart
http://www.usairways.com/en-US/Resources/_downloads/dividend…
Dividend Miles membership guide
http://www.usairways.com/en-US/dividendmiles/programdetails/…
Star Alliance Award Bookings Using US Airways Miles - FAQ and Help Thread
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/us-airways-dividend-miles/101…
Award Routing Quirks and Making the Most of Award Stopovers
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/2010/06/06/awa…
Dreams Come True: PER-JFK, TG C/F, LH C/F, LX C/F
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1114275-dreams-c…
There are SO many caveats around this… worst case scenario you buy the points and then cant get the routing you want…then all of a sudden you have 150k points with NOWWHERE to go and are almost 3k outa pocket…
the post does NOT mention credit card fee issues, some taxes are processed AFTER the booking and can be another $500 on top.