American Airlines and US Airways have completed the next stage of their merger, they reported yesterday: combining their loyalty programs. The merger, which gives it 100 million members, makes American's AAdvantage program the largest airline rewards program in the world.
"We've created a single loyalty program by bringing US Airways Dividend Miles members into the AAdvantage program," American told customers in an email. "This is a very important milestone in our merger, and it puts us one step closer to operating as one airline."
The merger of AAdvantage and Dividend Miles means members of each can now earn and redeem miles for both American and US Airways flights. That's the only significant change impacting AAdvantage members. Dividend Miles members, on the other hand, will notice several changes. For one, American has eliminated some fees previously charged to Dividend Miles members, including a $25-$50 processing fee for booking awards. Additionally, US Airways customers must adjust to American's upgrades policies and will now use AAdvantage's redemption framework, which requires more miles for some destinations than previously required under the Dividend Miles program. For instance, The Los Angeles Times reported this weekend that American requires approximately 5,000 more miles to fly to Hawaii from the contiguous United States than US Airways did.
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