U.S. Airline Programs
One of the things that always annoys me when checking for frequent flyer offers is seeing all the offers available for U.S Citizens. The deals they get are very lucrative with offers as high as 100,000 points with one credit card! This can be maddening to see, which is one of the reasons why I started Canadian Free Flyers. I find it distracting to be constantly bombarded by deals I can’t apply for. However, if you have citizenship in the U.S.A, you may want to look into their credit card deals, which can have you earning a tremendous amount of points on both sides of the border.
When I first started travel hacking, the American-only deals frustrated me to the point of thinking it wasn’t worth doing it in Canada. Luckily, that’s not the case and Canada is the second best place in the world for earning frequent flyer miles. Not only do we have one of the best reward programs (Air Canada’s Aeroplan) but we also have a wide range of pretty good credit card offers throughout the year. Even though we can’t apply for an American credit card, we can still sign up for the loyalty programs with various U.S airlines and collect on all sorts of other offers. However, I wouldn’t recommend doing this unless a promotion comes up where you need an account. It’s better to use your main rewards account when possible. For example, US Airways is a part of the same alliance as Air Canada. Therefore, if you’re flying US Airways, you can use your Aeroplan card to earn points. It’s better to earn points with Aeroplan (if that’s the account you normally use) than with US Airways because you’ll likely have more earning opportunities with Aeroplan anyways.
However, if you do need an account with a US airline when a certain promotion comes up, it’s a good idea to sign up for an account anyways. Most U.S. offers available to Canadians are just as easy to sign up for as Canadian ones. Sometimes though, they ask for a U.S. mailing address on the form. Luckily for CFF members, an American friend of mine was willing to let you use his address when applying for these offers. Keep in mind though, if it’s something you want physically, he is not able to redirect mail.
Please keep in mind: Having accounts with these airlines will mostly be beneficial for:
- Earning miles when flying (if you’re current program isn’t accepted)
- Mileage runs, which you’ll learn about
- Little promotions that come up from the US.
You won’t have as much opportunity as you do with Aeroplan and some other reward programs but you never know.
The address is:
113 Old Mill Pond Dr. Ste. #5 Grand Ledge, MI 48837, US.
Here is a list of some U.S. Airlines and links to their loyalty card registration page:
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