Barclays and US Airways Launch New World MasterCard

The card, issued by Barclays, gives new cardmembers an opportunity to earn a roundtrip ticket on US Airways immediately by awarding 15,000 bonus miles upon activation and up to 10,000 bonus miles for balance transfers. In addition, cardmembers have the chance to purchase fifty cent tickets to some of US Airways' more than 200 destinations throughout the month of February.

The US Airways Dividend Miles World MasterCard, one of the most generous rewards cards in the U.S., also features a 0% interest rate for the first six months on balance transfers and no annual fee for the first two years. Additionally cardholders earn 50% more miles during their first year using the card -- three miles for every dollar spent on US Airways purchases and 1.5 miles for all other purchases.

Ron Lieber reports for the Wall St. Journal on why there are now two issuers of affinity credit cards for US Airways: Bank of America and Barclays.