Where Would America Travel for Fifty Cents?

    WILMINGTON, Del., Jan. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- US Airways
 (NYSE:   LCC) and Barclays (NYSE:   BCS) kicked off a first-of-its-kind program
 that has Americans voting online for their favorite travel destinations then
 offering them a chance to purchase 50 cent flights to the most popular
 destinations.
     Since launching the program on January 3, 2006, thousands of Americans
 have cast their votes at www.50centflights.com. Most surprisingly, Americans
 professed their crush on Italy by voting Rome as the top destination. On
 Wednesday, February 1, whether it's anticipation for the Olympics or the need
 for a food fix, anyone who has already signed up for a US Airways Dividend
 World MasterCard from Barclays will be eligible to earn a 50 cent flight on US
 Airways.
     February 1 is only the beginning. Cardholders who are Miami sun
 worshippers, Vegas card sharks, Hawaiian surfers or Los Angeles wannabees also
 have the chance to purchase 50 cent fares during the first five business days
 of February.  Additional destinations will be announced for each business day
 throughout the entire month of February and will be available on a first
 come-first serve basis.
     While Rome is winning by a landslide over number two destination Las
 Vegas, the locations least voted are just as interesting:  Salina, Kansas;
 Ontario, California; and Salisbury, Maryland all have received only one vote
 to date.
 
     The top five US destinations rank as follows:
 
     1. Las Vegas, Nevada
     2. Orlando, Florida
     3. Los Angeles, California
     4. Honolulu, Hawaii
     5. Phoenix, Arizona
 
     The top five International destinations rank as follows:
 
     1. Rome, Italy
     2. Paris, France
     3. Venice, Italy
     4. London, England
     5. Dublin, Ireland
 
     To cast their votes and sign up for the card, consumers can visit
 www.50centflights.com.  In addition to this unique promotion, the US Airways
 Dividend World MasterCard is offering benefits not found in comparable
 frequent flier card offerings.
     The card, issued by Barclays, gives new card members 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.
     The US Airways Dividend Miles World MasterCard 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.
 
     About US Airways
     US Airways and America West's recent merger creates the fifth largest
 domestic airline employing nearly 35,000 aviation professionals.  US Airways,
 US Airways Shuttle and US Airways Express operate approximately 4,000 flights
 per day and serve more than 225 communities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the
 Caribbean and Latin America.  This press release and additional information on
 US Airways can be found at www.usairways.com or www.americawest.com.
     US Airways is a member of the Star Alliance(R) network, which was
 established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer
 customers global reach and a smooth travel experience. The Star Alliance
 network has been voted Best Airline Alliance by Skytrax in 2003 and 2005. The
 other members are Air Canada, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian,
 bmi, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore
 Airlines, Spanair, TAP Portugal, THAI, United, and VARIG Brazilian Airlines.
 South African Airways and SWISS will be integrated during the first half of
 2006. Overall, the member carriers offer more than 15,000 daily flights to 790
 destinations in 138 countries. (LCCG)
 
     About Barclays
     Barclays PLC is one of the world's largest global financial services
 providers primarily offering banking, investment banking and investment
 management services. Present in over 60 countries, Barclays is a leading
 provider of global services to over 20 million customers and employs more than
 110,500 people worldwide.
     With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays Plc has
 six major divisions:
 
     -- Barclaycard is one of the largest global credit card companies with
        14.9 million credit card customers around the world.
     -- Barclays' UK Banking delivers banking products and services to more
        than 14 million personal customers and 762,000 businesses in the UK.
     -- Barclays Capital is a leading global investment bank which provides
        large corporate, institutional and government clients with solutions to
        their financing and risk management needs.
     -- Barclays Global Investors, a leading provider of investment management
        products and services is one of the world's largest asset managers.
     -- Barclays Wealth Management has over #74 billion of customer funds under
        management.
     -- International Retail and Commercial Banking -- Barclays provides a
        range of banking services, including current accounts, savings,
        investments, mortgages and loans, as well as services to corporate
        customers across Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Africa and the Middle
        East. Barclays operates over 800 international branches under its own
        name. It is also responsible for Barclays stake in FirstCaribbean
        International Bank and Barclays majority stake in Absa, South Africa's
        largest retail bank, with over seven million customers.
 
 

SOURCE  Barclays