l etoile

***Despite confirming with three agents before I posted this, it turns out you CANNOT EARN ELITE MILES with South African yet. They just released a press release about this and the latest news is they're now offering codeshares. Elite miles and awards are still a few months away - April, it says. ****

Here's the press release:
http://www.united.com/press/detail/0,6862,53577,00.html

I'm very sorry for the confusion. I deliberately didn't post until I had three different agents reading that to me off their screens - and I even got the name of one. Obviously, that still wasn't enough.

rmatley

Sweet! I didn't think this would happen so soon. Will all SAA economy fare codes earn 100% EQM on United? SAA's Voyager program only gives 50% of mileage on T,V,L and X fares. That's one of the reasons I stopped flying them, thats a lot of miles to give up on a US -> South Africa long haul. Well, that reason and that little strike they had back in July.

SeaMeFly

I have been waiting for this for the past 3 yrs!!! FINALLY!!!

brian_in_dc

That's great... I hope there's no long delay for redemption to take effect. Would be nice, too, if they could make the IAD service truly non-stop to JNB/CPT, like SQ does from EWR to SIN, but hey, it's a lot to ask. Anything's better than IAD-FRA (wait 10 hrs) then FRA-JNB on LH.

edizzle

From united.com:

Discounted Economy 50% (T,V,L,X)
Paid Economy 100%(Y,B.M,H,Q,S,E,U)
Discounted Business 100% (Z)
Business Class 125% (C,D,J)
First Class 150% (F, A)

http://united.com/page/article/0,6722,51396,00.html

SFOChump

Those numbers appear to be the RDMs and not the EQMs earned for those fares. Has anyone been able to find information on the EQMs earned on the various fares?

CApreppie

Well on their way to joining the *A mid-2006.

l etoile

I just called back to check. It seems like only the Hawaii MP reps have been well briefed on this as three of them confirmed it for me - one on Monday and two today who said they just had their briefing - but none of the other reps seem to be able to find the info.

Let's hope it's still spring, as all reps and info so far agree on that.

FarAway

I agree that EQM's is great (I'll fly them a number of times this year within Africa), but I wonder what the chances are of getting elite bonus when they are in *A? Just as 50% credit stinks on a flight that long, so does not getting 100% bonus. That would cost me about 23,000 miles to JNB. I'll take the 10 hour layover.

rmatley

Yeah, I used to be really opposed to the Europe layover, but now I kind of like it. Its nice to get off of the plane for a while and grab a hotel room for a few hours of sleep. That 16-17 hr direct flight from New York/Atlanta/DC is brutal. I feel like I'm ready to jump out of my skin towards the end of it. Add to it a 5-6 hour trip to and from the West Coast and the stopover in Europe, with elite bonuses and more BIS miles, looks even more attractive. Besides, there is a far smaller that United/Lufthansa will stop flying for a week over a 3% difference in pay increase between management and FAs on a one year contract.

I wonder when we'll be able to search/book South African flights on united.com? I don't think I'll hold my breath for that improvement.

uk_flyer

I need to book LHR to Cape Town and would like to use SA. Can anyone give any confirmation about ability to earn EQM miles on this route. The India call centre we have in the UK is next to useless...

Thanks

UK Flyer

mahasamatman

My guess is three chances - slim, fat, and none. Only US and trans-atlantic LH flights give that bonus, and I doubt that will change any time soon.

l etoile

So that I don't let anybody down on this, do be sure and confirm this when you call. I confirmed with three MP international agents before I posted this, but, as I wrote above, other reps knew nothing about it when I reached a different call center later in the week.

OHare

When miles can be redeemed on SAA for tickets (sometime in April), will buying upgrades w/ miles (like on LH) be available at the same time?

hw248i

Thank you for that infromation.. I am so use to getting 100% eqm in economy. I will be carefull when booking SSA.