TK Elite Plus or UA MileagePlus *G?
Jan 9, 2015, 11:55 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: TK Gold, M&M FTL, QR Gold, HH Diamond, PCR Platinum
Posts: 1,667
TK Elite Plus or UA MileagePlus *G?
I have been TK Elite Plus for the last 2 years, and will still have the status for another 2-3-4 years (whatever they say, not clear from the site). After an appalling award booking experience with TK I am thinking whether to status match (from 1W Emerald) to UA Premier and move all my future earned miles there.
Pros for moving to United:
+ easier way to earn miles since it is based on $ spent. 95% of my flights are work-related and relatively expensive.
+ I fly annually 4-6 times internationally, in premium classes which helps with earning. Should exceed $10k spending easily. This should net UA 1k status for 2016 at least...
+ on domestic flights I would get automatic upgrades to eco premium. Not a huge deal, but useful if available
+ United has Global Upgrade vouchers. I could not find whether they will continue to give them out after March 2015.
+ UA does not have taxes on award travel
+ booking multi-carrier *A award travel with UA will be easier than with TK
+ I am based in SFO (UA hub)
Pros for staying with TK:
+ keep all *A miles in one place
+ TK has lower mile requirements for award travel, but not significantly lower
+ TK will open an office in SFO in 3 months which will make award ticket booking much easier.
+ TK will start to fly to SFO in April, and will become my first option for flights to Europe. I find their J product awesome.
+ TK gives 2 annual upgrade vouchers valid on TK. Advantage is that they can be redeemed (based on experience) also for upgrades into the last available seat in the J cabin, not only when award J availability exists.
Stay with TK and bite the bullet on award travel taxes, or move to United?
Pros for moving to United:
+ easier way to earn miles since it is based on $ spent. 95% of my flights are work-related and relatively expensive.
+ I fly annually 4-6 times internationally, in premium classes which helps with earning. Should exceed $10k spending easily. This should net UA 1k status for 2016 at least...
+ on domestic flights I would get automatic upgrades to eco premium. Not a huge deal, but useful if available
+ United has Global Upgrade vouchers. I could not find whether they will continue to give them out after March 2015.
+ UA does not have taxes on award travel
+ booking multi-carrier *A award travel with UA will be easier than with TK
+ I am based in SFO (UA hub)
Pros for staying with TK:
+ keep all *A miles in one place
+ TK has lower mile requirements for award travel, but not significantly lower
+ TK will open an office in SFO in 3 months which will make award ticket booking much easier.
+ TK will start to fly to SFO in April, and will become my first option for flights to Europe. I find their J product awesome.
+ TK gives 2 annual upgrade vouchers valid on TK. Advantage is that they can be redeemed (based on experience) also for upgrades into the last available seat in the J cabin, not only when award J availability exists.
Stay with TK and bite the bullet on award travel taxes, or move to United?
Jan 10, 2015, 12:17 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: TK Gold, M&M FTL, QR Gold, HH Diamond, PCR Platinum
Posts: 1,667
Thanks for responses so far. So UA does not give lounge access for economy travelers on domestic flights? Not even UA 1k? Not that the UA lounges are anything to write home about, but good for layovers...
I have the TK *G status for another few years without needing to put any mile there...
Does UA Premier status combined with $$$ flights give significantly more miles than other *A programs? Is there any site that has done a comparison of earning miles with UA vs other *A FFPs?
I have the TK *G status for another few years without needing to put any mile there...
Does UA Premier status combined with $$$ flights give significantly more miles than other *A programs? Is there any site that has done a comparison of earning miles with UA vs other *A FFPs?
Jan 10, 2015, 12:41 pm
#5
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: CLE
Programs: UA Gold, HH Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 3,662
No lounge access on purely domestic flights (if you're flying in connection with an international flight, same day, etc and you're either *G or in business then you would get lounge access). You can waste your money for a club membership.
Remember that the redeemable miles that you get are also based on status. The higher your status, the more miles. Are you thinking Premier as Silver? Then there's no E+ except at 24 hours before hand.
I know for me my redeemable miles will significantly drop after March, even tho I'm 1K. I'll wind up with about half or less of what I would have had before on TPAC. Now I don't fly expensive fares. I think the only way to know is to look at the charts and figure it out for yourself.
Remember that the redeemable miles that you get are also based on status. The higher your status, the more miles. Are you thinking Premier as Silver? Then there's no E+ except at 24 hours before hand.
I know for me my redeemable miles will significantly drop after March, even tho I'm 1K. I'll wind up with about half or less of what I would have had before on TPAC. Now I don't fly expensive fares. I think the only way to know is to look at the charts and figure it out for yourself.
Jan 10, 2015, 3:33 pm
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: ORD, HKG
Programs: UA*G, AA Emerald, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt globalist
Posts: 10,279
There are other cheaper options instead of getting a UA club membership, one is getting the UA Club card visa, the other is PP, given almost all UA domestic lounges are available for PP members now.
I know for me my redeemable miles will significantly drop after March, even tho I'm 1K. I'll wind up with about half or less of what I would have had before on TPAC. Now I don't fly expensive fares. I think the only way to know is to look at the charts and figure it out for yourself.
Last edited by ORDnHKG; Jan 10, 2015 at 3:41 pm
Jan 10, 2015, 6:17 pm
#7
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: EWR
Posts: 2,112
Economy plus is NOT an upgrade-it's still the economy cabin with extra legroom. As a 1K you will get access to economy plus on all UA flights at booking. Upgrades on domestic routes will be from economy to domestic "first". Also be aware that the use of GPUs (global upgrades) on international tickets requires tickets booked on W class or higher (for economy to business) and D class or higher (for business to first)
Jan 10, 2015, 8:14 pm
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: TK Gold, M&M FTL, QR Gold, HH Diamond, PCR Platinum
Posts: 1,667
Thanks all. I'll go ahead and request the status match and see from there. I expect that I'll get at least Premier Gold, otherwise it's really not worth it...
Jan 11, 2015, 3:48 am
#9
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: DSS
Posts: 827
I have been TK Elite Plus for the last 2 years, and will still have the status for another 2-3-4 years (whatever they say, not clear from the site). After an appalling award booking experience with TK I am thinking whether to status match (from 1W Emerald) to UA Premier and move all my future earned miles there.
Pros for moving to United:
+ easier way to earn miles since it is based on $ spent. 95% of my flights are work-related and relatively expensive.
+ I fly annually 4-6 times internationally, in premium classes which helps with earning. Should exceed $10k spending easily. This should net UA 1k status for 2016 at least...
+ on domestic flights I would get automatic upgrades to eco premium. Not a huge deal, but useful if available
+ United has Global Upgrade vouchers. I could not find whether they will continue to give them out after March 2015.
+ UA does not have taxes on award travel
+ booking multi-carrier *A award travel with UA will be easier than with TK
+ I am based in SFO (UA hub)
Pros for staying with TK:
+ keep all *A miles in one place
+ TK has lower mile requirements for award travel, but not significantly lower
+ TK will open an office in SFO in 3 months which will make award ticket booking much easier.
+ TK will start to fly to SFO in April, and will become my first option for flights to Europe. I find their J product awesome.
+ TK gives 2 annual upgrade vouchers valid on TK. Advantage is that they can be redeemed (based on experience) also for upgrades into the last available seat in the J cabin, not only when award J availability exists.
Stay with TK and bite the bullet on award travel taxes, or move to United?
Pros for moving to United:
+ easier way to earn miles since it is based on $ spent. 95% of my flights are work-related and relatively expensive.
+ I fly annually 4-6 times internationally, in premium classes which helps with earning. Should exceed $10k spending easily. This should net UA 1k status for 2016 at least...
+ on domestic flights I would get automatic upgrades to eco premium. Not a huge deal, but useful if available
+ United has Global Upgrade vouchers. I could not find whether they will continue to give them out after March 2015.
+ UA does not have taxes on award travel
+ booking multi-carrier *A award travel with UA will be easier than with TK
+ I am based in SFO (UA hub)
Pros for staying with TK:
+ keep all *A miles in one place
+ TK has lower mile requirements for award travel, but not significantly lower
+ TK will open an office in SFO in 3 months which will make award ticket booking much easier.
+ TK will start to fly to SFO in April, and will become my first option for flights to Europe. I find their J product awesome.
+ TK gives 2 annual upgrade vouchers valid on TK. Advantage is that they can be redeemed (based on experience) also for upgrades into the last available seat in the J cabin, not only when award J availability exists.
Stay with TK and bite the bullet on award travel taxes, or move to United?
Jan 11, 2015, 9:20 am
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: TK Gold, M&M FTL, QR Gold, HH Diamond, PCR Platinum
Posts: 1,667
Long story 
My ticket is OTP-MUC-BKK-USM, with LH and TG. Issues:
- TK service center first told me that MCT in BKK is 120 minutes. MCT from TG to TG is only 90 minutes, with my flights being 100 minutes apart. I asked to force the connection, and somehow "it worked".
- TK service center can't calculate taxes, when flights involve other *A airlines. For that they send you to the nearest TK Sales office, in person. In my case this is LAX, quite a distance from SFO.
- The adventure only starts with TK Sales office; I was in San Diego and had to drive home through LA anyway:
- the counter opened 90 minutes later than what the service center advised
- the clerk at first took 30 minutes to "force" the TG-TG connection
- then he told me that he can't issue it for 90.000 miles, that in the system it's 180.000 miles. I called his BS on this, he said he can't help
- they guy then said he will call me later that afternoon or the next day. This was on Jan-01
- for 3 days no email, no phone call.
- I called the Service Center and had to speak to 3 reps until one could confirm the 90.000 miles needed. The others did not even know the award booking rules. One of them was even calculating miles for each leg of the way
- Calling TK Sales offices in US is useless, there is not phone number that works. They all go to full voicemail or back to the service center.
- I spoke to the Complaints Department who apparently can do more, but they stopped at sending me to the sales office, not an option anymore for me.
- I resolved it after 12 voicemails and 2 written complaints when somebody at the Sales Office in LA called me back and helped me book it. The last issue was that taxes were 418$ vs 355$ correct, because they had to calculate per airline (OTP-MUC + MUC-BKK-USM). I had to take the bullet on that, because there is nobody at TK that I could have an intelligent conversation with, despite sending them the fare from Matrix...
As they open the office in SFO this should be easier, bar the multi-airline tickets and their taxes
My ticket is OTP-MUC-BKK-USM, with LH and TG. Issues:
- TK service center first told me that MCT in BKK is 120 minutes. MCT from TG to TG is only 90 minutes, with my flights being 100 minutes apart. I asked to force the connection, and somehow "it worked".
- TK service center can't calculate taxes, when flights involve other *A airlines. For that they send you to the nearest TK Sales office, in person. In my case this is LAX, quite a distance from SFO.
- The adventure only starts with TK Sales office; I was in San Diego and had to drive home through LA anyway:
- the counter opened 90 minutes later than what the service center advised
- the clerk at first took 30 minutes to "force" the TG-TG connection
- then he told me that he can't issue it for 90.000 miles, that in the system it's 180.000 miles. I called his BS on this, he said he can't help
- they guy then said he will call me later that afternoon or the next day. This was on Jan-01
- for 3 days no email, no phone call.
- I called the Service Center and had to speak to 3 reps until one could confirm the 90.000 miles needed. The others did not even know the award booking rules. One of them was even calculating miles for each leg of the way
- Calling TK Sales offices in US is useless, there is not phone number that works. They all go to full voicemail or back to the service center.
- I spoke to the Complaints Department who apparently can do more, but they stopped at sending me to the sales office, not an option anymore for me.
- I resolved it after 12 voicemails and 2 written complaints when somebody at the Sales Office in LA called me back and helped me book it. The last issue was that taxes were 418$ vs 355$ correct, because they had to calculate per airline (OTP-MUC + MUC-BKK-USM). I had to take the bullet on that, because there is nobody at TK that I could have an intelligent conversation with, despite sending them the fare from Matrix...
As they open the office in SFO this should be easier, bar the multi-airline tickets and their taxes
Jan 13, 2015, 1:15 am
#11
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: DSS
Posts: 827
Long story
My ticket is OTP-MUC-BKK-USM, with LH and TG. Issues:
- TK service center first told me that MCT in BKK is 120 minutes. MCT from TG to TG is only 90 minutes, with my flights being 100 minutes apart. I asked to force the connection, and somehow "it worked".
- TK service center can't calculate taxes, when flights involve other *A airlines. For that they send you to the nearest TK Sales office, in person. In my case this is LAX, quite a distance from SFO.
- The adventure only starts with TK Sales office; I was in San Diego and had to drive home through LA anyway:
- the counter opened 90 minutes later than what the service center advised
- the clerk at first took 30 minutes to "force" the TG-TG connection
- then he told me that he can't issue it for 90.000 miles, that in the system it's 180.000 miles. I called his BS on this, he said he can't help
- they guy then said he will call me later that afternoon or the next day. This was on Jan-01
- for 3 days no email, no phone call.
- I called the Service Center and had to speak to 3 reps until one could confirm the 90.000 miles needed. The others did not even know the award booking rules. One of them was even calculating miles for each leg of the way
- Calling TK Sales offices in US is useless, there is not phone number that works. They all go to full voicemail or back to the service center.
- I spoke to the Complaints Department who apparently can do more, but they stopped at sending me to the sales office, not an option anymore for me.
- I resolved it after 12 voicemails and 2 written complaints when somebody at the Sales Office in LA called me back and helped me book it. The last issue was that taxes were 418$ vs 355$ correct, because they had to calculate per airline (OTP-MUC + MUC-BKK-USM). I had to take the bullet on that, because there is nobody at TK that I could have an intelligent conversation with, despite sending them the fare from Matrix...
As they open the office in SFO this should be easier, bar the multi-airline tickets and their taxes
My ticket is OTP-MUC-BKK-USM, with LH and TG. Issues:
- TK service center first told me that MCT in BKK is 120 minutes. MCT from TG to TG is only 90 minutes, with my flights being 100 minutes apart. I asked to force the connection, and somehow "it worked".
- TK service center can't calculate taxes, when flights involve other *A airlines. For that they send you to the nearest TK Sales office, in person. In my case this is LAX, quite a distance from SFO.
- The adventure only starts with TK Sales office; I was in San Diego and had to drive home through LA anyway:
- the counter opened 90 minutes later than what the service center advised
- the clerk at first took 30 minutes to "force" the TG-TG connection
- then he told me that he can't issue it for 90.000 miles, that in the system it's 180.000 miles. I called his BS on this, he said he can't help
- they guy then said he will call me later that afternoon or the next day. This was on Jan-01
- for 3 days no email, no phone call.
- I called the Service Center and had to speak to 3 reps until one could confirm the 90.000 miles needed. The others did not even know the award booking rules. One of them was even calculating miles for each leg of the way
- Calling TK Sales offices in US is useless, there is not phone number that works. They all go to full voicemail or back to the service center.
- I spoke to the Complaints Department who apparently can do more, but they stopped at sending me to the sales office, not an option anymore for me.
- I resolved it after 12 voicemails and 2 written complaints when somebody at the Sales Office in LA called me back and helped me book it. The last issue was that taxes were 418$ vs 355$ correct, because they had to calculate per airline (OTP-MUC + MUC-BKK-USM). I had to take the bullet on that, because there is nobody at TK that I could have an intelligent conversation with, despite sending them the fare from Matrix...
As they open the office in SFO this should be easier, bar the multi-airline tickets and their taxes
I wouldn't hold my breath with the new SFO office.