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Changes to MileagePlus Award and Upgrade Policies - Eff. 3-Feb-2014

Old Nov 1, 2013, 4:08 am
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Last edit by: aacharya
Moderator Note: Please keep the wiki post limited to just the facts.

New UA Award/Upgrade Chart (vs. Current Chart)

Changes took effect for travel booked starting February 3, 2014. See UA Insider's post linked here for more info about the date change. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/22263212-post2366.html

Awards with *A partners now cost more than similar awards flown only on UA metal.
  • F awards on partners went up 40-80%
  • J awards on partners went up 20-40%
  • F and J awards on UA metal (or mixed carriers where UA metal is in premium cabin followed by partner segment in lower class) as well some Y awards increased by 5-20% (US to Europe in F up 19%, US to Middle East in F up 20% for example)

See below for the round-trip increases on partner metal :
US ✈ Southern South America: +10,000 J, +5,000 F

US ✈ Europe: +40,000 J, +85,000 F

US ✈ Northern/Central/Southern Africa: +40,000 J, +110,000 F

US ✈ Middle East: +5,000 Y, +40,000 J, +130,000 F

US ✈ Central Asia/India: +5,000 Y, +40,000 J, +120,000 F

US ✈ South Asia: +15,000 Y, +40,000 J, +120,000 F

US ✈ North Asia: +5,000 Y, +40,000 J, +100,000 F

US ✈ Japan: +5,000 Y, +30,000 J, +85,000 F

US ✈ Oceania: +30,000 J, +70,000 F

US ✈ Australia/New Zealand: +25,000 J, +100,000 F

RTW: +20,000 Y, +90,000 J, +100,000 F

Changes to upgrade policy for intra-Asia and northern South America flights
  1. Complimentary Premier Upgrades and instant upgrades are not applicable
  2. Regional Premier Upgrades (for any fare class) and Global Premier Upgrades (for flights booked in fare class Z, P, S, T, L, K, G or N) can no longer be requested on or after November 1, 2013
  3. There is no co-pay exemption for MileagePlus Upgrade Awards requested on or after November 1, 2013
  4. The above changes do not apply to Copa-operated flights.


Questions and Answers

Q: If I book an award in January 2014 and then make changes in February or beyond (in routing, airline, origin, destination, etc), will it be repriced according to new mileage requirements, or will I keep the old pricing on that ticket?
Originally Posted by UA Insider
Our existing change process will apply. Changes to awards that require a change in date do not result in a change to the award price. Any other change will require an add/collect in miles and fees for changes or cancellations will still apply as per our existing policies.
Additional details on changing tickets booked prior to 2/3/14 per UA Insider:
Originally Posted by UA Insider
Changes that will not trigger a re-price for itineraries ticketed before February 3, 2014 include:
  • Date/time (cabin, region, and award type can't change)
  • Carrier on one or more segments (cabin, region, and award type can’t change)
  • Origin/Destination within the same regions (carrier and cabin can’t change)
Full details are in post #2588 http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/22283437-post2588.html

Q: Do these rates apply for tickets purchased after Feb 3 or for travel after Feb 3? That is,if one purchases a ticket now, to fly on Mar 15, will that be new or old pricing?
Originally Posted by UA Insider
The new award pricing takes effect for bookings made on or after Feb 3, 2014 for all future travel dates. If you purchased a ticket prior to then for travel on March 15, and no changes are made to the itinerary, the current pricing will apply.
Q: How will award pricing apply to mixed-carrier Saver Awards?
Originally Posted by UA Insider
Updated handling for mixed UA-Partner United/partner award itineraries: As we shared with the initial announcement, the Star Alliance/Partner partner award pricing will apply to Business or First awards for itineraries that include at least one flight segment operated by a MileagePlus partner carrier in Business or First.

However, as a customer benefit we have made an exception for most itineraries which require connecting onto a MileagePlus/Star partner in First or Business for a short distance. Specifically, if a United/Copa award itinerary contains a connecting segment on a MileagePlus/Star partner that is wholly within one MileagePlus award region, then the United award price will apply.
  • For example: IAD-FRA in United BusinessFirst connecting to FRA-FCO in Lufthansa Business, will be priced at the United mileage award amount.
  • Note that this exception will not apply to a few specific regions and routings, such as intra-Africa connecting segments and certain fifth-freedom routes (e.g. BKK-KUL operated by Lufthansa)
(reverted to J.Edward's rev)
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Changes to MileagePlus Award and Upgrade Policies - Eff. 3-Feb-2014

Old Apr 22, 2014, 8:47 pm
  #2956  
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 589
Originally Posted by Always Flyin
Nope. You are not waitlisted for JFK-FRA. You are confirmed in C.

If space in XF opens up, you are not upgraded to it, you would have to be rebooked in XF and your current ticket reissued at the new rates.



United has said that anything other than a date change will incur the new mileage charge. This is not a date change so its pretty darn clear to me.




At the time of the waitlist.
Low and BEHOLD after 3 HUCAS I successfully got an Agent from the Philippines and the Magic number to call is 1-800-396-1751 to book: LH F EWR>DFW>FRA>HND

I would also like to point out some A## hole UA US Based Agent deducted 7K Miles from my 67K when I once called for status telling me I was booked only in I, but the AMAZING folks in the Philippines fixed this and booked me in O.
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Old Apr 27, 2014, 1:59 pm
  #2957  
 
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My original itinerary is this.

SFO-LHR (UA F) connection
LHR-IST (TK B) connection
IST-JED (TK B) stop
JED-IST (TK B) connection
IST-KHI (TK B) destination
KHI-BKK (TG B) connection
BKK-CDG (TG F) connection
CDG-FRA (LH B) connection
FRA-LHR (LH B) connection
LHR-SFO (UA F) end

Now i want to modify this and if i route through Seoul or Cairo, will it trigger a recalculation of miles.
for instance:
SFO-LHR (UA F) connection
LHR-IST (TK B) connection
IST-JED (TK B) stop
JED-IST (TK B) connection
IST-KHI (TK B) destination
KHI-BKK (TG B) connection
BKK-HKG (TG B) connection
HKG-ICN (OZ B) connection
ICN-JFK (OZ F) connection
JFK-SFO(UA F)

or

SFO-LHR (UA F) connection
LHR-IST (TK B) connection
IST-JED (TK B) stop
JED-IST (TK B) connection
IST-KHI (TK B) destination
KHI-BKK (TG B) connection
BKK-HKG (TG B) connection
HKG-ICN (OZ B) connection
ICN-LAX (OZ F) connection
LAX-SFO (UA E)
iqbalt80 is offline  
Old Apr 29, 2014, 12:58 pm
  #2958  
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 498
If I booked a WF72 award (one-way F to South Asia) prior to 2/3/14 that includes flights in J because the carrier at issue (AC) doesn't have F, and F seats on a different carrier open up, will switching to F on the different carrier trigger a reprice? The Wiki doesn't squarely address whether this constitutes a "change in cabin" when my award is already for F.
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Old Apr 29, 2014, 1:12 pm
  #2959  
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Originally Posted by silentbob1974
If I booked a WF72 award (one-way F to South Asia) prior to 2/3/14 that includes flights in J because the carrier at issue (AC) doesn't have F, and F seats on a different carrier open up, will switching to F on the different carrier trigger a reprice? The Wiki doesn't squarely address whether this constitutes a "change in cabin" when my award is already for F.
You can do that without a reprice. If you call, be aware that many agents are completely unfamiliar with the applicable rules. You may have to HUACA and/or escalate to a supervisor. I personally would first try to make the change online.
Kacee is offline  
Old May 8, 2014, 12:25 pm
  #2960  
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I'm going to vent about the ridiculous new award levels for intra-Asia flights.

A saver business award to HKG from TPE (1:45 flight) or ICN (3:45 flight) now costs 40,000 miles one-way. Yes, that's right, a 501 mile flight (TPE-HKG) costs 40,000 miles one-way.

Just to compare, ICN-HKG in J on CX costs 18,000 Avios, while TPE-HKG is only 9,000 Avios. Flying *A partners, the round trip ICN-HKG costs 30,000 Aeroplan miles or 43,000 ANA miles. (Unfortunately, neither AC nor NH will let me book the one-way.)

Talk about a devaluation.
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Old May 8, 2014, 12:28 pm
  #2961  
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Originally Posted by Kacee
I'm going to vent about the ridiculous new award levels for intra-Asia flights.

A saver business award to HKG from TPE (1:45 flight) or ICN (3:45 flight) now costs 40,000 miles one-way. Yes, that's right, a 501 mile flight (TPE-HKG) costs 40,000 miles one-way.

Just to compare, ICN-HKG in J on CX costs 18,000 Avios, while TPE-HKG is only 9,000 Avios. Flying *A partners, the round trip ICN-HKG costs 30,000 Aeroplan miles or 43,000 ANA miles. (Unfortunately, neither AC nor NH will let me book the one-way.)

Talk about a devaluation.
But PEK-SYD is really nice deal under new policy.

That's a much longer ride than HKG-TPE.

I would just pay a cheap ticket for that short flight.
kb1992 is offline  
Old May 8, 2014, 12:48 pm
  #2962  
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Originally Posted by kb1992
I would just pay a cheap ticket for that short flight.
Yeah, EVA will sell a RT Y ticket for $228.

CX wants $1100 for J

Even ICN-HKG is a horrible redemption - I could buy the Asiana J ticket (on UA stock) for less than $800, so at 40,000 miles, that would be a sub 2 cpm redemption.
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Old May 21, 2014, 8:54 pm
  #2963  
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Got a nice dose of reality today. Looked at tickets to Turkey for next year.

- UA Saver J on TK: 70,000
- AA Saver F on BA: 62,500

CMK10 is offline  
Old May 21, 2014, 8:57 pm
  #2964  
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Originally Posted by CMK10
Got a nice dose of reality today. Looked at tickets to Turkey for next year.

- UA Saver J on TK: 70,000
- AA Saver F on BA: 62,500

How much is the fuel surcharge on BA?

I would take TK J nonstop over BA F one-stop through LHR.

Particularly for the TK lounge on the return.
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Old May 21, 2014, 10:01 pm
  #2965  
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Originally Posted by Kacee
How much is the fuel surcharge on BA?

I would take TK J nonstop over BA F one-stop through LHR.

Particularly for the TK lounge on the return.
Fuel surcharge on BA is $380 or something like that. I did just have a really nice experience flying BA F earlier this year though so based on that it's worth the price. Plus it comes with a ~16 hour or so stopover in London which is long enough for dinner.
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Old May 21, 2014, 10:07 pm
  #2966  
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Dinner in London, after transfers to/from the airport could really add to the fuel surcharges.

So wait, it's 7500 more RDMs than what AA charges? Bad but is that really bad for a flight all the way out to Turkey?
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Old May 21, 2014, 10:13 pm
  #2967  
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Originally Posted by wco81
Dinner in London, after transfers to/from the airport could really add to the fuel surcharges.

So wait, it's 7500 more RDMs than what AA charges? Bad but is that really bad for a flight all the way out to Turkey?
BUSINESS on Star is 7,500 more RDMs than FIRST on oneWorld is the point I'm highlighting.
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Old May 21, 2014, 10:21 pm
  #2968  
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Originally Posted by CMK10
BUSINESS on Star is 7,500 more RDMs than FIRST on oneWorld is the point I'm highlighting.
The UA partner award chart now has some serious absurdities. Not just compared to OW, but to other *A partners such as AC and NH. Intra-Asia, UA is 40,000 for one-way in J, while AC is 30,000 round-trip in J and 50,000 round-trip in F.
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Old May 21, 2014, 10:25 pm
  #2969  
 
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Originally Posted by CMK10
BUSINESS on Star is 7,500 more RDMs than FIRST on oneWorld is the point I'm highlighting.
Let's revisit this after the AA/US merger starts and AA devalues their FF program (which is inevitable).
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Old May 21, 2014, 10:27 pm
  #2970  
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Originally Posted by lazard
Let's revisit this after the AA/US merger starts and AA devalues their FF program (which is inevitable).
I think it's safe to say their merger has long since started. We can revisit it again then but for now, it hurts.
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