Nov 1, 2013, 4:08 am
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.
See below for the round-trip increases on partner metal :
Changes to upgrade policy for intra-Asia and northern South America 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?
Additional details on changing tickets booked prior to 2/3/14 per UA Insider:
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?
Q: How will award pricing apply to mixed-carrier Saver Awards?
(reverted to J.Edward's rev)
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
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
- Complimentary Premier Upgrades and instant upgrades are not applicable
- 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
- There is no co-pay exemption for MileagePlus Upgrade Awards requested on or after November 1, 2013
- 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?
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.
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)
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?
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.
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)
Changes to MileagePlus Award and Upgrade Policies - Eff. 3-Feb-2014
Nov 1, 2013, 12:04 am
#1
Company Representative, United Airlines
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Chicago, Houston, or somewhere in between
Posts: 2,176
Changes to MileagePlus Award and Upgrade Policies - Eff. 3-Feb-2014
Hi everyone,
I wanted to give you a heads up about some changes we’ll be making to our MileagePlus award chart and upgrade policies. More details, including links to the changes, are listed below.
As always, I’m here and will do my best to answer any clarifying questions you may have.
Aaron Goldberg
Sr. Manager - Customer Experience Planning
United Airlines
I wanted to give you a heads up about some changes we’ll be making to our MileagePlus award chart and upgrade policies. More details, including links to the changes, are listed below.
Changes to the award charts take effect for all award tickets issued on or after February 1, 2014. The upgrade policy changes will not impact any flights taken before February 1, 2014.
As always, I’m here and will do my best to answer any clarifying questions you may have.
Aaron Goldberg
Sr. Manager - Customer Experience Planning
United Airlines
Nov 1, 2013, 12:18 am
#3
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: US
Programs: AA/UA/DL
Posts: 2,773
so ...it seems it is going to toward MileagePlusPesos in the future or should we
change the name to NON PASS again?
This time Delta gives their member notification at least 8-10 months in advance while United gives 3 months....
But thanks to let us know now.
change the name to NON PASS again?
This time Delta gives their member notification at least 8-10 months in advance while United gives 3 months....
But thanks to let us know now.
Last edited by pigx5; Nov 1, 2013 at 1:22 am
Nov 1, 2013, 12:19 am
#4
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: YVR SFO
Programs: UA G
Posts: 4,866
Ouch. US to Asia (ex-Japan) in C went from 120k to 140k 
16% increase
16% increase
Nov 1, 2013, 12:21 am
#5
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Las Vegas
Programs: DL Platinum, AA Lifetime Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Radisson Premium
Posts: 6,638
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 7_0_3 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/537.51.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.0 Mobile/11B511 Safari/9537.53)
Looks like Mainland to Hawaii awards went up a bit.
Looks like Mainland to Hawaii awards went up a bit.
Nov 1, 2013, 12:25 am
#6
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: PSM
Posts: 69,232
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9930; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.755 Mobile Safari/534.11+)
All bad. Split chart for UA versus partners, rates significantly increased and regional int'l flights are screwed.
Lots of gutting going on here.
Craptacular.
All bad. Split chart for UA versus partners, rates significantly increased and regional int'l flights are screwed.
Lots of gutting going on here.
Craptacular.
Nov 1, 2013, 12:26 am
#7
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Las Vegas
Programs: DL Platinum, AA Lifetime Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Radisson Premium
Posts: 6,638
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 7_0_3 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/537.51.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.0 Mobile/11B511 Safari/9537.53)
Sorry cant seem to edit above post but also US to europe saver biz went from 50 to 57.5. Geez.
Sorry cant seem to edit above post but also US to europe saver biz went from 50 to 57.5. Geez.
Nov 1, 2013, 12:26 am
#8
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: LAS
Programs: DL PM, UA PS, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 4,904
If I want to fly in F to India, it will cost me 140,000 miles. ONE-WAY. Used to be 160K roundtrip. Unbelievable.
Nov 1, 2013, 12:27 am
#9
Join Date: Jul 2013
Programs: Mileage Plus, AAdvantage, Executive Club
Posts: 198
Well... that's somewhat upsetting.
Last edited by kalendil; Dec 5, 2013 at 12:52 am Reason: I would like UA Insider to answer my questions one day haha
Nov 1, 2013, 12:27 am
#10
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: PSM
Posts: 69,232
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9930; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.755 Mobile Safari/534.11+)
US-EU in biz went from 50k to either 57.5 (UA) or 7
(partner). That last one is a 40% raise.
Originally Posted by unavaca
Ouch. US to Asia (ex-Japan) in C went from 120k to 140k 16% increase
16% increase (partner). That last one is a 40% raise.
Nov 1, 2013, 12:27 am
#11
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Astoria, New York City
Programs: UNITED 1K / 3 MM, LH Senator, DL Diamond, SPG Platinum Lifetime, Hyatt Diamond, Platinum Royal Ambas
Posts: 20
it's so UNITED .... friendly
let's get rid off our last loyal elites by changing our FRIENDLY MileagePlus policies
let's get rid off our last loyal elites by changing our FRIENDLY MileagePlus policies
Nov 1, 2013, 12:29 am
#12
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: DFW
Posts: 454
Just about everyone I've read about said a United devaluation was coming..
Nov 1, 2013, 12:29 am
#13
Join Date: May 2001
Location: HNL
Posts: 1,013
So, if I read this correctly, take for example a LH (or any *A partner for that matter) F award from US-Europe prior to 1FEB is 135k miles - after 1FEB, 220k miles?! 
Not sure the word inflation even does justice to the new Star Alliance partner redemption category. The next time UA offers up $0 mistake fares, I'm going to hop down off my moral high-horse and grab several dozen.
Not sure the word inflation even does justice to the new Star Alliance partner redemption category. The next time UA offers up $0 mistake fares, I'm going to hop down off my moral high-horse and grab several dozen.
Nov 1, 2013, 12:29 am
#14
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: UA MileagePlus (Premier Gold); Hilton HHonors (Gold); Chase Ultimate Rewards; Amex Plat
Posts: 6,667
Increasing co-pays to match inflation makes sense. Increasing the number of RDM required to get an award NEVER makes sense, UNLESS they increase the number of RDM earned per flight to match inflation as well. A flight from SFO to HNL for example, earns the number of miles it earns...regardless of whether you paid $800RT for your ticket in 2014 or $200RT for your ticket in the 1980s. Neglecting continental drift, which can, over time, change the distances between cities (but this would also, by the way, change the prices of the flights), what reason is there to adjust number of RDM required for an award to match inflation? Oh yeah, those annoying things that DO tie RDM to US dollars, the credit cards. The existence of those stupid credit cards is devaluing all of the miles already in our accounts.
Nov 1, 2013, 12:30 am
#15
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,450
110,000 OW for *A F to Europe. That's an increase of 43,500 miles (64%) each way.