Any info on earning rates for partner airlines next year?
Sep 10, 2014, 10:24 am
#1
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Any info on earning rates for partner airlines next year?
Hello all
I fly predominantly with UA's Star Alliance partners not on UA metal. I have not seen any info on when UA will release the new earning rates for their partners for next year. Presumably, discount Economy fares will no longer earn 100% of mileage on their partners such as LH and SQ, but from what I can tell, nothing has been released on this yet. Have I missed anything? Thanks!
I fly predominantly with UA's Star Alliance partners not on UA metal. I have not seen any info on when UA will release the new earning rates for their partners for next year. Presumably, discount Economy fares will no longer earn 100% of mileage on their partners such as LH and SQ, but from what I can tell, nothing has been released on this yet. Have I missed anything? Thanks!
Sep 10, 2014, 10:49 am
#3
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Thanks aacharya - I understand that but obviously in 2015, there are some fundamental changes taking place to the earn rates on UA's own flights and I can't imagine they'd want to encourage their members to take other airline partners' flights over their own as a result of different earn rates!
Sep 10, 2014, 11:05 am
#4
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Thanks aacharya - I understand that but obviously in 2015, there are some fundamental changes taking place to the earn rates on UA's own flights and I can't imagine they'd want to encourage their members to take other airline partners' flights over their own as a result of different earn rates!
If partner metal and not on UA stock, they don't count for PQD.
Hence that is the hedge in United's eyes preventing people from booking on OALs for better earnings.
Sep 10, 2014, 11:15 am
#5
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Flights on other carriers have the same earn rates if on UA stock. May wish to re-read the March 2015 changes/table to fully understand that - as it is not just impacting UA metal.
If partner metal and not on UA stock, they don't count for PQD.
Hence that is the hedge in United's eyes preventing people from booking on OALs for better earnings.
If partner metal and not on UA stock, they don't count for PQD.
Hence that is the hedge in United's eyes preventing people from booking on OALs for better earnings.
My take is they are waiting to see what Delta does with 2015 partner earnings.
Sep 10, 2014, 11:27 am
#6
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Hello all
I fly predominantly with UA's Star Alliance partners not on UA metal. I have not seen any info on when UA will release the new earning rates for their partners for next year. Presumably, discount Economy fares will no longer earn 100% of mileage on their partners such as LH and SQ, but from what I can tell, nothing has been released on this yet. Have I missed anything? Thanks!
I fly predominantly with UA's Star Alliance partners not on UA metal. I have not seen any info on when UA will release the new earning rates for their partners for next year. Presumably, discount Economy fares will no longer earn 100% of mileage on their partners such as LH and SQ, but from what I can tell, nothing has been released on this yet. Have I missed anything? Thanks!
Sep 10, 2014, 11:48 am
#7
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Sep 16, 2014, 7:28 am
#9
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Loophole in New Way of Earning Miles? Best of Both Worlds?
I just saw this:
"Tickets for flights operated by a Star Alliance™ or MileagePlus partner airline that aren’t issued by United (ticket numbers that don’t start with “016”) will still earn award miles based on distance flown and the purchased fare class"
So the big question is, will you earn the mileage bonus?
Perhaps you can fly international with *A and domestic with United and still earn a decent number of miles?
Also, surely you can purchase UA flights as code shares so wouldn't you earn miles on distance flown. The big question is then would you qualify for E+ seating.
"Tickets for flights operated by a Star Alliance™ or MileagePlus partner airline that aren’t issued by United (ticket numbers that don’t start with “016”) will still earn award miles based on distance flown and the purchased fare class"
So the big question is, will you earn the mileage bonus?
Perhaps you can fly international with *A and domestic with United and still earn a decent number of miles?
Also, surely you can purchase UA flights as code shares so wouldn't you earn miles on distance flown. The big question is then would you qualify for E+ seating.
Sep 16, 2014, 7:44 am
#10
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Been discussed before.
You want to earn miles the old way? Then you gets no PQD.
You care about PQD? Then enjoy earning under the new scheme.
If you're chasing elite status, then you know what you need to do. Kind of ironically, if you're not, then you're better off booking away from UA.
You want to earn miles the old way? Then you gets no PQD.
You care about PQD? Then enjoy earning under the new scheme.
If you're chasing elite status, then you know what you need to do. Kind of ironically, if you're not, then you're better off booking away from UA.
Sep 16, 2014, 7:52 am
#11
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Been discussed before.
You want to earn miles the old way? Then you gets no PQD.
You care about PQD? Then enjoy earning under the new scheme.
If you're chasing elite status, then you know what you need to do. Kind of ironically, if you're not, then you're better off booking away from UA.
You want to earn miles the old way? Then you gets no PQD.
You care about PQD? Then enjoy earning under the new scheme.
If you're chasing elite status, then you know what you need to do. Kind of ironically, if you're not, then you're better off booking away from UA.
I couldn't find the old threads before I posted.
What was the conclusion about earning mileage bonuses?
The elite qualification requirement for Gold is 50K Miles flown plus $5K spend. But only the $5K spend applies to 016 tickets. The 50K miles can be on any airline (4 UA segment minimum of course)
Sep 16, 2014, 7:56 am
#12
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PQDs don't apply to me, so this seems like a good work-around, especially as LH often sells exclusively UA itineraries for the same price or even less than UA itself. However, if you buy the UA flights through LH, you can't apply upgrades until check in.
Sep 16, 2014, 7:59 am
#13
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From UA's faq, "This new way of earning award miles will apply to most tickets for flights operated by United and United Express. It will also apply to tickets for flights operated by a Star Alliance™ or MileagePlus partner airline when the ticket number starts with "016."", http://mileageplusupdates.com/#faq
However, I think a viable business model would be to set up a travel agency that buys UA tickets and re-sells them as "bulk tickets" at the same price or a slight markup. Anyone interested in starting a travel agency?
Sep 16, 2014, 8:03 am
#14
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Been discussed before.
You want to earn miles the old way? Then you gets no PQD.
You care about PQD? Then enjoy earning under the new scheme.
If you're chasing elite status, then you know what you need to do. Kind of ironically, if you're not, then you're better off booking away from UA.
You want to earn miles the old way? Then you gets no PQD.
You care about PQD? Then enjoy earning under the new scheme.
If you're chasing elite status, then you know what you need to do. Kind of ironically, if you're not, then you're better off booking away from UA.
But there are many of us who may evaluate how we book our flights, because the PQD requirement is just not an issue. I hit the $10k PQD before I even hit 50k PQM. Under the new RDM scheme, if there's a significant difference in RDM earning depending on how I book, it may be worth booking away from UA.
At some point though, there's too much effort involved, and I don't really care that much about RDM's. I'd rather get the UA-only benefits such as CPU's. I don't know that we'll see huge numbers of people booking with other carriers.