New fee to change Award Type

rhawke · Mar 27, 12, 10:38 pm

So I used to book 50k miles Continental reward tickets if no saver was available. Then I'd check back once in a while and if a 25k became available, I could just use the change flight function to get the saver instead.

Continental would redeposit the extra 25k miles back into my account, no fees, no problem ...

Now I read this:
https://www.united.com/web/en-US/con...ticketing.aspx

Changing the cabin, award type, or changing a flight to a different airline, regardless of departure date (75$ - $50, etc.)

So does this mean, that if I tried the same now with the new United, they would charge me $50 for crediting the 25k miles back???

Mike Jacoubowsky · Mar 27, 12, 10:40 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhawke

So I used to book 50k miles Continental reward tickets if no saver was available. Then I'd check back once in a while and if a 25k became available, I could just use the change flight function to get the saver instead.

Continental would redeposit the extra 25k miles back into my account, no fees, no problem ...

Now I read this:
https://www.united.com/web/en-US/con...ticketing.aspx

Changing the cabin, award type, or changing a flight to a different airline, regardless of departure date (75$ - $50, etc.)

So does this mean, that if I tried the same now with the new United, they would charge me $50 for crediting the 25k miles back???

The amount depends upon your elite level (the Plat & above fee-free), but yes, you have it right.

Even with the new fees, restrictions on award tickets remain far less obnoxious than those for tickets purchased.

rhawke · Mar 27, 12, 10:46 pm

Thanks for the quick answer. So I guess yet another point that just got worse compared to before. So far I cannot find any benefit for the customers about this merger ...

BTW: I just spent 50 minutes on the Premiere Priority line trying to get this answer. They should have a look at this forum and see how it is done ;-)

Mike Jacoubowsky · Mar 27, 12, 10:59 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhawke

Thanks for the quick answer. So I guess yet another point that just got worse compared to before. So far I cannot find any benefit for the customers about this merger ...

BTW: I just spent 50 minutes on the Premiere Priority line trying to get this answer. They should have a look at this forum and see how it is done ;-)

I'll try to do better next time by putting on my best foreign accent. Or maybe all I need to do is change my FT name to John Smith and when customers mention football think they're talking about soccer...

kurjan · Apr 20, 12, 1:10 am

Actually this change is worse for legacy CO flyers, but much better for legacy UA flyers. (Many changes that used to cost $150 for everyone other than 1K are now either free or much cheaper.)

ChinaShrek · Apr 20, 12, 6:19 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhawke

Thanks for the quick answer. So I guess yet another point that just got worse compared to before. So far I cannot find any benefit for the customers about this merger ...

I love the new Award ticket search engine. It is far superior than UA's. I willing to pay some fees to look at all flights.

hobo13 · Apr 20, 12, 6:58 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChinaShrek

I love the new Award ticket search engine. It is far superior than UA's. I willing to pay some fees to look at all flights.

Well, you could have used the same award search option pre 3.3 by just visiting CO.com.....

But enjoy your new fees.

Boghopper · Apr 20, 12, 12:08 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by hobo13

Well, you could have used the same award search option pre 3.3 by just visiting CO.com.....

But enjoy your new fees.

But the tickets wouldn't have been available, we former UA flyers have lots more seats available on *A than before.

hobo13 · Apr 21, 12, 7:26 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boghopper

But the tickets wouldn't have been available, we former UA flyers have lots more seats available on *A than before.

What are you possibly talking about? Ever since CO joined *A, UA and CO have been able to book the same inventory.

I'm really confused. Please explain yourself.

kurjan · Apr 26, 12, 12:00 am

Another favorable change for PMUA: You can now book a single standard award on mixed metal (for example UA US-Frankfurt; LH Frankfurt to another destination) so long as saver inventory is available on the partner flight. Previously, this required two awards - standard on UA; saver on partner.