BLI-Flyer

Why in the world would you use miles for such a short flight? If you're willing to shop around, you can probably get a good rate on a NYC-BOS flight. Save your miles for a ticket that costs a lot more.

vincentvan

I know this...and you are correct. The answer from UA is that they accept *A miles for one way saver awards, but US won't permit US miles for that purpose.. I suppose I am forever hoping that US would be more of a full *A member..just another thing to add to the pile!!

wanaflyforless

Before claiming to know the facts and trying to correct others, you need to learn the facts.

Based on your posts in this thread, you have a fundamental misunderstanding of how FF programs work.

Reality:

Redemption rules FFers need to learn and follow are determined solely by the FF program they bank with. Not by partner airlines or anyone else.

When Mileage Plus introduced one-way awards, this did not change Dividend Miles redemption rules. United's website only gives the rules that apply to United Mileage Plus members. Unless/Until Dividend Miles change their rules to allow one-way redemptions at 50% miles on United metal, Dividend Miles members will not have the option.

United phone agents are generally ignorant of other airlines' policies, as is the case with all airlines. Why would you call United Mileage Plus to find out what rules apply to Dividend Miles?

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The subject of this thread is how many Dividend Miles a domestic award costs. UA, BD, NH, OZ, US, etc. each have their own award charts. The fact I can redeem 18,000 BMI miles to get from Africa to Thailand via Europe in business class is not relevant. Neither is the fact I can redeem X NH miles for a short one-way domestic US flight. Or the fact that UA allows one-way awards for 12,500 miles.

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You would not have access to speak to someone at UA that actually knows what happens at the Star Alliance negotiating table where they work out who pays whom how much for what. Phone agents know very little; most UA reps do not know United practices star net blocking. BD (British Midland) has agreements with every star airline allowing Diamond Club to issue award tickets for one-way travel on any Star carrier or combination there of at half the cost of a roundtrip award (per BD's award chart). It is probable that any Star carrier could make similar agreements alliance wide paying similar to what BD pays its Star partners. United is rumored to be following that path now. United has taken the first step of allowing one-ways on their own metal; I do hope US chooses the same road.

You do realize that the majority of Star Airlines do not allow their miles to be used for one-ways on partners as half the round trip amount, right? Please explain how your inability to book 12.5K one-way UA awards with US miles has anything to do with US being "more of a full *A member."

ArizonaGuy

You can't use AC miles to book a one way UA ticket either. Nor can you do so with CO, SK, OZ, NZ or LH miles (I don't believe those programs allow one way) nor most any other *A airline. If they did, it would be governed by that carrier's program rules whereby a domestic ticket within the U.S.A. on UA could cost more than 12.5k each way.

I believe what the UA agent may have thought was asked by vincentvan was whether *A miles could be used for upgrades. I believe UA participates in the *A upgrade program, does it not? Even if so, it's the carrier's program, not UA, that determines the requirements and handles the request.

wanaflyforless

nalle - Welcome to Flyertalk! ^

Mileage charts are based on zones, with the 49 US states + Canada all being in a single zone meaning the number of miles required to redeem are the same within the region.

Most Flyertalkers would consider redeeming miles for a trip like NYC - BOS a waste because it would use the same miles as NYC - YVR (Vancover, Canada) for example. Fares NYC - YVR are generally much higher than NYC - BOS but cost the same number of miles. Rule of thumb is to pay money for cheap trips and try to use miles when the $ cost is high.

The US website only shows award space on US planes but US miles are valid on all of Star Alliance (including United, Continental, Air Canada, Lufthansa, and many more). So on US airways.com, it may show that only 60,000 awards are available to Vancouver for example, but Air Canada may have seats at the 25,000 level. You need to call US to find and book the partner airline seats.

If you find yourself booking a lot of award travel, I suggest creating a free Continental.com account. Use the Continental site to search for awards as their site can see availabitly on most of Star Alliance. After finding what you want online, you can call US Airways and book those flights with your US miles.

FT-hss

Sorry to revive this old thread but I have a related question and after reading through I am still confused

I have 100K US miles. I want 4 one ways from DAY-PHX on December 30 or 1st at the max, 2013. There are no saver tickets on AA, United, US, Southwest, Airtran. I do see saver first class for 25K miles on United. Can I call *A award desk and use my 100K US miles to book the 4 tickets?

If yes, anybody advising against doing so?

kudzu

US doesn't have One Way awards like UA does - One Way award tickets can be booked but the cost in Miles is the same as a Roundtrip (25k Econ/50k First for domestic flights on partner UA).

In other words, you can book 4 One Ways DAY-PHX in UA Economy @ 4 x 25k = 100k US Miles by calling US Reservations ... subject to availability, of course. To book at the UA One Way rates, you'd need UA Miles.

PHL

Not a good use of 100K points. Plus, as repeated here since 2010 when this thread was opened...using points from a US DM account, there are no one way awards...on *any* carrier.

US publishes a Star Alliance redemption chart that details how many points are required for a trip on a partner, with a breakdown by region and class of service. There are no one way options. Anywhere.

So, if you are able to even redeem those 25K 'saver first class' award seats on UA as a Star Alliance award booking, you'll in reality have to pay 50K per ticket because they will require you have a return segment in the itinerary (even if you don't plan to fly it).