Originally Posted by
channa
Nothing new here. With UA's *net blocking, if you get hit with it, reward redemption can be a challenge.
The minute CO joined *A with no blocking, CO's miles became easier to use than UA's. I think that's well documented here on FT.
Not to mention, UA has some arcane rules on their awards -- no mix/match of cabins or saver/standard, and UA does not allow changes to *A awards once travel has begun (unless you're switching to fly a UA segment). CO is also more generous with allowing a stopover and an open jaw, whereas UA allows only one or the other.
Thanks for the clarification channa. As one who rarely ever uses CO miles for awards I wasn't aware of the issues. As far as the 400,000+ miles I had accumulated when I was a 1K on UA, I used all of those on merchandise, rather than use them on UA flights (TV's, cameras, gifts, household items etc) or see them expire worthlessly
PS- my million+ CO miles (that won't expire) will be eventually used for upgrades internationally.... although I do plan to reach the new status of 100,000 on CO next year to garner those Free Upgrades (thanks to UA for that idea) ^