Originally Posted by
apkesh
Hi,
I am an Aeroplan “Elite” member who has made enough qualifying points for 2011. Given majority of flights I take are on UA these days, I find my elite status does not give me much privilege apart from priority boarding and being able to use the Star Alliance gold affiliated lounges. I am seriously considering moving to UA just for getting the upgrades as some of the UA flights I take are over rather long. Can someone who knows the UA mileage plus system help me with the following:
1) In order to get to a similar 'elite' status with UA ( I assume that will be 1K?) , do I need to start from scratch? Or is there any way to use my elite status with Aeroplan to hop over to UA?
2) If I decide to transfer the miles I accumulated with United back to Aeroplan, will the conversion be 1-1 given they are both part of Star Alliance? From the dated milege transfer I saw on line, it doesn't appear to be that way.
3) Like I said in the beginning, only reason I am considering this is because United doesn't give free upgrades because you are a SA member. I imagine most airlines are like that. Any other options I should pursue instead of opening a new account?
1.) UA generally does not status match from another *A airline. All elite levels get free upgrades, but the odds of you getting them get better with higher status levels. Check
http://udustats.com/ to see what the odds are for your route for a given status level. "UDU" are free upgrades.
2.) Transfering miles between accounts generally does not make sense, and is never 1-1 if it's possible at all. You should assume that miles earned into your UA account will stay there (and be redeemed from there) and the same for your AC account.
3.) Open a UA account and earn status there.
