Originally Posted by
YouSeeLABruin
are they and "normal miles" one and the same?
No.
Originally Posted by
YouSeeLABruin
If I book a trip from, say, LAX to NRT for 5500 miles do I get 5500 normal, redeemable miles and 5500 eqm, non-redeemable miles?
Assuming a normal coach fare, yes.
Originally Posted by
YouSeeLABruin
I guess I'm confused, because the "status" benefits aren't of real importance to me, because I don't fly that much. But I am interesting in accumulating miles through credit cards, transferring them to UA and then flying for free on vacations.
Then you can ignore the EQM bit.
Think of it as two wholly separate accounts, one for EQMs and one for RDMs. The EQM account only grows during the year and then resets to zero on January 1 and is only used for status. You earn based on the fare and miles flown.
The RDMs account can grow or shrink during the year and never gets reset to zero unless you have no activity for 18 months. The RDM account also is where CC points show up and where you redeem from for travel awards. If you don't care about status then this is the only one you care about.