Originally Posted by
5khours
Except for top-ups, award accelerators were really only a good deal for premium international travel. (And .... they were a good deal for the *A carriers who benefited from people taking extra discretionary trips and/or paying a lot more per seat mile than they ordinarily would have.)
Maybe people will be happy buying miles and using them only for F or J on UA metal or on partner J, but IMHO the attraction for a lot of people was getting to use the miles on a really nice flight (e.g. NH/LH/TG F). If the only option is UA GF or partner J, I think a lot of people will save their money and stay home or just book paid Y.
+1 on your summary of the situation. Even after the most recent devaluation; at 2 cents per RDM you can still make somewhat of a value case for premium international travel redemptions. Using the current UA MP North America to Southeast Asia saver rewards level as an example:
Round trip in (true) F on *A partners is 260,000 miles or $5,200 at 2 cents per RDM
Round trip mix in UA F and *A partners J is 160,000 miles or $3,200 at 2 cents per RDM
Round trip in *A partners J is 160,000 miles or $3,200 at 2 cents per RDM
Round trip in UA J is 140,000 miles or $2,800 at 2 cents per RDM
SunLover