FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - UA award booking,change questions/fees/issues/routing/excursionist problems {Archive}
Old Oct 12, 2016, 11:06 am
  #755  
Duke787
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Join Date: Mar 2013
Programs: DL PM, MR Titanium/LTP, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 10,130
Originally Posted by AAExPlat
This, of course, is the natural consequence of all this chicanery. Many of us earn a lot of miles through UA co-branded cards, transfer in a large number of miles from transfer partners, and buy miles to round out awards. The new system will kill much of this off as folks will find it too cumbersome and expensive to do this through UAMP and instead book through SQ or NH, and accordingly cancel their co-branded cards, stop buying top-up miles and shift earning to Chase, Amex etc. I know will be doing exactly that.
I think this is exactly what UA is aiming to kill. FTers from a mileage program standpoint are probably quite unprofitable since we know and exploit the various loopholes that exist and maximize miles as much as possible.

The average person who picks up the UAMP Card does so for the 2 Club passes/year and for 50k miles which they promptly redeem for a domestic roundtrip standard award over a holiday. That's who UA wants picking up the card and using it.

Originally Posted by luv2ctheworld
The sad reality is that everyone travels nowadays and it is relatively cheap; or they have to travel and a company will pay for it. So airlines just don't care much anymore about their loyalty program other than for the ones that truly generate them a lot of money (and lavish miles upon miles on them to compensate for these diluted benefits the rest of the population has to endure).

ETA: Hey MatthewLAX, nice write up on this. Hope all is well.
This is key. I think the PQD-driven promos (like the one going on right now) are the way of the future since they can directly calculate the CBA based on their mileage valuation.

I think it's also clear that dynamic pricing doesn't matter that much to the true HVFs since they are earning at such a high rate under the current RDM model.

Also adding my voice to the chorus thanking MatthewLAX!
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