Originally Posted by
JeffLac
I am trying to book a ticket from JNB to JFK for May. There is a nonstop flight UA7225, which is operated by South Africa Airways. When I go to book it (I suspect because I am booking one-way) the cheapest fare is the J fare, which according to the PQM rules on United, should be 300% PQM. However, on this route, it only shows up as 100% PQM. I was also looking at a flight through FRA operated by Lufthansa (again, same J fare) and that appears to get the full 300% PQM. It's not a whole lot longer, nor more expensive to go through FRA on Lufthansa, so all things being equal, the ~20K PQM seem to be worth quite a bit. The lack of a nonstop flight is a bummer though. As an aside, booking directly with South African Airways is a lot cheaper, which is a real kick to the teeth.
Is this all because South African Airways is operating on different codeshare rules than Lufthansa?
MileagePlus miles are awarded based upon the operating carrier, no matter whose code is on it. You can't get more PQM for the same flight by booking on UA vs. booking directly with SA. They only difference is that flights ticketed on 016 stock (issued by United, that is) will accrue PQD, whereas those issued on other airlines won't.