Originally Posted by
Flying for Fun
I agree there are options. Even with a PQD waiver, I don't see value in UA for me. My primary focus is on awards; gaining Elite Status is a byproduct of that. How many UA redeemable miles would an NH J fare earn on a typical TPAC route? Is it fare based? Distance based? Tied to Status? Curious, I don't know.
James
It's distance/fare-based as long as you're not buying it as part of a UA ticket, according to the second table
on this page. Side-by-side with
AS's JAL earning table, the earnings start even lower for NH-to-UA than they do for JL-to-AS, at 25% compared to 30% (the 0% fares are all award buckets
according to this thread), but the top economy fares earn a bit better, with full Y at 150% vs. 100%. J earnings are similarly a mixed bag: most JL J will earn you 225% RDM before elite bonuses at AS, with the lowest pulling in 170%, but NH will get you anywhere from 150% to 300% on UA.
AS definitely has better elite bonuses, though: 50/100/125 versus UA's 25/50/75/100.
Really, if you're looking for a US FFP with horrible premium cabin redemption values versus AS, DL is king. Partner J to Europe can be had for 75k, but I think the lowest price on DL metal is up to 83k now.