Originally Posted by
nacho
I think UA miles are great for intra-Asia flights.
Intra-Asia is my preferred redemption set these days. Since there isn't a published award chart, I've resorted to trial and error to attempt to figure out the formula. I don't have my spreadsheet handy now (on my phone), but here are few general points I recall:
- I think they use distance bands, and the cheapest is 8500 miles*, next is about 15000 miles
- Business seems to cost a little less than double economy
- But, the key to unlocking value is to book round trips because the return segment is only around 2000 additional miles (for economy)
- I emphasize this because none of my other points have this feature, and I haven't seen UA offer it in other markets either
- Open jaws sort of conform with this pricing, but require more experimentation
*ETA: I have not researched any really short flights (e.g. ITM-HND), and these are possibly cheaper than 8500 miles, but 8500 is the price for SHA-SEL (544 miles).