Originally Posted by
jsloan
MileagePlus is emphatically not designed for people outside of the US. It's basically a marketing arm for Chase.
Giving away a TATL flight for signing up for a credit card seems to be uniquely US... Anyway, MileagePlus was good value for me before they cut the maximum number of PlusPoints on Premium Economy and Economy fares from 1500 to 750. With 1500 points Gold was reachable with about 3-4 returns between Europe to Asia. Now around 5-6 returns are required. And with the insane 100% bonus for 1K at that time, earning was quite good. Not any more, though.
With earnings limited by distance but redemption devalued by inflation, MileagePlus has definitely become unattractive for the non-American market...
I'm wondering how long these programs will work when it the earning structure becomes too unattractive for the majority. If I cannot reach Gold, I can simply buy the cheapest fare on the cheapest airline. Should I fly Business, I (usually) get lounge access anyway (unless lounge-less business class continues to spread).