Add me to the list of those who have agreed that this is "well said". Here's my future flight conundrum: Wife and I are doing our annual trip SFO-LHR in January to see friends and theatre. Outbound one-way fare on UA flight #901 in business on Jan 7, 2026 is currently $3,328. Return, 4 days later on flight #900 Jan 11 is $12,221. Total; $15,549 each. As UA 1-K's we would each get about 160,000, if the UA 11 miles per dollar rule held.

We could get, ticketing separately, about 33,000 mi for the outbound and 130,000 for the return (whole thing = 163,000, given that no miles for taxes). Or, if UA applies the cold-hearted rule, we each get 75,000 RDM total for tickets costing $15,549 apiece. We would get 15,300 EQM apiece, I guess.

So, we'll take the deal of the 33,000 mi on the outbound and fly AA on the return, using my Lifetime Airpass, making a stop at LAX, then to SFO. Was only flying UA to kick-start the eqm into 1K territory for the 2026 year. I might have paid the $$ to UA if they weren't so picky about the 75,000 cap. Could have used the 130,000 mi for grandkids and employees. I think UA (as well as DL) have their heads tucked up into the hepatic flexure on this stuff.