The introduction of Choices, whether a Chase program or a UA program, raises a number of points for consideration as well as being a cause for concern. In my view, the bottom line is that use of Choices for statement credit on air fare purchases is the equivalent of redeeming your miles for 1 cent each. To some flyers, redeeming at this rate and not having to worry about award seat availability is good, but for most a valuation of 1 cent per mile is unacceptable. I would argue that if you are content receiving 1 cent per mile of value, you should not be playing the miles/points game…..you would be much better off getting a straight 1% cash back credit card (where you can use the cash for whatever you want) or opting for the new BlueSky card from AMEX which operates very similar to Choices, but offers a redemption value of 1.33 cents per mile/point across multiple airlines.

Many here on FlyerTalk, myself included, see no real value to Choices. In the past, the decision was “buy a ticket” or “redeem miles”. If you value miles at more than 1 cent each, then Choices in almost every case will not change that decision. As others have pointed out, only in the very narrowest of circumstances will Choices make sense. Since a ticket purchased using Choices accumulates miles, there are some situations where the mileage earning on the Choices ticket will generate a higher value for the miles used (for the statement credit) than an outright use of miles to claim an award ticket under legacy award levels. With a bit of time, I’m sure we could come up with a formula that takes into account ticket price, miles earned from trip, status & bonus miles, legacy award mileage required, etc. to identify those situations where using Choices offered a better value than using miles or buying a ticket outright. Interestingly enough, those with UA elite status would seem to have more opportunities where use of Choices makes sense since elite members benefit from 25% - 100% bonus miles on travel.

The introduction of Choices suggests that the airline-affiliated credit cards, and by implication the FF programs themselves, are taking a hit from the seemingly unending Capital One credit card ads trumpeting no capacity controls, no blackout dates, and use of miles when you want with no restrictions. Perhaps this should serve as a wake-up call to United and the other airlines that people are not going to sit idly while the programs increase their award levels, tighten availability controls, and institute fee on top of fee for redeeming awards.

For the FF (i.e. non-FlyerTalker) masses who mostly redeem for domestic coach awards (I think InsideFlyer estimates that 80% of award redemptions are for standard 25K miles domestic coach awards) with little or no regard for ticket prices, Choices may be a dream come true. No seat restrictions and a mileage valuation that is perhaps as good as or better than they were getting before. Choices is clearly a program targeted for the masses. And if Choices succeeds with the masses, then we all have reason for concern, as gleff points out. The legacy airlines have long operated in a “monkey-see”, “monkey-do” fashion; one program raises award levels and the others soon follow. UA’s recent announcement of coming award level changes is but another example of this trend following approach. I believe a successful Choices program will quickly lead UA to revaluate Mileage Plus and perhaps shift the entire MP program to the Choices model. Why? Largely because the Choices model is more closely aligned with revenue than the current MP model in that award levels are directly linked to ticket prices, one choice per dollar on the redemption side. Most airlines have wanted to tie their loyalty programs to revenue, but have not been able to do so on the earning side because of the complexity inherent in running a revenue-based system, as well as the huge culture change that would be needed to re-orient flyers who are only familiar with miles. Choices appears to solve a large part of these problems by approaching the revenue linkage from the redemption-side. Flyers continue to earn miles (choices) as usual, and also continue to redeem miles (choices) as usual, with the only difference being the redemption levels are driven strictly by ticket price. The Choices model also offers other potential benefits to UA: eliminates the wide-spread perception (many would call it a fact) of no award seat availability, eliminates the need for the continual devaluation of miles, eliminates program complexity (the need to maintain separate saver and standard award charts by geography as well as award restrictions), and may even reduce headcount needed (award desk personnel no longer needed as everything is done on-line….buy a ticket, redeem your choices, get a statement credit). In the end, moving to a Choices model will greatly reduce the value many of us receive from international award redemptions, as those higher-priced tickets, particularly for business or first class, will require many more choices/miles and thus be out of reach. I would say that is cause for grave concern.