Does anyone have concrete info on why Starnet blocks TG and other partner awards?
Are these the pieces of the puzzle..
a) When IM at TG (or LH etc) release seats in paid classes C,D etc they also release a handful of seats in award classes O, I etc
b) These seats are immediately available for award bookings by every airline in *A, such as ANA where we observe them using the ANA tool
c) Some airlines such as LH may also release seats in award classes reserved only for their own fliers. These are not visible to ANA or UA etc, only to M&M members and are not part of the problem.
d) The problem is that when we call UA to book TG awards, which stick out like a dog's b*lls on the ANA tool, all the premium classes have usually been blocked by Starnet.
e) The agent will say "I can't see that flight" which is a giveaway because normally all *A flights for the sector would appear on the Starnet screen, even those showing zero or only Y award availability.
f) So, why does UA do this?
- the usual assumption is that UA's pennypinching accountants are cheating UAMP members out of these seats to save a bit of money, trying to drive UA members on to UA transpacs rather than the more salubrious partner flights
But there may be other explanations
- Is it possible that UA is coerced into blocking some awards at the behest of the other members of *A because otherwise all the premium seats would be gobbled by the overwhelming preponderance of UAMP members with their (comparatively) generous accumulations of miles?
- Is it possible that after some unfortunate experiences during BK, an airline like LH may have set an annual credit-limit for UA, a threshold for the total awards for a calendar year. (Each year in about November all the LH intra-Europe awards disappear from Starnet and don't reappear until the New Year.)