Frontier MasterCard vs UA Platinum
 

Okay, so I'm a 1K on UA living in Denver, which means I pay nothing for the UA Platinum CC. Anyway, the intrinsic problem with earning *more* UA miles is that the award trips are so expensive -- usually I'm not lucky enough to get a saver award, so I drop 40K miles for a domestic flight (even when a saver award is available, it's still 25K miles). :(

Frontier, on the other hand, has all domestic award tickets for 15K, no blackout dates, etc, etc. I've successfully called the day before a flight, and gotten someone the last seat on the airplane. Really good deal.

Outside of the fact you obviously lose out on international destinations (but I'm still earning tons of UA miles by flying them every week), I can't help but think the Frontier CC (even paying the $49/year charge) is a better deal than the UA Platinum (value = $140/year, which is waived since I'm 1K on UA).

I know UA Platinum has 2 miles for $1 on certain purchases, but that still doesn't compete with 15K tickets offered by Frontier. Thoughts? Am I missing something?

Links:
UA Platinum - http://www.firstusa.com/cgi-bin/webc...cont&mkid=6SJS
Frontier (see "World Card") - http://www.frontierairlines.com/fron...-mastercard.do

You're missing the fact that no FT'er worth his salt would burn 25k, let alone 40k on a domestic ticket.
The best value for United miles are for international business or first class tickets, and Frontier can't compete with that so they only charge 15,000 miles for what they do have to offer.

Hmm, sounds like I'm not a good FT'er. :) Please help me understand -- if I need to fly someone (or myself) domestic on a $400 domestic airfare (expensive because I need certain times), do you think I'm really better off dropping $400 for that ticket and saving the miles? Would you say I was had on a domestic ticket to Hawaii that I paid 35k on UA for? I thought it was a great deal, considering the tickets at the time were running $700+.

Thanks for your initial comment. Just curious as to what I might be missing!

ctownflyer - Still curious if you'd be willing to comment?

I think it depends on the value you place on your miles, how many you have & where you fly. I value my miles at 1 cent each. I get most of them almost for free with CC offers. So, if a flight is more than $250 I'll use my miles. If I was planning a international flt. I'd use miles if the ticket cost > $500. I use most of my miles for trips to Hawaii because the fares, from BOI, are usually $700-$800. Different strokes....

Yes, my understanding exactly. I have always valued mine at $.01/each as well, and am just trying to understand what I might be missing. Good to know.