What would you do? Low fare vs. miles
 

Chicago-DEN.

$160 on United, earning miles plus 5,000 bonus for flying before 2/28 (6700 total miles).

OR

$100 on Southwest with today's Ding fare, earning 2 RR credits.

This is for my girlfriend, who is not a terribly frequent traveller but likes the idea of accumulating miles, and also likes to save money.

Depends on which airline she wants to collect miles/credits on and how she wants to use free trips. United offers more destinations.

Will she earn 16 RR credits within 24 months?

Somehow, every time I pay extra to get miles, I regret it later.:td:

First of all, if I were booking for a non-elite traveler, I'd book her on WN even if the prices were equal. Flying out of ORD as a non-elite on UA will not be fun. I'd rather fly WN out of MDW, knowing that I can print my own "elite status" 24 hours before the flight. OK, I know it isn't the same thing, but in all seriousness, I would much rather be on WN than any major on which I hold no status. If her WN flight cancels, she's on equal footing with everyone else. If her UA flight cancels, the trip is probably canceled altogether.

The $60 savings is gravy. This one's a no-brainer.

The only two things that might cause me to re-think it:
- If she does the UA flights, is there any chance she'll get the "bug" and finish the Fly3? Two well-placed, cheap MR's and you've got a Hawaii ticket. Possible romantic getaway there... :)
- If she lives in Schaumburg or Rosemont or whatever, the idea of using ORD isn't quite as unpalatable as it is for the rest of us. I guess flying as a non-elite originating at ORD is less risky than connecting there. She can always just go back home...

Even then, I'd be hesitant to recommend mileage runs to a non-elite. Maybe two quick MSP runs and some iDining (if 35k were the goal) is less risky and time-consuming than trying multi-segment itin.

Go Illini!

In no particular order, some factors to consider:

1. Does she live closer to ORD (UA) or MDW (WN)? Is there a large difference in convenience between the airport locations?

2. MDW is less likely to have delays than ORD.

3. Will the miles or RR credits help her reach an award threshhold? If she is 6700 miles away from an award on UA, or 2 RR credits away from an award on WN, then it may make sense to grab the award even if it costs a bit extra. The UA miles are easier to keep live (just have some activity at least once every three years to keep the miles from expiring) than the WN RR credits (each one expires after two years), so she may be able to gain a UA award through infrequent travel more easily than a WN award.

4. WN has a bit more legroom than UA standard economy. WN's open seating favors early checkin and airport arrival, while UA's assigned seating favors elites first, then early booking.

10 years ago, I would have said miles.

Now, I burn miles. I don't save them for a rainy day because I know the airlines will say "weather related (rainy day, heh?) you need triple the amount of miles for a free ticket". Seriously, everyone on FT knows that it's getting harder and harder to claim an award.

Now, my criteria is "no hard feelings, United...this is business." Didn't Guido use a similar phrase? The amount of miles is no where near worth $60.

She probably won't be flying enough to get a free WN ticket in the 2 year period.

We both live in Chicago on the north side, so both airports are about equally reachable.

I doubt she'll be taking any more trips before the promotion is over.

I recently got her signed up for the MP dining, so keeping her miles live shouldn't be a problem.

The flight times are a little better on UA, so we'll see what she decides.

Maybe trade in 1000 miles for a $25 certificate and book the flight, making it $135?

Cool - unless the flight times are significantly worse on WN, it's pretty clear-cut - save the $60.

What to do
 

Well, having flown from Chicago airports for years, I can chime in on the subject:

1. I avoid MDW like the plague. Primarly due to the nightmare of getting to and from MDW from the NW suburbs. But, if you are in the SE burbs or downtown, MDW would be more convenient.

2. The larger issue for me though is the miles. I should aask, where do you want to do with teh miles. If you say anything beyond our borders, then WN is a waste.

3. Hit CC and see if acquiring 2P status is available to you.

4. Avoid the cattle call. Check-in 24 hours in advance at united.com and pick your seat.

If you play the WN cattle call right (which is not hard to do), it usually yields a better seat than UA's assigned seats do for a non-elite. Mainly because the most desired seats at the front of the plane are either first class or economy plus that are not available to non-elites with economy tickets.

The only catch: you gotta do 3 if you want to do 4. (Bartering for status had completely slipped my mind.) With no status, you're probably going through security with a "departure management card" and getting your seat at the gate, unless the flight is somewhat less than full. I always hated that feeling when I flew UA without status. Standing there in the gate area, listening to calls for VDB's, lots of nervous people milling around... I knew logically that I was either getting on the flight or getting cash compensation if not, but I still hated it. It's much nicer to have status (any status will do - even 3P), book your seat ahead of time, and then if it comes to it decide to play the VDB game if you like.

Agreed - the WN cattle call always yields a better seat than a UA E- seat. You're usually talking about an aisle or window seat (whichever you prefer) in the first 8-10 rows of the plane - even if you just show up in time to board at the end of the A group. (In fact, on most flights, there is really no incentive camping in the A line. From MDW going either direction, there are probably through pax sitting in the exit rows by the time the first A boards.)

If we can agree that a UA ff miles is worth a penny -- and that your gf would actually USE those miles before they expire -- the two fares cost almost the same (price minus ff value) so it would seem wise to pick the flights that are most convenient (including the myriad of small but perhaps important differences between the two products already noted by our experienced braintrust).

I'm confused. I have no status on UA, but I can still choose my seat online. In fact, I've never been on a flight wher eI didn;t know my seat ahead of time (except on WN).

A mile is worth more than a penny to me because I have a substantial number of miles already and I can use my miles toward an expensive award ticket. But to someone starting from scratch a mile may be worth less than a penny, much less, especially if there is little likelihood that they will acquire a great many more miles in the future through flying or credit card use.

As for cheap WN ticket vs more expensive UA ticket: a VDB on UA would be substantially more valuable than a WN one, but how likely are VDBs?

Two things: (1) you were likely on a fairly empty flight and (2) you probably were only able to select an E- seat.

These days, the vast majority of my UA tickets are bought where even I - a Premier Exec - cannot select a seat at booking-time. The seatmap shows an airplane with every seat full. Then, at the various elite-upgrade booking windows, I re-check. Almost without fail, I can select an exit row seat 4 or 3 days prior to the flight as 1K's and 1P's are upgrading. If I get inside 3 days and nothing good turns up, I upgrade the flight. (Usually, upgrade availability is there even when coach is completely assigned.)

Only once in the past year (65 segments) did it come down to me having to go to the gate without an E+ seat assignment in-hand. (Thankfully, I was VDB'ed.)

Without status, I would have been straight-up hosed. I simply wouldn't have flown United. It's a great system for elites. It's a horrible system for non-elites. It's also a good system for people who like to play the VDB game, because so many flights are oversold. (In general, I don't like to play this game - unless I'm in a bad seat assignment.) I'm just thankful that UA comped me 2P last year so I wouldn't have to grind out 25k in E-.

That has not been my experience when booking online.

If you have not logged in, thereby letting united.com know that you are an elite, the seat map will show every E+ seat occupied, though E+ may be almost empty at the time. Then if you log in and go back to look again, you will see what is really available to you. Only close to departure time, when the seats are under airport control, have I been unable to see what is going on by means of the seat map.

Same here.

Even before I had status on UA, I'd chose UA over Southwest unless it is a last-minute flight and the fare difference is considerable. (That happened to me only once when a friend's son died and I had to book a ticket the day before flying.) Otherwise I avoid Midway like the plague.

Besides, United goes more places than Southwest when using a free ticket. And that's an excellent price for ORD-DEN.

If anyone cares, we used the 1000 mile $25 e-cert and got the flight on united for $133.70 all in. She'll net 6776 miles after cancelling the e-cert out with online booking and checkin, 888 miles each way, and the 5000 bonus.

Cool -- thx for the update. Maybe you'll get lucky (har) and she'll realllly catch the MR bug. I assure you, it's quite addictive.

This is what I would have done -

Take the lower cost flight, saving $60. Apply for one of the credit cards with 15-25K miles deal w/o annual fee. Apply for another credit card but with same airline affiliation that gives 15-25K miles w/annual feel of say ~$60. That way you have the lower cost for the actual flight and a free or almost there r/t flight for $60, plus RR credits.

LOL.

Saving now is better than banking for the future unless you have a goal and need just a few more points. I only pay up if I am near an award level.