Increased Pricing for partner MP Awards April 2024
May 4, 2024 | 3:07 pm
#121
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Danville, CA, USA;
Programs: UA 1MM, WN CP, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Gold, IC Plat
Posts: 17,987
My observation with at least my travel patterns is United is the worst at releasing saver/cheaper domestic award flights and in fact I don't believe I have ever booked a United domestic Y ticket on points and certainly not since Covid. DL and AA are much better and with AA the awards are often decently priced on their currency or you can use a partner and often save some more. DL is generally not well priced using their currency but they do often have a decent amount of saver space you an book with partners though generally these partner redemptions are higher than they would be with AA's partners (especially domestic F). And I should add while I am not a United elite I do hold their CC so I do see the increased Y saver availability granted to CC users (it basically has never been useful).
***With these changes United has officially joined Delta as a points program I really have no interest in engaging with (I have earned a grand total of less than 2500 points with Delta since I started earning points).
***Honestly United and Delta appear to be betting on the fact that most folks either cannot or won't do the math and I am guessing they are right for the most part.
***With these changes United has officially joined Delta as a points program I really have no interest in engaging with (I have earned a grand total of less than 2500 points with Delta since I started earning points).
***Honestly United and Delta appear to be betting on the fact that most folks either cannot or won't do the math and I am guessing they are right for the most part.
Given that Skymiles doesnt appear to have imploded and people still keep tapping/swiping their Delta Amex cards like there is no tomorrow, I suspect that this isnt going to impact MileagePlus negatively. Perhaps because the vast majority of people are booking domestic awards that dont quite induce such a sticker shock but also dont return a lot of value. I still think a 2% cashback card would probably be significantly better for most airline cardholders.
May 4, 2024 | 4:16 pm
#122
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,917
Everyone's experience is different, but I find DL is the worst. The best I ever see on DL is .01cpp for the routes I fly, and usually that's on low cost fares. Often worse for Mexico, Hawaii, Europe or any popular vacation spot. AA is cheapest when you can find it. UA used to be higher than .01cpp but I don't know now.
May 4, 2024 | 4:33 pm
#123
Join Date: Oct 2012
Programs: AA
Posts: 343
I feel quite bad for those who have been loyal to UA because they got played. UA sold miles to banks and made some money. Then UA changed the rates so now UA is getting money from you. I always wondered how airlines in the US constantly change the mile redemption values without a notice without being sued (with potentailly false expectations that you can get a good value and made you work hard to earn miles just to devalue miles later....) I left them when I had a nasty experience with LH in 2014 and I never regretted it. I have been loyal to AA partners for a while and became a free agent since covid and it is quite fun, probably more savings and more comfort. Nowadays, elite benefits can be bought as an extra service, so I think people should carefully think about how much value they are getting by being loyal to an airline. I think UA chase cards are a bad idea because Sapphire products (transferrable to UA), and I hope more people realize that. UA will only change things back if these changes hurt them financially. My main concern is that most people outside this forum have no idea about these changes and values of their miles...
May 4, 2024 | 4:47 pm
#124
Join Date: May 2010
Location: AVP & PEK
Programs: UA 1K 2MM
Posts: 7,798
Luckily for us we have FT to get down to the nitty gritty, so we can make our own [hopefully] informed decisions.
May 4, 2024 | 6:55 pm
#125
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Saipan, MP 96950 USA (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands = the CNMI)
Programs: UA Silver, Hilton Silver. Life: UA .60 MM, United & Admirals Clubs (spousal), Marriott Platinum
Posts: 17,925
May 5, 2024 | 7:35 am
#126
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Munich, Deutscheland
Programs: Try to be elite again... :)
Posts: 503
I must say that the speed of the devaluation is indeed astonishing. Truth to be told, when UA sold its miles, the price was often at the high end side, e.g. 1.8c/mile. Honestly, I do not know who would buy UA miles considering that nowadays it is probably worth less than 1c/mile... crazy!
May 5, 2024 | 7:49 am
#127
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, AS MVP Gold, MR LTT, HH Dia, IHG Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 37,234
I must say that the speed of the devaluation is indeed astonishing. Truth to be told, when UA sold its miles, the price was often at the high end side, e.g. 1.8c/mile. Honestly, I do not know who would buy UA miles considering that nowadays it is probably worth less than 1c/mile... crazy!
May 5, 2024 | 9:10 am
#128
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: SCE, AOO
Programs: free agent
Posts: 1,066
it's better to burn 200k door to door ride than paying 99k for Tokyo-SE asia destinations. in J...
May 5, 2024 | 11:20 am
#129
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA LT Plat 2MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 72,948
May 5, 2024 | 2:37 pm
#130
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, AS MVP Gold, MR LTT, HH Dia, IHG Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 37,234
No reason to ever get less than 1 cpm. There are various cards offering that, such as MP Choice Points Q&A [Consolidated] (Moved to Chase.com, renamed Pay Yourself Back)
May 6, 2024 | 2:17 am
#131
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: NYC
Programs: AADULtArer
Posts: 6,536
I must say that the speed of the devaluation is indeed astonishing. Truth to be told, when UA sold its miles, the price was often at the high end side, e.g. 1.8c/mile. Honestly, I do not know who would buy UA miles considering that nowadays it is probably worth less than 1c/mile... crazy!
This was on The Points Guy on Tuesday:
United MileagePlus seemingly devalues first-class partner redemptions
United MileagePlus seemingly devalues first-class partner redemptions
if you look around and cant recognize the mark
Last edited by WineCountryUA; May 6, 2024 at 2:58 pm Reason: merged consecutive posts by same member
May 6, 2024 | 5:53 am
#132
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: FLL, MEL, SIN, WAS
Programs: SQ, UA*Lifetime GS, Hyatt* Lifetime Globalist
Posts: 13,392
Mileage redemption is one of the considerations in choosing an airlines. Airlines offer various elite benefits other than frequent flyer miles. While using accumulated miles are important to many, others choose a particular airlines based on other considerations.
May 7, 2024 | 2:20 pm
#133
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Danville, CA, USA;
Programs: UA 1MM, WN CP, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Gold, IC Plat
Posts: 17,987
But - as bears repeating - nobody should be putting any discretionary or everyday spend on an airline card unless you are accumulating EQP for elite status. And even then kind of questionable given the paltry elite benefits.
May 7, 2024 | 6:19 pm
#135
Suspended
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: NYC / TYO / RSW Up in the Air avoiding the Snowflakes
Programs: UA GS 1.8MM, AA 2.1MM, EK, BA, SQ, CX, Marriott LT, Accor P
Posts: 8,058
ETA the monkey is from baggage claim and the sign means welcome in the local dialect.
Last edited by bmwe92fan; May 7, 2024 at 6:31 pm