What's the difference between EQM and normal miles?
 

I get that EQM's are mainly for status, but are they and "normal miles" one and the same? If I book a trip from, say, LAX to NRT for 5500 miles do I get 5500 normal, redeemable miles and 5500 eqm, non-redeemable miles?

I guess I'm confused, because the "status" benefits aren't of real importance to me, because I don't fly that much. But I am interesting in accumulating miles through credit cards, transferring them to UA and then flying for free on vacations.

EQM are used for your status as they are Elite Qualifying Miles. They are not redeemable for travel.

Makes sense. Do they earn at the same rate normal miles do? Say, in my above example, would I get 5,500 redeemable miles and 5,500 EQ miles.

Can miles transfers from credit cards (sapphire preferred) count towards EQ miles or are they gained strictly by flying? I would assume the latter, or I could just take my 50k signup bonus and get status at United (which seems too easy).

No.

Assuming a normal coach fare, yes.

Then you can ignore the EQM bit.

Think of it as two wholly separate accounts, one for EQMs and one for RDMs. The EQM account only grows during the year and then resets to zero on January 1 and is only used for status. You earn based on the fare and miles flown.

The RDMs account can grow or shrink during the year and never gets reset to zero unless you have no activity for 18 months. The RDM account also is where CC points show up and where you redeem from for travel awards. If you don't care about status then this is the only one you care about.

EQM's aren't miles in the conventional sense, they are not a currency and have no value. They are essentially a measuring stick of your progress towards elite status.

RDM's are just like currency and have value and can be redeemed/exchanged for tangible benefits.

in most cases when talking about United flights, yes. earned RDMs = earned EQMs (although as an elite member, you will get RDM bonuses, etc.). where it gets tricky is with partner airlines, especially with foreign carriers. for example, with South African Airways, most economy tickets will earn 100% RDM miles, but only 70% EQM. when in doubt, check the website. but if you're doing most of your flying on United or domestic Star Alliance partners, it's usually 100% EQM/100% RDM.


right, too easy :D those are just redeemable miles. EQMs you can pretty much only get through flying (tho Delta is letting you buy them, from what i understand) and like was said earlier, reset every year.

CO has been selling them for a few years now. Just search for Elite Maximizer here and read the many threads on the topic.