cobrax333

We had a thread like this on the old CO side back when it was called Elite Maximizer, but that isn't very search friendly for anyone new here.

We can use this thread to post rates we are seeing again, or if a mod deems merge it with the old (and outdated named) thread.

I was also curious if anyone knows if these vary by route? I've been flying a bit lately and I keep seeing a static 13cpm/PQM both on the website and at the airport.

In the past month I've flown:

LAX-EWR,EWR-LAX,LAX-IAH,IAH-MIA,LAX-DEN,DEN-LAX,IAH-DEN,DEN-IAH,MIA-IAH,IAH-LAX

ALL were:
2.8cpm/RDM
13cpm/PQM

WineCountryUA

Just check a few hours ago, an UA (TATL) - LH itin and RDM were 2cpm and the PQMs another 8 cpm for a total 10 cpm -- lowest I have seen recently.

EsquireFlyer

My UA domestic itin is still showing 12.5cpm (all-in)...
At 10 cpm I would probably bite.

Worth doing a dummy booking? lol

chinatraderjmr

Why are they still doing this. It was a CO thing and I thought w the merged program they were going to adopt the old UA policy. IF YOU WANT 1K THRN FLY 100,000 MILES. PERIOD. This was really the only fair way of doing it in my humble opinion. I'm not trying to start a UA vs CO thing here. But taking the BEST of both programs, to me, the UA way was the only fair way to go. CO also had some better points and those should have been adopted as well, just not this maximizer stuff

5khours

No interest in the PQM, but I bought a lot of RDM at 2.0 cpm last year. The cheapest I have seen this year is at 2.5 although a friend told me he was offered at 1.9 cpm. I can't figure out if there is any rhyme or reason for the pricing.

Also does anyone know if you can make multiple mile purchases on the same reservation?

FlyerTalker678

Don't think so. I snapped up 20,000 miles at 2c and the link is now gone on the reservation so I can't book again.

5khours

What was your route booking class on the 2c offer?

FlyerTalker678

It was DUB->YVR->MCO->DUB using in saverpass economy(award travel).

cobrax333

So it does look like international itins are getting cheaper rates than domestic, as all my legs were domestic and i kept getting the standard 2.8cpm/RDM & 13cpm/PQM

EsquireFlyer

LOL!

The new UA never adopts the old UA policy. It's either the old CO policy, or an all-new policy that is worse than both the old UA policy and the old CO policy.

I think it's just once before check-in (in My Itins) and once during check-in.

If you want to buy more than that, just do a dummy booking.

redwoman

The flawed assumption is that the more miles one flies, the more profitable they are for the airline. This is not true, when we have the existence of mileage runners and when I have analyzed my own travel. UA makes much more profit off me when I fly SFO-LAX or SFO-SAN or even SFO-DEN or SFO-SEA instead of SFO-PHL or SFO-IAD (nonstop or connections make no difference on the transcons). The cpm I pay for RDMs and PQMs is much higher on those short routes. I pay a lot relative to how far I am transported and get very little in terms of RDM/PQMs on short routes. I suppose that miles may be easier to track than to calculate profit realized per passenger, so all airlines based their loyalty programs on miles flown, but i have never believed that more miles flown on ultracheap tickets = better customer.

The elite maximizer is still around because it is pure profit for UA. That customer didn't take up a seat to earn those PQMs; UA didn't have to burn jet fuel, pay baggage handlers, GAs, FAs etc. to deal with him. If you're the type of customer who buys PQMs, then you don't fly as much as someone who earns them by sitting in a seat. The Elite Maximizer person is not flying as much so by definition, he's not competing with you as much for upgrades.

aacharya

You've got some pretty aggressive stances to take if you don't want to "start" something.

Kind of like wanting to get the last word in.

As for facts:

1. 1K is still not eligible via Elite Max.
2. If you were 30 miles away from Gold, you wouldn't use Elite Maximizer?

EsquireFlyer

Actually, Elite Max miles do count for 1K status, as they always have, since the merger.

cobrax333

you can buy up to 1k with premiere accelerator, you cannot hit 1k with the CO PP Card Flex EQMs.

So basically with current rates you can "buy" 1k for about $10k

5khours

What kind of rates are people getting on the RDM?