Nov 1, 2013, 4:08 am
Last edit by: aacharya
Moderator Note: Please keep the wiki post limited to just the facts.
New UA Award/Upgrade Chart (vs. Current Chart)
Changes took effect for travel booked starting February 3, 2014. See UA Insider's post linked here for more info about the date change. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/22263212-post2366.html
Awards with *A partners now cost more than similar awards flown only on UA metal.
See below for the round-trip increases on partner metal :
Changes to upgrade policy for intra-Asia and northern South America flights
Questions and Answers
Q: If I book an award in January 2014 and then make changes in February or beyond (in routing, airline, origin, destination, etc), will it be repriced according to new mileage requirements, or will I keep the old pricing on that ticket?
Additional details on changing tickets booked prior to 2/3/14 per UA Insider:
Full details are in post #2588 http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/22283437-post2588.html
Q: Do these rates apply for tickets purchased after Feb 3 or for travel after Feb 3? That is,if one purchases a ticket now, to fly on Mar 15, will that be new or old pricing?
Q: How will award pricing apply to mixed-carrier Saver Awards?
(reverted to J.Edward's rev)
New UA Award/Upgrade Chart (vs. Current Chart)
Changes took effect for travel booked starting February 3, 2014. See UA Insider's post linked here for more info about the date change. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/22263212-post2366.html
Awards with *A partners now cost more than similar awards flown only on UA metal.
- F awards on partners went up 40-80%
- J awards on partners went up 20-40%
- F and J awards on UA metal (or mixed carriers where UA metal is in premium cabin followed by partner segment in lower class) as well some Y awards increased by 5-20% (US to Europe in F up 19%, US to Middle East in F up 20% for example)
See below for the round-trip increases on partner metal :
US ✈ Southern South America: +10,000 J, +5,000 F
US ✈ Europe: +40,000 J, +85,000 F
US ✈ Northern/Central/Southern Africa: +40,000 J, +110,000 F
US ✈ Middle East: +5,000 Y, +40,000 J, +130,000 F
US ✈ Central Asia/India: +5,000 Y, +40,000 J, +120,000 F
US ✈ South Asia: +15,000 Y, +40,000 J, +120,000 F
US ✈ North Asia: +5,000 Y, +40,000 J, +100,000 F
US ✈ Japan: +5,000 Y, +30,000 J, +85,000 F
US ✈ Oceania: +30,000 J, +70,000 F
US ✈ Australia/New Zealand: +25,000 J, +100,000 F
RTW: +20,000 Y, +90,000 J, +100,000 F
US ✈ Europe: +40,000 J, +85,000 F
US ✈ Northern/Central/Southern Africa: +40,000 J, +110,000 F
US ✈ Middle East: +5,000 Y, +40,000 J, +130,000 F
US ✈ Central Asia/India: +5,000 Y, +40,000 J, +120,000 F
US ✈ South Asia: +15,000 Y, +40,000 J, +120,000 F
US ✈ North Asia: +5,000 Y, +40,000 J, +100,000 F
US ✈ Japan: +5,000 Y, +30,000 J, +85,000 F
US ✈ Oceania: +30,000 J, +70,000 F
US ✈ Australia/New Zealand: +25,000 J, +100,000 F
RTW: +20,000 Y, +90,000 J, +100,000 F
Changes to upgrade policy for intra-Asia and northern South America flights
- Complimentary Premier Upgrades and instant upgrades are not applicable
- Regional Premier Upgrades (for any fare class) and Global Premier Upgrades (for flights booked in fare class Z, P, S, T, L, K, G or N) can no longer be requested on or after November 1, 2013
- There is no co-pay exemption for MileagePlus Upgrade Awards requested on or after November 1, 2013
- The above changes do not apply to Copa-operated flights.
Questions and Answers
Q: If I book an award in January 2014 and then make changes in February or beyond (in routing, airline, origin, destination, etc), will it be repriced according to new mileage requirements, or will I keep the old pricing on that ticket?
Our existing change process will apply. Changes to awards that require a change in date do not result in a change to the award price. Any other change will require an add/collect in miles and fees for changes or cancellations will still apply as per our existing policies.
Changes that will not trigger a re-price for itineraries ticketed before February 3, 2014 include:
- Date/time (cabin, region, and award type can't change)
- Carrier on one or more segments (cabin, region, and award type can’t change)
- Origin/Destination within the same regions (carrier and cabin can’t change)
Q: Do these rates apply for tickets purchased after Feb 3 or for travel after Feb 3? That is,if one purchases a ticket now, to fly on Mar 15, will that be new or old pricing?
Updated handling for mixed UA-Partner United/partner award itineraries: As we shared with the initial announcement, the Star Alliance/Partner partner award pricing will apply to Business or First awards for itineraries that include at least one flight segment operated by a MileagePlus partner carrier in Business or First.
However, as a customer benefit we have made an exception for most itineraries which require connecting onto a MileagePlus/Star partner in First or Business for a short distance. Specifically, if a United/Copa award itinerary contains a connecting segment on a MileagePlus/Star partner that is wholly within one MileagePlus award region, then the United award price will apply.
However, as a customer benefit we have made an exception for most itineraries which require connecting onto a MileagePlus/Star partner in First or Business for a short distance. Specifically, if a United/Copa award itinerary contains a connecting segment on a MileagePlus/Star partner that is wholly within one MileagePlus award region, then the United award price will apply.
- For example: IAD-FRA in United BusinessFirst connecting to FRA-FCO in Lufthansa Business, will be priced at the United mileage award amount.
- Note that this exception will not apply to a few specific regions and routings, such as intra-Africa connecting segments and certain fifth-freedom routes (e.g. BKK-KUL operated by Lufthansa)
Changes to MileagePlus Award and Upgrade Policies - Eff. 3-Feb-2014
Feb 3, 2014, 3:40 pm
#2551
Join Date: May 2009
Location: EWR
Programs: UA .5M, Vistana 1-Star owner
Posts: 992
sbm12's excellent "United’s best fare: Only if you ask VERY nicely" proves .bomb's twisted logic. It's unfortunate their goal of 10cpm will disenfranchise the former airline's biggest fans, but they'll turn a profit.
Feb 3, 2014, 5:20 pm
#2552
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 6,385
still looks like international/partner rez award space still not showing.
Feb 3, 2014, 7:03 pm
#2554
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 347
It would be interesting to see statistics about how many award miles were redeemed in the last week compared to a normal week. But I'm going to guess that's a closely guarded secret.
Feb 3, 2014, 8:24 pm
#2555
Join Date: Sep 2009
Programs: UA GS>1K>Nothing; DL DM 2MM; AS 75K>Nothing>MVP
Posts: 9,341
Basically it boils down to what the spread is between earning and redeeming miles, which can be broken down into three categories.
1. Miles earned from flying.
2. Miles sold to Chase.
3. Miles bought on award accelerators.
IMHO, they'll get badly hurt on 1) because even though there will be a shift in redemptions from *A partners to UA, which reduces the cost of redemption to UA, I think a lot of HVFs will reduce UA spending or leave UA because one of the main benefits of MP was the partner redemption.
On 2), I suspect it will be wash. They'll save some money on redemptions, but they will sell fewer miles to Chase because for Chase customers the miles are less valuable and there is less reason to use a Chase credit card.
I think they will also see a big drop in award accelerator sales. IMHO miles bought on accelerators are only a good deal if you redeem on premium international fares. With the huge increase in redemption levels for partner awards, purchase miles (at current prices) don't make any sense.
The adjustment will take a year or so, which will allow the clowns at HQ to keep their jobs for a few more quarters while they get a temporary one time boost in financial performance, but long term I have to believe this will seriously hurt UA.
(Just my $0.02 from an armchair aviation industry expert
)
Feb 3, 2014, 10:32 pm
#2556
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: SFO & ORD
Programs: UA1K, VXgold
Posts: 93
Award search seems to be working ex-SFO to Asia as of 9:30pm Pacific time...
Feb 3, 2014, 10:44 pm
#2557
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: So Cal
Programs: UA Gold/0.744MM, WN AL, Hyatt Diamond, MR Scum, Hertz PC, National Exec, Avis PC
Posts: 5,561
Feb 3, 2014, 10:45 pm
#2558
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: FL35
Programs: DL DM, AS MVPG, AA PP, UA 1K, Bonvoy Plat, Hyatt Globalist, HH Gold, Avis PC, Hertz PC, Natl EE
Posts: 420
And they're back. With Flyer Friendly changes like 110K OW in F from NA to Europe.
Feb 3, 2014, 10:50 pm
#2559
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Programs: DL PM, MR Titanium/LTP, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 10,130
There is still some broken logic - if you try and make a date change to an existing award ticket it errors out.
Last edited by Duke787; Feb 4, 2014 at 8:22 am
Feb 3, 2014, 10:54 pm
#2560
Join Date: May 2008
Location: 39°51'31"N 104°40'23"W
Programs: UA 1.5K MM/SPG Plat/Various Random Golds lol
Posts: 1,071
What would be even more interesting to see is how this works out for UA financially.
Basically it boils down to what the spread is between earning and redeeming miles, which can be broken down into three categories.
1. Miles earned from flying.
2. Miles sold to Chase.
3. Miles bought on award accelerators.
IMHO, they'll get badly hurt on 1) because even though there will be a shift in redemptions from *A partners to UA, which reduces the cost of redemption to UA, I think a lot of HVFs will reduce UA spending or leave UA because one of the main benefits of MP was the partner redemption.
On 2), I suspect it will be wash. They'll save some money on redemptions, but they will sell fewer miles to Chase because for Chase customers the miles are less valuable and there is less reason to use a Chase credit card.
I think they will also see a big drop in award accelerator sales. IMHO miles bought on accelerators are only a good deal if you redeem on premium international fares. With the huge increase in redemption levels for partner awards, purchase miles (at current prices) don't make any sense.
The adjustment will take a year or so, which will allow the clowns at HQ to keep their jobs for a few more quarters while they get a temporary one time boost in financial performance, but long term I have to believe this will seriously hurt UA.
(Just my $0.02 from an armchair aviation industry expert )
Basically it boils down to what the spread is between earning and redeeming miles, which can be broken down into three categories.
1. Miles earned from flying.
2. Miles sold to Chase.
3. Miles bought on award accelerators.
IMHO, they'll get badly hurt on 1) because even though there will be a shift in redemptions from *A partners to UA, which reduces the cost of redemption to UA, I think a lot of HVFs will reduce UA spending or leave UA because one of the main benefits of MP was the partner redemption.
On 2), I suspect it will be wash. They'll save some money on redemptions, but they will sell fewer miles to Chase because for Chase customers the miles are less valuable and there is less reason to use a Chase credit card.
I think they will also see a big drop in award accelerator sales. IMHO miles bought on accelerators are only a good deal if you redeem on premium international fares. With the huge increase in redemption levels for partner awards, purchase miles (at current prices) don't make any sense.
The adjustment will take a year or so, which will allow the clowns at HQ to keep their jobs for a few more quarters while they get a temporary one time boost in financial performance, but long term I have to believe this will seriously hurt UA.
(Just my $0.02 from an armchair aviation industry expert
)Agreed +1 on all points. I am looking at it the exact same way
Feb 3, 2014, 11:00 pm
#2561
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Denver • DEN-APA
Programs: AF Platinum, EK Gold, AA EXP, UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 21,602
Thankfully, I cleaned out our MP accounts last Friday with our last two LH First tickets from UA.
Used to charge at least $30K a month on Chase cards. Now only use my Ink Bold card for the 5X stuff, may $5-6K, all of which is going to KE.
Feb 3, 2014, 11:22 pm
#2563
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: So Cal
Programs: UA Gold/0.744MM, WN AL, Hyatt Diamond, MR Scum, Hertz PC, National Exec, Avis PC
Posts: 5,561
I notice the interactive award chart is updated...kinda. It is only updated with the UA metal rates with no mention whatsoever of the outrageous amounts if using partner flights 
Just the link to the PDF
However, I noticed something on the bottom of the page....a link to the previous award chart PDF
http://www.united.com/web/en-US/cont...2012-03-03.pdf
Might be wishful thinking, but why keep around a reference to the old rates unless there is a way for them to continue being used, like maybe changes to already booked itineraries???? Maybe only for refunds?
Just the link to the PDFHowever, I noticed something on the bottom of the page....a link to the previous award chart PDF
For awards redeemed on or before February 2, 2014, refer to our previous Travel and Upgrade Award Charts.
Might be wishful thinking, but why keep around a reference to the old rates unless there is a way for them to continue being used, like maybe changes to already booked itineraries???? Maybe only for refunds?
Feb 3, 2014, 11:23 pm
#2564
Join Date: Sep 2008
Programs: A3 *G, AA exePlat, AS MVP 75k Gold, JL sapphire, UA silver
Posts: 4,035
it is up.
interesting that for some mix Y/J booking, the miles shown is kind of interesting.
interesting that for some mix Y/J booking, the miles shown is kind of interesting.
Feb 3, 2014, 11:30 pm
#2565
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: SIN
Programs: SQ, UA, Delta, BMI(RIP), Marriott Lifetime Titanium, Hilton Diamond (Thanks Amex) Hyatt Discov
Posts: 1,942
SIN-LHR shows 85,000 miles for Business Saver when all flights are available in Business, but drops down in some BUT NOT ALL cases to 75,000 miles for mixed classes with an economy flight thrown in. Is there any rhyme or reason to this, or is it just a software glitch?
Last edited by SingaporeDon; Feb 3, 2014 at 11:45 pm