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Changes to MileagePlus Award and Upgrade Policies - Eff. 3-Feb-2014

Old Nov 1, 2013, 4:08 am
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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.
  • 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

Changes to upgrade policy for intra-Asia and northern South America flights
  1. Complimentary Premier Upgrades and instant upgrades are not applicable
  2. 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
  3. There is no co-pay exemption for MileagePlus Upgrade Awards requested on or after November 1, 2013
  4. 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?
Originally Posted by UA Insider
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.
Additional details on changing tickets booked prior to 2/3/14 per UA Insider:
Originally Posted by UA Insider
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)
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?
Originally Posted by UA Insider
The new award pricing takes effect for bookings made on or after Feb 3, 2014 for all future travel dates. If you purchased a ticket prior to then for travel on March 15, and no changes are made to the itinerary, the current pricing will apply.
Q: How will award pricing apply to mixed-carrier Saver Awards?
Originally Posted by UA Insider
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.
  • 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)
(reverted to J.Edward's rev)
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Changes to MileagePlus Award and Upgrade Policies - Eff. 3-Feb-2014

Old May 21, 2014, 10:43 pm
  #2971  
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Yikes!
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Old May 22, 2014, 5:18 am
  #2972  
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Originally Posted by lazard
Let's revisit this after the AA/US merger starts and AA devalues their FF program (which is inevitable).
This!
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Old May 22, 2014, 6:15 am
  #2973  
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Originally Posted by CMK10
BUSINESS on Star is 7,500 more RDMs than FIRST on oneWorld is the point I'm highlighting.
A meaningless comparison if you deliberately omit fuel surcharges. That's like comparing base rates on international tickets.
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Old May 22, 2014, 7:27 am
  #2974  
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Originally Posted by aacharya
A meaningless comparison if you deliberately omit fuel surcharges. That's like comparing base rates on international tickets.
That's a fair point, but it's not like the AA mileage rate increases if I fly Iberia through MAD and avoid BA. I'm in the minority on this one but I'm not offended by fuel surcharges.
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Old Jun 9, 2014, 7:13 pm
  #2975  
 
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Has anyone tested multiple changes on awards issued pre-Feb 3rd? I'm about to change one now which I've done a dry run on and it doesn't charge me any additional miles for the change (as per stated policy). If later I decide that a more favorable flight opens up and I want to change again to that, is it then going to charge me the new rate (+10k miles in my case) or leave it alone?


Originally Posted by Kacee
I'm going to vent about the ridiculous new award levels for intra-Asia flights.

A saver business award to HKG from TPE ... or ICN ... now costs 40,000 miles one-way. Yes, that's right, a 501 mile flight (TPE-HKG) costs 40,000 miles one-way.
This is because UA is perhaps the only program that puts HKG in a different zone than China and Taiwan. This has been a thorn in my side for quite a long time. Most programs put HKG in North Asia along with China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Mongolia, etc... except UA (and iirc with AA, North Asia is only Japan, Korea, and Mongolia, so your HKG-ICN would still cross zones). When I had Chinese visas every year anyway I'd sometimes take an award ticket into Shenzhen and cross on my own, saving the 10k extra miles... or under the old routing rules you could also route a flight to CTU via HKG, so if doing a one-way it was possible to schedule an overnight in HKG and become too ill to continue on the next day. Routing intra-North Asia via South Asia is no longer allowed unfortunately, (nor is routing via Guam it seems).
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Old Jun 9, 2014, 7:27 pm
  #2976  
 
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Originally Posted by dvs7310
Has anyone tested multiple changes on awards issued pre-Feb 3rd? I'm about to change one now which I've done a dry run on and it doesn't charge me any additional miles for the change (as per stated policy). If later I decide that a more favorable flight opens up and I want to change again to that, is it then going to charge me the new rate (+10k miles in my case) or leave it alone?

This is because UA is perhaps the only program that puts HKG in a different zone than China and Taiwan. This has been a thorn in my side for quite a long time. Most programs put HKG in North Asia along with China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Mongolia, etc... except UA (and iirc with AA, North Asia is only Japan, Korea, and Mongolia, so your HKG-ICN would still cross zones). When I had Chinese visas every year anyway I'd sometimes take an award ticket into Shenzhen and cross on my own, saving the 10k extra miles... or under the old routing rules you could also route a flight to CTU via HKG, so if doing a one-way it was possible to schedule an overnight in HKG and become too ill to continue on the next day. Routing intra-North Asia via South Asia is no longer allowed unfortunately, (nor is routing via Guam it seems).
As a Southeast Asia guy, I'm pretty happy about it, and it makes sense. HKG-SE Asia flights tend to be cheaper. Just think of it as a domestic flight. You don't spend 20K on a 500 mile domestic flight, so why would you do it here? Makes no since even if it was cheaper. (And you'd have to be insane at those rates!)
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Old Jul 2, 2014, 12:07 pm
  #2977  
 
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I have a question about UA award vs partner award.

I know if I book a long haul flight on UA F/J with a connection within the same region on partner metal, it will price as a UA Award.

But what if I book UA F/J plus one or more long haul Y segment on partner airlines, would it still price as a round trip UA award ( instead of partner ? )

For example, say the following itin:

EWR - LHR UA J
LHR - BKK TG Y
BKK - HKG TG Y
HKG - EWR UA J
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Old Jul 2, 2014, 1:39 pm
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Originally Posted by Ragnarok
I have a question about UA award vs partner award.

I know if I book a long haul flight on UA F/J with a connection within the same region on partner metal, it will price as a UA Award.

But what if I book UA F/J plus one or more long haul Y segment on partner airlines, would it still price as a round trip UA award ( instead of partner ? )

For example, say the following itin:

EWR - LHR UA J
LHR - BKK TG Y
BKK - HKG TG Y
HKG - EWR UA J


"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."

Since you are crossing regions, I think it won't price as an UA award
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Old Jul 2, 2014, 2:09 pm
  #2979  
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Changes to MileagePlus Award and Upgrade Policies - Eff. 3-Feb-2014

In the process of getting an accidental change. Thanks to the stupid UA CSR who decided I couldn't fly on the US flight to DCA and instead put me on an IAD flight with a 75 minute YYZ layover (which I of course misconnected thanks to a late arriving LH flight). Thankfully agent at YYZ endorsed me to AC J straight back to DCA (on LH F ticket with amazing crew on LH)

The irony of course is UA will have to pay AC for the J ticket after refusing to rebook CDG - CPH - MUC - YYZ - IAD to just CDG - FRA - IAD without charging more miles. Looks like I'm getting the last laugh on this one you geniuses
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Old Jul 2, 2014, 3:06 pm
  #2980  
 
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Originally Posted by Kacee
How much is the fuel surcharge on BA?

I would take TK J nonstop over BA F one-stop through LHR.

Particularly for the TK lounge on the return.
On the one hand, you have BA F and the Concorde Room in LHR. But you pay about $400-$600 for the pleasure.

On the other, you spend an extra 7,500 miles for TK business class, nonstop and the TK lounge in IST.

I think I would still take BA F. I'm a sucker for good champagne and the open terrace. Plus the TK lounge gets very crowded.

Last edited by anc-ord772; Jul 2, 2014 at 4:57 pm
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Old Jul 2, 2014, 4:26 pm
  #2981  
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Originally Posted by Ragnarok
For example, say the following itin:

EWR - LHR UA J
LHR - BKK TG Y
BKK - HKG TG Y
HKG - EWR UA J
First of all, that's no longer a legal award because it crosses two oceans. So I doubt you can book it.

But if you could, it would price as a UA J award, North America to South Asia.

Originally Posted by anc-ord772
I think I would still take BA F. I'm a sucker for good champagne and the open terrace. Plus the TK lounge gets very crowded.
Agreed this one could go either way. But have you been to the TK lounge since they opened the new section downstairs?
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Old Jul 2, 2014, 4:33 pm
  #2982  
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Originally Posted by Kacee
First of all, that's no longer a legal award because it crosses two oceans. So I doubt you can book it.

But if you could, it would price as a UA J award, North America to South Asia.



Agreed this one could go either way. But have you been to the TK lounge since they opened the new section downstairs?
Yeah the new downstairs is pretty sweet. I was at the TK lounge for the first time last week and the downstairs is nice and open. They've also got a golf area (like what they have at Dick's where you hit it towards the screen and the computer judges the distance and accuracy), a couple of PS4s, duplicates of all the upstairs eating areas, a few TVs, and a concierge
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Old Jul 2, 2014, 5:03 pm
  #2983  
 
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Originally Posted by Kacee
Agreed this one could go either way. But have you been to the TK lounge since they opened the new section downstairs?
No... but it sounds like a well incorporated space. I look forward to visiting soon. I updated my original post to include the nonstop benefit for TK. Also, TK catering (Do & Co) is very satisfying.

I think I have a hard time paying more miles for a lower cabin. Especially if I am traveling with someone that can manage a layover. To be fair, sometimes that is not the case and a nonstop really is best. As an aside, I'm working through the same decision for an upcoming award trip.
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Old Jul 2, 2014, 7:03 pm
  #2984  
 
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Originally Posted by Kacee
First of all, that's no longer a legal award because it crosses two oceans. So I doubt you can book it.

But if you could, it would price as a UA J award, North America to South Asia.



Agreed this one could go either way. But have you been to the TK lounge since they opened the new section downstairs?
The TK lounge still does boy impress me. It's just a biz class lounge on a little bit of steroids. Comes nothing close to a true F lounge. The only F lounges that justify a longer layover for me (layover, never re route) are LH (FRA) EK (DXB), SQ, QF (SYD), CX (HKG), QR (Doha). certainly no biz class lounge is worth it. TK or not
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Old Jul 2, 2014, 9:35 pm
  #2985  
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Originally Posted by chinatraderjmr
The TK lounge still does boy impress me. It's just a biz class lounge on a little bit of steroids. Comes nothing close to a true F lounge.
Actually, in this case I was suggesting a nonstop on TK versus a one-stop on BA. One of the advantages of that itinerary is the TK lounge at IST which offers, among other things, dedicated security and immigration. BA cannot offer that ex-IST, plus with the BA option you have three hours of intra-Europe hell and then the hassle of an LHR connection.

The only F lounges that justify a longer layover for me (layover, never re route) are LH (FRA) EK (DXB), SQ, QF (SYD), CX (HKG), QR (Doha). certainly no biz class lounge is worth it. TK or not
I was thoroughly unimpressed with the Wing F lounge at HKIA.
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