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
Nov 1, 2013, 12:41 am
#31
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: NYC, SLC, LAX
Programs: AA EXP, UA Plat
Posts: 3,951
Quick analysis shows that most UA redemption amounts, as well as *A in economy, are the same or have only modest (up to 20% increases), which is probably OK/expected and par with "miles inflation".
*A redemption in J/C has increases around 30-40%.
The real hit is of course LH, TG, OZ, NH F awards which are up anywhere from 50 to 90%. Because why not?
(To be fair, we all knew 70K SFO-FRA-NRT LH F awards couldn't last. But increasing it to 130K is...tyrannical.)
Suddenly BA Exec Club's distance based program seems a lot more attractive!
*A redemption in J/C has increases around 30-40%.
The real hit is of course LH, TG, OZ, NH F awards which are up anywhere from 50 to 90%. Because why not?
(To be fair, we all knew 70K SFO-FRA-NRT LH F awards couldn't last. But increasing it to 130K is...tyrannical.)
Suddenly BA Exec Club's distance based program seems a lot more attractive!
Last edited by DWFI; Nov 1, 2013 at 12:48 am
Nov 1, 2013, 12:43 am
#32
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 5,439
Well the old system was apply for a couple credit cards, buy some gift cards to cash them out then enjoy LH F at United's expense... funny how that didn't last, no?
Nov 1, 2013, 12:43 am
#33
Join Date: Aug 2012
Programs: HH Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Gold, Club Carlson Gold, National EE, *G
Posts: 470
This is not a devaluation, it is an annihilation! 220,000 miles RT in first to fly to Japan? That is ridiculous! Everyone needs to Tweet United (and email Jeff Smisek). Small increases are one thing, but what they've done is gutted the program!
Last edited by PointsNmiles; Nov 1, 2013 at 1:06 am
Nov 1, 2013, 12:44 am
#34
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: YVR. YGK
Programs: AC-SE Hhonors-G IHG-P
Posts: 210
Its gonna be harder and harder trying to fly first class with miles...
Nov 1, 2013, 12:44 am
#35
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 6,385
Not so easy to collect 50k + 50k + 40k ink ink csp for f anymore eh
Nov 1, 2013, 12:44 am
#36
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Las Vegas
Programs: DL Platinum, AA Lifetime Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Radisson Premium
Posts: 6,638
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 7_0_3 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/537.51.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.0 Mobile/11B511 Safari/9537.53)
I wish they changed the rates domestically to be honest. Atleast then CPU would be maybe higher than a 20% probability for 1Ks.
I wish they changed the rates domestically to be honest. Atleast then CPU would be maybe higher than a 20% probability for 1Ks.
Nov 1, 2013, 12:46 am
#37
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,420
The following restrictions apply to upgrades on flights to/from Northern South America and within Asia departing on or after February 1, 2014: (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.
That front cabin from BOG-IAH/EWR is going to be dead empty. GPU on a W fare for a domestic F seat? No thank you.
That front cabin from BOG-IAH/EWR is going to be dead empty. GPU on a W fare for a domestic F seat? No thank you.
Nov 1, 2013, 12:48 am
#38
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: YVR SFO
Programs: UA G
Posts: 4,866
The following restrictions apply to upgrades on flights to/from Northern South America and within Asia departing on or after February 1, 2014: (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.
That front cabin from BOG-IAH/EWR is going to be dead empty. GPU on a W fare for a domestic F seat? No thank you.
That front cabin from BOG-IAH/EWR is going to be dead empty. GPU on a W fare for a domestic F seat? No thank you.
Removing intra-Asia CPUs just puts us back to the PMUA days where you needed W+ and a SWU.
Nov 1, 2013, 12:48 am
#39
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: body: A stone's throw from SFO, mind: SE Asia
Programs: Some of this 'n some of that
Posts: 17,263
Quick analysis shows that most UA redemption amounts, as well as *A in economy, are the same or have only modest (up to 20% increases), which is probably OK/expected and par with "miles inflation".
*A redemption in J/C has increases around 30-40%.
The real hit is of course LH, TG, OZ, NH F awards which are up anywhere from 50 to 90%. Because why not?
(To be fair, we all knew 70K SFO-FRA-NRT LH F awards couldn't last. But increasing it to 130K is...tyrannical.)
*A redemption in J/C has increases around 30-40%.
The real hit is of course LH, TG, OZ, NH F awards which are up anywhere from 50 to 90%. Because why not?
(To be fair, we all knew 70K SFO-FRA-NRT LH F awards couldn't last. But increasing it to 130K is...tyrannical.)
As the recently departed Ms Krabaple would say: HA.
Nov 1, 2013, 12:49 am
#40
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 5,439
Also, except HKG-SGN the CO 737's are off the intra-Asia routes as well.
Nov 1, 2013, 12:49 am
#41
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Northeast Kansas | Colorado Native
Programs: Amex Gold/Plat, UA *G, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Gold, NEXUS, TSA Disparager Unobtanium
Posts: 21,598
From first to worst! Each and every change is starting to convince me that I shouldn't spend the extra $$ to keep 1K for another year.
Nov 1, 2013, 12:50 am
#42
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Las Vegas
Programs: DL Platinum, AA Lifetime Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Radisson Premium
Posts: 6,638
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 7_0_3 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/537.51.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.0 Mobile/11B511 Safari/9537.53)
Indecision-friendly!!!:-)
Originally Posted by FriendlySkies
From first to worst! Each and every change is starting to convince me that I shouldn't spend the extra $$ to keep 1K for another year.
Nov 1, 2013, 12:51 am
#43
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: YVR SFO
Programs: UA G
Posts: 4,866
I guess we should be happy that they still allow a stopover on a roundtrip :-:
Better than AA in that regard.
Better than AA in that regard.
Nov 1, 2013, 12:54 am
#45
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: NYC, SLC, LAX
Programs: AA EXP, UA Plat
Posts: 3,951
The routing rules are not published.
You might get a nasty surprise when you call on Feb 1 and are told that routing from US to Asia via EU is no longer permitted.
That'll really be the kill!
FWIW just replaced all of the FF# in my future intl reservations to my Avianca number.