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, 1:02 pm
#541
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: WAS
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott Titanium, Nexus, GE
Posts: 2,123
AC also had a devaluation in 2014: https://www3.aeroplan.com/FlightRewardChart.do
Note (a) how easy they make it to see the changes, and (b) how few and small the changes are.
Note (a) how easy they make it to see the changes, and (b) how few and small the changes are.
Nov 1, 2013, 1:04 pm
#542
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: ORD/MDW
Programs: BA/AA/AS/B6/WN/ UA/HH/MR and more like 'em but most felicitously & importantly MUCCI
Posts: 19,719
UA seems hell-bent on devaluing its *A connection - both by adding a UA-metal revenue requirement and now by requiring absurd miles for C/F *A awards. Given the deval in Premier benefits, this will cause many to reassess whether UA is the best program for *A flights. LH Senator has higher bars and LH awards come with hefty surcharges, but LH elites also get noticeably better treatment.
To paraphrase TS Eliot...
Why punch out your flyers with big boxing gloves
You shabby sad airline whom nobody loves?
Nov 1, 2013, 1:04 pm
#543
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: HPN
Programs: not anymore! I'm FREE!
Posts: 3,459
It's interesting that UA is implementing extra mileage charges for *A premium tickets after several *A carriers cut back availability of C and F awards to partners. It sounds to me as if carriers like SQ and LH have been unhappy with their compensation for flying a lot of UA award customers in C and F (probably they flew a lot more UA award pax in C and F than UA flies LH or SQ award pax in C and F).
Maybe the other *A carriers finally managed to raise the price they charge UA to fly its award pax, and UA is responding by doing the only thing they can to reduce demand for these now-more expensive seats: raising the mileage price.
Maybe the other *A carriers finally managed to raise the price they charge UA to fly its award pax, and UA is responding by doing the only thing they can to reduce demand for these now-more expensive seats: raising the mileage price.
Nov 1, 2013, 1:05 pm
#544
Join Date: Jun 2012
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, *A Silver
Posts: 4,896
...for someone who has already booked an award on LH business for next year, when the time comes, if I upgrade to LH first, how many more miles will it cost?
Nov 1, 2013, 1:05 pm
#545
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Chicago, IL
Programs: AAdvantage, MileagePlus(ick)
Posts: 296
(I checked the calendar to see if it was April 1st....but it isn't)
Take the food in F for example; Yesterday they announced another downgrade by no longer serving full meals on flights under 900 miles to "align ourselves with the marketplace". Correct me if I'm wrong, but UA's food isn't even close to what their competitors offer. How can you align when you never were aligned to begin with??
My point is just to say that I truly believe UA management is completely and utterly delusional.
This airline has become an absolute joke.
Take the food in F for example; Yesterday they announced another downgrade by no longer serving full meals on flights under 900 miles to "align ourselves with the marketplace". Correct me if I'm wrong, but UA's food isn't even close to what their competitors offer. How can you align when you never were aligned to begin with??
My point is just to say that I truly believe UA management is completely and utterly delusional.
This airline has become an absolute joke.
AA still serves a nice lunch and dinner on trips between BOS-ORD.
If I got funds to spare, I always upgrade and enjoy my meals.
And those trips are under 900mi.
I'm sure AA appreciates my extra $$$ as much as I enjoy their service.
Nov 1, 2013, 1:06 pm
#546
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: 6km East of EPAYE
Programs: UA Silver, AA Platinum, AS & DL GM Marriott TE, Hilton Gold
Posts: 9,582
Stuck in the UA Network
Sorry if this has been covered but if I want to fly to HKT and take UA all the way to BKK in F or C and connect to HKT on TG will the WHOLE ticket be in the partner award category?
Nov 1, 2013, 1:08 pm
#548
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: DCA
Posts: 169
The DoJ economists are smarter than you think. Devaluing miles is equivalent (or at least very similar) to raising fares, and they know that. My impression is that they will definitely take into account effects on FF programs in putting together their arguments against the AA/US merger. Indeed, I've talked with a few antitrust economists (folks not directly involved in the case, but well-informed), who think that effects on FF programs are a substantial part of why the DoJ decided to challenge the merger.
Nov 1, 2013, 1:08 pm
#549
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: DEN
Programs: UA1K, F9 Ascent
Posts: 187
I believe that most of UA's highest volume BIS flyers really don't care about miles, they care about upgrades, convenient routings, and price. UA has been very competitive on price, has an excellent network, and, anecdotally, has given me access to plenty of J/F upgrade seats internationally such that I am 23/24 on GPUs over the last 3 years, mostly to Asia.
My GPU percentage is 100% at 18/18 the last 3 years. I could care less about service but a nice seat and good IFE are a must. I am somewhere around 50% for CPU but being based in Denver I usually have flights that are under 3 hours. No big deal.
When I do buy C fares I will buy United only if they are lowest. Lucky for me that OZ and SQ are usually in the same price range and I will always book them over United if possible. Sounds like the new C product on CA's 777 will give me one more network option.
Unlike you though, I like to burn through my miles as soon as i get them. This is usually for family vacations in the USA, and the changes today do not really affect me. I feel fortunate.
Nov 1, 2013, 1:11 pm
#550
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 825
You may well be right about what's driving UA's decision, but if UA wants to stay in business in the long run they need to improve customer service rather than punishing customers who 'defect" to other airlines offering a superior product.
Nov 1, 2013, 1:13 pm
#551
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: PBI / FLL / YUL
Programs: UA 1K, Delta Plat, AA Plat, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Courtesy Card
Posts: 1,983
Nov 1, 2013, 1:13 pm
#552
Join Date: Jun 2012
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, *A Silver
Posts: 4,896
And economy only on *A it is!
Nov 1, 2013, 1:13 pm
#553
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: NorCal
Programs: MP Ag, former 1K
Posts: 479
Nov 1, 2013, 1:14 pm
#554
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: LHR
Programs: AA EXP, SPG PLT
Posts: 584
This describes my situation perfectly. Upgrades and Routing/Network partners are the most important aspect for me to keep my loyalty with United. The majority of my travel is to Asia and I want a big seat and as many destinations as possible.
My GPU percentage is 100% at 18/18 the last 3 years. I could care less about service but a nice seat and good IFE are a must. I am somewhere around 50% for CPU but being based in Denver I usually have flights that are under 3 hours. No big deal.
When I do buy C fares I will buy United only if they are lowest. Lucky for me that OZ and SQ are usually in the same price range and I will always book them over United if possible. Sounds like the new C product on CA's 777 will give me one more network option.
Unlike you though, I like to burn through my miles as soon as i get them. This is usually for family vacations in the USA, and the changes today do not really affect me. I feel fortunate.
My GPU percentage is 100% at 18/18 the last 3 years. I could care less about service but a nice seat and good IFE are a must. I am somewhere around 50% for CPU but being based in Denver I usually have flights that are under 3 hours. No big deal.
When I do buy C fares I will buy United only if they are lowest. Lucky for me that OZ and SQ are usually in the same price range and I will always book them over United if possible. Sounds like the new C product on CA's 777 will give me one more network option.
Unlike you though, I like to burn through my miles as soon as i get them. This is usually for family vacations in the USA, and the changes today do not really affect me. I feel fortunate.
Nov 1, 2013, 1:14 pm
#555
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: 6km East of EPAYE
Programs: UA Silver, AA Platinum, AS & DL GM Marriott TE, Hilton Gold
Posts: 9,582
So Jeffy only wants us to use awards where UA flies? I bet those "Three day's in..." hemispheres articles are going to get a little pointed.