fieldeng

So is it safe to say if United had a product like SQ F worth spending for that this devaluation wouldn't be so rough? It seems the hardest hit are those that want Star Alliance flights. The reason to fly Star? More often is because they are better airlines than UA. I can understand certain instances like "UA can't get me to xxx" but for the most part their route network is solid enough to get you most places.

The devaluation is more damning only because the UA product isn't that great. If people REALLY wanted to fly United, the increases for United based flights aren't that bad.

Paulchili

I agree.
I had SFO-LAX-MAD-LHR on AA/IB/BA J for next September (couldn't get anything direct out of SFO on UA or AA from LAX) and was saving my MP miles for a 2015 trip to Japan (with *A partners).
With this news I will cancel my AA award (and pay $175 fee) and save these miles for CX/JL J to Asia.
Instead I am "dumping" my MP miles and booked SFO-YVR-YYZ-LHR on UA/AC for the 50K miles (AC Exec First suites on A333 & B772 shouldn't be too hard to take).

BearX220

It's easier and cheaper for UA to penalize you for straying to better options than to actually offer competitive products.

fahrradman

Agreed. Mercifully I am not a hub captive (Chicago and NYC based). UA used to offer me a better deal for my spend because I like international F *A redemption for vacations. Now AA and OW are a better deal for me. Maybe AA will go the AAdvantagePeso route as well but for now they represent a better deal for me.

Agree. We went for six to four flag carriers in the last five years. I'm quite glad the DoJ is fighting the AA/US merger as competition is good for consumers. Look to the failed AT&T/T-Mobile merger as a model. T-Mobile is now offering incredible deals right now to attract customers (great pricing, free international 2G roaming, very attractive international calling rates, no early cancellation fees). I hope the AA/US merger fails and AA takes the same customer friendly approach to survive and prosper.

This is a game changer for me as well. AA and OW work for my travel pattern. I like the sheer number and variety of *A carriers, but now AA is a better value for me as I value international F travel on award redemption.

Marsy

Catch is NZ releases very few tickets... It's going to be really hard to get those routes

SF1K

My partner and I actually kind of like UA Intl. F. And yes we have flown LH, TG, SQ, ANA. But we are not "foodies" so often times we've gone a bit hungry on those airlines as we don't really like the gourmet food that much - only eating chicken and turkey limits you. The one thing I wish they would have done with the awards is allowed connection on *A as long as the longest/overwater segment was on UA. This mostly comes into play in Asia, for instance connecting on SQ from SIN to anywhere within Asia means that it bumps up the *A award, even if flying UA all the way from the US to SIN. In Europe I don't really care, as LH Business is hardly better than LH Y within Europe/Germany.

But I'll miss the Thai and SQ connections in C within Asia.

DarkHelmetII

Know that I am cherry picking, but a flight to Tonga from North America is less now than in 2004.

artemis

Sure there is - Starwood Preferred Guest. Although it doesn't earn as much as the Chase cards do, it does give some bonus spend if you always transfer 20,000 points at a time.

And Citi (unlike Chase) still allows their cards to be freely churned, although the bonuses for opening a "new" card have dropped at bit.

I've had decent luck to date as well. Although ironically I just booked a one-way award to Europe using MileagePlus yesterday instead of AADvantage, because while I could get the AA Saver ORD-FCO segment I needed, I couldn't snag a Saver award for OMA-ORD! Still, if I hadn't been lucky enough to stumble on a perfect *A award ticket on the very first day I began to look, I'm sure I would have managed to get the award on AA eventually. Air Berlin was showing lots of availability, so I don't think I would have been shut out if I'd waited for the domestic leg to open something up.

(I envy those of you who actually live close to an international gateway city. No non-stop flights for me ever, and always at least one leg on a teeny CRJ.)

belfordrocks

Yes, for a South Pacific based flyer it is actually somewhat of a mixed change.

dsquared37

Some lyrics came to mind this morning:

Freedom's just another word for
nothing left to lose
nothing was all that [smisek] left me......

artemis

Also because Star being by far the biggest of the alliances meant you were much more likely to FIND a Saver award (in any class of carriage) with them than with oneworld or SkyTeam. If UA isn't releasing Saver award space on their own metal on dates that work for your travel plans, it doesn't matter how much you'd like to fly their planes, you can't (unless you're willing to pay double miles for the privilege).

eddielam

I am thinking South Asia stopover Japan to Australia, roundtrip should only cost 35K after the change. Interesting.

But if you go South Asia to Japan roundtrip already cost 45K. It doesn't make sense.

belfordrocks

SkyTeam does have very significant saver space too on Saudia, China Southern, China Eastern, China Airlines and also DL partner Virgin Australia.

flightline87

Definitely an active thread!

I'll add my two cents: the small chance of me switching back to UA from AA (considering my relocation to Colorado next summer) is now hovering around "cold day in hell."

As a former mid-tier PMUA elite flyer, I feel bad seeing such a great airline get "enhanced" by SMI/J. For similar reasons, I hope that the AA-US merger does not come to fruition. Lord only knows what 3-time DUI offender PAR/D would do to what's becoming the gem of the industry (again).

yuel

This was my thoughts too, I need to book 3 tickets to BKK next summer