Kacee

The only "facts" here are current and historical prices. What we think UA will do tomorrow or six months from now is just opinion. At least I couched mine as such.

I invite you to identify the line item on the audited financials where UA recognizes income deriving from a MP devaluation.

5khours

Nope. UA and the other carriers periodically (but not that frequently) revalue the liability (deferred revenue) based on a number of factors including redemption rates, breakage, expected cos of redemption, price paid by Chase, etc. They don't revalue every time one of these factors change.

Until there is a reval, the miles just stay on the BS at the same rate. When someone redeems 100k miles instead of 70k miles because of the increased redemption rates, then liabilities are decreased and revenue is booked for that amount of miles. There is no impact on the balance sheet until the miles are redeemed or (they do a periodic revaluation of miles in which case the revenue is accrued to special revenue). Given that UA publicly stated they were experiencing higher than expected redemption costs on foreign carriers, in all likelihood the BS impact of the higher redemption rates will be to some extent offset by those higher costs that had not been anticipated at the last valuation.

RNE

I am the resident authority on this subject. My opinion is tantamount to fact.

5khours

Absolutely.

I have no idea. I've always assumed Personal Miles are never a better deal than Award Accelerator so I just ignore them. PQM can't be redeemed for goods and services so price discrimination laws don't apply.

5khours

Do you have any opinions on the stock market or the NBA semi-finals?

RNE

I wish.

WineCountryUA

But the targeted offering of Personal Miles pricing does exists and tends to serious undermine your position that individual pricing on the sale of miles is illegal -- clearly UA does not think that and regularly does it. There is no way to dispute that.

KenInEscazu

We have gone off course here somewhat, losing site of the question that started this all. "Is $0.021/mile a good deal?" And the answer IS.....

YMMV

FT often reminds me of an old (VERY old) Monty Python episode where they had a skit of a guy walking into an office wanting to buy an argument. Once he arrived at the correct office, he said, "I would like an argument, please." To which the person behind the desk answered, "No you wouldn't."

5khours

Nope. 1) You don't know if the offer is made outside of the U.S. (U.S. is not an issue), and 2) offering different prices to different people is different than making an offer to a limited group of people.

5khours

No you're completely wrong! That's the stupidest post I've ever seen on FT!!!

NO it doesn't remind you of the argument skit. You're confusing it with the dead parrot skit. It reminds you of the dead parrot skit.

KenInEscazu

^^^

Now THAT was funny!

WineCountryUA

sighhhh .... perhaps before responding blindly you should check the previous threads (including ones you started).

No mention of USA only in the T&Cs
Responses were posted on offers by listed / known non-usa members


Everyone was edible on most offers -- they were public links. the offer was different for each individual.

Please don't bother responding, there is no reason to carry on a meaningless discussion. UA has regularly had different individual prices for RDMs for years. The proof is in the attached threads. Denying the reality is .....

examples
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ard-miles.html (you started this thread -- how does your theory fit this case?)
others
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...-23-april.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...100-000-a.html

5khours

The targeted offer was 2+ years ago. In fact we don't know the mailing addresses of those who received the offers... or the UA legal department may not have been on their toes. Also if everyone is eligible on a public link, obviously it's not a varying rate.

That said, my assertion about variable rates not being offered on RDM was in the context of award accelerators. I also clearly stated I had no idea on other RDM offers.

You can nip at the edges of the argument all you like, but the point in question was whether UA offered different rates for RDM on award accelerators to different people booking the same flights at the same time. If you have any evidence of this, I'd be happy to see it. To date, no one has made any kind of conclusive argument that this is happening.

controller1

I hate entering into this fray, but here goes.

Last year I had two separate reservations (PNRs) for me and my wife (needed separate payments) for the exact same flights on the exact same days. The reservations were made online only moments apart. I was UA Platinum at the time while my wife held no UA status.

We were had Award/Premier accelerator offers on these reservations. However, both the mileage amounts offered AND the $/mile were different for both RDMs and PQMs. The mileage amounts offered were vastly different. The RDM $/mile was very close but the PQM $/mile was vastly different. Her PQM $/mile was much more favorable than my PQM $/mile.

5khours

Everyone here knows that there are large differences in the numbers of miles offered and in the PQM rates. What no one has yet shown with specific numbers (to say nothing of a screen shot) is a documented difference in the RDM rates offered at the same time for the same fares on the same flights for different passengers.... and there have been hundreds if not thousands of posts on the subject.