Jun 10, 2014, 5:09 am
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Earning miles on United flights
Spend-based mileage (RDM) earning for all UA metal flights effective March 1, 2015.
Redeemable Miles (RDM) changes highlights:
Fare multipliers based on Premier status:
For example, a 1K would earn 1100 miles for a $120 (assuming $20 in taxes/fees) ticket while a Silver would earn 700 miles for the same ticket.
As there is a maximum number of miles per ticket earned - this disincentives purchasing any ticket (excluding government taxes and fees) over the following:
A way to avoid this is booking one-ways if the fare rules permit.
Premier Qualifying Miles (PQM) are not affected by this change.
Announcement Site
Post 57: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/23008349-post57.html
Answered Questions:
Spend-based mileage (RDM) earning for all UA metal flights effective March 1, 2015.
Redeemable Miles (RDM) changes highlights:
- Miles earned will now be based on the ticket price instead of the number of miles flown (see partner flights on non-016 tickets exception )
- Ticket price is defined as base fare plus carrier-imposed surcharges (same as PQDs)
- Class of service bonuses have been discontinued (e.g. X% more on A fares).
- There is a limit of 75,000 miles earned per ticket (see below for spending limits by status)
- UA flights regardless of ticket stock will use the ticket price to determine RDMs
- Partner flight on 016 ticket stock will use the ticket price to determine RDMs
- Partner flights on non-016 ticket stock will use a flight mileage-based system to determine RDMs with a fare class multiplier (see the partner page for detials
- Speciality / Bulk tickets with PQDs will use a flight mileage-based system to determine RDMs with a fare class multiplier, see Specialty tickets
Fare multipliers based on Premier status:
- x5 General Members
- x7 Silver
- x8 Gold
- x9 Plat
- x11 1K/GS
For example, a 1K would earn 1100 miles for a $120 (assuming $20 in taxes/fees) ticket while a Silver would earn 700 miles for the same ticket.
As there is a maximum number of miles per ticket earned - this disincentives purchasing any ticket (excluding government taxes and fees) over the following:
- $6818.18 for 1K/GS
- $8333.33 for Platinum
- $9375.00 for Gold
- $10714.28 for Silver
- $15000.00 for General Members
A way to avoid this is booking one-ways if the fare rules permit.
Premier Qualifying Miles (PQM) are not affected by this change.
www.mileageplusupdates.com
There is a tool on the site that allow you to enter how much you spent on a ticket along your premier status in order to calculate how many miles you will earn under the new system. The tool is aware of the miles per ticket limit.
There is a FAQ here: http://mileageplusupdates.com/faq.html
Relevant UA Insider posts:There is a tool on the site that allow you to enter how much you spent on a ticket along your premier status in order to calculate how many miles you will earn under the new system. The tool is aware of the miles per ticket limit.
There is a FAQ here: http://mileageplusupdates.com/faq.html
Post 57: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/23008349-post57.html
Hi everyone,
Today we’re announcing changes to how MileagePlus members will earn award miles in 2015. We’ve posted complete details and a FAQ on united.com, but I wanted to share an excerpt of the key points with you directly:
As of March 1, 2015, the award miles you earn on most United and United Express tickets will be based on your ticket price (that is, base fare plus carrier-imposed surcharges) and your MileagePlus status, instead of the distance you travel. The new criteria for earning award miles will look like this:
<portion removed for brevity>
The changes to earning award miles will apply to all MileagePlus members worldwide, and will be based on status at the time of flight on or after March 1, 2015. These changes will not affect the qualification requirements for 2015 Premier status. PQM and PQS will still be based on the number of paid flight miles traveled and the fare purchased. And where applicable, PQD will still be determined by the base fare and carrier-imposed surcharges.
Today we’re announcing changes to how MileagePlus members will earn award miles in 2015. We’ve posted complete details and a FAQ on united.com, but I wanted to share an excerpt of the key points with you directly:
As of March 1, 2015, the award miles you earn on most United and United Express tickets will be based on your ticket price (that is, base fare plus carrier-imposed surcharges) and your MileagePlus status, instead of the distance you travel. The new criteria for earning award miles will look like this:
<portion removed for brevity>
The changes to earning award miles will apply to all MileagePlus members worldwide, and will be based on status at the time of flight on or after March 1, 2015. These changes will not affect the qualification requirements for 2015 Premier status. PQM and PQS will still be based on the number of paid flight miles traveled and the fare purchased. And where applicable, PQD will still be determined by the base fare and carrier-imposed surcharges.
Class of service bonuses have been discontinued under the new system. There is already an adjustment for 1K over general members.
For tickets that will earn award miles based on ticket price, the class-of-service bonus and Premier bonus will be included in the number of award miles you earn per dollar. Basically COS has been removed.
E-mail received by GS lists 1K and GS together.
2015 MileagePlus Change - RDMs Will Be Calculated by Spend, Not Distance
Sep 29, 2014, 7:04 pm
#2206
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Sep 29, 2014, 7:11 pm
#2207
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Don't expect any change in PQD earning next March, just RDMs.
Sep 30, 2014, 7:16 am
#2209
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I also think he is the type of flyer UA made the changes for. Lots of F/J purchases but not enough miles to qualify for 1K. Normally he's just a silver.
Sep 30, 2014, 7:40 am
#2210
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Delta hasnt made it known yet, we can only expect UA to follow
Sep 30, 2014, 9:07 am
#2211
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Sep 30, 2014, 9:25 am
#2212
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I'd venture a guess in saying look at how DL treats KE for earning. That should give you an idea ...
Sep 30, 2014, 9:55 am
#2214
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Sep 30, 2014, 10:10 am
#2216
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When you fly with a partner airline, the fare you paid isn’t always shared with Delta. Therefore, flights that are both marketed and ticketed by Delta’s partner airlines will earn mileage based on a percentage of the distance flown as determined by the fare class paid.
We currently are working with our partners and more details will be announced later this year at delta.com/partnerairlines.
Sep 30, 2014, 8:26 pm
#2217
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BangkokTraveler View Post
A 1K buying a $1000 ticket now, ORD-NRT-BKK round-trip, earns 36K miles (18K actual miles plus 18K bonus miles).
Question ... travel after March 1, that ticket on UA ticket stock will earn 11K miles. But the rules seem to indicate that non UA ticket stock and non-UA flights still earn actual miles. So if the ticket is bought on ANA ticket stock, using ANA metel, when it is credited to Mileage Plus, will it earn 18K miles or 36K miles?So, if you're based overseas, where PQD is not a consideration, you would get more UA mileage flying on a partner airline in economy class?
Originally Posted by BangkokTraveler View Post
A 1K buying a $1000 ticket now, ORD-NRT-BKK round-trip, earns 36K miles (18K actual miles plus 18K bonus miles).
Question ... travel after March 1, that ticket on UA ticket stock will earn 11K miles. But the rules seem to indicate that non UA ticket stock and non-UA flights still earn actual miles. So if the ticket is bought on ANA ticket stock, using ANA metel, when it is credited to Mileage Plus, will it earn 18K miles or 36K miles?So, if you're based overseas, where PQD is not a consideration, you would get more UA mileage flying on a partner airline in economy class?
Oct 1, 2014, 12:15 am
#2218
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So if the ticket is bought on ANA ticket stock, using ANA metel, when it is credited to Mileage Plus, will it earn 18K miles or 36K miles?So, if you're based overseas, where PQD is not a consideration, you would get more UA mileage flying on a partner airline in economy class?
Oct 1, 2014, 8:13 am
#2219
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In the absence of any information to the contrary, one can assume that tix booked on partners will earn as they currently do. UA could have easily announced partner earnings changes back when they announced the revenue based RDM earning.
Oct 1, 2014, 8:41 am
#2220
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Or how DL treats AF, KLM...... From DL website:
When you fly with a partner airline, the fare you paid isn’t always shared with Delta. Therefore, flights that are both marketed and ticketed by Delta’s partner airlines will earn mileage based on a percentage of the distance flown as determined by the fare class paid.
We currently are working with our partners and more details will be announced later this year at delta.com/partnerairlines.
When you fly with a partner airline, the fare you paid isn’t always shared with Delta. Therefore, flights that are both marketed and ticketed by Delta’s partner airlines will earn mileage based on a percentage of the distance flown as determined by the fare class paid.
We currently are working with our partners and more details will be announced later this year at delta.com/partnerairlines.