dsilvers

Question re 75k limit:

It says the limit is per ticket. However, PQD's are calculated per segment. Do people think that if you buy a round trip for say $10k that you can earn 110k miles, or do they really intend to limit the full trip to 75k? Seems to incentivize to book 2 one ways.....

Am I missing something?

snic

I suspect that people who swear never to fly an airline again almost always end up eventually flying the airline again... the fare just has to be a few dollars cheaper.

Why do you think Spirit is so successful despite their atrocious product and aggravating fees?

I really don't think UA is going to have the slightest trouble filling its planes after this "change-I-think-you'll-like".

demkr

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 7_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/537.51.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.0 Mobile/11D201 Safari/9537.53)

Why can't they copy the good aspects of DL? Instead they cherry-pick the bad.

Dieuwer

Then you don't get PQDs.

discoverCSG

So far this year, I've earned 35994 PQM (all UA discount/deep discount economy fares) and 1958 PQD as a Gold.

Am I understanding correctly that while I've earned 53991 RDM under the current rules, I would only have earned 9790 RDM under the new rules.

I do have some higher-yield travel later in the year. Based on current bookings (totaling 4677 PQD flown and booked for 2014, and 71341 PQM flown and booked), I would earn 107011 RDM this year but only 23385 RDM next year - a 78% drop - and I'll probably also SDC my way to a few more miles. And I'll book another 323 PQD worth to requalify for Gold to use as a bargaining chip.

So the question becomes: AA, AS, or Kayak in 2015?

And it's worth repeating that under last year's pre-PQD rules, I'd have been looking to finish the year as a Platinum with upwards of 120000 RDM and some RPU's and so forth. Sad, sad, times.

UAgeek71

Trust me, this is completely Un-true. The devaluation is less of a hit is all.

billnye97

You're right, UA does have more flights on a per day basis from CLE-LGA so if I need to switch it offers more options then DL. However, with UA dehubbing CLE I don't have really any incentive to stay with them other then the flight options.

villox

Yes but... don't you think that seems about right, to be honest? Lufthansa charges the public a minimum of $6500 roundtrip on that flight, or $3250 each way. So you're saying that if you spend $10000 on United, you not only get all the travel that the $10000 got you, but you also get enough miles for a one-way ticket to Europe in first class?

As a 1K who flies a decent amount of international business class to europe at $5k a RT, earning enough for a 1-way first class ticket to europe off my normal spend after 2 of these actually seems pretty good to me. Today, those 2 trips get me 44000 miles. Next year, they'll get me 110,000. That's a pretty significant jump and you can see why United would value these 2 trips vs 30 roundtrip domestic trips at $350 a pop.

BearX220

Sure, and we know how many HVFs are "happy with United" already.

Correct. I'm in SEA and Flight Memory says my average sector length is 1,300+ miles. As I book a mix of fares and have to be cost-conscious even when in OPM mode -- unlike some I can't blithely waste my clients' money -- this change seems explicitly designed to eject customers like me from the system.

There's UA's problem -- they have such a weak product right now, and such a clear revenue / PRASM problem, this is a hell of a time to further dilute loyalty factors.

gobluetwo

What United will say:
"But taking into account your miles earned through credit card spend, you're actually earning over 60,000 miles!"

Which is still a loss from the status quo.

Others said it above, but business travelers on mid-con and short haul travel are the winners, or at least around the current state.

Trans-con in most coach fare classes are losers, as are long hauls in coach. Based on my travel this year, this appears to be the case for ALL status levels.

Long haul in Y/B (maybe M) and premium cabins probably come out ahead. I can't say for sure, though, as all my international travel has been in discounted coach this year.

Looking at my travel for this past year, my economy class TATL trips would have earned about 8,000 miles less in the new scheme, and my mid-con travel (mostly ORD-LGA-ORD) would have earned me 14,000 more. I net out at about 6k miles more with the new program, YTD.

bthotugigem05

The breakeven point is 20 cpm, according to some math I've done as well as some that Gary Leff did. If you average above 10cpm, you'll benefit. If you average below it, you won't.

SFO777

That assumes one cares about UA and MP any more.

zebranz

Not me. I make 4-6 trips a year (SFO/LAX-SYD). 7400 each way which is 29K miles. I buy a V or W which is $1700-$2200 total inc. Will give me 16-18K instead. Say I lose 10K a trip x 5= 50K.
Thank you Mr. 1K for your loyalty.

TheBOSman

BearX220

I agree, but the seats will be 10% GS/1Ks (most in economy), 60% Kayakers / Priceliners / totally disloyal price-sensitive buyers, 10% other MP members who don't understand what's going on, and 20% empty. When the dust settles this won't solve their PRASM problem.