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
#3181
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Tx
Programs: AA, UA, WN
Posts: 812
Total math shows off $4PQD and 36 miles...this appears correct just the segment allocation is crazy.
#3182
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,458
This year I'm a Platinum. Paid a total of $1,095.41 ($950.20 airfare + taxes)
Here's the original ticket:
(K Class) UA52 IAD-ZUR + UA9051 ZUR-FRA + UA8906 FRA-DEL
and then
(W Class) UA7968 BKK-NRT + UA804 NRT-IAD
At check in counter the outbound leg was rebooked to IAD-EWR-DEL. Yield a total of 1,188 award miles (36 + 1,152)
From BKK to IAD I received a total of 7,328 miles (2,214 + 5,116)
Did the UA rep messed up the reservation and she changed the original itinerary?
Here's the original ticket:
(K Class) UA52 IAD-ZUR + UA9051 ZUR-FRA + UA8906 FRA-DEL
and then
(W Class) UA7968 BKK-NRT + UA804 NRT-IAD
At check in counter the outbound leg was rebooked to IAD-EWR-DEL. Yield a total of 1,188 award miles (36 + 1,152)
From BKK to IAD I received a total of 7,328 miles (2,214 + 5,116)
Did the UA rep messed up the reservation and she changed the original itinerary?
The majority of your fare was allocated to the return flight, which makes sense because W class is a much higher fare than K.
If you add everything up, you get 8,516 award miles, which reflects PQD of 947, which is right in line with what you paid.
UA's redeemable mileage no longer has anything to do with the distance you fly. It's entirely based on what you paid, and they decided that you paid $132 for the outbound and about $835 for the return. (One of your numbers is a little off; 2214+5116 isn't 7328, and neither 7328 nor 5116 is divisible by 9). As a Plat, you get 9 redeemable miles for each dollar spent on airfare and fuel (but excluding taxes).
#3183
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Ventura, CA
Programs: Mileage Plus, Advantage
Posts: 5
Thanks everyone! I understand it better now. And jsloan, yes, I do need help with my math... it should have been 2,214 + 5166 = 7,380
#3184
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Danville, CA, USA;
Programs: UA 1MM, WN CP, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Gold, IC Plat
Posts: 15,732
So far this is working out great as expected for a 1K that earns the bulk of my miles through a few TATL and TPAC paid business class fares. In the old days I would earn around 25k RDM per roundtrip and now I'm getting 65K or so. Very sweet. The major downside are the transcons & Hawaii in economy that now earn 5k RDM (on a $450 fare) instead of 10k but I can live with that - as long as they don't mess with the EQMs
#3185
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: LBB
Programs: UA 1K 1MM ★G | Marriott LTT | Hilton ♦ | Hertz PC | Global Entry TSA Pre ✓
Posts: 2,820
For the last 4-5 years, I have been averaging $0.40/mi, and the spend-based award mileage accrual has been a huge windfall.... thoroughly enjoying it.
#3186
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,458
I'm glad it's working for you, but understand that the net effect to the community is solidly negative. We need each other -- your travel subsidizes my low fares, but there aren't enough of you to fill the planes and keep the airline in business.
If UA had simply elected to take the higher of 100% of flown distance or 5x spend, this would have been a fantastic change. But, instead, your windfall comes directly out of my pocket, so to speak.
#3187
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,542
*There's also a big disparity for me now between BIS and PQM. Used to be close to 1:1 because I bought Y fares, which accrued at 100%. Now I mostly buy fares that accrue at 200%. So I can make 1K on half the flying.
Of somewhere around $25k in airline spend this year, maybe half will go to UA. That figure used to be close to 100% (on lower overall spend).
Last edited by Kacee; Jul 25, 2018 at 3:23 pm
#3188
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Philadelphia, LAX, Paris
Programs: UA 1K/2MM, SPG/Marriott Lifetime Titanium, Lifetime HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, AA Exec Plat
Posts: 3,331
#3189
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 14,897
I suspect its working better for UA, which was the main point for them.
#3190
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: GVA (Greater Vancouver Area)
Programs: DREAD Gold; UA 1.035MM; Bonvoy Au-197; PCC Elite+; CCC Elite+; MSC C-12; CWC Au-197; WoH Dis
Posts: 52,153
#3191
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,458
It's more a problem of optics than anything else. When AA introduced the frequent flyer program, it was a new concept and they didn't foresee the eventual divergence between price and distance. (There was more more correlation in the CAB days). If they had it to do all over again, all frequent flyer programs would probably have been revenue-based from the beginning. Nearly all hotel frequent guest programs are based on room rate (for redeemable points), and nobody really complains.
The problem is that they transferred benefits from low-value flyers to high-value flyers, instead of merely giving additional benefits to high-value flyers. It's one thing to reward your best customers. It's something else to rub everyone else's nose in it.
And, when you talk about the "cost" of the program, you're buying right into the airlines' collective propaganda. The cost to UA of an RDM is negligible -- and is entirely under their control. They decide the redemption rates; they control the inventory. They use the paper liability the miles represent in order to help their earnings look the way that they want -- open more award seats when they want to pay down the liability and make profits look better; open fewer when they want to build up the liability and make profits look worse.
There was absolutely no business reason that UA (or DL) couldn't have implemented my proposal. They likely would have made up for it by devaluing the miles a little bit more, which would have been nearly invisible (a 17% points devaluation isn't much different from a 14% devaluation from the customer's point of view, but it be a big deal from the airline's perspective).
UA may not want to reward you and me, but they need us. There simply aren't enough HVFs to allow an airline to be profitable. They need seat-fillers; while I may fly on fares that are below their average costs, they're well above their marginal costs. You can look at it either way -- the LVFs pay the operating expenses and the HVFs the profit, or vice versa; either way, an airline needs both.
#3192
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: LBB
Programs: UA 1K 1MM ★G | Marriott LTT | Hilton ♦ | Hertz PC | Global Entry TSA Pre ✓
Posts: 2,820
And I've been averaging $0.07-$0.08/PQM, and I hate it. There are more of us in my boat than in yours.
I'm glad it's working for you, but understand that the net effect to the community is solidly negative. We need each other -- your travel subsidizes my low fares, but there aren't enough of you to fill the planes and keep the airline in business.
If UA had simply elected to take the higher of 100% of flown distance or 5x spend, this would have been a fantastic change. But, instead, your windfall comes directly out of my pocket, so to speak.
I'm glad it's working for you, but understand that the net effect to the community is solidly negative. We need each other -- your travel subsidizes my low fares, but there aren't enough of you to fill the planes and keep the airline in business.
If UA had simply elected to take the higher of 100% of flown distance or 5x spend, this would have been a fantastic change. But, instead, your windfall comes directly out of my pocket, so to speak.
#3193
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA LT Plat 2MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,908
Leading to more miles chasing the "same planned" award opportunities. That will lead to higher redemption rates or fewer opportunities per flyer. Which would diminish the value of the change to the HVF.
So to make this have the desired impact, UA would have needed to increase the award opportunities or cut back on the miles issued to non-HVF. UA chose the latter.
#3194
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: LBB
Programs: UA 1K 1MM ★G | Marriott LTT | Hilton ♦ | Hertz PC | Global Entry TSA Pre ✓
Posts: 2,820
I have avoided the devaluation as I strictly purchase saver awards, and have not spent them on standard (and certainly not on the dynamically priced award prices that are higher than the usual standard awards)... but I don't think the future holds any good news for those of us with a horde of award miles... their value will not fare as well as the USD has through the last 10 years.
#3195
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA LT Plat 2MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,908