FlyerTom111

Maybe this is what they want? More competition on direct flights? Either way AA is the last hold out. If I were AA I would offer the miles or the dollars, whichever is greater per flight. Would cost more but they would attract everyone and their tickets would demand a higher price. So if I flew San Fran to JFK I would get 5000 miles as an elite even if the ticket cost $300 one way. If the ticket were $1000 one way them I would get 11,000 instead. How many would switch to AA if they did that, had the routes and had a much much better product? People from WN and VX and B6 and Alaska might switch too? There is still a lot if competition out there for airlines to have to differentiate themselves. Right now UA is just copying from DL because they can't innovate on their own. I think the whole management team and BoD should be fired for gross incompetence. A bunch of monkeys and baboons could run an airline better than this.

GUWonder

Straw man? No. The world is a big place. Not even familiar with our mutual residential neighbor to the north?

In some places they have been, for tax purposes, treated as income of sorts for the recipient of the miles. The tax men's efforts over them caused a stir and often -- but not always -- got dropped.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/bsnss/tp.../menu-eng.html

Red68

Hmm.. Good point, overlooked that small detail. Figured that that was too easy.

Thanks

-E

rankourabu

Until they reveal the new earnings "based on percentage of distance flown" - and only full Y will earn anything but 25%

andyh64000

And in most cases you only get base RDMs and no status bonus.

abaheti

In a weird way, it does make sense to me that they would do this to leisure flyers. I hypothesize that even under the old system that most leisure flyers never accumulate enough miles to be worth a ticket. I have to assume that most credit card holders do not generate enough miles to turn into travel either.

They are marketed to based on the illusion of earning miles for trips and for things that elite status used to bring you. This group won't notice at all as long as they get to line up with Golds in Group 2.

BUT, UA does get to reduce what they have to show on the books as a future liability (customers' banked miles). (FT'ers are not a normal sample -- I don't think most "you're in" credit card holders spend $25,000 a year to earn enough for a domestic ticket.) I'm not an airline accountant, but between the award chart devaluation and this, I can see a major plus (or a reduction of the minus, rather) on the balance sheet.

By way of motive, even for elites etc, it tracks for me. After all, if it was just about controlling use of award/free tickets, they were already doing that by just making so few available. But they had to carry to liability on the books. (That, and, of course, that most of us are over entitled leaches who UA doesn't want around any more.) (spin88, you out there to comment??)

Now, for the vast middle layer that includes consistent business flyers (Gold, Silver, even Plat)... WE will notice and be annoyed and change our loyalty/behavior even more than we already have.

GUWonder

The US airline cartel kingpins' programs aren't the only game in the world.

ONTRandy

While I am aware that some companies do this, I think most (myself included) consider the miles a benefit. In my case, a tradeoff for being away from the family all the time. When I interviewed for my current position, I asked about this. Had the company kept the miles I would not have taken the position unless I could negotiate to keep the miles.

Will some people abuse this? probably. Will most risk their reputation and future employability for airline miles? probably not. I don't think this is rampant in WN-land, and I doubt it will be for DL, UA, AA either.

mav

I hear ya on that one.

adstockton

Looks like FAQ has been expanded, now answers some specific questions (e.g. Copa earning will be treated like all other *A partners)

http://mileageplusupdates.com/faq.html

hobo13

Eh, that's not the worst meal UA servers... swap in the mushroom slop, and basically everything on the plate is white. Except the hot sauce.

goldelite8

Sorry if it's written elsewhere -- but what's going to happen with bulk tickets? Will these tickets still earn miles? I presume not given the PQD debacle...

GUWonder

So the miles are an arrangement as a form of additional compensation for the job and its travel time? Be glad Uncle Sam's brother to the north doesn't have jurisdiction in the US.

noah

So far this year, I've earned 50,569 RDM from flights with Plat bonus.

Under the new system, these $5586 in PQD would equal almost exactly the same number of miles: 50272.

However, the numbers are a bit out of whack due to a re-route on LH that earned me an A class bonus but no PQD.

When that trip is not factored in, my PQD is $2192. For that spend, I've earned 25831 miles, which would be 19728. That is a 25% decrease which seems to be about average. And I'm a "road warrior" -- just one who commutes on what are currently low yield fares (even a last minute PDX-SFO RT has been averaging less than $300 this year).

CT1

You talking about Canada? The Canada Revenue Agency explicitly does not tax FF miles earned in the course of employment-related travel.

Might want to educate yourself before spouting off anti-Canada diatribes.