FlyerTalk Forums - RDM earnings for UA tickets / UA operated flights

Initial announcement thread - 2015 MileagePlus Change - RDMs Will Be Calculated by Spend, Not Distance
Update 2019 -- includes all partner flights on 016 ticket
for non-016 ticket , see Earning Status (PQP) on non-016 Tickets and Partner Metal

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
Ticket price is defined as base fare plus carrier-imposed surcharges (PQD)
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)

Multipliers based on Premier status: & (breakeven CPM)

x5 General Members -- (20 cpm)
x7 Silver -- (17.86 cpm)
x8 Gold -- (18.75 cpm)
x9 Plat -- (19.44 cpm)
x11 1K/GS -- (18.18 cpm)

For example, a 1K would earn 1100 miles for a $100 ticket while a Silver would earn 700 miles for the same ticket.

Note that for itineraries which span the March 1 changeover date, the existing scheme will apply to any segment departing prior to March 1 , the new scheme will apply to the segments departing March 1 or after.

Appears no extra mileage for using a Chase MP card than the standard card mileage earning

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.

Announcement Sitewww.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:
Post 57: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/23008349-post57.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by UA Insider (Post 23008349)

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.

As mentioned above, there are more details and a FAQ posted online, and over the next few days we’ll be communicating this information to our members.

Answered Questions:

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunLover (Post 23008196)

So a 1K purchasing a $5,000 EWR-NRT ticket would earn 55,000 miles plus the 1K additional RDM’s?

Class of service bonuses have been discontinued under the new system. There is already an adjustment for 1K over general members.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ckidder331 (Post 23009930)

LAX-Intl Location in Business Class as a Premier Gold

Would a $5,000 ticket in Business class to Asia earn:

5000 x 8 = 40,000 (Premier Gold earning)
5000 x .75 = 3750 (Class of Service bonus)
43,750 Total

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikelcf (Post 23010426)

...On the mileageplus announcement site and FAQ site it lists only 1K's. With respect to most mileage levels, etc. UA usually treats GS the same as 1K, so I assume that's the case here, but has anyone seen anything specific to GS?

E-mail received by GS lists 1K and GS together.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/membe...e8164-mp14.jpg

Unanswered Questions:

Quote:

Originally Posted by a9504477 (Post 23008251)

...Would this apply also to UA flights not on 016 stock? And if not, what would be the best way of purchasing such?

Unknown, but the FAQ indicates that all UA and UAx flights issued by ANY airline would be subjected to the new earning rates. There are exceptions (group tickets, bulk tickets, etc) like "Specialty Tickets" as mentioned below.

Quote:

Originally Posted by raehl311 (Post 23009921)

Do elite bonuses still apply to those [specialty] tickets?

It is mentioned in the FAQ: If applicable, Premier bonus award miles will be based on a member’s Premier status and the lower of the distance flown or miles awarded, per the chart above. Basically the bonus miles will be awarded but based on the lower number (i.e. distance flown for higher fares or the % based on fare). A 1K passenger purchasing F-fare from EWR-SFO would get only a 2565 mile bonus while a N-fare would get (50% of 2565) 1283 mile bonus. Still unclear what are the percentage bonus of each premier level but assume that it is the same (100% GS/1K, 75% Plat, 50% Gold, 25% Silver).

Specialty Tickets:

Quote:

Originally Posted by iloveipods (Post 23008995)

Specialty tickets that earn award miles in the current program (including, but not limited to consolidator/bulk, group, tour and other tickets where the fare paid is not disclosed on the ticket) will earn award miles based on a percentage of the distance flown and the purchased fare class as of March 1, 2015. Please refer to the chart below for details.

Eligible fare classes
Flight operated by United and United Express
150% - J, C, D, Z, P, F, A
100% - Y, B, M
75% - E, U, H, Q, V, W
50% - S, T, L, K, G, N