FlyerTalk Forums - Will UA respond to Reported Changes to AA Program?

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- - Will UA respond to Reported Changes to AA Program? (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-airlines-mileageplus/1722666-will-ua-respond-reported-changes-aa-program.html)

Forum Check

While the news AA may be moving their benefits closer to UA/DL is interesting, this is the UA forum. So discussion of the rumored AA program changes, AA redemptions, AA upgrades, ..... are best left to http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...y-sourced.html or other threads in the AA forum. This thread is for discussion of the UA program and if/what changes might occur to the UA program if the AA programs changes occur. Let's stay focused on UA in this forum.

WineCountryUA
UA coModerator

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boraxo (Post 25676234)

...I just booked 4 non-stops on the same LAX-LHR-LAX flights in C for peak summer season in 2016. ^ For only 100k per RT. :cool: Try that on UA.

Considering that it's fall 2015 right now, this is "wAAy early" in my book. :D

Obviously, each program has its strengths and weaknesses. I'll wait for the official announcement to re-evaluate my travel allegiances (right now they have shifted to mainly AA and only UA when the fare earns more miles), but IMO MP is still a very attractive program. YMMV, of course.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sinoflyer (Post 25676282)

Considering that it's fall 2015 right now, this is "wAAy early" in my book. :D

Yes, with a family of 4 and limited school vacation dates, we tend to book as early as early as we can (i.e. when fares drop or when awards appear, whichever comes first :)).

The whole last minute saver award program doesn't work for us in any way, shape or form as our vacations are planned well in advance. Though it comes in handy for funerals :(

UA has actually been pretty good with advance award space even during peak periods. And the fee waiver is a huge Plat/1K benefit as space on more convenient flights is often released (or just cancel if fares drop dramatically)

Here's my attempt to compare premier/elite components of UA's 2015 program to AA's 2016 program as reported in
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...y-sourced.html

What's wrong, what have I missed? No "leaks" have been made on UA's 2016 program but that's probably because they're waiting to see what DL does.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5708/...a6a6b8d3_z.jpg

In short, it was good while it lasted, but the FF game is over.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazard (Post 25675727)

That has more to do with the partners than AA. At least they're not like SQ and block partner redemptions.

If I can spend UA miles to get there and I can't spend AA miles to get there, AA doesn't get a pass just because "Well, it's really AA's partner is stopping that."

Quote:

Originally Posted by sinoflyer (Post 25676233)

This is true until you run out of SWUs. All things considered equal (i.e., upgrading from the lowest possible Y fare), UA's W-fare roulette becomes a better value at the third long-haul trip. With AA, you would have to decide whether to tough it out in Y or spring for J (assuming that you haven't earned additional SWUs at that point).

Suppose it depends on your travel mix, but I just spent an extra $500 on two tickets to use GPUs. That's an extra $1k in value in the AA program since I won't make 3 round trips this year... Although in years where I do normally make 1k, 3 round trips is pretty common.

But I could also end up spending more than an extra $1,500/year redeeming 6 GPUs if I'm forced to play the lottery.

Quote:

It's also noteworthy that AA doesn't have the equivalent of RPUs. For me, that limits my options for upgrading LAX-JFK and -Hawaii to stickers only--not good for blood pressure! :) (I know, I can also use miles, but I think my point is clear.)

The RPUs are definitely a nice perk - at 1K, it's really 4 SWU+0 RPU vs 6 GPU+4 RPU.

Quote:

When I referred to AA's lousy award redemption, I was thinking of both AA and OW partners. But let's just talk about AA. IMO it's not an understatement to say that AA is stingy--especially in comparison to UA. I mainly redeem transpac awards for my family, so I'll limit my comment to AA's U.S.-NRT/PEK/PVG/HKG routes. Other than DFW-HKG, which has heavy loads (although I doubt it's profitable, but that's OT), it's still very difficult to find award space on those other routes unless you plan wAAy early or just days prior to departure.

I'm generally pretty happy with UA's award redemption options to NOT Asia/Australia. Domestic it's pretty good.

Haven't there been leaks about AA going to revenue based earning soon?

Here's one blog post, by a guy who's praised AA the past couple of years.

http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea....leage-balance/

AA FF program looking more like UA/DL's in 2016

Interesting to see AA introduce the revenue based accrual in their program in 2016. On quick glance it looks like the mileage accrual seems similar except for business class fares (up to 3x). Doesn't seem like there is a PQD requirement.

Wonder if FF will re-consider their alignments.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...117-story.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by sfonorth (Post 25734154)

looks like they earn less?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcsnowwake (Post 25734263)

looks like they earn less?

On the RDM-front, yes, many (most) AAdv members will earn less RDMs once the second phase is instituted. Many, -much- less.

Elite-qualifying earning, OTOH, is improved for all but 100%-discount fare purchasers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlytheTail (Post 25676951)

IIRC, UA gives a segment bonus of 1.5 for premium fares while AA doesn't.