sosafan

Why?
I could sell "Happiness points" for 2¢, and they are worthless.

RNE

On the contrary, they must be worth 2¢ to your buyers (assuming you find any).

iowa guy

Whoa. Wait a second. I could have sold my UA Miles instead of getting $.85/mile?

jsloan

I interpreted your statement as defining an upper bound -- they can't well be worth more than 2¢ per mile, because UA is generally willing to sell them for that price. They could be worth less than that.

However, I disagree with the premise. Items have different values to different people, which is pretty much the basis of trade. A mile can be worth 2¢ to United because they have access to seats on partner airlines at that price. However, it can be worth more than that to me, because I don't have that same access except via United. So, if I'm buying a ticket that would result in a 5¢/mile redemption rate, it is entirely sensible for me to buy at 2¢ and "sell" at 5¢, and it's not wrong for me to claim that I received 5¢/mile in value.

On the off chance that this isn't sarcastic, or that someone reading this post doesn't think it's sarcastic -- no, you can't sell your UA miles. That's a violation of the terms of service and your account can be closed for doing so.

RNE

It's OK to disagree with me. I'm bored with the matter.

iowa guy

It wasn't sarcastic. I'm the guy that has points across several credit cards but doesn't know how to use them for the most value.

jsloan

:-) OK. In that case, I'm glad I responded.

Ultimately, the best redemption value is the one that makes sense to you. My father used a bunch of his points for a grill. Based on MSRP, he got a bad deal. Based on his personal valuation, he got a good deal -- he didn't have to pay for the grill, and he wasn't planning to take any big trips that would have required those points.

If I tell you that Australia to South Asia in J or F remains a good deal (and it does), that only helps you if you want to go to Australia and South Asia. :-) If your goal is to fly from Des Moines to Los Angeles, then that's a better redemption option for you personally. Sitting on a horde of miles is rarely a good idea, as they get devalued regularly. Use them where it makes sense for your travel patterns, and enjoy the trip -- because there's something special about boarding an airplane on a free ticket. ^

WineCountryUA

At a minimum, Chase UA MP credit card miles are worth 1 cpm if used for flight purchase. Those miles can be used as statement credits against UA.com flight purchases for 1 cpm.

Also see https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...5-forward.html

However, using the miles fro award purchases should be able easily get 1-2 cpm and some cases (especially premium cabin) even more. Also, miles are a good option for last minute domestic purchases when cash prices are high.

sfo3388

I thought using miles for upgrade has the best value. I am trying to figure out the value of using UA miles for upgrade.

Case 1 (*A upgrade award):
Buy BR SFO-TPE B class ticket which costs around $1300 in low season. I can use 30000 miles each way to upgrade to J. BR J ticket costs $4500. If I use 2 cents per mile, it is $1300 + 0.02*60000 = $2500 for a J r/t ticket. Saving is $2000.
Looks like there is a big saving to use UA miles to do *A upgrade.

Case 2 (UA miles+copay):
Buy UA SFO-TPE K class ticket which costs $655. P class costs $4000. If R seats are available both ways, it will cost ($1200+60000 miles) to upgrade. The face-value comparison is ($655+1200+0.02*60000=$3055) vs $4000. However, the $1000 saving here has potential loss of:
a. 12910 PQM (P class gets 200% PQM; TPE-SFO is 6455 PQM one way.)
b. 30105 RDM (4000-655)*9, which could be worth $602. (I am a plat.)

So the cost saving of case 2 is only about $400 (1000-602)?

I always think I have to use miles once a while as UA devalues MP program every several years.

How would you count the value of using miles for upgrade? Appreciate your comments.

findark

Generally speaking, mileage upgrades are a poor deal compared to award tickets. The BR case is a glaring exception, because they sell B fares for absurdly cheap. Most international routes are $3k or more r/t for B class.

On UA metal, a Saver Award (even if routed on *A instead) is generally a much higher value proposition, since you pay neither the copay nor the ticket. However, it may be attractive on something like a $300 r/t fare to Asia. As a 1K, though, I find that anywhere there is open R that a W fare + GPU is a much better deal.

s0ssos

I don't get your first example. If you just redeem straight out, it is 160k miles round-trip. The advantage to using your miles to upgrade is that you get credit for the flight (but if to UA it isn't much anyway, in economy). The disadvantage is you don't get the flexibility afford by miles (just pay a cancellation fee and ticket is refunded)
(Though i think UA's new award chart is more. Is it also the same to upgrade?)

Kacee

And the BR example comes with a serious caveat, namely that the *A upgrade process is unreliable and there are frequent reports by pax who are unable to confirm that upgrade despite BR showing I availability on the desired flight.

Mileage upgrades on UA have mostly been a bad deal for many years now, ever since UA instituted the co-pays.

TravelinSperry

I just redeemed for 3 United economy flights and received the following redemptions:

1- 4.9 cpm. HNL - GUM, $1,338 cash price, 27.5k redemption.
2- 4.7 cpm. GUM - TKK, $377 cash price, 8k redemption.
3- 3.6 cpm. TKK - PNI, $289 cash price, 8k redemption.

--> Altogether the cash price was $2,004 and I used 43,500 miles + $11.20 in taxes (the last leg requires no taxes). So the cpm value of a United mile for this trip 4.58 cpm. Incredible value for economy, imo.
--> Further, as a UA cc holder, the last two flights are eligible for biz class upgrades (even though I am aware I am at the bottom of the list and the likelihood is almost nil). Still chances, aren't zero. Sadly HNL - GUM (the longest flight is an excluded region for award upgrades).
--> Finally, as a UA 1MM, I can redeposit (cancel) this trip in an emergency for $75 per leg. So a $225 insurance policy against my 43.5k miles.

Likely this area of the world differs from others but I'm quite happy and I've placed my UA card back in wallet for all everyday spend Internationally and all everyday spend Domestically starting Aug 1 (that's when SPG devalues their everyday spend). Wild to think a few months ago I was about to cancel this card when AF came due. Now I'm even considering upgrading to the Club card where I'd earn 1.5 cents per mile. I'll wait til the fall to decide that however (want to see true devaluation level of SPG Amex before deciding).

In my experience, United is clearly better than Delta and American when it comes to redemptions (for availability and cpm). Of course, that isn't saying much these days, lol. But hey, I'm on a high getting 4.58 cpm so I'll give kudos where kudos are due. Thanks United!

Kmxu

Good values for UA miles. If you want to "waitlist" for IN space on HNL-GUM, there is a good chance to get it cleared. The business cabin is not too full because of the GPU-eligible route.
On the other side of the coin, if you fly between some US cities and Chinese cities, your redemption rate is miserable because economy fare is so cheap ($500 for 70K, less than 1 cpm).

TravelinSperry

How would I "waitlist" for the space you describe? I've already booked my award space using miles in the eco cabin. I don't see any upgrade options on the UA website and am not allowed to use a GPU on this route either.