Pro/Cons of booking flights on partner site vs united.com
 

Hello -

I have this itinerary.

OSL-FRA-SFO-HNL
HNL-LAX-FRA-OSL

I can book this as UA as a 1K and earn 11 miles per dollar spent but business/first fare is very reasonable (base $3847 so around 42,317).

LH is booked in J to FRA and then A to SFO and A to HNL.
Return is A, A and J.

In this case, if I book LH 220 tickets, I don't think I'd earn PQD but please confirm I'd earn the following.
250% base miles for the A class segments / PQM 150% for all flights
175% base miles for the J class segments
Plus double the actual mileage as 1K

So in this case..
OSL-HNL via SFO / HNL-OSL via LAX 17,855 x 2.5 = 44,637 plus 17,855 1K bonus = 62,492 ticketing as 220 vs 42,317 ticketing as 016.

Am I confused or do I have this right?

Thanks.

Date of travel is after March 1?

If so, you are correct about the calculation if booked on UA stock.

No one knows yet what the earnings will be if booked on LH stock.

Would you book into A class for the TATL's? That's GlobalFirst on United (and presumably F on LH). If truly an F fare for <4000, this should be posted in Premium Fare Deals.

Sure might be nice to know this soon ;)

It is already on Premium Fare Deals.
HNL is just a bit above $4000 but the continental USA is below $4000.
It is for after March '15.
I thought the partner chart for for travel on the website under LH for travel after 11/21/14 was valid for post March '15. Is it not?

No, the details have not been announced.
Earning Miles - FAQ

Most of us expect them to do something similar to what DL has done. Not realistic IMO to expect the loophole to remain open.

That's still an amazing fare. Did you get the 764 for SFO-HNL?

Hasn't that statement about "further information" been on their for months.
Why wouldn't we assume that page detailing LH earning for flights after Nov 21, 2014 is valid for flights post March 1, 2015?

Would they allow tickets purchased today for travel after March 1, 2015 on LH 220 stock to earn with the current posted LH rates?

Extremely doubtful.

Well...any advice?
I am having trouble getting the UA codeshare in A though I have the LH space on hold.
I would rather fly LH than true UA (where A is open) but don't want to lose a significant amount of redeemable miles or elite miles. I am willing to forgo the PQD in order to get the extra miles offered by the current LH scheme but I'm now hesitant to buy the ticket for fear that I could lose out on all fronts buying a 220 ticket.

Yes, it has.

DL waited all the way to T-30 to announce partner earnings.

Note that DL gutted lower end of the chart, but left upper end fairly generous. Air France Mileage Accrual. If UA follows that, you will be fine on LH stock. Just hope they don't implement CM type-earnings (Paid J: 100% with no premier or fare class bonus).

it does not matter whether you have UA code or LH code when you fly LH on 220 stock. I'd assume high fare classes will still earn well under the new scheme to match DL. Did you try booking on Lufthansa.com? You can search segment by segment and also add UA flights (choose LH+partners). Earn 1.5% cashback as well on LH bookings. Try ITA and then replicate on lufty or via travel agent.

I would be never pay close to 4K for a UA fare and this itinerary.

And if you can get LH A for a comparable price, I'd take that any day over speculative earnings in a mortally wounded phantom FFP.

LH table earnings are valid based on the current table...for now. But if it changes (likely will), then the new earning rate goes into affect for travel as of that date and later. Always based on date of travel, not date of purchase, so purchasing today won't have any affect on earning rates.

As for the OPs PQD question, you'd earn full PQD if purchased on UA stock, and PQD just for UA-operated segments if on LH stock.

That's wonderful news. I guess I've been flying only 016 tickets for so long, that the thought of non-016 made my heart flutter.

For the first time since PQD began, I have to fly on a 220 ticket due to schedules (LH metal outbound), but I return on UA metal. I was beginning to have a panic attack that 40% of the ticket wouldn’t count.

Obviously I have not paid attention.

I will now go panic about something else.

Can anybody help me with a related question?
I have a 220 etix issued by LH through expedia for a trip that includes 1 LH leg and 3 UA legs. I thought that since its a 220 etix United is supposed to credit miles to mileage plus acct according to PQMs x status (x2 for 1k). The itinerary popped up in the united.com reservation summary and the rewards count at the bottom of it is based off revenue. Can anybody tell me why?

All UA/UX operated flights earn RDMs based on revenue / PQDs regardless of ticket stock.

Partner flights on UA ticket stock earn based on PQDs.

Partner flights on non-UA ticket stock earned per based mileage (and a multiple based on fare).

So, in short, if you don't care about PQD or Lifetime miles, you are often better off avoiding UA segments altogether, especially when you are in C or F on a good fare.

Correct.

How comes then I am getting RDMs on LH flight leg (etix stock 220) based off revenue instead of mileage/fare/status? Ironically, PQDs for that flight are showing 0.

Was the flight UA operated but LH codeshare & ticketted?

PQD = 0 and revenue based don't mix together. What was the route, flight, booking class and how many miles did you get?

Could you please confirm what happens when more than one of these statements applies to a ticket?

Example; If the ticket is for FRA-LAX-SFO, 220 ticket, FRA-LAX on LH metal, LH code, LAX-SFO in UA metal, UA code. Does the fact that there is a UA metal flight in there mean that the entire itinerary is calculated on revenue, or is the first leg distance based, and the second leg revenue based?

I have had NH, CA, SN flights issued on 016 stock and earned RDM is based on $ spent not flight miles. Of course, the $ is counted in PQD.

On the other hand，all of my SQ flights ticketedd on 016 earned RDM based on actual miles flown.

UA operated segment earn based on segment value irrespective of ticket stock. You will earn distance based for FRA-LAX and revenue based LAX-SFO

016 ticket earning based on miles flown :confused: how does that work?

Thank you! ^

SQ flights ticketed by UA earn RDM based on actual flight miles rather than $ of the tickets. For example, HKG to SIN on SQ earns 1,602 actual miles flown.

Booked on UA, Ticketed on LATAM ?
 

For an upcoming flight to South America, I am flying on UA metal, with connecting flights on LATAM metal.

Which scenario makes more sense, and is there a practical difference?

1 - Book all flights on united.com.

2 - Book UA r/t on united.com, and book LATAM r/t on latam.com.

Note that Latam is not Star Alliance, and these are not codeshare flights.

Guess I would not accrue MP FF miles with Latam flights - have a feeling it's better to book on metal's website "just in case".

Or am I just a worrywart and being a 'big girls blouse' about it all?

Thanks

If you're connecting, best to have it all on one ticket in case of irregularities. That said, check fares. Sometimes it's substantially cheaper to do it on separate tickets, so the risk isc worth it.

Same price either way.

And lounge access is not a concern - no Star Alliance lounges in SCL :(

Alos, if you book everything on united.com, you may earn PQD for the LATAM flight.

Flying IAH-SCL-IPC.

Not planning on checking baggage, but if I do on the return trip, baggage might be checked to destination if on one ticket.

Cheers.

No..unless they are a partner.

??? no. Why would you? Same PQD either way for the flight operated by UA.

Ah, I thought LATAM was a non *A partner, in which case they would earn PQD on a the flight on a 016 ticket, but I guess not.

Book a single ticket to reduce risk in IRROPS.

I would probably default to UA b/c their customer service is a known quantity, and any changes up until date of departure will be made through the ticketing carrier. I've had very mixed experiences dealing with latin american carriers (never flown with LATAM though).

... And just in case anything goes wrong, I can always flash my MP Club Card - that will impress them and get things put right :eek:

Rats ! I Can't get the 2 day open jaw that I want in SCL when I try booking multi-city on united.com :mad:

Website only wants to book as a continuation flight with a long 1 day layover (flight from IAH arrives 45 min. after connecting flight leaves, so engine books next available flight the next day).

Trying to book multi-city as:

IAH-SCL N/S
SCL-IPC 2 days later
IPC-IAH a week later

Does UA resist booking open jaw when non-SA connections are involved?

Earning RDM is a prerequisite for earning PQD, and LATAM earns no RDM in UAMP.

It's hard to tell if anything on UA.sux is a feature or a bug.

Try searching on google flights and see if you get the book on UA link.

If not, just call it in to add the LATAM segments. I had to call it in to add LAN's SCL-MDZ to a UA IAH-SCL.

You mean actually call and speak to a real live person?

Hey, I do OK, but I'm not that rich !

I don't want to break the bank.

... Will try google ...

If google doesn't work, hold the UA segments via the website the call to change it. Should be no fee.

... Wow ... The google flights / book on united.com link really worked !

Was able to book the wide open jaw with exactly the flights I wanted, at the right price.

Thanks mduell !

You get a gold star. :-: