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Welcome to this thread to ask your basic, simple questions about United Airlines, its operations, or the MileagePlus program. We know that the airline is complex and we’ve created this thread for new and veteran members to ask those basic questions about United Airlines that you think must have an easy answer but just can’t find it or aren’t sure where to look.

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Oct 19, 2017, 9:09 pm

#1576

PSPAirliner

Join Date: Mar 2007

Location: Tucson

Programs: UA Gold , Marriott Platinum. Both earned BIS/Nights

Posts: 78

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aussienarelle

I am sorry to hear you were unsuccessful as I did that trip in PE this year and it gets 125% of the miles for MP (as used my MP # in the reservation), and I have also booked my flights to Australia in PE in qualifying fare class. Also, as I am *G I am able to book the FF seats on the NZ websitze.

However, I booked directly with NZ. I did not need the PQD as I will meet the minimum this year.

I'll probably qualify for gold in '18, but I'm doing a heck of a lot of travel at personal expense and it's sad that if they would have allowed UA to ticket I would at least have Silver now and mileage wise I will exceed 50k PQM.

Oct 19, 2017, 9:46 pm

#1577

findark

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Nov 2014

Location: MSP

Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found

Posts: 14,423

Quote:

Originally Posted by PSPAirliner

Did get one very good agent. Booked my UA flights to/from LAX. Gave her Class and farebasis. Rate desk said Eva does not allow united to ticket T class which is the 2nd highest class for PE). They also could not ticket my Air New Zealand LAX/LHR/LAX in PE and they wanted 3 times the amount to book LH intra in business. This year I will not make PQD waiver on Chase card though I did last year.

As for foreign address, might not happen to 2 or most likely early 3rd quarter

For the record, your agent was exactly correct (and very good for being so).

The carriers which can plate discount PE on 016 are: NH, LH, AC
Most other carriers don't allow it (e.g. NZ*, BR, SK).

And also correct that LH Group now requires full fare in order to off-plate intra-EU fares. It's a very distressing move across *A to make it harder to earn UA PQD.

*Was looking at NZ A fares and... I'm practically speechless. SFO-AKL starts at $4,500 r/t

Meanwhile LAX-AKL is $1,800...

Oct 19, 2017, 10:07 pm

#1578

rbAA

Join Date: May 2003

Location: Bangkok, Thailand. No longer Palm Coast, FL though still exiled, again, from the Bay Area.

Programs: Only the good ones

Posts: 5,153

OK, so probably asked and answered before, but my search didn't come up with anything. I'm on EWR-SFO-SIN next month and have both UA Silver (from Marriott PLT) and OZ Silver. Not sure if OZ Silver gets me E+ seating at checkin or if I have to keep the UA number until after checkin then ask, nicely, to change to my OZ account (since I'll end up with *G once the flights are done.) And so?

Oct 19, 2017, 11:22 pm

#1579

mahasamatman

A FlyerTalk Posting Legend

Join Date: Apr 2004

Location: GVA (Greater Vancouver Area)

Programs: DREAD Gold; UA 1.035MM; Bonvoy Au-197; PCC Elite+; CCC Elite+; MSC C-12; CWC Au-197; WoH Dis

Posts: 52,140

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbAA

Not sure if OZ Silver gets me E+ seating at checkin or if I have to keep the UA number until after checkin then ask, nicely, to change to my OZ account (since I'll end up with *G once the flights are done.) And so?

OZ Silver gets you nothing. And OZ Gold won't get you E+ either.

Oct 20, 2017, 12:15 am

#1580

rbAA

Join Date: May 2003

Location: Bangkok, Thailand. No longer Palm Coast, FL though still exiled, again, from the Bay Area.

Programs: Only the good ones

Posts: 5,153

Thanks, that's what I thought. Not planning on flying UA very much, but OZ DIA gets lounge access, plus is good for 24 months, and can use that same 24 months to requalify.

Oct 20, 2017, 3:56 pm

#1581

PSPAirliner

Join Date: Mar 2007

Location: Tucson

Programs: UA Gold , Marriott Platinum. Both earned BIS/Nights

Posts: 78

Quote:

Originally Posted by findark

Meanwhile LAX-AKL is $1,800...

This past Mar I grabbed LAX-LHR R/T in A (PE) on NZ for $1365--travel was in May. Excellent service. Truly like C on other airlines in terms of food quality, presentation etc. FA's wonderful. In PE drinks made from full size bottles

Aussienarelle likes this.

Oct 20, 2017, 11:17 pm

#1582

lucianf

Join Date: Oct 2006

Programs: UA 1K

Posts: 3

A simple question to other fellow UA flyers here.

I have a booking from DUB to DEN via IAD (so 4 segments in total). I've applied GPUs to both ways and I got cleared for 1 segment so far (IAD-DUB). I'm thinking to change the itinerary but would like to keep the segment on which I have the upgrade (first time getting Polaris, so wouldn't want to miss it).

If I use the "change flight" feature on the UA website, and come up with a completely different route which still keeps the last original segment, would I lose the upgrade I got or will it stick?

Obviously I'm looking for a definite answer from someone that's done this before, not a "could/should" type.

Many thanks in advance!

Oct 20, 2017, 11:49 pm

#1583

findark

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Nov 2014

Location: MSP

Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found

Posts: 14,423

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucianf

If I use the "change flight" feature on the UA website, and come up with a completely different route which still keeps the last original segment, would I lose the upgrade I got or will it stick?

You should be able to keep the upgrade, but only if you do it over the phone and specifically mention it. The website's change feature is, in general, just really bad.

lucianf and Aussienarelle like this.

Oct 21, 2017, 9:27 am

#1584

Kacee

A FlyerTalk Posting Legend

Join Date: Apr 2013

Location: PHX

Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)

Posts: 56,470

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucianf

If I use the "change flight" feature on the UA website, and come up with a completely different route which still keeps the last original segment, would I lose the upgrade I got or will it stick?

I am 99.9% sure that will error out if you try to do it online.

I would not even try, you'll have to get on the phone to straighten it out, and it will take longer than if you had just called in the first place.

Oct 21, 2017, 10:03 am

#1585

Aussienarelle

Join Date: Oct 2015

Location: SAN

Programs: 1K (since 2008), *G (since 1990), 1MM

Posts: 3,219

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kacee

+1

Just had this experience last night with the web (error) and called the (IT support) number listed and was on the line for absolutely ages. Firstly, you are on hold for an insanely long amount of time, BUT they do resolve the issue and are very pleasant and polite to deal with.

Oct 22, 2017, 6:16 pm

#1586

ravisurdhar

Join Date: Dec 2009

Posts: 144

I'm confused about why I only earned about ~33% of my traveled miles as award miles for my recent ticket. In my MP activity page, it shows:

Code:

Description                      Base Miles	Bonus Miles	Total Miles	      PQ Miles           Segments	      Dollars 
UA Express 4160-V class
Columbia-Chicago (ORD)             215		      0	              215              666               1                $43

United 563-V class 
Chicago (ORD)-Vancouver            385		      0	              385            1,764               1                $77

Hopefully that table came out readable.

They're V class, so shouldn't that be 100% in award miles (666 and 1764, respectively), as well as 100% PQD?

Oct 22, 2017, 6:38 pm

#1587

Repooc17

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Aug 2017

Programs: AS 75K, DL Silver, UA Platinum, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Platinum + LT Gold

Posts: 10,515

Quote:

Originally Posted by ravisurdhar

I'm confused about why I only earned about ~33% of my traveled miles as award miles for my recent ticket. In my MP activity page, it shows:

Code:

Description                      Base Miles	Bonus Miles	Total Miles	      PQ Miles           Segments	      Dollars 
UA Express 4160-V class
Columbia-Chicago (ORD)             215		      0	              215              666               1                $43

United 563-V class 
Chicago (ORD)-Vancouver            385		      0	              385            1,764               1                $77

Hopefully that table came out readable.

They're V class, so shouldn't that be 100% in award miles (666 and 1764, respectively), as well as 100% PQD?

Redeemable miles (RDMs) are based on your qualified dollar spend (5 miles per each dollar as a general MP member) - $43 x 5 = 215 and $77 * 5 = 385.

Oct 22, 2017, 6:54 pm

#1588

ravisurdhar

Join Date: Dec 2009

Posts: 144

Quote:

Originally Posted by Repooc17

Redeemable miles (RDMs) are based on your qualified dollar spend (5 miles per each dollar as a general MP member) - $43 x 5 = 215 and $77 * 5 = 385.

Right, sorry, I forget UA changed their RDM earning basis. Old habits die hard.

I'm going to have to reevaluate how I value my award miles now, since I'm getting so few award miles per trip....I thought I was going to get almost 5000 miles for a $320 RT ticket. Instead, I'm getting 600, almost a tenth of that.

Oct 22, 2017, 6:58 pm

#1589

Kacee

A FlyerTalk Posting Legend

Join Date: Apr 2013

Location: PHX

Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)

Posts: 56,470

Quote:

Originally Posted by ravisurdhar

RI thought I was going to get almost 5000 miles for a $320 RT ticket. Instead, I'm getting 600, almost a tenth of that.

Kind of explains why they made the change.

Oct 22, 2017, 10:49 pm

#1590

sfo789

Join Date: Apr 2016

Location: EWR/LHR/SFO

Programs: UA 1K 1MM

Posts: 574

I recently booked SFO-AKL-SYD on UA/NZ via an OTA (neither .bomb nor NZ's website would price it). Issued as a 086 ticket with SFO-AKL in V.

SFO-AKL was R1 so I GPUd it. Now the res shows fine on UA (no reissue-required message, new receipt showing R sent to me, etc.), but NZ sees the res as AKL-SYD only (the previous SFO-AKL in Y segment has disappeared, and not been replaced by SFO-AKL in R/J.) My presumption is the resync-but-not-reissue behaviour you get upon applying a GPU doesn't play nice with NZ's system.

Two questions: 1) How much of a problem is this? Since first flight of the itin is on UA, I presume OLCI will be a UA thing anyway, and if UA sees the seg I can't see there being an issue (feels similar to the 'missing seg' problem on GPUd LH flights).

2) If it is a problem, who should I contact? UA, NZ, the OTA?

Thanks

Edit: worth saying Saudia returns an error when I try to pull the ticket, which is what prompted me to express some concern in the first place.

Last edited by sfo789; Oct 22, 2017 at 11:06 pm