puchong

After UA enforced their PQD rules abunch of MP flyers defected to A3, TK & SQ. Now that SQ has castrated award miles earnings for the cheapest UA fare classes, where will they (erstwhile UA MP members) migrate to next? Or is there nowhere left to go and mileage running is dead for this mob?

fumje

Value mileage running died several years ago.

FlyingNone

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Even if you chase your tail from one carrier to the next, do you really think things will just stay the same ? One airline just takes the lead and the others follow.

ermintrude

Depends where you want to fly to - AS has an excellent FF program.

mjcewl1284

+1. If you didn't see the writing on the wall after UA copied DL's MQD scheme and bolted for AA right afterwards, you're definitely not paying attention.

lhrsfo

First of all, "peripatetic" is one of my favorite words, so kudos to the OP for incorporating it in the thread title.

The problem with this is that the AS program seems unsustainably generous. If that's the case, then it will be devalued which becomes a big deal if you are not a natural AS flyer.

Jimmie Jet

I travel in Australia lots on Qantas and it is terrible as well, the only upside is I can use a oneworld lounge if I have a Qantas ticket other than that they just send emails about how great the program is, it is not great

coolbeans202

^This. Several friends have tried to entice me over to AS, but I have a hard time believing that they aren't going to follow the rest of the pack once they get a little further past their integration.

Baze

I made the move over to AS as an SFO based flyer. So far mostly happy. Fortunately if things go south in the benefits department and they decide to go revenue based and they stop meeting most of my needs it is easy to go back to UA as have MM Gold status.

spin88

I keep hearing this argument to stay with United, and it simply does not make any logical sense. ALL US FF programs were far more generous than AS's program is for years. What UA, AA, US, HP, NW, hell even DL, offered as to mileage earning and redemption costs before 2011-12 is more than what AS offers today. The airlines sustained these programs for years. They infact were, and are, highly profitable. Selling miles combined with attracting traffic made them a key part of the airlines profitability.

What happened is that with consolidation the airlines (lead by Delta, with Jeffie then copying, followed by Drunk Duggie) have been pushing to increase profit margins to the 15-18% range. I happen to think this is crazy, and undermines all UA airlines in the long term, but one of the places to "cut" was Mileage benefits. The past costs were not "unsustainably generous" rather the airlines made a decision to try to further monetize the programs.

Alaska is in highly competitive markets (SEA, PDX, SFO, LAX) and to the extent that being less than 1/3 the size of UA/DL/AA Alaska wants to attract business to itself well it can't just play follow the leader. Getting only 80% as much profit from its FFP program as say DL does on a per member basis, is simply a cost of attacting and retaining new traffic which was - not so long ago - the entire reason for a FFP.

jinglish

I think it's worth noting that AS has been holding off DL for a few years now at SEA. So far DL has mostly chipped away at other airlines' market share there, but the recent loss of DL and AA partner networks for earning aren't going to help. I don't doubt that they'll at least consider devaluing Mileage Plan at some point in the future, but right now it's one of their biggest positives--and they know it.

ermintrude

AS has an excellent business model and they could afford to overpay for VX to improve their route network. AS has seen the value of a healthy FF program from the beginning and their FF program has only got better. Will it devalue within the next 5 years - I doubt it; beyond that I'll need to get my chicken bones out. I'm getting ahead of myself but there is also the very real possibility of an AS and B6 merger in the future (5+ years?) so if you are a miles hoarder, AS is probably your best bet for the US based carriers.

puchong

AS does indeed have a generous FF program, but it is quite useless if were looking for a place to park miles from UA's low fare classes

chipmaster

Sadly it is a business and most flyers chase the cheapest fares, hard for me seeing companies being generous when they have to answer to their BoD, stockholders and employees who demand competitive salary/perks.

I fly UA because of schedule and convenience, anything from the program is a plus, LOL

tom911

I'd look at crediting those flights to Alaska. Take a look at their Qantas chart:
https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mi...er-overview:QF

I brought in over 34,000 miles, with elite bonus miles, on my trip over for OzFest in May in discount economy, and that included over 1,100 miles for a MEL-SYD segment. If I had flown with UA or AA, I would have brought in less than 7,000 miles based on the ticket price.