May 1, 2021, 4:06 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
This is an archive thread, the active thread is "Dynamic Award Pricing" by UA; questions, experiences, .... {Archive}
The details:
Award travel updates
Introducing a broader range of award prices
Updates to award travel are on the horizon. For flights on or after November 15, 2019, we’ll no longer publish an award chart listing the set amount of miles needed for each flight.The details:
- Some award prices will be lower than what’s currently published in our chart. You may have already seen these prices, and you’ll be able to get them immediately.
- Other award prices may be higher than what you see today, especially if you’re traveling at a popular time. These prices will take effect immediately for travel November 15 or after.
- Starting November 15, we’re removing close-in fees, so you won’t be charged the extra fee of up to $75 for booking last-minute award travel.
- A flexible award travel calendar is available on united.com or in our app.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is changing?
For travel on or after November 15, we will no longer publish an award chart listing the set amount of miles needed for award flights. Award pricing will now fluctuate based on a variety of factors, including demand. Additionally, starting November 15, we will no longer charge a fee of up to $75 for award flights booked within 21 days of departure.When will these updates take effect?
The award pricing changes apply immediately to flights on or after November 15, 2019. Until then, award prices will be the same as or lower than what’s currently published in our award chart.How many miles will I need for award travel after November 15?
Award prices will now fluctuate based on a variety of factors. Some air awards will be available for less than what’s listed in our chart, which you may have already noticed. After November 15, award prices may also be higher, especially if you’re traveling at popular times. Use our flexible award calendar to get a monthly view of the award prices for a specific destination.Why are you making these changes?
Increasing award prices for the most in-demand flights allows us to offer better returns for our shareholders. If your award travel is flexible, these updates will help you make the most of your miles.How will these updates affect award travel availability?
United MileagePlus members with Premier® status and qualifying United Chase Cardmembers can continue to book award travel without blackout dates. For other members, most award flights that are available today will continue to be available after these updates take effect.Do the lowest-priced awards have any extra flight restrictions?
No. Our lowest priced awards do not have any added restrictions; the fare rules for all award travel apply.How can I find the lowest priced award for my travel?
The award calendar on united.com or in our app will continue to show the lowest available price for your destination.Will I earn miles on my flight if I book an award?
No. As with current award bookings, award travel in the future will not be eligible to earn miles with MileagePlus or any other loyalty program.What if I need to change my existing award?
If you need to change your award ticket, you will be issued a new ticket for which new pricing and additional fees may apply.What if I purchase a close-in award before November 15
The close-in booking fee will still apply to all tickets booked within 21 days of departure prior to November 15, 2019. We will not refund fees paid prior to November 15, even if travel occurs on or after November 15.
"Dynamic Award Pricing" by UA; questions, experiences, .... {Archive}
Apr 5, 2019, 4:45 pm
#526
Join Date: Jun 2014
Programs: UA MM
Posts: 4,118
Very likely you're right. I doubt they want to do anything short term that would cause a mass exodus of their best customers. Better to wait until they've become numb to the poor treatment.
Apr 5, 2019, 4:46 pm
#527
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: CHS
Programs: UA GS, Bonvoy Amabassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 2,589
If they are going to do this, I wish they would copy WN
Earn miles at XX per dollar spent
Use miles at XX per dollar of the flight - any flight, any seat pay cash or miles at a predetermined rate
This way i can plan - I left Delta over this same stuff and I will leave UA for the same reason, until I retire, I only care about family vacations - any of the airlines will get me to work and home just fine
Earn miles at XX per dollar spent
Use miles at XX per dollar of the flight - any flight, any seat pay cash or miles at a predetermined rate
This way i can plan - I left Delta over this same stuff and I will leave UA for the same reason, until I retire, I only care about family vacations - any of the airlines will get me to work and home just fine
Apr 5, 2019, 4:47 pm
#528
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Pacific Northwest
Programs: UA Gold 1MM, AS 75k, AA Plat, Bonvoyed Gold, Honors Dia, Hyatt Explorer, IHG Plat, ...
Posts: 16,838
Apr 5, 2019, 4:54 pm
#529
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: San Francisco
Programs: UA MM Plat, UA 1MM, Hilton Lifetime Gold, Marriott Gold, Hertz Gold, CLEAR, AS MVP Gold
Posts: 3,617
So what's the word on upgrade mileage fees? Sliding scale as well?
Apr 5, 2019, 5:03 pm
#530
Join Date: Mar 2007
Programs: United Mileage Plus Premier
Posts: 781
Ok, this is really good news for me. It solves a lot of the issues I have been facing for the past year. We are planning on taking our whole family--6 of us on an Alaska cruise in July 2020 to mark a milestone anniversary and I was debating should my wife and I just buy tickets to earn miles or use some of the 300,000plus miles we already have banked. Answer--use as many miles as possible and book it all in August where booking opens. Next issue, is it worth keeping the UA Chase card? No, we can dump that next year when it expires. Costco Visa's cash back is a better deal now. Next up is what to do about making Premier for 2020. We have done a lot of international flying for vacations since retiring a few years ago but this year we have been staying closer to home. So, with this change no really need to push for even Silver. Next up, we have been doing the bi-coastal thing for 6 years now and have been seriously considering selling one of the homes. Add in the new tax "reform" bill to this "Change you are gonna like" and it is time to sell the home in the high tax state and just stay year round in the low tax state. Yea, it is all good for me. Oh, I also don't have to think a second time about doing some crazy flying to make a million BIS miles. I need 140K or so for that and we really did love Hong Kong and Shanghai and were thinking about some more visits there and places in Europe too...but with this change, I have a lot of other options now for airlines. So, thank you Scott Kirby for helping me sort out my future with UA.
Apr 5, 2019, 5:06 pm
#531
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,386
Use miles at XX per dollar of the flight - any flight, any seat pay cash or miles at a predetermined rate
This way i can plan - I left Delta over this same stuff and I will leave UA for the same reason, until I retire, I only care about family vacations - any of the airlines will get me to work and home just fine
This way i can plan - I left Delta over this same stuff and I will leave UA for the same reason, until I retire, I only care about family vacations - any of the airlines will get me to work and home just fine
UA's (and DL's) plans are basically the same as WN's, except without publishing the factor they're using.
No word, but I doubt they will change them any time soon. They're already tough to clear, so I don't know why they'd bother.
(On the other hand, I might actually be OK with upgrade awards that were much higher than the current values but without the copay).
Apr 5, 2019, 5:14 pm
#532
Join Date: May 2012
Location: HNL
Programs: AS MVPG, HA Plat
Posts: 1,268
FWIW, I downgraded my Explorer to the free card that gives 1 mile/$2 over a year ago and so far am still seeing the additional coach award space.
Apr 5, 2019, 5:16 pm
#533
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Programs: UA Nobody (former 1K, 1P, 2P), QFF Nobody, Skywards Nobody
Posts: 1,337
If you're a spontaneous traveller you might score some bargains under this new scheme.
But if you're trying to plan ahead you no longer know how many miles you need for the flights you're after. I can no longer get a simple answer to "where can my 120K miles take me?"
Huge Thumbs Down UA.
But if you're trying to plan ahead you no longer know how many miles you need for the flights you're after. I can no longer get a simple answer to "where can my 120K miles take me?"
Huge Thumbs Down UA.
Apr 5, 2019, 5:17 pm
#534
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Tx
Programs: AA, UA, WN
Posts: 812
Will married segments get removed with this change?
Apr 5, 2019, 5:20 pm
#535
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Canada
Programs: UA*1K MM
Posts: 23,297
While DL metal awards are a ridiculous amount (870k is normal), I can reliably get YYZ-Asia for 85,000 on a partner award in J
Likewise, YYZ-Europe is 320k on DL metal, and 75k on KLM.
Apr 5, 2019, 5:31 pm
#536
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: LAX
Programs: AS 100K, DL PL, B6 M3
Posts: 180
Apr 5, 2019, 5:31 pm
#537
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: dark side of the moon
Programs: papa card, UA 1K
Posts: 707
I use the most of my UA miles on UA domestic economy as my CPU rate is 80+ % ....Long story short - all this means for me (I think) is that I will stack up lots of UA rewards flights in advance and cancel the majority close in....
Apr 5, 2019, 5:34 pm
#538
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: CHS
Programs: UA GS, Bonvoy Amabassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 2,589
eh, I don't think it's any more-o-r-less amenable to planning than WN, because it's not like you know what the price for a given WN flight will be, so you don't really know what the redemption rate is, either.
UA's (and DL's) plans are basically the same as WN's, except without publishing the factor they're using.
UA's (and DL's) plans are basically the same as WN's, except without publishing the factor they're using.
Apr 5, 2019, 5:35 pm
#539
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,386
No.
I stand by my statement. It is merely a matter of UA figuring out the details.
...? I'm not sure what you mean by that. The pricing change is effective now, so if you meant you'd get in a bunch of redemptions for next year in November, the ship has sailed. If you mean you'll book space to hold it and then cancel if you're not going to use it -- be careful, as UA will close MileagePlus accounts for behavior they consider abusive. An occasional cancellation is fine, but if you mean something like holding LAX-SFO for six days in a row and then cancelling five of them after you figure out which one you need -- that's a violation of the CoC and can get your account closed.
I mean, I guess. But while WN's factor might be linear, its prices aren't. What you're really doing is saving yourself a search, which is fine, as far as it goes, but I have to feel that a fixed ratio would be even worse than what we have now. At least this gives the possibility of finding a good deal, even if I suspect they'll be fairly uncommon. WN's doesn't.
I stand by my statement. It is merely a matter of UA figuring out the details.
Yes, but that is the KEY, if they published a burn rate ie 100 miles per dollar, then like WN, I could just search for flights and when i saw the cash price add 2 zeros and that is the mileage price - but most importantly it would be linear and not exponential. Deltas' is exponential, WN is linear.
Apr 5, 2019, 5:39 pm
#540
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: anywhere and everywhere
Programs: UA GS, AS MVP 100K, DL Diamond, Marriot Lifetime Titanium, AmEx Centurion
Posts: 5,523
I don't think this is true. Awards will still book into I international, otherwise Star Partners would have nothing to give their members on United....it's simply how United charges for I awards on its own metal that will have variable pricing....and I assume "standard" awards will stay in a much higher bucket that doesn't apply to alliance members anyways.