German Expat

I just came back from a round trip with ANA and was surprised to see that I did get a 25% RDM bonus on a Z fare. The United web site does confirm it.

http://www.united.com/page/article/0,,1182,00.html

What surprised me was that

a) United does not give you the 25% bonus on a Z fare
b) You still get the RDM and EQM status bonus miles
c) the US feeder flights in the US booked into A and gave me 50% bonus

I looked at the same flight on UA and it was 1800$ more at the time with a worse hard and soft product (new ANA C). So apart from no miles for MM or GS status I don't see the point flying UA.

Any other opinions what I might miss out on ?

fdflys

I just looked at my upcoming reservation to BKK and it shows 50% accrual for the ana codeshare (UA9711) NRT - BKK in the K class. I thought the joint venture meant that the UA codeshare would have the same K class accrual as on UA if purchased on UA. The page that announced the joint venture is not available anymore. I would lose almost 3k eqm's as well as 3k miles from this. Does anyone know if this is just a mistake and they didn't use the new chart from the April 2011 joint venture??

sbm12

Don't trust the earning rates shown in the reservation details for partners. They are (and have been for years) notoriously buggy. Use the numbers on the partner earning pages and you'll be OK.

cchuang1980

http://united.com/CMS/en-US/marketin...spx?ItemId=299

I will be happy if NH L/T/K really earn 125% RDM

Jorgen

Can anyone explain the logic and backroom dealings behind earning tables and fare codes?

Suppose I fly on XYZ Airlines (a proud Star Alliance member). United Airlines gives me a certain number of EQMs and RDMs for this, depending on the fare code. How is this decided? Is XYZ forking over cash to United for the privilege of having me aboard? Or is there merely some kind of reciprocal arrangement going on?

Why are some airlines so stingy with the UA miles, while others pay out full miles in pretty much every class?

And what is the business logic behind someone like (say) NZ deciding to leave my business on the table by refusing to pay out United miles for any fare code I've ever actually had any success finding on their site?

fdflys

Thanks for the replies. I just want to make sure that I am reading this chart correctly. My flight UA9711 is a connecting flight NRT to BKK after having flown EWR to NRT. The roundtrip flight was booked on UA. If my reservation now shows 50% accrual on the NRT-BKK section is it a mistake?

http://united.com/CMS/en-US/marketin...spx?ItemId=299

sbm12

Most likely, yes.
Because they can.

They see the fares where they're not giving miles as not high enough to be profitable to their business in a manner that justifies giving out points. Various carriers in the USA have tried to do similar things on their lowest fares over the years. The main difference is that with less competition these other carriers can pull it off.

lax2010

The 50% rate is probably the artifact of the CO website that has not been updated for UA.

dboston

So do people think the listings on the partner airline pages on united.com are now correct? Seems SAA has changed from before the switchover.

qplazm1982

I am trying to decide which flight (ANA or UA) to book ORD-NRT and I feel like some information on the United site might be wrong (or that I misinterpreted it).

http://pss.united.com/CMS/en-US/mark...spx?ItemId=299

1) Is ORD-NRT considered transpacific? If yes, I should be earning 125% base miles based on this chart instead of 50% base miles as showing on united.com for K class.

2) It doesn't seem to make sense that lower economy fare are earning 125% base miles while full fare economy only earns 100%.

Red Raider LV

ANA may have a better in flight product, but as long as your on a UA transpac 777 you'll be in pretty good shape with IFE and free cocktails.

As for ANA earnings, I feel like they keep jumping around. I've got an upcoming LAX-NRT-SIN, and the NRT-SIN leg is on ANA. I booked this on CO.com pre 3/3 and according to the website intra-asia flights on ANA earned 100%. Now post 3/3, SIN is apparently not considered a part of Asia, because it's only earning 50%.

While the 125% base sounds great, I would be weary to book it until you've actually heard people confirm they earned it in discount economy. My guess it that earnings on ANA will change. If you have the option and can take the 777 on UA to NRT, I'd go with that choice to be safe.

cchuang1980

The mileage display on the booking screen is always broken and never show the correct mileage you will earn, according to sbm12. And I think there is a major mistake regarding to ANA's earning table. Hope it can be fixed soon. I'm just wondering if you printed this table out and went for requesting the mileage, what will happen?

UA ORD-NRT is always 744.

worldexpress

Non-UA doesn't earn lifetime miles.. something to consider.

pigx5

Look at what new UA has done to PMUA MMers, the lifetime miles is not important anymore.

gailwynand

I am about to purchase an itinerary from IAD to SIN on ANA, but I notice that according to the ANA website my chosen fare class (S) only has 70% mileage accrual.

UA's website, however, says that I should receive 100% mileage accrual for all international itineraries on ANA in this fare class.

Does anyone know which policy controls in this case? Will I receive 100% or 70% EQM on UA for this itinerary? If it's only 70%, I might as well book an SQ flight connecting through LHR even though I wouldn't earn any mileage for the first leg on Virgin Atlantic.

Thanks!