Difference between UA economy and economy (flexible) in terms of points accrual?
 

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I just saw a really cheap UA fare to Hong Kong. The price is the same between UA economy and economy (flexible). They're both K-fares so I should get 50% of the mileage on OZ.

If I were to credit this to UA, I'm assuming I'll get 100% PQM and 50% RDM?

Slightly off-topic, besides the added flexibility of being able to cancel the fare, am I missing out on anything else? Guess it's a no-brainer to go with economy (flexible) if pricing is the same as economy?

Did UA introduced basic economy for trans-pacific flights yet?

sold on a regular UA 016 ticket stock credited to UA? you get 5x dollar amount for RDM, 7x/8/9/11... for premier members. should be 100% PQM (unless basic economy, which is not true for transpacific flights yet)

this happens because the same fare is both flexible and cheapest (no cheaper fare than this). usually flexiable means its refundable/changeable for a fee

no(t yet)

Make sure you understand what "flexible" means
If the price is the same, nothing is lost in going with the Flexible fare

I don't have status with UA so I guess 5x dollar amount for RDM. Is the dollar amount calculated in the equivalent in USD? I have to admit, I probably care more about PQM/MQM for the purpose of achieving status than RDM especially with the upcoming devaluation with UA. I don't know if it's a regular UA 016 ticket, but it should be since I was searching for the fare via UA's website? What is UA giving for basic economy in terms of PQM for trans-atlantic flights?

Let's hope this will last a little longer then. AC already introduced basic economy for trans-pacific flights.

For a ticket issued by United...

On UA metal, 100% of the distance as PQM, 5x the fare as RDM. The "fare" is in NUC, which is basically the same as USD if you don't think too hard about it. If you are purchasing a pricing unit which does not originate in the USA, there may be a small amount of currency float involved.

On OZ metal, 50% of the distance as PQM, 5x the fare as RDM just like UA.

50%.

What do you mean by NUC?

What about on CA metal and L-class? 5x the fare as RDM and only 25% of the distance as PQM?

Neutral unit of construction -- an airline "currency" syatem used in pricing which is then converted currency of purchase.

1 NUC = 1 USD

https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...air-china.html
If purchased on UA ticket stock, always PQD approach
PQM does not depend on ticket stock, set by the operating airline and L is 25% for CA

I just learned something new! Thx bro!

I was sweeping the technicality under the rug, but since it was asked... :)

Fare tables for foreign-originating tickets are technically published in the currency of the origin (e.g. an ex-Korea fare table is in KRW). The exchange rates from NUC to local currency are updated and published periodically by IATA (pretty sure monthly), and in that table 1 NUC is always 1 USD (and the other currencies are whatever the market prices them as that day). The fare is always filed in NUC, but since the conversion rate is fixed this is a mostly meaningless distinction. However, if you want to purchase the fare in a different currency than the filing currency, the amount is converted to the purchase currency at today's market rate.

For example, imagine a one-way ICN-SFO fare that is KRW 750,000. On the first of the month (or whenever the NUC table is updated), lets say USD/KRW = 1200.00. Then the fare is filed as 625.00 NUC. If you buy the ticket with a Korean POS, you will always pay the KRW 750,000 fare. However, let's say you buy the ticket using a USA POS two weeks later, when the market rate is now USD/KRW = 1175.00. Now, you will actually pay KRW 750,000 * (1/1175.00) = USD 638.30 of base fare for the ticket, but it will earn 625 PQD.


This is only an issue for foreign-denominated fares which are purchased with USD; anything with a ticket origin in the USA is originally priced in USD so this effect is nil. I should add I'm only 99% sure PQD accrues to NUC (the preview suggests otherwise), but I do believe that's the case.

Actually, if this is true, you'd end up with the same situation whether you're purchasing from a US or foreign POS. If you pay ₩750,000 when USDKRW is 1175, you might naïvely convert to USD using the current exchange rate in order to estimate your earnings (638.30), but you'd still earn at the NUCKRW rate of 1250 (625). It's just more obvious when using a US POS because you're used to seeing charges in USD.

Okay, fair.

.bomb seems to be doing the instantaneous conversion to estimate PQD but I'm relatively certain posting is NUC because otherwise the credit system would need to cache the daily USD exchange rate which is not something it otherwise needs. In the case of wild currency moves it can open up windows to buy PQD at substantially less than $1 but of course such moves are exceedingly rare. Unless there are some hyper-inflating currencies where UA publishes fares? :)