Value of miles
 

Hello there . I still consider myself a rookie when it comes to miles . I played the game to collect enough points to earn 180,000 Chase points that I then converted to MileagePlus to pay for 4 RT tickets (award level) to Kauai that I ended up having to cancel. So I currently have those miles just sitting there and I believe they can only be used for United flights . We “might” try to go to Hawaii next year . Has anybody seen or know if the value of these miles will go down due to the financial shape I’m sure many of these airlines are in? I got an email saying we can earn 5 miles per $1 spent on groceries and gas through Sept 30 if we use our UA Explorer card . I suppose if we don’t go to Hawaii we might go somewhere else . Just wondering your thoughts and opinions on the UA mileage program . Thanks !

There's a chance that United could devalue the program so a given itinerary might cost more miles.

They did that for partner awards this past year. It's hard to say when or if a devaluation might happen.

What would happen ?
 

What would happen to all our miles if UA went bankrupt ?

In the past they have been preserved.

Don't treat that as an invitation to bank them, though. Every year they are devalued.

Actually, they can be used for a broad variety of partner flights as well. However, nearly all* of those partners are overseas.

Miles depreciate, but nobody can say at what rate. It is possible, but highly unlikely, that they would become valueless; the situation would have to get much, much, much worse than it is today, because UA has borrowed against the value of the MileagePlus program. If UA were to go bankrupt, the creditors whose loans are secured by MileagePlus would try to preserve the value of the program, likely by selling it to a competitor. Even in some of the more famous US airline bankruptcies of the past 40 years (in the frequent-flyer era), the programs have been preserved: PanAm's program was purchased by Delta, for example.

UA and Chase are desperate to hit spending targets on the Explorer card. Assuming that you're buying those groceries / gas anyway, and you're not carrying a balance (and thus not paying any interest), this could be a potentially useful way to increase your mileage total a bit. There is a little-known program called MileagePlus Choices that can be used to redeem miles that have been earned from a Chase credit card to receive a statement credit on a future United purchase: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...5-forward.html . So, this provides a value floor: if you earn, say, 4000 miles from buying $800 worth of groceries, and you didn't have any other use for the miles, you could redeem them for a $40 statement credit against a future United flight. It won't help with the 180,000 miles that are in your account, though; those can only be used for flights, or for merchandise at really terrible rates.

* They have partnerships with Boutique Air, Cape Air, Silver Airways, and Hawaiian Airlines (for inter-island travel only), but those airlines have pretty limited route networks, and award availability isn't always great.

UA continually devalues the value of MP by continually increasing the required miles needed for a ticket. They have done this for years. They really hate the program

Continous, long-term devaluation of mileage rewards is a given in the airline industry -- hardly a unique characteristic of UA. More so for the programs fueled by credit cards. Miles / points are not investments, there are depreciating benefits.

Hence I have moved to cashback for my credit cards

it’s happened before. The miles lived on.

So if it were you and you thought 180,000 probably won’t be enough for 4 RT tickets next summer, would you bank some more if it’s offering 5 miles per $1 from now until September 30? Or would you still just keep using cash back cards and may I ask which one (ones) you have? We never carry a balance , so I know to this in a smart way . Buying gas and groceries are frequent purchase for us and husband buys a lot of fuel on our farm . I sometimes use Ink Cash at office supplies stores to get 5x pts on visa or MasterCard gift cards that can be used for anything , if I catch a time when there isn’t a $6.95 activation fee. It’s also 3% back on gas . But for our other card , the Unlimited. it is 1.5% back on everything , so we use it for groceries .

The issue with UA miles is they are captive -- once you have UA miles they are only usable for travel via UA bookings and redemption rates can / do change. Chase points are a bit better as there are more options.
I would only be accumulating miles for a specific near term goal. Next summer (purchased in the next couple of months) would be the outer horizon. But I do have some apprehension about travel options next summer.

Present I am focusing on a BofA Premier Rewards card and 2.65% - 3.5% cash back. There are many 2% or better cards

I would like to put in a short two cents worth. UA charging more miles for *A partners.
Completely and utterly unfair for those living outside of the USA.
It forces those fliers to connect thru a UA hub if they are flying Internationally.
In Canada an Vancouver specifically if I want to fly to Europe, most UA flights are unacceptable unless you want to get up and leave early in the morning, sit at a hub in the US and then continue on. For the returns just the opposite, the connection in the US generally means 4 or more hours sitting in the connecting hub to get back to Vancouver
So instead of spending 60,000 miles for a UA flight to say FRA, I must spend 77,000 miles to fly LH to FRA

This has been true for years since 2014 - https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...eb-2014-a.html. While it was a change in 2014 that many were not happy with , there is some logic to it, as it probably costs UA more to acquire seats on partners vs transporting you on their aircraft.

And as you said, you have other options, just not as convenient.

But this is dead issue and obviously UA is not going to change that policy -- especially now, See the reference thread for a extensive discussion. It is off topic for this thread.

When you use any card you are giving up cash -2c on Citi double cash and up to 2.625% using bofA card with plat honors bonuses
When you get 5 miles per$ spend you are getting (actually buying) miles for 0.5c each - usually a good thing for most times - for you likely a good value overall.
For us not an good value as we have enough UA miles, so we don't need more, even at that low price

In general UA miles get 1c redemption value at the most - so as long as you can buy low at 0.5c (5x) and sell high - redeem at 1c you are OK
Anything below 3x is suspect when you have a BofA with Plat honors
You are better off keeping the card for the bag fee waivers and then using a cash back card - see Winecountry post below yours

If you can't get the BofA card, then your max cost is 2c with a Citi double cash card - then - if you are getting 2x or more, use the UA card - rest stick to Citi card