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}
May 6, 2019, 7:06 pm
#1156
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,413
May 6, 2019, 7:13 pm
#1157
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,466
May 7, 2019, 3:56 pm
#1158
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Port St Lucie, FL, UA1K since 1994 and 3mm, Delta 1mm
Programs: Marriott Titanium Life, Hilton Gold
Posts: 566
I just checked on UA nonstop flights from EWR to KEF for the week of 7/28. Here are the results for the "Business Everyday Awards:"
7/28: 155K
7/29: 92K
7/30: 143K
7/31: 118K
8/1: 155K
8/2: 155K
8/3: 155K
NO saver awards listed on any of these days.
Dynamic Pricing has begun!
ETA: Interesting--If I price the flights from HNL-KEF using the same one-stop routing, each day has the same price of 165K
7/28: 155K
7/29: 92K
7/30: 143K
7/31: 118K
8/1: 155K
8/2: 155K
8/3: 155K
NO saver awards listed on any of these days.
Dynamic Pricing has begun!
ETA: Interesting--If I price the flights from HNL-KEF using the same one-stop routing, each day has the same price of 165K
May 7, 2019, 4:21 pm
#1159
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
As someone who flies a lot of AS and is starting to move my business to UA, I don't see it that way. I guess it depends where you want to fly. AS is great for going to SEA, PDX, LAX, SAN... basically up and down the west coast. And they have transcons just like everyone else (though, no premium product -- I love the UA lie-flats).
Other places can be harder to get to. Depending on your travel patterns, AS might work for you, but realistically for many destinations you are looking at a connection in many cases where UA would fly direct from SFO, and looking at far fewer flights per day (so often flying at inconvenient times) even when there is a direct flight.
On the other hand, IMO the AS FFP can't be beat. You earn more miles flying and they are worth more. Great chart and free stopovers. Lack of an alliance membership and the 1-partner-per-award rule are a bit limiting, but as long as all your eggs aren't in the AS basket I find it's easy to get tons of value there. You can do a three-city premium cabin (F TPAC, J within Asia) round trip for under 150k miles.
Still, I find myself moving more of my travel from AS to UA, for premium routes when they are available, or just when I want to fly somewhere and the convenient schedule wins out.
Other places can be harder to get to. Depending on your travel patterns, AS might work for you, but realistically for many destinations you are looking at a connection in many cases where UA would fly direct from SFO, and looking at far fewer flights per day (so often flying at inconvenient times) even when there is a direct flight.
On the other hand, IMO the AS FFP can't be beat. You earn more miles flying and they are worth more. Great chart and free stopovers. Lack of an alliance membership and the 1-partner-per-award rule are a bit limiting, but as long as all your eggs aren't in the AS basket I find it's easy to get tons of value there. You can do a three-city premium cabin (F TPAC, J within Asia) round trip for under 150k miles.
Still, I find myself moving more of my travel from AS to UA, for premium routes when they are available, or just when I want to fly somewhere and the convenient schedule wins out.
May 7, 2019, 5:50 pm
#1160
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Danville, CA, USA;
Programs: UA 1MM, WN CP, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Gold, IC Plat
Posts: 15,722
You can not compare AS and UA. The latter offers dozens of nonstops across the globe and multiple options on some routes. Perhaps a better label would be AS is a good option for some California travelers (1/8 of US population) who have similar patterns to me. They offer cheap flights to Popular vacation destinations like Mexico and Hawaii (even cheaper with BofA $99 certs). They offer cheap and good service up and down the west coast. They offer limited service on popular routes to major cities like DCA, ORD etc. so they are a good alternative for many leisure travelers. Maybe UA doesn’t want these customers anymore - we will see if they start filling the back of the plane. But once you lose their leisure business (because of your mileage deval), they really have less incentive to fly the front of the plane on lucrative biz trips.
May 7, 2019, 7:28 pm
#1161
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: IAH
Programs: UA Silver
Posts: 527
So glad I dumped United for Southwest 3 years ago. So many changes I No Like.
May 8, 2019, 12:53 am
#1162
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: HNL
Programs: UA GS4MM, MR LT Plat, Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,447
May 8, 2019, 2:12 am
#1163
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Programs: UA-1k, 1mm, Marriott-LT Platinum, Hertz-Presidents Circle
Posts: 6,355
UA;s opening statement about this change was
It does not appear presently there are huge changes in mileage levels for post-Nov 15, 2019 (yet) and a great unknown is what may happen with partner awards but it seems clear we are headed into a future of "dynamic" mileage requirements -- until you try you will not know the mileage requirements and they may change at anytime. The ability to plan / have a known target will be gone.
It does not appear presently there are huge changes in mileage levels for post-Nov 15, 2019 (yet) and a great unknown is what may happen with partner awards but it seems clear we are headed into a future of "dynamic" mileage requirements -- until you try you will not know the mileage requirements and they may change at anytime. The ability to plan / have a known target will be gone.
May 8, 2019, 8:14 am
#1164
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,413
Again award seats using miles is not the same as using miles to upgrade, which I haven’t seen evidence that this is changing for miles needed. Thus, a strategy to hold onto is using the miles for an upgrade, instead of an award seat. Granted upgrade space is limited but not the same buckets as award space.
(I suppose the introduction of P+, which doesn't currently have an upgrade co-pay, is a potential answer to this, but, again, that's not much of a redemption value In many cases because there's not that big of a spread from discount Y to discount PE).
By the time you consider the economy fare, the copay, and the miles, in many cases you're better off watching the Premium Fare deals board and finding discount J.
May 8, 2019, 8:52 am
#1165
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,419
Plus I find WN miles invaluable as a cheap source of fully refundable award flights even though I don't maintain WN status
May 8, 2019, 9:09 am
#1166
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,413
Huh? I don't follow WN/RR that much, but when I fly WN it's usually from my stash of points. If I recall (a quick search confirms it) award flights on WN are pegged at $0.0167 per point which is a pretty respectable valuation IMO when you add that you don't have to work at all to get that valuation. Gross rebate for a discount fare is then 10% (no status) or 20% (A+), which seems very much on par with UA at $0.02 per point, which would be on the rich side for UA miles pre the huge devaluation.
I'd flip it on its head: you can't work to improve the valuation. I think that's what everyone's expecting from UA, and that's why people are so upset. I've regularly achieved better than $0.02/mile UA redemptions, between partner awards and last-minute travel. I don't expect that to remain the case.
Anyway, my point was, it doesn't make any sense to say "I'm glad I moved to WN, because look at this awful new UA devaluation," when it's just the same devaluation WN already had. Even if UA ends up slightly worse than WN in terms of redemption value, I'd argue it makes up for it by flying you further than Cancún.
May 8, 2019, 9:12 am
#1167
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,466
Anyway, my point was, it doesn't make any sense to say "I'm glad I moved to WN, because look at this awful new UA devaluation," when it's just the same devaluation WN already had. Even if UA ends up slightly worse than WN in terms of redemption value, I'd argue it makes up for it by flying you further than Cancún.
I just redeemed UA at 1.5 cpm. That's below my former threshold of 2 cpm, but I just want to burn these things now. Explorer is not getting any spend, either. It's all going to AMEX.
May 8, 2019, 9:28 am
#1168
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,419
I'd flip it on its head: you can't work to improve the valuation. I think that's what everyone's expecting from UA, and that's why people are so upset. I've regularly achieved better than $0.02/mile UA redemptions, between partner awards and last-minute travel. I don't expect that to remain the case.
Anyway, my point was, it doesn't make any sense to say "I'm glad I moved to WN, because look at this awful new UA devaluation," when it's just the same devaluation WN already had. Even if UA ends up slightly worse than WN in terms of redemption value, I'd argue it makes up for it by flying you further than Cancún.
Anyway, my point was, it doesn't make any sense to say "I'm glad I moved to WN, because look at this awful new UA devaluation," when it's just the same devaluation WN already had. Even if UA ends up slightly worse than WN in terms of redemption value, I'd argue it makes up for it by flying you further than Cancún.
And of course there are more abstract propositions; I can't really put a price tag on booking out 1 A/K on the 747 or an LH F award that I would be very unlikely to pay cash outright for. I was mostly objecting to WN being "one of the worst" programs for earning free flights when I found it excellent value for positioning and short intra-California hops under uncertain circumstances
May 8, 2019, 9:43 am
#1170
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: AUS
Programs: BAEC Gold, AA PPro, Hyatt Globalist, Amex Plat
Posts: 7,043