Increased Pricing for partner MP Awards April 2024
May 2, 2024, 8:48 am
#76
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Canada
Programs: UA*1K MM SK EBG LATAM BL
Posts: 23,357
I think those have been lowered a long time ago, since its pretty much only LH (3 days out) and NH (almost never, and just one seat at a time) left for Star First class.
I would not call flying EgyptAir J within Africa for 99k (33k last week) aspirational, yet it tripled in price.
I would not call flying EgyptAir J within Africa for 99k (33k last week) aspirational, yet it tripled in price.
May 2, 2024, 8:56 am
#77
Join Date: Apr 2018
Posts: 482
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May 2, 2024, 9:34 am
#78
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,306
I am pretty sure the average earn is way down. Partner tickets earn a lot less than they used to. With redemptions going up and earning flat or down ... that is just not sustainable. The 75k is one to discuss, but from a perspective of ridiculous devaluations, I am not sure there is a relationship
May 2, 2024, 10:48 am
#80
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Floating around
Programs: UA 1K (1MM), DL Gold (1MM), Marriott LTT
Posts: 10,352
When you give out miles like candy (aka like a bank through credit cards), you have to massively increase redemptions to get more of them off your balance sheet. This will only continue one way and that's UP.
-RM
-RM
May 2, 2024, 11:20 am
#81
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 483
Silver lining: having paid 55K for TYO-PEK-MEL on Tuesday the new 110K price means that I don't have to do a daily search for a nonstop.
Wow, yeah, when 50K got TYO-PER-MEL two days ago that 65K is a shocker.
Wow, yeah, when 50K got TYO-PER-MEL two days ago that 65K is a shocker.
May 2, 2024, 11:48 am
#82
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: WAS
Programs: AA EXP2M, DL 1MM DM ext, UA PP <=> HH G/Marr PE/Hyatt G/IHG P FT RA ( Recovering Addict)
Posts: 4,604
Why 30% ?? - inflation is 3% a year over past 20 yrs
Well, if they'd done it 30% per year, they'd have gotten to the same place; instead, they held them steady / with minor adjustments for an unbelievably long time, then apparently served them up all at once. So I guess we're both surprised.
As for "without notice," though -- UA is never going to give notice about increased award prices again. You can take that to the bank. There are no charts, so there is no announcement.
As for "without notice," though -- UA is never going to give notice about increased award prices again. You can take that to the bank. There are no charts, so there is no announcement.
May 2, 2024, 2:12 pm
#83
Join Date: Jan 2020
Programs: UA MileagePlus
Posts: 3
So, I wonder with all the devalue happening with the MP program, does it make sense to look at other *A programs and see if it is worthwhile while being here in the USA? Is Aeroplan worth it, Avianca maybe something else?
May 2, 2024, 2:23 pm
#84
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: SEA/NYC/IAD
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Titanium, Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 1,963
I'm on UA because it offers the best price/schedule for the routes I have to fly, and considering I'm averaging 91% CPU clearance rate this year, it's been paying off wrt actual benefits when flying. The occasional free ticket somewhere is a nice, but secondary benefit.
May 2, 2024, 2:35 pm
#85
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,563
May 2, 2024, 2:37 pm
#86
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA LT Plat 2MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 67,071
The days of nonsensical 5 cpm awards are long gone, only made sense when there was excess space, which is presently gone.
With 100,000 SUBs and 75K earnings for 1K/GS which were enough for OW TATL Business (typically going for $4-5K), it made no sense.
Miles should not be getting that much of a discount. Even at say 1.5 cpm , this is amounting to nearly 20% award rebates for higher elites
I'm sure this is not popular comment, miles need to pull their revenue rate under today's inventory conditions.
May 2, 2024, 2:56 pm
#87
Join Date: Aug 2005
Programs: UA*G(1K), PC Diamond Amb, Marriott Titanium, Accor Platinum
Posts: 4,677
ZRH/Europe-BKK up from 49.5k (Y) / 110k (C) to 60k / 140k
ZRH/Europe-TYO up from 49.5k (Y) / 82.5k (C) to 60k / 140k
BKK-TYO up from 22k (Y) / 49.5 (C) to 35k / 90k
Using the cash price of a ticket to calculate the miles you get is just a stupid idea because it's clear that more and more miles will be earned when prices go up. Basing the miles on distance and booking class gave the program more intrinsic stability because the miles earned would remain constant.
I'm glad I've booked some flights already -- but I was hoping to change to better connections closer to departure. That idea is obviously down the drain. I'm quite disappointed with UA. Probably time to look for greener -- or at least less barren -- pastures elsewhere.
HTB.
The issue is that the mileage earning is directly linked to the US$ value. It was crystal clear that this will drive up mileage earnings when prices go up because of inflation, and that this will require regular devaluation of the redemption value.
I was more in favor of having the mileage credit based on distance -- maybe plus booking class. That value stayed the same and allowed for a more stable program. Funnily enough, some people were still arguing for a devaluation "because of inflation" -- but that didn't really make sense.
Since I'm mostly not flying with UA, my earnings have pretty much stayed the same -- but redemption rates have gone up by 50 to 100%. That makes MileagePlus extremely unattractive for me, and probably 75% of the world.
HTB.
ZRH/Europe-TYO up from 49.5k (Y) / 82.5k (C) to 60k / 140k
BKK-TYO up from 22k (Y) / 49.5 (C) to 35k / 90k
Using the cash price of a ticket to calculate the miles you get is just a stupid idea because it's clear that more and more miles will be earned when prices go up. Basing the miles on distance and booking class gave the program more intrinsic stability because the miles earned would remain constant.
I'm glad I've booked some flights already -- but I was hoping to change to better connections closer to departure. That idea is obviously down the drain. I'm quite disappointed with UA. Probably time to look for greener -- or at least less barren -- pastures elsewhere.
HTB.
Well behind the domestic competition
The days of nonsensical 5 cpm awards are long gone, only made sense when there was excess space, which is presently gone.
With 100,000 SUBs and 75K earnings for 1K/GS which were enough for OW TATL Business (typically going for $4-5K), it made no sense.
Miles should not be getting that much of a discount. Even at say 1.5 cpm , this is amounting to nearly 20% award rebates for higher elites
I'm sure this is not popular comment, miles need to pull their revenue rate under today's inventory conditions.
The days of nonsensical 5 cpm awards are long gone, only made sense when there was excess space, which is presently gone.
With 100,000 SUBs and 75K earnings for 1K/GS which were enough for OW TATL Business (typically going for $4-5K), it made no sense.
Miles should not be getting that much of a discount. Even at say 1.5 cpm , this is amounting to nearly 20% award rebates for higher elites
I'm sure this is not popular comment, miles need to pull their revenue rate under today's inventory conditions.
I was more in favor of having the mileage credit based on distance -- maybe plus booking class. That value stayed the same and allowed for a more stable program. Funnily enough, some people were still arguing for a devaluation "because of inflation" -- but that didn't really make sense.
Since I'm mostly not flying with UA, my earnings have pretty much stayed the same -- but redemption rates have gone up by 50 to 100%. That makes MileagePlus extremely unattractive for me, and probably 75% of the world.
HTB.
Last edited by WineCountryUA; May 2, 2024 at 4:01 pm Reason: merged consecutive posts by same member
May 2, 2024, 3:24 pm
#88
Join Date: Feb 2022
Location: LAX
Programs: UA
Posts: 1,569
What alternatives are people looking at for F awards?
LH: AC Aeroplan is cheaper but seems to have access to different inventory from UA
NH: Virgin Atlantic likely, but also appears to have less access than UA does. It seems like AC is completely blocking NH awards in all cabins?
TG: There's surprisingly decent availability for TG F, but only UA appears to have access.
LH: AC Aeroplan is cheaper but seems to have access to different inventory from UA
NH: Virgin Atlantic likely, but also appears to have less access than UA does. It seems like AC is completely blocking NH awards in all cabins?
TG: There's surprisingly decent availability for TG F, but only UA appears to have access.
May 2, 2024, 4:06 pm
#89
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,563
Using the cash price of a ticket to calculate the miles you get is just a stupid idea because it's clear that more and more miles will be earned when prices go up. Basing the miles on distance and booking class gave the program more intrinsic stability because the miles earned would remain constant.
Those programs that aren't already ahead of UA on this race will soon catch up.I was more in favor of having the mileage credit based on distance -- maybe plus booking class. That value stayed the same and allowed for a more stable program. Funnily enough, some people were still arguing for a devaluation "because of inflation" -- but that didn't really make sense.
MileagePlus is emphatically not designed for people outside of the US. It's basically a marketing arm for Chase.
May 2, 2024, 4:21 pm
#90
Join Date: Aug 2005
Programs: UA*G(1K), PC Diamond Amb, Marriott Titanium, Accor Platinum
Posts: 4,677
With earnings limited by distance but redemption devalued by inflation, MileagePlus has definitely become unattractive for the non-American market...
I'm wondering how long these programs will work when it the earning structure becomes too unattractive for the majority. If I cannot reach Gold, I can simply buy the cheapest fare on the cheapest airline. Should I fly Business, I (usually) get lounge access anyway (unless lounge-less business class continues to spread).