NO 500 miles minimum on US Air for UA Elites!
 

So, I had to hop ORD-BOS-NYC, so UA does not fly BOS-NYC - I had to either fly US or CO. US has shuttle service to LGA, CO flies to EWR - and was a lot more expensive, so I chose US without thinking twice. Now, that my miles have posted, I realized that I got whopping 185 EQM for that trip along with 185 RDM bonus. Reading UA's site, there is a very SMALL caption on the Earning miles with UA page that states that since July 1st 2008, US earns actual miles flown with no minimum. CO earns 500 minimums for UA elites. This is pretty crappy. :(

Let me make sure I understand this right:

You're a 1K, yet you're concerned about the difference of 315 EQMs/RDMs from a single flight???

I'm at a loss, sorry.

Dave

They all add up
 

Hey, we're flyertalkers here. All those miles add up.;)

OK, fair nuff!! ;) :D

Dave

Hah, I had a "SFO-LAS Options" thread (see http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/west/...-ua-vx-wn.html) and the 500 mile minimum was proud up as a negative against the US option... and it's only a difference of 85 miles! (SFO-LAS is 413-ish miles)

Maybe that's why they are a 1K, because they worry about the spare change. :D

Lost Miles
 

With the Elite Bonus that short flight is actually worth 1,000 miles on UA for a 1K.

So, what do yu take away from this? That you would rather pay "a lot more expensive" in order to get 315 miles? After all, that is the choice, right? Pay *a lot less* and get 185 miles, or pay up for more.

I wouldn't call this "crappy." You had a choice (whether you had familiarized yourself with the now year ++ terms of the program or not).

I am 1K, but I am not 2K or 3K - so for people that barely make 1K, every EQM counts. I could care a lot less about RDM....

No, definitely not worth paying significantly more for CO - but the point is that I was under assumption that when they brought back 500 minimum EQM/RDM for elites, it was applicable to US and CO as well - but it's only the case with CO. And I am quite upset that the no minimum EQM/RDM on US is mentioned in a very tiny print on the UA site. That's all - just venting. Not the end of the world - unless I end up missing 1K qualification for next year by 300 EQM or so. :)

This was widely reported back in 2008. The ball started when US announced for their elites no more 500 mile minimums:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/us-ai...r-segment.html

UA then announced the same policy for UA elites (as well as earning minimums on other carriers).
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ts-merged.html

However, UA changed their mind and granted 500 mile minimums for elites (but we didn't get back the 500 mile minimum on US)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ion-rules.html

Pretty old news, US has only given actual miles since 08.

Its been posted on .bomb since 08

http://www.united.com/page/article/0,1360,50107,00.html

Since this policy isn't really new, I'll close this thread to avoid any confusion and ask that any additional discussion take place in one of the threads linked above.

Thanks,

FlyinHawaiian, Co-Moderator
United Mileage Plus Forum