Traveling man spokane

I'm a relatively new member to the UAL mileage plus program. Live in Spokane. Haven't flown UAL much over the years, but just racked up 19,000 miles flying to Melbourne and back. Anticipate flying Spokane-Denver Spokane-SFO routes over the next few years. Would appreciate a basic understanding of UAL'S mileage plus program, award levels....any mistakes NOT to make, that sort of thing. I'm a newbie, please take it easy on me. All advice appreciated!

RandomTaiwanese

if you have 19000 EQM and RDMs, another 6000 will get you to 2P (Premier) status and enough miles for a US/Canada domestic RT saver award.


As 2P, you get free economy plus, and two pieces of 50lb luggages free for domestic routes. if you are really lucky, you will be upgraded to first for free for domestic with the exception of LAX/SFO-JFK p.s. flights.


enjoy your time with united!

FlyinHawaiian

The Forum FAQ and Wiki (especially the latter) would be a great place to start, but please do ask if you have any questions.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...-glossary.html

tann1001

UA have a pretty good level of information on the revamped website about the elite levels, benefits, spending miles, partners etc.

The first milestone for you would be to reach 25k elite miles (generally 25,000 flight miles in a calendar year) in a year and you'll get premier status, giving you free access to E+, priority check-in etc.

One mistake to avoid would be to spend 25k miles on a domestic coach award (usually bad value).

gregas

Your best bet is to bury yourself in reading to get the basics. Look through the FAQ sticky thread and follow all the linked threads. It's a bit of work but well worth it. You will get a good education in no time. It's really worth doing to get the most out of the program.

People will be more than happy to answer specific questions if you know enough of the basics to ask good questions. But as the previous poster said: Get 6000 more EQM ASAP. Then it will all start to matter.

RandomTaiwanese

what do you suggest spending the RDMs on then?

cordelli

One big mistake not to make is don't let your miles expire. United expires after 18 months of no activity, so if you don't fly that often make sure to do something to keep your miles. The dining program is one of the easiest, free to join, all you need to do is dine once every year and a half at a participating restaurant and you keep your account active.

The first level is Premier, which is at 25,000 miles flown in a calendar year. Miles on United count, as do miles on the other Star Alliance carriers, so if you are flying a star alliance carrier like Continental or US Air make sure you have your Mileage Plus number on the record.

Premier will get you things like a different check in line, economy plus seating (those were the seats you probably passed that looked like they had extra room in coach), two free checked bags, etc.

If your flight to Melbourne was after January 1, and you have the chance to do so it's worth getting Premier status which will be good till early 2013 if you earn it in 2011

Traveling man spokane

What are EQM and RDMS? Also, my flight from Spokane-Melbourne was Dec. 22, 2010 and my flight back was Jan. 2, 2011 so they would be in separate calendar years. Don't know if it's worth piling on flights to accrue mileage now, or just planning to keep the account active....fly United when it makes sense...do the dining program or something similar to keep the account from become inactive....

FlyinHawaiian

This is covered in the Glossary that I linked above, but in short, EQM = Elite Qualifying Miles and RDM = Redeemable Miles.

RandomTaiwanese

EQMs are elite qualifying miles: miles used to determine your elite status and resets every jan 1st. RDMs are redeemable miles: miles used to book award tickets and upgrades.


chances are you will be getting half of your EQM in 2010 (now useless) and the other half in 2011. this means it will take more EQM to reach the 25000 milestone for Premier this year.


your RDM balance will still be 19000. there is nothing against crediting the miles to UA (unless you are already a frequent flier on another airline partner), so might as well credit it.

DarkHelmetII

I realize that upgrades as Premier are unlikely because of 1P / 1K / GS on many flights. Are you saying it's just that less likely to get upgraded on a PS flight, or are UDU's specifically excluded for PS flights?

mahasamatman

Correct.

mherdeg

Some very basic frequent travel tips:

* If you fly at least 25,000 miles or take more than 30 flights in a calendar year, consider concentrating your travel on one airline or within a single airline alliance. (United, Continental, and US Airways are all "Star Alliance" carriers, so for example if you're careful to give your United frequent flyer number to US Airways when you take a US flight, you'll get credit on United for your travel.) Some perks of status include better seats, priority treatment during irregular operations, free checked bags, and a shot at an upgrade. The obvious benefit of accruing all your travel to one carrier is that a 50,000-mile award ticket will probably take you somewhere more interesting than three 16,667-mile tickets.

* Be careful about codeshares. When you book a ticket on any airline's Web site, look for text like "United flight 9999 operated by United Express" or "United flight 9999 operated by US Airways". Understand how, if at all, codeshare travel is different (the # of miles you get for a flight is different on different carriers and you can always look it up on united.com -> Earn Miles -> Airline Partners; always check in with the operating carrier; avoid codeshares in general; if you want to save money, be aware that sometimes codeshares can be cheaper than UA's own tickets on their own metal)

* You can change the date or routing on a United award ticket for free.

* You can cancel a paid or award ticket within 24 hours of ticketing for a full refund of your $$ / miles. ("Ticketing" is usually about the same time as "purchase", or "when you hit buy at united.com".)

* If you travel frequently from one airport (for example GEG), it can be really nice to get to know the folks who work there. This isn't so much because they'll do anything special for you, it's more that travel is a little more interesting if you understand the faces behind the counters.

* It's really thoughtful to write to the airline's customer service about positive experiences you have on flights -- it doesn't get you anything, but it might help out someone else's career, and it hardly costs you any time.

midxc1

This might be an ignorant question- I am also new to Mileage plus- but I am about to fly United with my school paying for the flight. I have an account, and my name will be on the ticket, but I will not be paying for it. Will I still get the miles for the flight?

fzwinter

Sure, as long as your mileage plus number is part of your record. You could call United just to make sure.