Prepare to pay more for award seats, too
In early November, while media coverage of the elections was reaching its peak and the Delta/Northwest merger ate up the travel pages, United Airlines had some big mileage-program news to share. You missed it? Maybe that was by design. Rather than issue a press release, the carrier chose to announce massive changes to its Mileage Plus program in a letter emailed to members on Nov. 3rd—election eve.The letter leads off with some welcome news for elite members. For them, the program is reinstating the 500-mile minimum accrual per flight segment, and is doing so retroactively. Any flights of less than 500 miles taken between July 1 and December 31, 2008, will be adjusted to show the minimum. That’s nice, but a year ago all members enjoyed the perk, and United probably wouldn’t be restoring it unless the elites threatened to revolt. With that concession as the ice breaker, the letter moves forward to the real business.
Paying Even More for Free Seats
After describing how far it has gone to accommodate members’ lust for seat awards (through August, members redeemed 12% more awards in 2008 than in 2007), United reveals that award levels will change on Jan. 1. For anything but the elusive North American economy-class “saver” award, prepare for bigger withdrawals from the mileage bank.Domestic award tickets (including Hawaii) jump 5,000 miles for Business Class, and 10,000 for First (but with so few routes that offer the former, members will most often pay the latter). Business Class award seats to Northern and Southern Asia jump 35,000 miles (at 39%, the biggest increase). First Class to those regions sees a 25,000-mile hike, which also applies to First Class seats to South America, and to Business Class seats to Europe and Australia/New Zealand. For now, routes from North America to the Caribbean, Central America, Central Asia, Oceania, the Middle East, and Africa aren’t affected.
Paying Even More for Upgrades
Mileage Plus members seeking upgrades will also see some instant inflation. United’s letter claims its revamped Business and First Class cabins are so popular that demand for upgrades has increased. That can’t go unpunished. We quote, “To ensure that the upgrades adequately reflect the value of a first- or business-class seat, we are generally reducing the mileage requirements and will be collecting a co-pay when miles are redeemed to upgrade an Economy ticket.”What’s the damage? So far, it’s hard to tell. United says, “The co-pay amount will depend on the origin and destination cities, as well as the type of ticket purchased. If you upgrade from a higher fare class, your co-pay will be lower or even non-existent.” Sounds slippery, and at this point the carrier hasn’t worked out the exact fees ... only that they range from $0 to $1,000 round-trip.
What’s most disconcerting is that by giving miles back with one hand and taking your money with the other, United is devaluing its own currency and turning Mileage Plus into a cash-surcharge program.
This is most evident in upgrades to Europe. For example, on an off-season trip from Chicago to Paris, you’d likely pay $800 for a round-trip coach seat (on an H fare). Under the current plan, adding 60,000 miles yields a Business Class upgrade. Under the new rules, you'll use 40,000 miles and, we estimate, a $600 co-pay. Mathematically, that’s a wash, but United is restricting your use of the program miles you flew hard to earn. Big minus.
On flights to Hawaii, you’ll take a bigger hit on both ends of the equation. Currently, the lowest round-trip economy fare on the Los Angeles-Honolulu route is about $300; invest 30,000 miles and you move up to First Class. Under the new plan, the miles charge increases to 35,000, and, based on the highest co-pay for the lowest fare, you’ll have to add another $1,000. That’s 17% more miles and more than four times the cash, easily making United’s program one of the worst to Hawaii.
If you give points for dealing the bad news early, score one for UA: The revised upgrade chart doesn’t take effect until July 1, 2009. That allows plenty of time to refine the details, or retreat should program members take up arms.
Options
Judging from these changes to the Mileage Plus program, United places little value on loyalty. Unless elite status with the carrier is the hub of your travel world, maybe you should think the same way. Check out the programs of other Star Alliance members. US Airways offers Business and First Class seats to Hawaii for 70,000 miles; United charges 80,000 for Business and 100,000 for First; 10,000 and 30,000 miles more!Or consider All Nippon and Asiana. Both base their award seat charges on distance, a formula that offers greater value (particularly from the northeast US to Europe) than the region-to-region formula used by United. Example: The distance from Washington, DC, to Paris, round-trip, is 7,700 miles. With Asiana, a Business Class seat costs 75,000 miles, and First Class costs 100,000. United’s Business Class mileage requirement for the same route is 105,000 (30,000 more), and 135,000 for First Class (35,000 more).
In our most recent mileage-program surveys, Mileage Plus earned top honors for offering a good selection of award seats and upgrades at reasonable costs. With one quietly disseminated email they’ve gone from best-in-class to also-ran. Fortunately for United, a lot of underachievers score even worse.
For full details: http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,52895,00.html
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