United Airlines recently announced the introduction of “basic” business class fares, which are now for sale on a handful of routes. Unfortunately, the tickets are even more restricted than we originally were led to believe when it comes to mileage earning in a way that seems to defy logic.
United Airlines Now Selling Business Class “Base” Fares With Limited Mileage Earning
Under the new structure, Polaris (and Premium Plus) tickets are divided into three fare types, just like economy class, with the cheapest option removing perks that were previously included in a premium cabin ticket.
- Base
- Standard
- Flexible
Polaris base fares exclude:
- Complimentary advance seat assignment (can pay to reserve seat, which runs from 79-149 USD depending on the seat)
- Second checked bag (you get one)
- Polaris lounge access (only United Club access)
- Changes/cancellations to reservation
- Upgrades to Polaris Studio
Severe Mileage Earning Penalty On These Cheap Fares
When United made its announcement earlier this month, it was vague on how miles would be earned on these fares.
Now we know:
- Basic tickets in business class or premium economy will not earn Premier Qualifying Flights (PQFs), just like in economy class (and this applies to all passengers), regardless of which United credit card you have or your MileagePlus elite status.
- Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) will be awarded based on fare paid (PQPs exclude movement taxes and fees)
- Redeemable miles will be reduced and vary based on your MileagePlus status and whether you hold a United co-branded credit card.
| Status | No United card | With United card* |
| General Member | 0 miles | 3x |
| Premier Silver | 2x | 5x |
| Premier Gold | 3x | 6x |
| Premier Platinum | 4x | 7x |
| Premier 1K/UGS | 6x | 9x |
*not all United cards are eligible, such as the no-annual fee debit card absent steep minimum spending requirements.
So yes, if you have no status with United, don’t have a United credit card, and buy a $5K business class ticket, you will not earn any miles…nada.
Is it just me, or is the idea of not earning any points on these tickets and not earning PQFs regardless of status highly punitive and ultimately penny-wise, pound-foolish?
Are Polaris Base Fares Cheaper Than Before?
Some thought that basic would be tired to fare class, such that the old P-fare tickets (the cheapest business class tickets) would now be “basic.” Not so, I predicted.
So it could be that “P” becomes the new universal basic business fare bucket, but I suspect that basic fares will always be available at a discount (I’d guess about $200 each way) of the cheapest-available business class ticket. So if a “Z” fare from Dublin to Chicago is available for $3900 r/t, a basic business class ticket might be $3500 but if the flight was near capacity and only a “J” fare was available at $8800 r/t, a basic business class ticket would be $8400.
And I was correct…”base” fares are running precisely $400 less than “standard” fares in business class on a round-trip ticket (in premium economy, the difference is $300 round-trip). I was also correct that these new highly-restricted tickets are not cheaper…United appears to have just raised the price of “standard” and “flexible” fares.
So let’s take a look at an example, a round-trip ticket from Houston (IAH) to Buenos Aires (EZE). A “base” ticket is $400 round-trip less:
Like basic economy class, you are warned about the restrictions these fares include:
To assign a seat, the cost runs from $109 to $149 each way.
CONCLUSION
United has introduced a version of business class that strips away perks and, in some cases, eliminates mileage earning altogether. I understand unbundling and I even understand charging for seat assignments or limiting flexibility on the cheapest tickets. But selling a $5,000+ business class ticket that earns zero miles for a general member strikes me as foolishly punitive.
Yes, this is about pushing customers into higher fare buckets, but it’s not like the basic business class fares are cheap…and so I hope that many are alienated by this and will book away, forcing United to re-examine its “base” policies.
But sadly, while United is first out of the gate with this level of restriction, I suspect it will not be the last. If this sticks, expect other carriers to follow.
top image: United
Might be best to credit United flights to Star Alliance partners and earn their status over UA at this rate… any recommendations, or are we screwed regardless?
And the race to bottom continues…
Stop flying United, people. It’s that simple.
It’s up to Unuted on how they run MileagePlus, not you, Matt, nor anyone posting here. If you’re too cheap or too poor, then you have a choice of another airline or the Basic fares. No, Polaris is not your right. It is a privilege you pay for. Reimbursement fi r that is only up to tge airline, not you.
Holy non-sequitur Batman.
United needs to cut the fare even more and have no lounge access, no meals, last to board, paid blanket.
I look at this as the end of the frequent flyer program. Fine, go back to the old days of 1980. Just let us redeem our miles. I have burned by United and Delta miles. Trying to burn my American miles.
The smart way is to let people earn miles on all fares, just fewer miles on the cheap fares. Loyalty for nearly a lifetime is possible.
I don’t think $400 premiums on business class tickets are what is going to make up for UA’s new contract and higher fuel prices that don’t seem to be going anywhere. This seems like something that would inevitably be reversed in a downturn, but I question how savvy consumers actually are. If I’m paying $6K to fly United, they’re very likely not winning on price, and I’m certainly booking elsewhere. But are other consumers?
Basic economy doesn’t really matter because those consumers are booking solely based on the lowest price. Basic business consumers actually do have a choice, and unless they’re flying EWR-GOH, there are a lot of choices that will likely have friendlier terms and better a product. Sending a $6K passenger to the United Club is kind of insulting. Splitting up a couple will ultimately disturb every passenger on a plane because they’re going to inevitably ask people to move. Older American men can get downright rude and combative in these situations. A lot of people are going to be pissed at United.
Perhaps the most important difference for biz class travelers is the ability to change flights. A screw up in the booking progress and purchasing a basic ticket class rather than standard could be a very costly mistake.
Yes, and did you see the sort of change fees that Lufthansa Basic Business tickets have?
The price of a Lufthansa Business Basic return within Europe can easily go into the four figures (D class is typically about €450 each way and there are at least another two more expensive ones) with no changes whatsoever are allowed.
I can sort of see the rationalization here for general members/non CC holders not getting miles. Again, sort of. These are primarily going to be retirees and occasional travelers who are less concerned with miles and status as they are with getting a comfortable seat as cheap as possible.
As to PQF’s, they are not a big deal for most. It’s the spending that is going to get you over the hump unless you are a shuttle flyer between two cities a few times a week.
With that said, $400, which seems to be the savings on most fares, is kind of insulting. By the time you factor in all the things you lose it’s very little savings all in all. If it was $1K cheaper that is incentive. I honestly think they won’t sell too many of these from a premium perspective.
DL also emphasized that they would do the same thing… It’s probably AA’s turn next.
Let’s not forget that business class airline tickets won’t get cheaper. The current prices will reflect basic business and what is considered regular business today will be charged at an even higher price. Awful news indeed!
Unfortunately, that is exactly what I expect United to do.
You can’t reach any kind of useful conclusion on pricing at this stage- they’re trying it on to see what the market will bear. No supplier in a competitive market is able to dictate prices.
As I said in my previous comment, there’s already precedent in which flights haven’t risen, as Finnair business light flights to Asia tend to be cheaper than the competition. You can fly nearly 30 hours in a flat seat (e g. MUC-HEL-ICN and back, no access to Russian airspace) and have change from €1500.
The mileage exclusion looks short-sighted, but there’s also some kind of precedent in LH, AFKL, ET, and UX selling long haul business class fares that don’t earn anything on many/most partner schemes.
So, I’d buy base and pay $300 for seats both legs to get away from the center section. So, a second bag (typically zero value to me), better lounge twice, and 8700 miles cost $100 ($400- seat charges) and I get better treatment if a change is needed (very rare for me). At those prices the old standard would be the choice. I’m not familiar with pricing on this route, but $6400 seats quite OK given the coast of coach.
Better lounge one time, not twice. Polaris lounges are U.S. so only relevant on departure. Not sure of the Polaris arrivals lounge at LHR as it’s not clarified. Not that many would care.
Yeah, you’re correct. But for me in flyover country, I’d get the Polaris lounge on the way out and way in while connecting at a UA hub. I did, out of curiosity, look up a Dec. out- Jan. back ORD-SYD r/t (requiring a stop, of course) and they didn’t publish a saver J fare.
Ahh, so the trip Down Under is back on the menu! Huzzah!
Quest from a non-American travel manager in Australia. We purchase fares for staff on a central card that is not UA-branded. In this example, would staff not gain any points with UA? Or does anyone know if bookings via a TMC are excluded?
I have never understood the rationalization for an airline charging for seat selection. It costs the airline nothing. My only conclusion is that they make the charge simply because they can. It’s one more way to clip a couple hundred bucks from a customer.
Basic business class is an abomination. I recently made a terrible mistake and accidentally booked a cash Business Lite fare RT on Qatar (for next year). I realized the error two days later and tried to change to the Classic fare (and pay the difference of course), but they wouldn’t let me do it without paying a ridiculous change fee per ticket. It’s crazy to spend that amount of money $8k RT for such a restrictive fare.
Fyi, I know this situation was my fault, but it was an honest mistake and a very annoying result.