It came a complete shock to me when United updated their award chart this week and did not introduce across the board price increases.
On the contrary, United cut the number of miles needed to fly to Europe or Asia in business class by 2,500 miles each way! UA also has adopted Continental’s longstanding 20,000 r/t awards for trips that are less than 700 miles each way.
Note my title mentions savvy travelers–if you are the type of traveler who redeems miles for international economy class travel, not only are your wasting your miles in most cases (I’d argue unless the ticket price is more than $2,000), but now you will be wasting even more miles on some routes. For example, economy class tickets from North America to Europe will go up from 55,000 to 60,000 r/t.
Standard awards, now twice the cost of a saver award on United flights, will go up as well in varying amounts and co-pays will also increase, making such miles + points awards even more unattractive than they already are.
Have a look at the new award chart here.
With United’s liberalized routing rules on mileage awards coupled with changes to their award redemption rates that are arguably a positive move, United is solidifying its position as America’s best frequent flyer program.
While I agree that many people don’t come close to maximizing the value of their miles, it is an over-generalization to say that economy class travel is a “waste of miles”.
The savvy traveller should constantly analyze the return on investment and use miles when most advantageous.
My economy class redemptions are generally worth $600-800 (net of taxes) per 25,000 miles, for trips where I want to be in a certain place on a certain day. On that basis, business class to Europe could have an opportunity cost in excess of $3,000, which to me is not worth it, even if it is less than a revenue fare (others will disagree).
I know where you’re coming from, but in my personal circumstances, it is often far more valuable to use miles on expensive North American trips and then use SWUs on the international flights that get me the EQM I need to requalify for 1K.
CP@YOW: I agree with you fully and apologize if my post wasn’t clear. I’ve used miles on domestic economy trips before (25,000 is better than $800 for a walk-up ticket) and would use them in a heartbeat if I had to take an international trip in economy and the revenue prices were very high.
I just hate to see people waste their hard-earned miles on trips to Europe that could be had for ~$700 or less with a little research.
Rant On…
@Matthew – The issue is just not with you, but many of your brethern. Most of the travel bloggers look at it from a single person or couples point of view.
Family of four: Should I spend 240,000 miles or $4000 on airfare ? And that $4000 is low because I can only go at the most expensive times – Feb/Apr breaks or in the summer.
Don’t even get me started on trying to find decent hotels in Europe that will allow a family of four in 1 room (and usually only doubles at that, not queens). Park Hyatt in Paris ? Yeh, right.
You know why people like Marriott ? Because I can find normal rooms with 2 beds or pay a small supplement for a family room at most hotels worldwide. Renaissance Paris Arc de Triomphe Hotel, yes.
Rant off…
@Derek: Your points are all valid and well-crafted.
If we were worried about upgrading our travel, we might be concerned about the increase in dollars and miles across the board in the new Mileage Upgrade Chart. Those increases are quite significant compared to last years.