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Finally Able to Earn United Miles on America West (er USAirways) flights

by Gary Leff on May 26, 2006

May 26 2006

Effective this past Saturday, May 20, United Mileage Plus members earn miles on “USAirways West” — USAirways flights operated under the America West flight certificate. This ends one of the more confusing mileage accrual issues in recent times, where USAirways is a member of Star Alliance and a partner of United’s but a sizable portion of USAirways flights were ineligible for United mileage accrual because they were ‘really’ America West flights operating under the USAirways name — meaning they were old America West flights, operating under the old America West flight certificate, and America West was not a United partner even though the company was merged into one and now called USAirways and the flights were sold as USAirways flights. Mergers are indeed messy things, and in this case quite customer unfriendly. That piece of…

United Eviscerates its Award Chart

by Gary Leff on April 21, 2006

Apr 21 2006

I’m pleasantly ensconced in the Diplomatic Suite at the Intercontinental Bangkok, but this news is important enough to say some things about before I head out to dinner. United has announced changes to its frequent flyer program, which are pretty much all bad. They begin by announcing new “Domestic Short Haul Saver Awards” — these are short flights that require 15,000 miles in coach instead of 25,000 miles. United has actually been offering these for some time now, and the announcement is that the benefit is being reduced not introduced. Previously the reduced mileage was applicable to flights of 750 miles or less. Now it applies only to flights of 700 miles or less. What difference does 50 miles make? Just ask New Yorkers. LaGuardia-Chicago is 733 miles. Newark-Chicago is 719 miles. Since the awards…

Netflix Signup Bonus

by Gary Leff on March 18, 2006

Mar 18 2006

Via Free Frequent Flyer Miles (actually, I got the email myself several days ago and then promptly forgot), you can get 4000 United bonus miles for signing up for Netflix. (Registration required.)It’s 2000 miles after your first month (minimum cost $9.95) and 2000 more miles for paying with a United Visa (which you can get free the first year and 20,000 bonus miles).

Up to 15,000 Bonus Miles to Australia

by Gary Leff on February 11, 2006

Feb 11 2006

United is offering up to 15,000 bonus miles for roundtrip flights to Australia from the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico or U.S. Virgin Islands from March 1 through April 30, 2006. Registration is required. 15,000 bonus miles for purchasing and flying a paid, qualifying roundtrip in United First® (F fare only) 10,000 bonus miles in qualifying United Business® (C, D fares only) 7,500 bonus miles in qualifying United Economy® (Y, B, M, H fares only) 5,000 bonus miles in qualifying United Economy (Q, V, W fares only) (No bonus miles are offered on the absolute lowest — S and T — fares.) Partner and code share flights don’t qualify for the offer. Tickets must be electronic. Miles should post 6 to 8 weeks after completing the return flight.

Ted Birthday Bonus

by Gary Leff on February 9, 2006

Feb 09 2006

Register to receive 1000 bonus miles on a roundtrip flown on United’s low cost subsidiary, Ted. The bonus can be earned twice between February 12 and May 12, 2006. The bonus is meant to “Wish Ted a Happy Birthday.” Personally I wish the operating gurus in Elk Grove had smothered him at birth. RAR!

United CFO’s Presentation to Bond Investors

by Gary Leff on February 9, 2006

Feb 09 2006

Pursuant to Regulation FD, United filed its presentation to the JPMorgan Annual High Yield Conference with the SEC. It makes for interesting reading. United has cut labor costs per available seat mile by 32%. Only USAirways — which went through two bankruptcies — has gone further. Northwest, just entering the bankruptcy process, has only cut their labor costs 3% over the same period of time. Northwest has the highest costs of any major carrier. Shocker — United has far less debt after bankruptcy. The reduction is all centered around rejecting pensions, retirement benefits, and some leases. Playing with numbers — United compares its operating margins with Southwest’s by removing Southwest’s fuel hedges. Going forward United plans to de-peak hubs (more continuous flow of aircraft so they don’t pay people to sit around, people wait for…

My Greatest Fear

by Gary Leff on February 7, 2006

Feb 07 2006

My greatest fear is that the awards offered by airlines and hotels will go away, that the great values will disappear. What if I can’t use 60,000 Cathay Pacific miles to fly British Airways business class to Europe anymore? What if 90,000 United miles no longer buys a business class ticket from the US to Australia? I have this recurring nightmare, I hope speaking it aloud doesn’t make it more likely to come true, and fortunately it’s just my worrying and not something based on insider information. United’s award chart is so much better than any of their U.S. competitors’. Many other airlines devalued their award charts in the past few years while United was in bankrupty (the Qantas term for it was ‘rebalanced’). United didn’t make award chart changes, I assume they didn’t want…

United Discounted Awards to London

by Gary Leff on February 5, 2006

Feb 05 2006

In addition to discounted coach awards to Sydney, United is offering coach awards between the U.S. and London for 35,000 miles for travel through March 31.The text of the offer says You must book your award ticket online only. However, the terms and conditions of the offer sayYou may purchase the reduced award through united.com or through United Reservations (call 1-800-UNITED1). The $15 booking fee is waived. Either way, it appears as though awards are still pricing at 50,000 miles even though the promo should have gone into effect February 1.Flyertalk.com discussion of the offer is here.

United offers 25% off awards to Australia.. maybe?

by Gary Leff on February 2, 2006

Feb 02 2006

United is apparently offering coach awards between the U.S. and Australia for 45,000 miles. I say ‘apparently’ because though the terms and conditions suggest the promo should be active and redemption possible online, awards still seem to be pricing out at 60,000 miles. (Perhaps the web page meant to say that the award could not be booked online, which is also why the page says that the $15 award booking fee would be waived. That would explain why the website spits out a 60,000 mile price in spite of the promo. I’ve been too busy to call and find out the truth myself.) Flyertalk discussion of this offer is here.

It is possible to redeem your miles. To Chicago or Phoenix.

by Gary Leff on January 19, 2006

Jan 19 2006

I just got an email from United titled United award seats to exciting destinations. The idea is that it’s possible to get awards with United miles, there are seats available, and they’re going to help me think of places I can successfully go with my miles. You’ve earned your miles and we’d like to help you to use them for award travel. So now we have a dedicated page that will be updated every month with destinations where there are ample seats available on United®, United Express® and TedSM. Visit a favorite city, take a break to a sunnier destination or try somewhere new and exotic. Your seats are waiting. So what routes are they highlighting in the e-mail? 1. Chicago (ORD) – Washington, DC (IAD) 2. Denver (DEN) – Las Vegas (LAS) 3. Los…