United Airlines recently added the feature for Mileage Plus members to purchase an additional 1,000 miles on upcoming roundtrip flights for a fee of $20. So, in addition to the miles you earn with your flight, they are letting you tack on a few extras. Registration in advance of your flight is required.
Terms and Conditions
As you are a valued United® Mileage Plus member, we are pleased to offer you a special opportunity: Receive an extra 1,000 bonus miles on your next United roundtrip for just $20. Simply register and pay $20, and your account will be credited with 1,000 bonus miles after your next paid, qualifying flight on United, United Express® or TedSM.
Registration is required prior to travel for each qualifying roundtrip completed before December 31, 2008. There is no limit to the number of bonuses you can earn, though only one bonus can be applied per roundtrip. The registration fee is $20 per bonus.
Members must register for this offer at united.com/addmiles between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2008. Valid credit card will be billed immediately for the registration fee. Registration fees are non-refundable and are subject to change. Prices are quoted in USD and include applicable federal excise tax. Roundtrip is required. A roundtrip is defined as travel from an origin city to a destination city with return travel beginning in the outbound destination city back to the first origin city with all segments on United, United Express or Ted. Open jaw and circle trips do not qualify. Valid only on paid, qualifying roundtrips completed between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2008. Members will earn 1,000 bonus miles on the first qualifying roundtrip originating and completed after offer registration. Valid only on flights operated by United, United Express or Ted and not on United-marketed code share flights operated by other carriers. Offer is combinable with other bonus mile offers. This bonus may be earned a maximum of one time per qualifying roundtrip. Members may register to earn this bonus an unlimited number of times for qualifying roundtrips completed by December 31, 2008. The registration fee is $20 per bonus. Must be a Mileage Plus member to participate in this offer. Miles for the completed qualifying flight must be posted to the Mileage Plus account in order to qualify for this bonus. Allow 1-2 weeks after your flight posts to your account for the bonus miles to be applied. Bonus miles do not count toward elite qualification. All standard Mileage Plus rules and conditions apply. Miles accrued, awards issued and bonus offers are subject to the rules of the United Mileage Plus program. The Mileage Plus program, including accruals, awards and bonus miles offers, is subject to change without notice. Offer subject to change without notice. Other restrictions may apply. United and Mileage Plus are registered service marks. For complete details about the Mileage Plus program, visit www.united.com (MPD038)
This seems like a reasonable cost for miles ($0.02/mile) which is about market value of a mile. However, the miles do NOT count toward Elite Qualification.
This might also be viewed as a way for the airlines to capture more revenue from the consumer while further de-valuing the miles you accrue through actual flights.
This is good news. It’s better than Continental and United merging. It means your points can be used to get to more places (with the potential for less layovers) and you have access to more airport lounges all without the consolidation of flight segments that usually happen with a merger. It’s an unexpected gem amid all the cost cutting and ala carte pricing we’ve been pummeled with in the past 6 months.
If you fly either airline you will enjoy the flexibility of the many more airports available to you since every Continental hub can be considered a United hub and vice versa – assuming it gains regulatory approval.
The email follows in all its entirety. Have an excellent weekend!
Dear Mr. point man,
As a valued Mileage Plus member, we wanted you to be among the first to hear that Continental and United today announced plans to cooperate globally, linking our networks and services worldwide to deliver new benefits to you. In addition, Continental plans to join United in the Star Alliance®, the most comprehensive airline alliance in the world.
Once implemented, this new partnership, will easily enable you to take advantage of the resources of both airlines to enhance your overall travel experience, and receive more value from your Mileage Plus membership.First and foremost, this partnership will include new frequent flier reciprocity that will enable you to earn miles when flying on either airline and redeem awards on both carriers. Travel on either carrier will count toward earning elite status. Similarly, members of either airline’s airport lounge program will have access to both Continental’s Presidents Club network and United’s Red Carpet Club® lounges.
Second, together with Continental, we will be able to offer you a more comprehensive domestic route network and together with our Star Alliance partners, greater choice of service throughout the entire world.
Starting in the U.S., you are going to see United and Continental develop extensive code-sharing that will facilitate travel whenever your itinerary involves both carriers. We will be able to provide you with a coordinated process for reservations/ticketing, check-in, flight connections and baggage transfer.Internationally, Continental and United will establish joint ventures that will allow us to cooperate with each other and with other Star Alliance airlines throughout the world. These joint ventures will enable us to provide you with highly competitive flight schedules, fares and service to more destinations than we do today.
In short, once regulatory approval is obtained, this new partnership between United and Continental will expand your choice of flights and destinations, and improve your ability to earn both miles and elite status in Mileage Plus. Together we will offer you more value whenever you fly. We expect to bring you the benefits of our cooperation starting some time in 2009, and until then, we will keep you informed about our progress.
We appreciate you and your business, and we look forward to seeing you on your next flight.
Sincerely,
Robert Sahadevan
Vice President – Mileage Plus
It seems that United, as of July 1st, will be going the way of its competitors in eliminating the 500-mile minimum for Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM) on its flights and moving toward earnings based on actual miles flown. Complete details here.
This may impact those folks who fly short routes serviced by UA such as DC - NY and Chicago to…well..to anywhere under 500 miles!
Mileage Accrual Details
To ensure that Mileage Plus miles earned toward elite status and award travel on United are aligned with actual miles flown, we are revising our base accrual policy. Beginning July 1, 2008, for flights of less than 500 miles, passengers will earn redeemable miles equal to the actual miles flown. Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM) will also be awarded based on actual miles. Elite Qualifying Segments (EQS) are not affected.
This new mileage accrual structure will apply to travel on or after July 1, 2008, regardless of when the travel was ticketed. Flights of less than 500 miles flown on or before June 30, 2008, will accrue Mileage Plus miles under the previous policy of a minimum mileage accrual per individual segment flown.
Look for these and other changes to make it more difficult to 1) achieve status and 2) accrue miles.
Check with your current airlines - my bet is they are offering a similar program to their frequent flyers. "Qualifying" means these miles help you earn status which may not amount to much these days but it does mean you’ll be one of the first to board over the recreational travelers and possibly beat them out of a seat when going standby.
Click here to register.
Offer Details:
Registration is required by June 15, 2008. Only travel completed on or after date of registration is eligible for this offer.
Travel period: April 21, 2008 through June 15, 2008
Earn double Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM) on United, United Express and Ted flights (two times the actual base flight miles)
This offer does not apply to class of service bonus miles or EQM, elite bonus miles, redeemable bonus miles, promotional EQM or Elite Qualifying Segments
Elite Qualifying Miles are not redeemable for flights but do count toward Premier®, Premier Executive® and 1K® status
Baby steps. That’s the best we can hope for.
United Airlines recently raised the fee imposed for a ticket change from $100 to $150. This is not good news for frequent flyers who end up changing flights quite often based on a dynamic schedule. United is only digging themselves deeper in a hole - short gains for long term pain. The majority of airlines out there play the”captive audience” game - they figure you have no choice but to fly with them because of your destination. They are missing the bigger picture - with frequent flyer points being de-valued everyday, the only reason you would stick with an airline, is so you can board first. That’s a sad state of affairs for airlines.
I’ve switched to Southwest and their customer service and operational efficiency is bar-none, the best in the industry. I am off the plane a minute after it reaches the gate. They almost always depart and arrive on time. They are that good.
Some of you won’t have that option based on the airports available to your travel schedule, but for those of you who have Southwest as an option, I implore you to look into it. For the business travelers who’ve tried it, there’s no turning back.
Reuters News Feed:
NEW YORK (Reuters) — United Airlines said Sunday it was hiking the fee it charges passengers to change tickets from $100 to $150 in an effort to combat high fuel costs.
A spokeswoman for the airline said in an e-mailed statement that the company this weekend made the change to its ticketing policy.
It also added a Saturday night stay requirement on all tickets where it competes head-to-head with other legacy carriers, which she said will affect 65% of all the markets it serves. That will have the most impact on business travelers, who typically don’t want to spend a Saturday night in their destination.
U.S. airlines have announced a number of fare hikes, fuel surcharges and fee increases recently as they battle higher fuel prices and a weakening economy.
United parent UAL said on April 10 it has raised fares in the United States and Canada by up to $30 round-trip. United has raised fares by $4 to $30 per round-trip depending on mileage and competition from low-cost carriers.
Unfortunately, it will only get worse as airlines look for additional ways to cut costs or pass those costs onto the customer.
Continental: Responds to Delta & Northwest Merger
More merger news, this time directly from Continental. Interestingly, they started their own website to provide their perspective on the current airline industry consolidation.
Statement from Continental’s website:
As we’ve said repeatedly for more than a year and a half, our preference has been to remain independent as long as the competitive landscape remained the same. However, the landscape is changing. We will review our strategic alternatives and make sure we remain a strong long-term competitor. As always, our goal is to do what is best for our co-workers, shareholders, customers and communities we serve.
Translation: We will be consolidating in the near future.
The Wall Street Journal has an article on what airline consolidation means for fliers such as yourself. The title, “What’s in a Merger? For Fliers, Not Much” may be enough of a summary, but feel free to check out the article for the details. I’ve included a few choice quotes for additional context.
A few choice quotes from the WSJ article:
The history of airline combinations shows that travelers face a couple of years of more frequent missed connections, vanished reservations and lost baggage, flight delays and unhappy employees. Equally daunting for the companies themselves, many airlines have ended up losing the assets they bought.
Hubs and routes that were able to generate profits before the merger typically survive, and air service that struggled to make money before a merger often disappears after a merger.
New contracts for employees can push costs higher. Different types of airplanes drive expenses up by requiring more spare parts, more training for pilots and mechanics, and refitting of cabins and cockpits, for example.
…airlines already share passengers and, in the case of alliance partners, already price and sell their product as if they were the same airline. That’s true in the case of Delta and Northwest; they’ve already merged their flight schedules as SkyTeam partners. Generating new revenue may be tough.
At the same time, history has shown that competitors can take away customers of the merged airlines when their flights run late or labor groups stage protests. Another pitfall: Losing alliance partners. Continental Airlines Inc. is currently partnered with Delta and Northwest, but could well enter into its own merger feeling the need to get bigger. That could result in the Delta-Northwest combination losing substantial presence in New York and Houston, two of the four biggest cities in the country.
Doesn’t look great for the frequent flyer, but with oil prices chasing $100 dollars a barrel and the current economic situation - what choice do they have?
From a co-worker: According to a United pilot, an in-place contract between Continental and either Northwest or Delta is no longer valid due to the announced Delta / Northwest merger. This opens the door for a merger between United and Continental.
Mergers reduce competition and choices for the customer. In most cases, this will result in higher prices. On the bright side, depending on your location, it could mean more choices to fly and more flexibility of your (constantly de-valued) frequent flyer points.
Let the courting process begin.
A reader recently sent me an email asking what he could do to fulfill the requirement for 1K status on United. He was just 5k away and looking for ideas before it was too late.
If you’re relatively close to the next status level, there are a few things you can try.
5 Tips for Making Status
- Call the Premier/Premier Executive 1-800 phone number and explain your situation (maybe you’ll get someone sympathetic)
- Re-route an existing flight through a United hub airport (to keep the price low) for additional mileage
- Check out the United promotions page for segments which qualify for double mileage points and book accordingly
- Sign up for a airline-sponsored credit card for bonus mileage points or convert credit card points to miles (e.g. 10k Chase card points for 1000 EQM)
- Read this Flyertalk message thread for other options
Don’t wait until the last minute to find out you were 100 miles away from the next status level.
UPDATE: It appears the promotion code may only be valid for the specific email recipient!
I’m not entirely sure why United is asking for this information, but I assume it’s to determine what the competition looks like.
The bottom line is you receive 2000 bonus qualifying miles for every frequent flyer statement you fax to United. Although these bonus miles are not redeemable for air travel, they count towards elite status. That’s pretty cool if you’re willing to overlook why they want this information (I can only guess…)
Here’s the lowdown:
Please note that although EQMs are not redeemable for air travel, they do count toward 2008 elite status. Register today and you’ll be that much closer to enjoying all the benefits and exclusive privileges of elevated elite status in 2008. Hurry — this special offer ends July 31, 2007.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Simply register before July 31, 2007, by entering promo code DT0OMKUU.
- Print the personalized fax cover sheet.
- Fax it to United’s toll-free number, along with any recent statement(s) showing flight activity in another airline’s program* dated between December 2006 and July 2007.
- Earn 2,000 EQMs per statement. You may submit up to three statements from three different eligible airlines and earn a total of up to 6,000 EQMs
Check it out because, hey, free qualifying miles!
United recently made a change to their policies regarding the expiring 500-mile upgrades. Normally, they are converted into miles if you do nothing and they expired. Now you will just lose the expired 500-mile upgrades after June 1st 2007…unless you register here!
The major catch is this offer is limited to Mileage Plus members who hold Global Services, 1K or Premier Executive status or reside outside of the 50 United States at the time of registration.
Here’s the lowdown:
500-mile E-Upgrades expiring on or after June 1, 2007, will not be converted to miles The purpose of the 500-Mile Upgrade program was, and continues to be, to allow you to upgrade on a given flight, however we know many of our customers converted 500-mile e-upgrades to miles.
In response to customers’ feedback on the change to the 500-Mile Upgrade Program effective June 1, 2007, we are offering our current Global Services, 1K, Premier Executive and international customers a one-time only registration process. This will allow you to continue the conversion of unused 500-mile e-upgrades to miles upon scheduled expiration.
Registration is required to take advantage of this limited-time offer. You will need to register by August 15, 2007.
Once registered, your 500–mile e-upgrades will continue to be auto-converted upon expiration as long as you maintain Premier Executive, 1K or Global Services status or reside outside the 50 United States.
Please note: 500-mile e-upgrades will not be converted to miles prior to their scheduled expiration date.
Do it or lose it.