While all eyes were on the election results, maybe United Airlines is hoping we wouldn’t notice the latest changes to their frequent flier Mileage Plus program. It thought wrong.
In a letter sent to some of its customers, United Airlines has announced a little good news for their elite members, a reward of “highly competitive benefits.”
This means that to compete with airlines like American, United will restore the 500-mile minimum accrual for elite members – Mileage Plus Premier and above. The change will even be applied retroactively to flights since July 1.
(The annoying part of that one, however, is that many Mileage Plus members looking to requalify for their status have already booked nonrefundable tickets to achieve their desired level for 2008.).
But wait, there’s more.
United will also be “responding to increased demand for United’s new international first and business-class cabins.”
As most frequent travelers know, of course, responding to increased anything is seldom good news for consumers.
In short, mileage levels are going up for most international awards, in some cases significantly, and United will institute a co-pay for most upgrades.
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. Upgrade awards from Business to First will not require a co-pay.
The only good news? Beginning July 1, 2009, all paid international economy-class tickets can be upgraded with miles and a co-pay. The question of course, will the co-pay more than negate any savings from the lower fare?
The award level changes will take effect January 1, 2009, but with the co-pay changes taking effect July 1, this will leave United plenty of time to tweak the plan according to customer response.
One thing is certain. There may be more and more ways to earn frequent flier miles, but those miles will be less and less valuable when the time comes to redeem them.
