Flying for United miles has become more expensive: what has changed and what to prepare for

If you sometimes fly for miles of airline loyalty programs, you have probably noticed that from year to year their conditions worsen: tickets become more expensive and there are fewer of them. At the same time, there are more and more people getting free tickets for miles, and banks with airlines react to this.

Фото: Depositphotos

One of the high-profile news of the year in this regard was the recent entry into force of changes to the United milestone program. What happened and what should travelers expect?

What happened:

C 15 November 2019 year United Carrier abandons fixed pricing for miles for flights within the United Statesby tying them to the price of regular tickets “for money”.

If earlier the airline followed the price table and the intra-American ticket costed, for example, 12 500 miles for a one-way flight in economy class, now depending on demand it can become significantly more expensive and significantly cheaper.

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So far, the changes have not affected the popular flights on flights of United partners, but this can happen at any time, and then the benefits of flights will drop significantly.

Why the sweet United program is interesting for immigrants from post-Soviet countries

Against the backdrop of the offers of its largest competitors, United offers the most stable and affordable prices in miles for tickets across the ocean to Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and other CIS countries (on average 30 000 miles one way in economy).

Although the airline does not fly directly to these countries, it is part of the Star Alliance group, which unites popular carriers in the region such as Lufthansa, LOT, Austrian, and Turkish. Another big plus of United is its low taxes and fees (usually no more than $50-$100 for a one-way economy ticket).

The convenient online booking system United allows you to immediately see the favorable dates for flights, and the Chase-United credit card opens up additional profitable places when buying tickets for miles.

What to expect next and how to be

If you have many United miles in your account, consider using them soon. The company reserves the right to completely change fares at any time and expressly indicates that the current prices for international flights, which are shown calculator, - “minimum possible”. So far, however, no such changes have been announced.

Good and “good” news

United tried to sweeten the bitter for many travelers refusal of fixed prices in miles by canceling surcharges (up to $ 75) for booking tickets with departure on the next 21 day, the so-called “close-in fee”.

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However, on November 15 it turned out that it was too early to rejoice: the surcharge was not canceled, but only slightly reduced and is now levied in miles (from 1 500 to 3 500 miles per one-way flight). In addition, miles surcharges are now levied regardless of the status of the passenger and, it seems, for any flights in the next 30 days. Please note that for a round-trip ticket, the surcharge will be charged twice, even if the return flight occurs later than 30 days from the time of booking. In these cases, it is more profitable to buy individual round-trip tickets.

Fortunately, United's nice feature has remained unchanged when buying tickets for miles - free “Excursionist perk”) It allows you to add for free a flight within any region where you are heading, and then return from there to your original airport.

Let's say the flight New York - London - New York still costs 60 000 miles (round trip, economy). And thanks to the Excursionist feature, you can add a free flight, for example, from London to Brussels (or Paris, or Madrid): that is, a New York - London - Brussels - New York ticket will cost you all the same 60 000 miles.

What kind of miles are they and how to get them

Miles are the virtual currency of loyalty programs of many airlines, banks, hotel chains and other organizations. Miles and points can often buy airline tickets for free or almost free, saving you hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

To fly or accumulate miles to cover the cost of long-haul flights, you need tens of flights or tens of thousands of dollars spent on linked credit cards. Faster and more efficient than all miles can be collected thanks to bonuses for opening credit cards: for each give tens of thousands of miles, which are usually enough for several flights in the USA or one round-trip ticket across the ocean. To collect United miles, first of all open Chase bank cards, for example, the series United Explorer or Sapphire Preferred / Sapphire Reserve.

The column was prepared by Nikolai Poputny, author of the project “Fly for nothing«.

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