Huge devaluation of the United MileagePlus program - what does it mean for Canadian MileagePlus members?

So we took Friday off from the world of travel rewards and of course as Murphy's Law would have it that some really big news happened. Also as Murphy's Law would have it, the news isn't good. United Airlines' MileagePlus program has announced changes to their flight award charts, primarily for flights on their partners. This really hits home to a lot of Canadian frequent flyers as this has been the program of choice that many disgruntled Aeroplan members have moved to. Why did they move to United MileagePlus? Well before this announcement the program was actually one of the best for redemptions (one way awards were always half the cost of round trip, which Aeroplan is bringing in 2014), they didn't pass along fuel surcharges so the taxes and fees on award tickets were way less than Aeroplan and the elite status program of MileagePlus, called Premier is also very attractive. Also since United and Air Canada are Star Alliance partners many Canadian's chose MileagePlus after leaving Aeroplan since you could earn and redeem MileagePlus miles for Air Canada flights, both domestic and international. Of course, now many of those award ticket redemptions on Air Canada will cost you more MileagePlus miles.

So what are the details of the changes? First off, the new award ticket mileage requirements go into effect on February 1st, 2014 which gives you until January 31 to book at the old rates. As of February 1st United MileagePlus will essentially have two award charts, one for flying on United (and United Express etc) and one for their partners. The increases for flights on United are not out of the world and honestly could have been expected as certain award ticket levels now match those of United's main competitors. The biggest changes in the partner awards come in International Business Class and First Class redemptions. United is definitely looking at lowering the amount people redeeming their easily obtained miles for these expensive type of flights and recouping their costs for those who do (so United says). One must also see that United has reduced the miles required for several redemptions but that hardly makes up for the high percentage increaese for others (over 80% in some cases!).

Here are some key examples of changes that will affect Canadian MileagePlus members the most:
If you want to do your own comparison here are links to the MileagePlus award charts:
2013 Award Chart (valid until Jan 31)
2014 Award Chart (effective Feb 1)

Redemptions on United
Canada - Hawaii
Economy Class
Saver Award
Old 20,000 Miles one way
New 22,500 Miles one way

Canada - Europe
Economy Class
Standard Award
Old 55,000 Miles one way
New 65,000 Miles one way

Business Class
Saver Award
Old 50,000 Miles one way
New 57,500 Miles one way
Standard Award
Old 125,000 Miles one way
New 150,000 Miles one way

First Class
Saver Award
Old 67,500 Miles one way
New 80,000 Miles one way
Standard Award
Old 157,700 Miles one way
New 170,000 Miles one way

There are also slight increases in flight awards to Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Australia/New Zealand.

Redemptions on Partner Airlines (ie Air Canada, Lufthansa, Thai Airways etc)
Canada - Southern South America
Business Class
Old 50,000 Miles one way
New 55,000 Miles one way

First Class
Old 67,500 Miles one way
New 70,000 Miles one way

Canada - Europe
Business Class
Old 50,000 Miles one way
New 70,000 Miles one way

First Class
Old 67,500 Miles one way
New 110,000 Miles one way

Canada - Africa
Business Class
Old 60,000 Miles one way
New 80,000 Miles one way

First Class
Old 75,000 Miles one way
New 130,000 Miles one way

Canada - Middle East
Economy Class
Old 40,000 Miles one way
New 42,500 Miles one way

Business Class
Old 60,000 Miles one way
New 80,000 Miles one way

First Class
Old 75,000 Miles one way
New 140,000 Miles one way

Canada - Central Asia (incl India)
Economy Class
Old 40,000 Miles one way
New 42,500 Miles one way

Business Class
Old 60,000 Miles one way
New 80,000 Miles one way

First Class
Old 80,000 Miles one way
New 140,000 Miles one way

Canada - South Asia
Economy Class
Old 32,500 Miles one way
New 40,000 Miles one way

Business Class
Old 60,000 Miles one way
New 80,000 Miles one way

First Class
Old 70,000 Miles one way
New 130,000 Miles one way

Canada - North Asia
Economy Class
Old 32,500 Miles one way
New 35,000 Miles one way

Business Class
Old 60,000 Miles one way
New 80,000 Miles one way

First Class
Old 70,000 Miles one way
New 120,000 Miles one way

Canada - Japan
Economy Class
Old 32,500 Miles one way
New 35,000 Miles one way

Business Class
Old 60,000 Miles one way
New 75,000 Miles one way

First Class
Old 67,500 Miles one way
New 110,000 Miles one way

Canada - Oceania
Business Class
Old 60,000 Miles one way
New 75,000 Miles one way

First Class
Old 75,000 Miles one way
New 110,000 Miles one way

Canada - Australia/New Zealand
Business Class
Old 67,500 Miles one way
New 80,000 Miles one way

First Class
Old 80,000 Miles one way
New 130,000 Miles one way

All we can say is ouch!! Those long haul award flights on UA's Star Alliance partners in business class and first class have sure taken a huge hit. One topic that I have not seen discussed on other frequent flyer blogs is the idea of fuel surcharges? Is it possible that United MileagePlus wants to keep its reputation of not charging fuel surcharges on partner flights simply by embedding that surcharge in this increase in miles? The reply from MileagePlus doesn't state this directly but does say that the increased cost of these flights from their partners is the main reason that the award amounts are increasing so theoretically it could mean that UA is now charging a fuel surcharge that is simply buried in the award amount. We doubt we'll ever know the true answer however!

What happens if you book a mixed airline award (one leg United, next leg Air Canada or other partner). Well it appears it will book at the higher of the two award amounts (United vs. Star Alliance award chart) if the flights are in the same class.  For example if you want to fly to Paris from Toronto via the U.S. in Business Class and leg 1 is on Air Canada (Toronto-Chicago etc) and then leg 2 is on United (Chicago etc to Paris) and you choose the fly that first leg on Air Canada in Business Class (well AC Executive) then you will pay the Star Alliance amount of 70,000 miles one way however if you book the Air Canada leg into Economy class and then fly the Transatlantic leg on UA in Business Class you'll pay the award rate of the United chart of 57,500 miles. So some creative thinking may have to go into planning mixed airline award booking with MileagePlus.

The devaluations don't stop with award tickets as there are some minor changes to Mileage Upgrades for Intra-Asia and Northern South America flights. These shouldn't affect many of Canada's MileagePlus members but should be worth noting.

Looking quickly at the new 2014 Aeroplan chart versus the 2014 MileagePlus chart, Aeroplan looks to be the better deal for flights in Business Class or First Class on Star Alliance partners other than United as you will need less miles. For example, business class on Air Canada to Europe with Aeroplan is 90 to 105,000 Miles + Fuel Surcharge and United will be 140,000 Miles with no fuel surcharge. Depending on how you earn miles you may be better off with Aeroplan with the fuel surcharge. First class to Asia? 210,000-215,000 miles with Aeroplan, 240,000-260,000 with MileagePlus. Of course the best way around this is to redeem MileagePlus miles for flights on United only but for some destinations and flights out of Canada that can be tough. We will have a follow up post with a deeper comparison of Aeroplan 2014 versus United Partner Chart 2014 to look at mileage requirement amounts and fuel surcharges.

The next question to be asked is which airlines will follow suit? Delta has already gone through a major change, American and US Airways are most likely waiting until their merger is approved or not and hopefully, crossing our fingers here, Aeroplan doesn't follow suit given that they have already announced an increase for next year in certain award ticket categories! Also holding our breath that Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan doesn't jump on this bandwagon as now with UA changes, the small Pacific Northwest program got even stronger.

Finally, if you have lots of MileagePlus miles that you have been holding onto for that premium class award ticket now is to the time redeem or to at least start planning on redeeming them before January 31st, 2014!

What are your thoughts on the changes? Are you going to stick with MileagePlus or will you perhaps give Aeroplan or another Star Alliance program a look? We'd love to hear from you, comment below!