Today, United announced its 2017 MileagePlus mileage devaluation plan again. Last year, United removed the one-time free stopover on award tickets and replaced it with the very inconvenient Excursion Perk. This year’s changes are relatively simple and direct—just two words: price increases. Fortunately, the increase is limited to Business and First Class, and the increase is not particularly large. There are also a few other minor changes to awards.
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Award Price Increases
This award increase starts on November 1, 2017. If you still want to grab the cheaper award space, you just need to issue by October 31 at the latest. So you have about six months to adjust.
Award travelers care most about Saver-level awards, because the Standard level is generally about twice Saver. For the most closely watched transpacific awards, only United-operated First Class increased slightly, from 80,000mi to 90,000mi. Business Class and Star Alliance First Class pricing stayed unchanged. However, Business and First Class rates from the U.S. to Japan both rose slightly. You can see the details in the table below. Mileage for domestic China routes did not go up at all and even dropped slightly, which is explained in the next section.
| From U.S., Destination | Business (UA) | Business (Partner) | First (UA) | First (Partner) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mainland U.S. or Canada | 25,000 | 25,000 | 35,000 | 35,000 |
| Alaska | 30,000 | 30,000 | 40,000 | 40,000 |
| Hawaii | 40,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 |
| Asia (North) | 70,000 | 80,000 | 80,000=>90,000 | 120,000 |
| Japan | 65,000=>70,000 | 75,000=>80,000 | 80,000=>90,000 | 110,000 |
| Europe | 57,500=>60,000 | 70,000 | 80,000 | 110,000 |
| Mexico, Central America, Caribbean | 30,000 | 30,000 | 40,000 | 40,000 |
| South America (North) | 35,000 | 35,000 | 45,000 | 45,000 |
| South America (South) | 55,000=>60,000 | 55,000=>60,000 | 70,000=>80,000 | 70,000=>80,000 |
| Africa (North) | 70,000 | 80,000 | 85,000 | 130,000 |
| Africa (Middle/South) | 70,000 | 80,000 | 85,000=>90,000 | 130,000 |
| Middle East | 70,000=>75,000 | 80,000=>85,000 | 90,000 | 140,000 |
| Asia (Central) | 70,000=>75,000 | 80,000=>85,000 | 90,000 | 140,000 |
| Asia (South) | 70,000=>75,000 | 80,000=>90,000 | 80,000=>95,000 | 130,000=>140,000 |
| Oceania | 65,000=>70,000 | 75,000=>80,000 | 80,000=>90,000 | 110,000 |
| Australia/New Zealand | 70,000=>80,000 | 80,000=>90,000 | 80,000=>100,000 | 130,000 |
Premium Transcontinental Service (formerly p.s.) is the rebranded version of United’s former p.s. It includes Newark (EWR) to San Francisco (SFO) and Los Angeles (LAX), plus United’s major-hub flights to Hawaii. These flights offer lie-flat Business and First products, so the mileage price is a little higher. If both your origin and destination are outside the U.S., you can also check this file for the required miles for awards from November onward.
8,000mi Short-Haul Awards
For most regions outside the U.S., if your one-way nonstop trip is within 800 miles and does not cross zones, you can book an award for 8,000 MileagePlus miles. This applies to domestic China routes, China, and Korea. It does not apply to Japan, because Asia (North) and Japan are not in the same zone. So domestic China awards may drop to 8,000 miles.
Standard Awards Changed to Everyday Award
As usual, whenever airlines launch something “new,” it’s often a pretext for higher prices and less service. This one is no exception. United has changed its own flights (including United and United Express) from Standard Award to Everyday Award.
What does this mean? It means award pricing will shift to dynamic pricing like Delta’s, with fares changing based on demand. But each route has a mileage cap, and dynamic pricing will not exceed that cap.
Still, since most people do not book Everyday Awards anyway (because the mileage requirement is much higher), we will not go into much detail.
No-Show Policy Changes
Before, even if you no longer wanted to take a confirmed award ticket, and even if you missed your check-in at the airport, you could still change or cancel it after departure by paying the applicable fee (1,000; Global Services members were exempt). Starting with tickets issued after November 1, 2017, a fixed $125 no-show fee will be charged for award tickets, and elite status does not provide an exemption.
We expect the impact of this change to be limited—just remember to call and cancel the segment before departure.
Overall, the scale of this devaluation is not that large, and United still gives members about four months to absorb the impact. If you need to book awards whose pricing will be affected, we recommend booking early.