My Feedly has erupted with blogs announcing the massive devaluation of United Airlines’ premium cabin awards, especially for partner awards. There is a massive thread on FlyerTalk as well. Since different blogs write for different types of travellers (luxury travel, domestic USA, backpacker travel, etc), I am only going to give my view on how this devaluation affects eco-travelers who want to go to the top birding hotspots in the world. So far, I have looked at travel ex-Australia and ex-USA. SInce I am planning a trip to Africa in 2015, I also looked at intra-African awards.
WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED?
United Airlines has arguably the world’s best rates for business & first class travel of all the major carriers. True, US Airways may be cheaper but they are far less flexible. Most miles & points collectors prefer to use them for business & first class awards on some of the world’s top rated airlines such as Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Lufthansa & Swiss.
If you live outside the USA, you may or may not be aware that it is very easy for Americans with good credit scores to get 1000’s of miles from signing up for Chase credit cards to get the huge 40-50,000 miles sign up bonuses. I have done this myself although to a lesser extent. It has also been fairly easy for people resident in the USA to “manufacture spend” by purchasing Vanilla Reloads at CVS drugstores, loading them onto a Bluebird card and using the Bluebird to either withdraw cash at an ATM or pay the credit card online. This has resulted in millions of United Mileage Plus miles floating around and it was inevitable there would be a devaluation. What is really frustrating is that people who can’t manufacture miles (don’t live in the USA or near a CVS) have also been caught up in this devaluation. This is the award chart as it is now.
This is what it will be in 3 months’ time. I must say, at least they had the courtesy to give us 3 months warning! Unlike Club Carlson who devalued their miles redemptions without warning.
THE EFFECT ON POPULAR ECO-TOURISM DESTINATIONS
The good news is that MOST destinations remained the same price if you travel in economy. This blog is geared towards destination orientated travelers not journey orientated travelers so I will assume that my readers would rather travel in economy with the possible exception of long-haul overnight flights when having a flat bed to sleep in can be a big advantage. Honestly, we all know economy sucks but it’s bearable for flights during the day and less than 6 hours. The most popular destinations for birders are Central/South America, Australia, South-East Asia, Central Asia & Africa.
EX-USA
Economy awards remain the same with the following exceptions: Central Asia increases by 5000 miles round trip. South-east Asia increases by 15,000 miles round trip.
Business class awards have gone up across the board with Southern South America taking the smallest hit at 10,000 extra miles round trip. Australia will cost an extra 25,000 miles, Oceania will cost an extra 30,000 miles round trip & all Asian destinations have increased by 40,000 miles round trip.
EX-AUSTRALIA
Economy awards remain the same except for Oceania & Central Asia which increases by 10,000 round trip.
South-east Asia appears to be going DOWN by 25,000 miles which is surprisingly good news!
Business class (round trips) have gone up by 25,000 to USA, 40,000 to Central America,Northern South America, 25,000 to Southern South America, 30,000 to Central Asia & 20,000 to Africa.
South-east Asia has gone DOWN by 30,000 miles round trip!
EFFECT ON MY TRAVEL PLANS
I am planning to use my United miles to go to Africa in 2015. My 2014 travel plans have been allocated to US Airways and all but one trip are booked. I can’t bring this trip forward as I won’t have the cash to pay for the safaris and everything else that can’t be paid for with miles & points until I have been saving for a couple years. Since I plan to use Ethiopian and they have been stingy with business class awards, I was already budgeting for economy awards which have not changed. There is one flight between Mauritius & Port Elizabeth via Johannesburg which has gone up by 5000 for the one-way in economy or 10,000 in business. Test-runs show that this route is difficult to get in economy so we may have to redeem business which won’t be all bad since it is South African Airways.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
First, don’t panic! If you were planning to use your miles for an economy ticket, in most cases you won’t be affected. If you were planning to book business class (if you want FIRST class you are probably in the wrong blog), make sure you book your 2014 travel before the increases on 1 Feb, 2014. With the 331 booking window, this will cover travel up to the end of 2014.
If you are an Australian wishing to travel to South-east Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia) which has excellent birding, then WAIT until after 1 Feb 2014 to book your trip.
If you are a Chase customer, keep your miles in Ultimate Rewards as long as possible to retain flexibility. Avios are also an option and may work out to be a better deal so compare both before you transfer your miles.
ECONOMY TRAVELERS AREN’T TOTALLY IN THE CLEAR
Yes it is true, very few economy awards have increased in price. This also means that people who would have booked business class but can’t afford it now will downgrade to economy. It will be harder to find availability as more people will be trying for these tickets so book as soon as you know your plans are solid.
