As The DOT Investigates Mileage Programs, United Makes Mostly Positive Award Chart Changes

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United miles have been on a steady decline since 2013. That decline has accelerated in recent years as the airline copied Delta in removing their award charts from public view and devaluing miles without warning time and time again.

Earlier this month, the DOT launched an investigation into mileage programs devaluations, and hidden pricing. Frankly, they can just browse through the DansDeals archives for much of the information that they seek. It sounds more like political grandstanding and I don’t expect much, if anything, to come of that investigation. Sadly, the airlines that ditched award charts aren’t going to go back to the days of publishing them.

But maybe airlines will think twice about implementing a major devaluation while the investigation is ongoing?

United most recently devalued their miles in May.

The latest chart shakeup is interesting. Short-haul flights on Air Canada under 1,500 miles in distance between the origin and destination become slightly cheaper in coach, dropping from 20K miles to 17.5K miles. Business goes up from 33K to 45K miles. Longer haul Air Canada flights climb from 20K to 22.5K, while business skyrockets from 33K to 65K miles.

However, more interesting is that United has removed the partner airline surcharge in coach and business class for award travel outside of the US and Canada, if you are a United cardholder. That makes partner saver award flights generally cost the same as United saver award flights, something that hasn’t been the case for several years. There are occasional discounts on United flights, but the partner price now equals the typical United price.

In general, you can save miles by booking awards with Star Alliance programs like Air Canada Aeroplan or Avianca Lifemiles, but what’s nice about booking with United is that there are no cancellation or change fees. Plus, if you book partner award flights with United miles and there is a schedule change, you can get rebooked onto a United flight.

Here is the updated United hidden award chart, the previous one can be found here.

Getting into the weeds here, but there are now a lot of fare class subsets in United saver award pricing!

Off the top of my head, those include:

1. X class saver United economy awards that are made available to partner airlines.
2. X class expanded saver United economy awards that are not made available to partner airlines and can only be booked with United miles.
3. X class saver United partner economy awards that are priced 10% higher than United awards.
4. X class saver United partner economy awards that are priced the same as United awards for United cardholders.
5. XN class expanded saver United economy awards that are only available to United cardholders or elites with United miles.
6. XN class expanded saver United economy awards that are 10% off for United Club cardholders on domestic flights with United miles.
7. I class saver United business awards that are made available to partner airlines.
8. I class expanded saver United business awards that are not made available to partner airlines and can only be booked with United miles.
9. I class saver United partner business awards that are priced 10% higher than United awards.
10. I class saver United partner business awards that are priced the same as United awards for United cardholders.
11. IN class expanded saver United business awards that are only bookable by United Platinum or higher elite members with United miles.
12. O class saver United partner first class awards.

• United Gateway℠ Card has a 20K signup bonus for spending $1K in 3 months, earns 2 miles per dollar on United purchases, gas stations, transit and commuting, including ride share services, taxicabs, train tickets, tolls, and mass transit, 25% rebate on inflight WiFi, food, and drink purchases, expanded award availability, and more. No annual fee. Read more here.
• United℠ Explorer Card has 50K signup bonus for spending $3K in 3 months, earns 2 miles per dollar on hotels and dining as well as on United purchases, 25% rebate on inflight WiFi, food, and drink purchases, expanded award availability, free checked bag worldwide, free carry-on bag, priority boarding, 2 annual United Club passes, up to 1K PQPs, Global Entry/PreCheck/NEXUS, and more. $0 intro annual fee, then $95. You can currently redeem 6,600 United miles to pay for the card’s annual fee thanks to a value of 1.5 cents per mile towards refunding the annual fee! Read more here.
• United Quest℠ Card has a 60K miles+500 PQP signup bonus for spending $4K in 3 months, earns 3 miles per dollar on United purchases and 2 miles per dollar on travel, dining, and streaming, 25% rebate on inflight WiFi, food, and drink purchases, expanded award availability, 2 free checked bags worldwide, free carry-on bag, priority boarding, $125 rebate on United tickets annually, up to 10K miles rebate, up to 6K PQPs, Global Entry/PreCheck/NEXUS, and more. $250 annual fee. You can currently redeem 15,625 United miles to pay for the card’s annual fee thanks to a value of 1.6 cents per mile towards refunding this card's annual fee! Read more here.
• United Club℠ Infinite Card has a 80K signup bonus for spending $5K in 3 months, earns 4 miles per dollar on United purchases and 2 miles per dollar on travel and dining, United Club membership, 10% off domestic coach saver awards, IHG Platinum status, 25% rebate on inflight WiFi, food, and drink purchases, expanded award availability, 2 free checked bags worldwide, free carry-on bag, priority boarding, up to 8K PQPs, Global Entry/PreCheck/NEXUS, and more. $250 annual fee. You can currently redeem 30,000 United miles to pay for the card’s annual fee thanks to a value of 1.75 cents per mile towards refunding this card's annual fee! Read more here.
• United℠ Business Card has a 75K signup bonus for spending $5K in 3 months, earns 2 miles per dollar on United, restaurants, gas stations, office supply stores, local transit, taxis, tolls, mass transit, and ride share services, 5,000 bonus miles every card anniversary if you have this United business card and any United consumer card, $100 annual statement credit if you make 7 United purchases of $100 or more on the card, 25% rebate on inflight WiFi, food, and drink purchases, expanded award availability, free checked bag worldwide, free carry-on bag, priority boarding, 2 annual United Club passes, up to 1K PQPs,  $0 intro annual fee, then $99. You can currently redeem 6,600 United miles to pay for the card’s annual fee thanks to a value of 1.5 cents per mile towards refunding the annual fee! Read more here.
• Chase United Business Club Card (Click on apply now to reach this card application) has a 50K miles+1,000 PQPs signup bonus for spending $5K in 3 months, United Club membership, earns 2 miles per dollar on United and 1.5 miles per dollar on all other purchases, 25% rebate on inflight WiFi, food, and drink purchases, expanded award availability, 2 free checked bags worldwide, free carry-on bag, priority boarding, 2 annual United Club passes, up to 1K PQPs, $450 annual fee. You can currently redeem 25,714 United miles to pay for the card’s annual fee thanks to a value of 1.75 cents per mile towards refunding the annual fee! Read more here.

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a 60K signup bonus for spending $4K in 3 months, earns 2.1 points per dollar on travel after the card's 10% anniversary bonus, 3.1 points per dollar on dining, streaming, and online groceries after the card's 10% anniversary bonus, has a $50 hotel credit, can transfer all Chase points into miles, and points are worth at least 1.25 cents each for paid travel ($95 annual fee). Read more here.
• Chase Sapphire Reserve® has a 60K signup bonus for spending $4K in 3 months, earns 3 points per dollar on dining/travel, has a $300 travel credit, can transfer all Chase points into miles, and points are worth at least 1.5 cents each for paid travel ($550 annual fee with $300 travel credit). Read more here.
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card has a 90K signup bonus for spending $8K in 3 months, and earns 3 points per dollar on up to $150K of annual spending on shipping, advertising, and travel, can transfer all Chase points into miles, and points are worth at least 1.25 cents each for paid travel ($95 annual fee). Read more here.

• Limited time offer: Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card has a $900 in the form of 90K point signup bonus for spending $6K in 3 months, and earns 1.5 points per dollar on business purchases ($0 annual fee). Read more here.
• Ink Business Cash® Credit Card has a 35K signup bonus for spending $3K in 3 months and another 40K signup bonus points for spending another $3K in 6 months for a total of 75,000 Chase Ultimate points, plus if you have a Chase business checking account open on the card's first anniversary you will get a 10% points bonus on all earnings from card spending, this card earns 5 points per dollar on the first $25,000 in combined purchases on cable, TV, telecom, cellular, and office supply stores, plus 2 points per dollar on dining and gas on up to $25,000 in purchases ($0 annual fee). Read more here.
• Chase Freedom Flex has a 20K signup bonus, plus 5 points on rotating categories, 5 points per dollar on travel purchased through Chase Travel, and 3 points per dollar on dining and drugstores ($0 annual fee). Read more here.
• Chase Freedom Unlimited® has a signup bonus that earns an extra 1.5% cash back in the form of 1.5 points per dollar everywhere on up to $20K of spending during your first year, on top of at least 1.5 points per dollar everywhere, 5 points per dollar (marketed as 5% cash back) on travel purchased through  Chase Travel℠, and 3 points per dollar on dining and drugstores ($0 annual fee). Read more here.

What do you think of these changes?