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Update: The rates for partner coach now appear to be capped at 44K (up from 33K previously, but down from 45K yesterday) and for partner business at 88K (up from 77K previously, but down from 88K-103K yesterday).
United’s hidden award chart below has been updated.
Originally posted on 5/17:
United has devalued award rates on most flights to Europe without notice.
That’s disappointing, but hardly a surprise. US airlines still have internal award charts, but they no longer publish them so that they can devalue without needing to provide any notice.
For that reason, I have been writing for well over a decade to accumulate bank points and not airline miles whenever possible. That way when an airline devalues, you aren’t stuck with that airline’s miles and have other options to choose from. You can open airline cards for the signup bonus, but you everyday cards should earn flexible points over an airline card.
I guess the real surprise here is that we’ve made it 3 years since the last major United devaluation. The other surprise is that based on my research, the major devaluation only seems to affect flights between North America and Europe, and that it doesn’t affect first class pricing.
Other regions are mostly unchanged, though there are fluctuations of up to 3,000 miles on some routes. For example Air Canada economy awards between the US and Canada have climbed from 14K to 16.5K miles and business awards went from 30K to 33K miles.
The much bigger devaluation post-COVID is that there are fewer saver awards available across the board and that standard award pricing continues to climb to absurd levels, but that’s the case for all airlines.
To their credit, United does make many more saver awards available to their cardholders and elite members.
For United flights to Europe, a one-way saver economy award was previously 30K miles, but now they range from 30K-40K based on the route and date. A business saver award was previously 60K miles, but is now 80K miles.
For partner flights to Europe, a one-way saver economy award was previously 33K miles, but now they range from 33K-45K based on the route and date. A business class saver award was previously 77K miles, but is now 88K-103K miles. A first class class saver award remains 121K miles.
That’s a bad devaluation, but it doesn’t seem like a massive devaluation to me given that it’s not systemwide. It’s certainly nothing close to what Delta regularly gets away with!
Then again, maybe this is just United testing the waters to see if spending on their credit cards will go down because of this? Delta has found that they can constantly devalue their miles and people will still continue spending on their credit cards. If you do use a United card for everyday spending, you should stop now. It’s probably only a matter of time before other awards are devaluated as well and airlines need to see that there is a negative effect of these devaluations.
Flights within a month of booking are still subject to a mileage surcharge ranging from 0-4,000 miles each way. In general you should always book one-way travel to lower those surcharges and maintain maximum flight flexibility.
Researching dozens of routes and hundreds of dates, here is United’s current unpublished saver award chart that I put together:
| United flights | Partner flights | |
|---|---|---|
| Mainland US | 5K-15K Coach 25K-30K Business 30K-35K Premium Business | |
| Canada | 10K-14K Coach 25K-30K Business | 16.5K Coach 33K Business |
| Alaska | 15K-17.5K Coach 30K-35K Business 35K-40K Premium Business | |
| Hawaii | 15K-25K Coach 40K-50K Business 50K-60K Premium Business | |
| Mexico | 5K-20K Coach 30K Business | 20K Coach 38K Business |
| Central America | 10K-20K Coach 30K Business | 20K Coach 38K Business |
| Northern South America | 20K Coach 35K Business | 22K Coach 38.5K Business |
| Southern South America | 30K Coach 60K Business | 33K Coach 66K Business |
| Europe | 30K-40K Coach 80K Business | 33K-44K Coach 88K Business 121K First |
| Africa | 40K Coach 70K Business | 44K Coach 88K Business 143K First |
| Middle East | 42.5K Coach 75K Business | 47K Coach 93.5K Business 154K First |
| Central Asia | 42.5K Coach 75K Business | 47K Coach 93.5K Business 154K First |
| South Asia | 40K Coach 75K Business | 44K Coach 99K Business 154K First |
| North Asia | 35K Coach 70K Business | 38.5K Coach 88K Business 132K First |
| Japan and Oceania | 35K Coach 70K Business | 38.5K Coach 88K Business 121K First |
| Australia and New Zealand | 40K Coach 80K Business | 44K Coach 99K Business 143K First |
Of course it’s worth noting that you’re often much better off using other partner award miles for booking flights.
There are exceptions of course, as expanded saver award space for United cardholders and elites can only be booked with United. Plus while United’s awards are refundable for free at any time before departure, other airlines can charge up to $200 for award changes or cancellations.
For example a round-trip business class on United between Newark and London would cost 160K United miles, plus $331 in absurd UK departure passenger duties, which are somehow supposed to help climate change. (Pro tip, depart from somewhere in Europe besides for London to avoid these).
You can transfer miles from Chase Ultimate Rewards to United (1:1 ratio) instantly.
The same business class round-trip is 120K Lifemiles. Points transfer instantly (1:1 ratio) from AMEX, Capital One, or Citi. Transfers from Marriott (60K:25K ratio) can take 2-20 days
The same business class round-trip is 120K Air Canada miles. Points transfer instantly (1:1 ratio) from AMEX, Capital One, or Chase. Transfers from Marriott (60K:25K ratio) can take 2-20 days.
The same business class round-trip is 90K Turkish miles. Transfers from Capital One and Citi (1:1 ratio) are instant. Transfers from Marriott (60K:25K ratio) can take 2-5 days.
The same business class round-trip is 88K ANA miles. ANA requires round-trip travel, while all of the other airlines above allow one-way travel at half the round-trip rate. It can take 1-2 days to transfer points from AMEX to ANA (1:1 ratio) and transfers from Marriott to ANA (60K:25K ratio) can take 2-20 days.
Bottom line, shop around before you book your flight!
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34 Comments On "[Update: Slight Improvements Made To Partner Award Pricing] United Devalues Awards, Including A Big Price Hike On Most Europe Awards; Here Is United’s Updated Unpublished Award Chart"
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I think we have a different definition of massive. I alo think that once you go this route where you flip a switch overnight and everything shoots up, it leaves a bad taste in consumers’ mouths. I know I’m not banking anymore United miles. They don’t even release that many saver awards to their own elites anymore. One economy seat a month on transatlantic routes is not worth keeping their CC open.
It never made sense to bank any airline miles. Having points from the various banks has always been the way to go.
Their 2013 devaluation raised rates 88%, that was massive!
This devaluation is certainly bad, but not atypical and it’s only for one region and not systemwide.
I’ll still keep a card open, as it makes a huge difference in saver award space and for elite upgrades.
I would reword the title to make it clearer that it is a bad devaluation, but only affecting one region for now. Obviously, if they feel they can do this, they will do all the others, too.
I don’t even see much more availability with the card anymore, even in economy. And what use is it, if cash price will almost always be less than the new saver award price from United?
I just don’t think it’s factual to call this a massive devaluation. It may become one, but it’s just not yet.
A lack of saver awards is a bigger devaluation, but that’s not limited to United. CSR 50% travel bonus and Biz Plat 35% rebate are looking pretty good these days.
I think it’s a massive devaluation when airlines devalue awards overnight, especially when it’s to such a large degree. Especially, since if it’s not decried as such all over, airlines will keep on doing it.
You keep going on and on about how awful delta is and yet delta (and american) have 50 to 1 amazing deals within us and Latin America (including the insane 20k delta mile I paid from San salvador to Rio) that you never get on United. Ever. It’s all about knowing where and how to use them. At this point delta has many more amazing redemption opportunities than united does. It’s just fact.
I booked a United business saver awards to Brazil and Israel this week for a tenth of what Delta wanted.
Same for a last minute domestic flight, when Delta was 5x the cost with no partner availability.
I guess it just depends on what your goals are, but I almost never have a use case for my Delta miles that continue to gather dust.
Exactly. You have very specific goals. Business class to well traveled routes. That doesn’t change the fact that delta has had 9k seats to Hawaii and 5k to Alaska things that united never sniffed. You rarely post about these kinds of deals but delta has some fantastic things going on ALL the time. You’re a very smart guy you probably need to realize that you’re cache of miles via referral is 50 times what the average Joe who isn’t a big business owner will ever be. 90 percent of your readers I am sure need to TRY and maximize value of their miles (a bigger earn problem than burn problem). It’s not a bad idea to try and help THEM focus on their value…. ironically you do it when you promote a signup bonus (x number of free flights on this or that card which always are economy at lowest tier prices) but not on the redemption part of the game… אין מזרזין אלא למזורזין. Ultimately it serves your interest as well since you do promote the various delta cards. It’s not an either or game …
I have posted Delta flash sales many times. You can always post them on the forums or leave a comment when you see one.
Obviously I write about things that interest me, and other than the 98K Delta One award sale that I booked to AMS in 2019, I haven’t found anything that interested me. I agree it’s not either or, but I’m sitting on a massive pile of their miles and am always looking for a good deal. I just rarely find one.
Those Alaska and Hawaii deals are typically from the west coast. And you can always use 7.5K Turkish miles to fly United to those places.
Which is why I don’t put any effort into racking up airline miles. I’ll transfer to the airline on demand when it makes sense.
I don’t have a use case and I no longer live in New York, which obviously has a lot of Delta options, but my AMEX Delta Gold allows you to pay with points at 1cp. That is a pretty good floor for a SUB at least. that, baggage, and earlier boarding, would make the $99 AF worthwhile for some. Not to mention the occasionally useful AMEX coupon book….
Yes, that’s fine for the signup bonus.
It’s not fine for spending.
Have flown to countless continents and have taken many dozens of flights in all cabins, and i NEVER managed to book an award with my delta miles. even with a 15% discount for amex cardholders they are worthless
Lol, I guess I’m leading 1-0 in that battle 😀
A few months ago I used 126,231 Capital One miles plus a hefty $324 co-pay (much of which was refunded due to my annual credit) to book a nonstop economy flight between JFK and TLV for a family member with a tight schedule for Succos 2023. I was surprised that it was less expensive to book on El Al than a similar itinerary on either American or Delta.
For myself I used 80,000 AAdvantage miles round-trip to go for Succos – JFK to TLV with a stopover in Helsinki, returning to JFK with a stopover in Casablanca.
As for people complaining about the “devaluation” of airline miles, I haven’t found that to be the case consistently. I recall usually spending 80,000 to fly round-trip between JFK and TLV 20 YEARS AGO, while I recently booked a nonstop round-trip between JFK and TLV for 66,000 miles.
“this only seems to affect flights between North America and Europe” not true! Using United miles for Air Canada from Yul to Lax just went up 20-30 percent in economy and business. Just one of many tickets that i am looking to book that went up. I think you are downplaying how big of a devaluation this is!
Seems like these went up from 14K to 16.5K. Not good.
I’ve broken out Canada into it’s own section on the chart now.
I’ve updated the post to include this information, thanks.
Yes, Economy nonstop saver to Canada is now 16.5, from 13.8 (when not booked last minute) And Business to Canada has increased to 33k from 27.5k. Glad I booked a lie flat 10 days ago for 27.5.
I’m surprised that you don’t feel 33% is massive. I think the average traveler would disagree. You have to believe increases to other regions will be coming sooner rather than later. And did you know that Aeroplan, which did away with surcharges, now adds a “fee” for U.S. tax recovery? It’s described as a fee because there is no tax payable on tickets paid for exclusively with miles.
I think 33% is certainly bad, but given that it’s only for one region I don’t think it’s a massive devaluation.
33% systemwide would certainly be massive.
Given it costs more to fly business to europe then asia, I think more is to come…
citi to tk i believe takes up to a day not instant
Several recent reports saying it’s now instant.
Hi Dan, I’m seeing 74k for Comfort on Delta. Isn’t that considered value? (Asking as a novice, I’m really not familiar.)
74K for what?
I meant nyc-tlv in Delta Comfort class, but I’m not sure that’s good value as I don’t understand the Delta class levels. I comfort like Business, or rather like Economy Plus?
Comfort Plus is Economy Plus, not even Premium Economy. Not much of a deal assuming it’s once way
What is the difference between E+ and PE? The terms are very confusing, especially as different airlines use different terminology. I don’t understand Delta’s 5 or so different class levels. It seems Delta One is the most expensive class, if I got it right, yet it seems to be 2 levels higher than their First Class…
With saver awards becoming so scarce, how do I secure an award flight if Marriott transfers to Turkish/ANA takes two days?
Cal Turkish and put a hold on the reservation first
I’ve seen these 40k economy saver award a week ago already…
In general you should always book one-way travel to lower those surcharges and maintain maximum flight flexibility.
i don’t understand this point ,of course when booking in advance maximum flexibility is if you book 2 one ways but when you are booking close in if you book 1 round trip there is 1 surcharge and 2 one ways would b e2 surcharges so it seems to me to minimize the surcharge you should book a round trip
What surcharges are you referring to?
United doesn’t have surcharges.
the close in surcharge where they charge extra miles for a ticket when you book it close to departure . Whatever the official name is the bottom line is that they add miles to their saver award tickets when it is booked within a certain time frame of departure