Airline Miles

Tag Archives for Airline Miles.

United’s new revenue based miles – Good, Bad or Ugly?

March 9, 2015 by unroadwarrior 6 Comments

As you all probably know by now, United has switched to a revenue based earning model for miles as of March 1st. This change only impacts how redeemable miles (RDM) are earned. It does not impact how Elite Qualification miles (EQM) are earned. EQM (or PQM as United calls it) earning remains the same as…

787-9 in Washington Dulles (IAD)

February 10, 2015 by unroadwarrior Leave A Comment

The new ’stretch’ version of Boeing’s 787 ‘Dreamliner’ (787-9) are now being put into service. I happened to see my first 787-9 at Dulles airport (IAD) last week, operated by Virgin Atlantic. Virgin replaced it’s aging A340 that it used to fly to to Washington Dulles from London Heathrow (LHR). The schedule of operations is:…

Full Fares – Earning bonus Elite miles on United Partners

January 13, 2015 by unroadwarrior Leave A Comment

As I discussed in my last blog post, if you book a full-fare or flexible-fare economy ticket that is booked as a Y or a B fare, you will earn 150% of the miles flown on the trip. This is not a reason to buy these tickets as they can cost several times the cost…

Earning more miles than you actually fly – the how and why?

January 12, 2015 by unroadwarrior 5 Comments

When I looked at the miles I have earned over the years, I have found a consistent trend – my earned Award miles (RQM) and Elite miles (EQM) are always are greater than the actual miles flown (BIS – Butt-in-Seat Miles). This is not unique to me, you will see this in your accounts too.…

The agony of Jan 1st – Here we go again!

January 1, 2015 by unroadwarrior 4 Comments

2014 was a great year for earning miles and points. I travelled more than I had ever travelled before, hence earning more Airline Miles and Hotel Points than ever before. I also made good redemptions taking my family on a Business Class trip to Asia and not paying a single dollar for any personal hotel…

Goodbye USAirways (soon!) – You will not be missed

December 8, 2014 by unroadwarrior 2 Comments

The end of US Airways is coming near. American Airlines and US Airways have both sent out emails stating that the mileage programs of US Airways will be combined with that of American sometime in Q2 2015. This is just one step of the merger process, but it is a major one. The rebranding and…

20 Years of flying United!

August 7, 2014 by unroadwarrior 7 Comments

I got a pleasant surprise on my last flight. I got a card from the Gate Agent. Apparently I have been flying United as a MileagePlus member for 20 years. Now I was ‘pleasantly’ surprised because I had no idea. Once I boarded the flight and looked at the card, I went – that’s it? A…

New no minimum spend offer from US Airways Credit Card

May 13, 2014 by unroadwarrior Leave A Comment

The US Airways card has always been a generous card with a good earning program. I personally did not promote it much given my issues with US Airways. However, the merger with American Airlines is changing everything. Once the twi mileage programs have merged, these miles can be combined with your AA miles. More importantly,…

A tale of two Richards: NPR interview of Delta and Virgin Group leaders

April 4, 2014 by unroadwarrior Leave A Comment

Earlier today I heard an excellent interview of Richard Anderson, CEO of Delta Airlines, and Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, on NPR. They had a lively discussion (Sir Branson more so than Mr. Anderson) on customer experience, what customers care about, the future of airline travel and yes, the Delta – Virgin…

RMF and CLV – Wharton marketing professor defends Delta’s mileage changes

March 7, 2014 by unroadwarrior 1 Comment

RMF: Recency, Monetary value and Frequency CLV: Client Lifetime Value These are two of the technical terms that Wharton Marketing professor Peter Fader uses in this excellent interview to explain Delta’s changes to their mileage program. As you may have heard by now, Delta is switching to a new earning program from 2015 where passengers…