Sorry, United Airlines MileagePlus members — the airline is seemingly rolling out one other main mileage devaluation. As first reported on FlyerTalk, United is elevating redemption costs on first-class journey with companions comparable to All Nippon Airways and Lufthansa.
The information of one other United devaluation comes lower than a 12 months after United elevated award costs to Europe by 33% with out discover. Just just a few weeks later, United elevated charges by as much as 122% on different worldwide redemptions.
Here’s the knowledge on the newest devaluation.
Related: United mileage charges leap by as much as 122%
United MileagePlus devalues first-class redemptions
Maybe you have dreamed of flying in Lufthansa’s first-class cabin or have secured tickets on a flight from the U.S. to Europe. While there isn’t any longer an award chart, in latest instances, United has usually charged 121,000 miles one-way to ebook a seat in Lufthansa’s first-class cabin from the U.S. to Europe.
That’s already lots of miles, and that quantity is seemingly going means up. When operating a search on the award instrument Seats.aero, seats on dates after Tuesday now price 154,000 miles. This is a 28% enhance for Lufthansa first-class flights from the U.S. and Europe.
Sadly, Lufthansa isn’t the one accomplice service that has seemingly undergone a devaluation. Flights between the U.S. and Japan on ANA-operated flights will see a rise of about 100% on first-class seats.
For instance, in latest instances, you may usually fly from the U.S. to Japan on ANA in top quality, when obtainable, for 121,000 MileagePlus miles. However, that is now priced at 242,000 miles one-way.
Related: The finest methods to journey to Japan with factors and miles
Daily Newsletter
Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily publication
Join over 700,000 readers for breaking information, in-depth guides and unique offers from TPG’s specialists
Flights from Honolulu to Japan additionally elevated by greater than 60,000 miles — from 121,000 miles to 181,500 miles.
At first look, this devaluation doesn’t appear to use to all ANA flights.
As you’ll be able to see within the chart under, it seems to be like some first-class redemptions are nonetheless obtainable for the outdated 110,000-mile worth. However, when clicking on the cheaper flights which might be presently priced at 110,000 miles in top quality with the intention to truly ebook, the value jumps from 110,000 to 242,000 miles.
For instance, on Jan. 2, 2025, Seats.aero reviews a flight from Haneda Airport (HND) to O’Hare International Airport (ORD) would price simply 110,000 factors in ANA top quality; nonetheless, once I click on on the particular date, it states that it’s going to truly price me 242,000 MileagePlus miles. This is confirmed when looking out pricing immediately on United’s website.
The solely silver lining, when you can name it that, is that one of the best ways to ebook first-class Star Alliance accomplice awards — like on Lufthansa and ANA — hasn’t been by way of United MileagePlus even earlier than this modification. A greater strategy to redeem for a few of these flights is usually through the use of Air Canada Aeroplan or Avianca LifeMiles. You can ebook these awards when there’s availability for as few as 87,000 miles one-way.
Even so, it is a disappointing growth.
While United operates utilizing dynamic pricing as an alternative of award charts, it is a bit shocking to see these accomplice award costs leap this a lot this rapidly. A giant draw back of dynamic pricing is it’s laborious to anticipate what it’ll price while you go to ebook your award flight — and modifications this dramatic do make me marvel about which different award flights at United may also spike in worth.
We’ve reached out to United for a remark.
Related studying: