Earlier today, I quickly posted the news that United Airlines will introduce a new Premier Qualifying Dollar (PQD) revenue requirement in 2014 to maintain or achieve elite status, in addition to the normal mileage requisites. It didn’t come as a shock to me and I promised to share more of my thoughts about the change.

First, here are two things you won’t hear me say:

• “Screw you United, I’m status matching to American!” Tick tock. It’s all but certain that American, especially with the new US Airways-heavy management team, will implement a similar revenue policy. And my bet is that it’ll come sooner rather than later (as in… similarly announced beginning in 2014 for 2015 status).
• “How can you do this to me? I fly exclusively with you 100,000 miles+ every year!” While I’ve enjoyed the perks of easy to attain top-tier status on cheap fares (especially in 2008 and 2009), I fully appreciate that airlines should focus on rewarding fliers who contribute the most to their bottom lines. It’s been a fun ride, but I get it.

A hard-target dollar requirement tied to each elite tier is only the beginning of United’s revenue-based approach, in my opinion.

What I see happening next is that United (and other U.S. airlines for that matter) will reduce the Premier Qualifying Miles/Segments (PQM/PQS) earned on low fare-class tickets, such as L, K, G and N (I outlined the revenue fare classes in this post). It would be a double-whammy of sorts making it harder to hit the PQM target on top of PQD for status, but I bet it’ll happen eventually.

Another potential change is that mileage redemptions could turn revenue-based. While I’ve accepted my fate for the elite status changes, this would be painful to swallow. Mostly because I’m sitting on a large stash of MileagePlus miles right now and the amount required for an international first class award would likely be exorbitant compared to today’s levels (or similar to a standard Delta award today ).

My personal shining light in all of this is that I should lock-in lifetime Premier Gold (and Star Alliance Gold) status with United this year being only 16,402 miles away.

How will you fare under the new system and am I crazy for postulating it’s only the beginning?

– Follow Darren Booth on Twitter, @FrequentlyFlyin, for more airline, hotel and travel industry news, reviews and opinions.

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Here are a couple of quick airline updates from press releases issued by American and United today.

United Offers Flat-Bed Seats on “All” Long-Haul International Flights

United Airlines now features 180-degree flat-bed seats and personal on-demand entertainment in the premium cabins on all scheduled, long-haul international flights from the airline’s eight North American hubs and between Seattle and Tokyo Narita. United is the only U.S. carrier to exclusively provide flat-bed comfort to premium cabin travelers on such scheduled, long-haul flights from the continental United States.

The release goes on to state 183 of United’s international aircraft now feature lie-flat seats. Where can you still find the old “Barcalounger” seats in business class? They’re on United’s 777s operating between Honolulu and Tokyo, as Chris McGinnis reported yesterday after receiving an update from a United rep.

Today's Honolulu-Tokyo Seat Map on a United 777

According to the United Airlines Fleet Website, there are three 777s still sporting the configuration shown above: N768UA, N772UA and N779UA.

American Launches JFK-Dublin Route With Bonus Mile Offer

American Airlines today launches daily nonstop service between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Dublin Airport (DUB), adding a new destination to American’s extensive network and giving customers traveling from Dublin nonstop connections out of JFK to cities throughout North, Central and South America . The new flight is in addition to American’s existing nonstop service from Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Dublin and complements its 12 other daily nonstop flights from JFK to Europe.

The new JFK-DUB flight is operated with a Boeing 757-200 sporting 16 angled-flat business class seats and 166 in economy.

Here are the bonus mile offer details for the new route:

To celebrate the new service, American is offering AAdvantage^® members up to 20,000 bonus miles every time they fly a round trip on the route, including travel on American-operated flights marketed by British Airways or Iberia. Customers flying on Business Class and select Economy Class fares (booked in Y, B or H) will receive 20,000 AAdvantage bonus miles for every round trip, and those flying on all other Economy Class fares will receive 10,000 AAdvantage bonus miles for every round trip, from June 12 through Sept. 15, 2013. To participate, members simply need to register prior to travel at aa.com/offers using the promotion code AADUB.

– Follow Darren Booth on Twitter, @FrequentlyFlyin, for more airline, hotel and travel industry news, reviews and opinions.

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Here’s an interesting look at the evolution of various airline logos, some going as far back nearly 90 years.

My favorites are Air France (1970-2004), American Airlines (1960-2013), Monarch (2002-2009), Qantas (1984-2007), Swissair (1981-2002), and the Saul Bass United Airlines design (1974-1993).

Which are your favorites?

Thanks to @AirlineSector for tweeting this out yesterday, as I missed it when it was published last month. For the full-size version, click here.

– Follow Darren Booth on Twitter, @FrequentlyFlyin, for more airline, hotel and travel industry news, reviews and opinions.

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Blogger buddy Bruce over at NonRevAdventure.com is generously giving away two United Airlines one-time passes to the United Club. All you have to do is leave a comment on his blog with your biggest travel mishap, mistake, error, failure, etc.

Your key to the United Club

Click here to enter. He will pick one the winner at random this Wednesday, June 12, 2013. Good luck!

– Follow Darren Booth on Twitter, @FrequentlyFlyin, for more airline, hotel and travel industry news, reviews and opinions.

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A couple of articles caught my attention this week about the difficulty some travelers have redeeming frequent flier miles.

The first is from the Daily Mail, and setting my opinion of the publication itself aside, I read through the article. About 1,000 British fliers were surveyed and asked about their participation in an airline’s frequent flier program. Among the results:

• Almost half never redeem their miles because the terms and conditions are too restrictive.
• Sixty percent of people think they need to take too many flights before they can claim rewards.
• About 40 percent of people who collect air miles ever redeem them.
• Only 23 percent of those surveyed said they collect airline loyalty points.

These findings shocked me until I stepped back from my far-too-intimate knowledge and personal experience with travel loyalty programs. It is fair to say that the average traveler has difficulty redeeming miles, and I understand their frustrations.

The nuances of an individual program can be mind-boggling and do (mostly) require an in-depth knowledge in order to yield desirable results when it comes time to redeem for a reward. That’s part of the reason why so many bloggers/experts offer award booking services.

But Should the Programs Be Regulated?

The other article I read sort of punctuates the results of that study’s findings, and comes from Christopher Elliott. He writes about a traveler who had a very difficult time trying to redeem her United Airlines MileagePlus miles for a flight (or even hotel or car redemption, which is a story in and of itself – even I didn’t know you had to be an elite or Chase cardholder for a hotel or car award).

Beyond discussing her particular case, he asks the question, “Should frequent flier miles be regulated by the government?” The basis of him posing the question is related to the so-called “promise” for free flights membership in a frequent flier program bestows. And while the perception might be there that airlines “promise” free flights, the reality is that they have no obligation to honor anything. The MileagePlus program rules, for example, state:

MileagePlus membership and benefits, including the Premier Program, are offered at the discretion of United Airlines and its affiliates, and United has the right to terminate the Program and/or the Premier Program or to change the Program Rules, regulations, benefits, conditions of participation or mileage levels, in whole or in part, at any time, with or without notice, even though changes may affect the value of the mileage or certificates already accumulated.

There’s certainly no promise there. Yeah, I know, most people don’t read the T&Cs of just about anything, but calling for regulation of FFPs is just ridiculous in my mind. As of earlier today, though, only 46 percent of his poll agrees with me:

I dare to say the majority of you reading this are pretty savvy when it comes to understanding the programs and how to maximize their value. How would/did you vote that poll?

– Follow Darren Booth on Twitter, @FrequentlyFlyin, for more airline, hotel and travel industry news, reviews and opinions.

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The Reality Check That Is United Airlines Global First Class

One of the most popular posts here on Frequently Flying is my Airfare Pricing Buckets & Airline Fare Basis Codes Revealed! entry from a couple of years ago. It’s still very much valid in decoding domestic United Airlines fare basis codes, as revenue management post-merger with Continental kept the same logic.

What has changed – just a bit – is the alphabet soup of fare classes used. And with the fairly recent addition of the super-discounted N-class on United, as well as all Star Alliance carriers now using the same letters for award redemptions, every letter of the alphabet is now in use at United.

Here’s a current alphabetical list and description of what each letter translates into (bold letters are award/upgrade classes only):

• A – First class
• B – Economy – Full fare (even though Y-class is the highest level in coach, it’s still considered a full fare)
• C – Business class
• D – Business class
• E – Economy
• F – First class – Full fare (“FN” is for MileagePlus Standard Awards)
• G – Economy – Discounted
• H – Economy (“HN” is for MileagePlus Standard Awards)
• I – First (2-cabin)/Business (3-cabin) – MileagePlus Saver Award class (“IN” is expanded award availability for GS/1K/Plat elites)
• J – Business class – Full fare (“JN” is expanded MileagePlus Standard Award for elites and Chase credit card holders, as well as an upgrade class from Y-fares for elites)
• K – Economy – Discounted
• L – Economy – Discounted
• M – Economy
• N – Economy – Discounted
• O – First Class (3-cabin) – MileagePlus Saver Award (“ON” is upgrade class on 3-cabin aircraft)
• P – First/Business class – Discounted (“PN” is upgrade from B/M-fares for elites; only GS/1K can upgrade from M)
• Q – Economy
• R – First (2-cabin)/Business (3-cabin) – Upgrade bucket (“RN” is expanded availability for elites)
• S – Economy – Discounted
• T – Economy – Discounted
• U – Economy
• V – Economy
• W – Economy
• X – Economy – MileagePlus Saver Award (“XN” is expanded availability for elites)
• Y – Economy – Full fare (“YN” is an expanded MileagePlus Standard Award for elites and Chase credit card holders)
• Z – Business class – Discounted (“ZN” is for MileagePlus Standard Awards)

As far as the revenue fare classes above, here’s the order from highest to lowest in terms of where each class falls on the spectrum of overall contribution to United:

F, A, J, C, D, Z, P, Y, B, M, E, U, H, Q, V, W, S, T, L, K, G, N

One important thing to note is that the leading letter of your fare basis code, not necessarily which letter it books into, is what determines your flight mileage accrual. They can be different, which is often the case for “Y-UP” fares where you purchase a coach ticket that books directly into first class.

Another example is what I encountered earlier this year on my mileage run to Tokyo. United had an unadvertised promotional first class sale which booked into “A” class, but my fare basis code began with a “P,” so I only earned redeemable and Premier Qualifying Miles based on the “P.”

I think this causes a lot of confusion for some travelers as the “A,” in my example, was the only thing that appeared online or on a ticket receipt. To see the fare basis code, you have to click the “View Rules and Restrictions” link during the booking process, which yields something like this:

Questions? Comments?

– Follow Darren Booth on Twitter, @FrequentlyFlyin, for more airline, hotel and travel industry news, reviews and opinions.

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It’s been a while since I’ve visited United’s MileagePlus auction website, but yesterday I went there for research on an article I’m writing. And to my amazement, one of the auction items is for a pre-merger United red carpet.

United Airlines Auction for a Red Carpet

I love airline collectibles and memorabilia, but when I saw that people have actually bid 20,000 miles for it, I nearly fell off my chair. Bidding started at 5,000 miles, which if United simply priced it that way in their United Shop store (or for cash), I’d actually strongly consider buying one. But burning 20k+ miles for it? Oy.

And even more intriguing is that it’s apparently a “used” carpet. From their description (bolding mine):

Here’s a unique opportunity to own an official United red carpet. It measures 58″ x 32″, features the original pre-merger United logo, and was actually used in an airport.

I can’t seem to find the thread on Flyertalk, but I do recall reports of people emailing United back when the carpets were being swapped out for Continental’s blue version and being successful in getting one shipped to them for free.

I certainly hope you wouldn’t burn 20k+ miles on one, but if you’re interested, the auction runs through June 7, 2013.

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– Follow Darren Booth on Twitter, @FrequentlyFlyin, for more airline, hotel and travel industry news, reviews and opinions.

Unlike my first-hand experience on United’s inaugural of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner this past November, I’ve been following the action of its re-debut today on Twitter.

United Airlines Flight#1 departed the gate in Houston this morning on-time at 11:00 a.m. and was airborne 13 minutes later.

Prior to departure from gate E7, a ceremony of sorts took place with the crew, CEO Jeff Smisek and Boeing’s chief James McNerney. One of the zinger comments from Smisek during the event was something to the effect of, “this (the 787) was an expensive piece of tarmac sculpture,” according to several accounts.

Well, it’s certainly sculpture no more and will be arriving on-time at O’Hare within the hour. The same aircraft turns around as United Flight# 2 headed back to Houston at 3:40 p.m.

I’ll be keen on reading the reports from my inaugural buddies @airchive and @airwaysjack who are both on the flight. And CNBC reporter Phil LeBeau will have updates as well, featuring interviews with Smisek and McNerney.

After initial domestic runs, United will shift its 787 flying to primarily international routes as previously planned.

I’d book a 787 flight… would you?

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– Follow Darren Booth on Twitter, @FrequentlyFlyin, for more airline, hotel and travel industry news, reviews and opinions.

CHICAGO – Earlier today, a woman was seen leaving the United Airlines employee parking lot headed West on Algonquin Road in her car, making a quick escape from the airline’s Executive Offices.

Security cameras later revealed she pulled into the lot undetected and snuck through a door that hadn’t been securely shut alongside one of the long corridors of the building.

Footage inside also showed she entered the employee logo gift shop and about 15 minutes later, exited with a bag of United Airlines collectibles and memorabilia.

Megan Smith, the shop clerk working at the time, later revealed in interviews that the woman seemed enthusiastic and excited to be shopping for items branded with United’s logo.

Ms. Smith went on to say, “she was beside herself mentioning how much her son was going to love the things she was picking out.”

The mysterious woman paid with cash, so there is no way to track her identity. If you have any information regarding this incident, please contact Darren Booth at Darren@frequentlyflying.com.

That was the headline and article, or so I’d like to think, back in the early 1980s in suburban Chicago. The story is true, actually, and I know exactly who did it.

It was my Mom, and I will always be grateful for having such an unconditionally loving mother that she’d risk trespass charges to get her United-loving son something unique for his birthday.

I love you, Mom, Happy Mother’s Day!

Darren

Mom and Darren (early 1980s)

[And yes, my astute long-time readers, this is a repeat of my Mother’s Day post from two years ago, but hey… it’s my blog and prerogative ]

United Airlines is reportedly spending $50 million this year to renovate and refresh many of its United Club locations, and I had the chance to visit the recently redone Denver West location yesterday.

Basically what they’ve done is swapped out the seating for new chairs, tables and counters identical to what’s in the newest club location at Chicago O’Hare’s Terminal 2 (F-concourse).

[My apologies for the poor quality iPhone images – the lounge was rather busy and I was trying to be as discreet as possible.]

United Club Denver West - Seating Area

United Club Denver West - 'Short' Tables

United’s clubs in Denver are known for their lack of power outlets and you’ll still have a hard time finding them if you’re seated in the new leather chairs. But they have at least added counters along the windows with outlets, as well as included plugs underneath some of the tabletops.

United Club Denver West - Window-side Counters

United Club Denver West - Seating

United Club Denver West - 'Hidden' Plugs Under Some Tabletops

The Denver East location has yet to receive the refresh and sports the same old worn furniture with highly limited access to power outlets. The view, however, remains one of the best features of either club.

United Club Denver West - View

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