Brian Cohen·
Membership Programs
··8 Comments·1 min read

New Award Travel Change Fees For General MileagePlus Members Effective Immediately

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United Air Lines building at its aircraft maintenance base near San Francisco. Photograph by FlyerTalk member FlyerChrisK. Click on the photograph for a trip report written by FlyerChrisK.

If you are a general member of the United Airlines MileagePlus frequent flier loyalty program who has an award ticket which needs to be changed or canceled and you have no Premier elite status, you will pay extra money for that privilege effective immediately as per the chart shown below:

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Information pertaining to Premier Elite Members — as well as the fee to book award travel for all MileagePlus frequent flier loyalty program members, including general members with no status — were intentionally omitted from the above chart because those fees have not changed at all.
Be careful to not confuse the new $200.00 change fee for award tickets at the bottom of the above chart with the change fee for revenue tickets announced on April 19, 2013 by United Airlines.
As expected, many FlyerTalk members who were already shell-shocked with the announcement of Premier Qualification Dollars — a new revenue component to qualify for Premier elite status — by United Airlines fewer than 24 hours earlier are not happy about this latest perceived devaluation which was implemented with no advance notice.
I would not be surprised if other airlines — such as American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and US Airways — followed the lead of United Airlines pertaining to implementing similar change fees for general members of their respective frequent flier loyalty programs within the next month or so…
…and I do not believe that the airlines are finished with their “enhancements” just yet…

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8 Comments

  1. I will be flamed but I dont blame UA or the other carriers. They arent in biz to simply give everyone who cant afford a tkt a free ride or a free Intl Premium cabin tkt.
    If they arent making any money selling the tkts themselves then they finally realize the only place they will make any money is in accessing FEES. We may not like it but its the sign of the future.
    I wouldnt be surprised to see alot more Spiriting going on , going forward. As much as we all HATE Spirit they are profitable and for a biz thats really all that counts. There is a max amount of air you can put into a balloon before it pops

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  2. Craz………
    And a maximum of air can be let out till the balloon falls to the ground. We may be getting close to the crashing point!!

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  3. Brian very true. But lets not forget that most Airline Programs outside the US were never as generous as the US programs were. I believe even with DLs & UAs new Spend min its still way easier for a person to be a Diamond or a 1K then to be a HON with LH
    The fact is we are spolied and got use to living on a very high level. No one is happy when the game is over and you have to go back to how it was before you learnt the ropes.
    The only question is will DL & UA simply reduce their ranks w/o giving anything more to those who do the Spend. Or will they step up and take care of their Earned top people,eg say even a free hotel room even if the flight is CXed due to WX
    When the price of meat (or anythintg) goes up a restaurant has a choice it can cut back on the weight of the sandwhich and keep the same prices.Or it can keep the same weight but raise their prices. Most people want the cheap prices and also to no reduction in the weight of the meat, thats not gonna fly (no pun intended).
    Anytime theres the slightest cut in service or quality of something FTers beat their drums and do their war dances. They also do if fares go up. I dont know of any business that can survive if they dont have cut backs and or raise prices
    This will hit me hard yet I cant but help to think its long overdo

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  4. Craz, You asked “The only question is will DL & UA simply reduce their ranks w/o giving anything more to those who do the Spend. Or will they step up and take care of their Earned top people,eg say even a free hotel room even if the flight is CXed due to WX.” Easiest question I have seen in a long time – those who do the spend will not get anything extra that they don’t get now. Certainly not free hotel rooms due to wx! Period. This is to SAVE money and not to distribute a penny of it back to customers. What kind of Koolaid have you been drinking?

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  5. DCBob, Havent had any type of KOOLaid. PMUA used to give 1Ks a hotel even due to WX. Once they implement this I wouldnt expect anything extra in 2014, but once 2015 rolls around only those with the Spend can be a 1K = no more OverEntitled Elites being 1K. Right now 1K is full of people doing MRs and with a Spend of only a few $1000, if that. After 1/1/15 that may be true for a Plat ( who spends $25k on a UA CC) but 1K will have to be earned the hard way.
    Thusly after 1/1/15 they will know a person who is a 1K has a min Spend of $10k, that will be the time to know 100% if Loyalty to COdbaUA means what a Passenger has to UA (a 1 way street) or if UA will be Loyal back to the 1Ks and GSs.Unfortunately till then we can only spectulate what may or may not be. those who never had near a $10k Spend anty yera will Bash UA to death as their days are very limited till they make teh walk of shame and rejoin the kettles in the back of the bus.
    The fat lady is starting to sing and loud at that, the game is a commin to an end as we all knew it and enjoyed playing it all these yrs. I will repeat myself I dont Blame DL or UA 1 bit. And no I dont have any where near $10k in Spend closer to $2k . I also dont know of a single person on FT who wouldnt have done the same if they owned the Carrier or were running it. It doesnt make any business sense to have your top ranks filled with people who spend very little and expect, no better said Demand everything including the kitchen sink

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  6. Pingback: June 19, 2013 – Gary Arndt interview, Inspirational travel photos, another United stab in the back “enhancement” | TravelBloggerBuzz

  7. I guess I just need to make sure my travel plan is set in stone. I agree with Craz – the US program has been very generous as compared with other programs overseas. I just hope it won’t increase the 65K for international flights. UA program has enabled me to travel internationally for free at least once every 2 years. Spending $ 200 for a change is still cheap compared to $ 2500 I have to fork for this ticket.

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