Final Day Before United’s 2017 Award Chart Changes: The Good, Bad, And Ugly; Should You Try To Lock In Access To The Current Chart?

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Update: Today is the last day to lock in awards under the current United award chart.

On Wednesday, 11/1, United will make major changes to their award chart:

-Current United Award Chart

-United Award Chart Effective 11/1/17

-United Award Change Announcement

The good: 

You are now able to use 8K United miles to fly on a nonstop flight within any single region outside of the US/Canada on a partner airline, as long as the flight is less than 800 miles in distance.

Here are some examples for each region that will benefit from this new award rate:

-Central America: Panama to Liberia, Costa Rica on COPA will drop from 12.5K to 8K miles.
-Northern South America: Quito to Bogota on Avianca will drop from 12.5K to 8K miles.
-Southern South America: Rio de Janeiro to Iguassu Falls/IGU on Avianca will drop from 12.5K to 8K miles.
-Europe: Zurich to Venice on Swiss will drop from 15K to 8K miles.
-Middle East: Cairo to Amman on EgyptAir will drop from 17.5K to 8K miles.
-North Asia: Seoul to Beijing on Asiana will drop from 15K to 8K miles.
-Central Asia: Bangalore, India to the Maldives on Air India will drop from 17.5K to 8K miles.
-South Asia: Ho Chi Minh City to Singapore on Singapore will drop from 17.5K to 8K miles.
-Southern Africa: Johannesburg to Cape Town on South African will drop from 17.5K to 8K miles.
-Australia/New Zealand: Auckland to Queenstown, New Zealand on Air New Zealand will drop from 17.5K to 8K miles.

See this post for more information on short-haul awards.

The bad:

Saver award rates will go up and new categories will be created. There will be higher pricing for domestic lie-flat business class between Newark-Los Angeles, Newark-San Francisco, and Boston-San Francisco. There will also be higher pricing for long-haul Hawaii flights between Hawaii and Chicago, Denver, Houston, Newark, and Washington DC. Those flights are now all lie-flat and United will now charge more for them. If you fly to Hawaii in business or first class via Los Angeles or San Francisco you’ll pay a lower rate.

Business class saver rates get hit across many regions.

In addition United will change their higher priced “Standard” awards to “Everyday” awards. These “Everyday” award rates will fluctuate by date, but United will continue to publish what the maximum rate is for an Everyday award. In other words, the award chart will show the most you’ll pay for an award ticket, but the rate may be less than the stated price depending on the route and date. It’s possible that some of this may wind up in the good category, but it’s impossible to know at this point. It’s also possible that United will feel justified to in no longer offering as many saver awards as they can offer more affordable everyday awards, and that this will wind up in the ugly category. Time will tell.

Having a Chase United Club or United Explorer card greatly expands the saver award space that you can book. United.com only shows the lowest available award rate when you’re logged in, so a cardholder will be a 42.5K rate to Tel Aviv while a non-cardholder will see the 85K standard rate which will go up to 95K in November. Cardholders will continue to have the ability to book the last seat available in any class with Standard/Everyday awards.

United will still allow a free stopover (“Excursionist perk“) if it’s within the same region that you’re flying to. In other words if you fly from NYC to Zurich you can stopover there, fly to Paris, and then fly back to NYC without paying extra for the Zurich-Paris leg.

However other airlines like ANA, Aegean, and Singapore can book travel on United for fewer miles than United charges and without paying fuel surcharges. Note that those airlines don’t offer the expanded saver availability on United even if you have a United credit card. You need to use United miles to access that space. Additionally, those airlines charge a fuel surcharge to travel on most Star Alliance airlines, while United never levies a fuel surcharge.

The ugly:

These changes are far less ugly than United’s 2014 devaluation. But there are some dark spots.

Some routes, such as South Asia-Australia/New Zealand, get slammed hard. South Asia includes Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand. Currently a one-way flight between South Asia and Australia or New Zealand is just 17.5K United miles in coach, 30K in business, and 40K in first class. That’s a real bargain for a first class flight on Thai Airways from Bangkok to Sydney or Melbourne as it even includes an hour massage before your flight in the Thai lounge. It’s also a bargain for a business class flight on Singapore from Hong Kong or Singapore to Australia. Those rates will go up to 25K United miles in coach, 50K in business, and 65K in first class for ticket purchased on or after 11/1.

Flights between Israel and Australia/New Zealand get hit hard as well. A one-way flight is currently 35K United miles in coach, 60K in business, and 110K in first class. Those rates will go up to 45K United miles in coach, 75K in business, and 110K in first class for ticket purchased on or after 11/1.

Flights between Japan and Australia/New Zealand are currently 22.5K United miles in coach, 40K in business, and 60K in first class. Those rates will go up to 30K United miles in coach, 50K in business, and 65K in first class for ticket purchased on or after 11/1.

Avoiding the changes?

You can book an award to fly in 11 months from now and then pay a $75 fee to change or cancel it (less if you have elite status).

Or you can call United and request to cancel the award without redepositing the miles. You can then call again when you’re ready to book another award.

In 2014 I was able to access the old award chart by using these methods. I was even able to book a completely different award type under the old award chart. Of course there’s no guarantee that it will work the same way again, but simple changes like date changes should work just fine. But it’s possible that having any award booked now will allow you to change it and still access the old award chart as it did last time.

Of course if the mileage increase for your desired award is 5K miles or less, then it is probably not worth investing in a $75 change fee unless you have elite status. But the $75 fee can be a bargain on a route facing a big mileage increase.

You must complete travel within 12 months from the day you make a reservation. Don’t forget to cancel the flight (you can call to cancel it without redepositing the miles) before the flight you book and don’t forget to call to have the miles redeposited before 12 months from the day you book an award.

US award chart changes:

-The first chart below compares the current cost of saver award travel from the US and the new cost for tickets booked as of 11/1/17. The chart includes partner rates only when United charges a premium to fly on a partner airline.

-The second chart below compares the current cost of standard award travel from the US and the new maximum cost for Everyday award travel for tickets booked as of 11/1/17.

-Mileage increases have been highlighted in bold and rates listed are for one-way travel.

-Consult the current and new award chart links above for changes to flights that don’t involve travel to or from the US.

United Saver Award Chart Changes

United Standard Award Chart Changes

Which awards will you book before the rates go up on 11/1?