That was a opinion following United’s recent inept handling of an involuntary bump. There is no great challenge for flyers that are infrequent, or people whose allegiance is to another airline. However, for (former) United loyalists, who have amassed dozens of miles in the MileagePlus program, it’s easier said than done.
The obvious strategy is to use MileagePlus miles. Both through its participation in the Star Alliance and via bilateral advertising associations, United has earn-and-burn agreements with nearly 40 other airlines, permitting program members to redeem miles for flights pretty much anywhere on the planet.
Obviously, when you had planned to use your United miles for flights within the U.S., the spouse choice is of little assistance. It might be possible to use Air Canada, by building an itinerary with a connection in Canada, however, the sacrifice in time and convenience would be a substantial negative consideration.
For excursions that are domestic that are shorter, you might think about redeeming miles to get among the MileagePlus rental-car partners or a rental car from Hertz. Then use miles to pay for a hotel stay at your destination. Those are both options with MileagePlus, just like loyalty applications that are the majority of full-featured. Nonetheless, it turns out they’re not options.
When utilizing miles for flights from a value standpoint members will get the best return-on-investment. That’s due to the underlying economics: Giving away seats that otherwise would have gone awry is cheaper than giving away products or services that the airline has to purchase on program members’ behalf. Therefore, while you would typically get a productive return of around 1.2 cents per $1 spent when searching for award tickets, you’d likely get less than half that when redeeming for car rentals, hotel nights, or product.
As an example of the merchandise alternative, an Apple 32GB iPad, which retails for $329, may be obtained for 41,200 United miles. That amounts to .8 cents (eight tenths of a cent) per redeemed mile. That is mediocre value.
The value for MileagePlus miles is to be found with newspaper and magazine subscriptions, as it turns out. Again, the economics are the narrative here. Publishers make the majority of their money from ad sales, rather than from subscription charges. Accordingly, they’re happy to greatly discount subscription prices to maintain subscriber bases. That means you can redeem 1,200 miles for a full year’s subscription of Time magazine, which would normally cost $30. In that scenario, you’re getting 2.5 cents per mile, double what you would get when searching for most flights. Magazine subscriptions can you manage?
And finally, as do other airline programs, MileagePlus makes it possible for members to donate their miles to charity, such as the American Cancer Society, Red Cross, Fantasy Foundation, Make-a-Wish, and so on.
Yes, there are many uses for miles, than flying United, other. I’d opt for a business-class flight on Lufthansa to Europe, along with a subscription to Wine Spectator. Your mileage might vary.
Reader Reality Check
Have you taken the “Never Fly United” pledge?