United Site Now Allows Star Alliance Award Bookings

OK, at least partially. United frequent flyers will appreciate the latest Mileage Plus site update. When searching for award travel, other Star Alliance (domestic) carriers will appear in the search results. For instance, if you are trying to book an award seat from San Jose to New York, availability for United, Continental and U.S. Airways may be displayed in the results. Previously customers had to call United directly to book seats on other airlines - which is still the case for international flights.

Ends Soon: Get $300 in coupons for future travel with a qualifying hotel stay when you book on Expedia! - Expires 6/30/10

United Offers 500-Mile Booking Bonus to Infrequent Travelers

In an effort to bring in new business and increase bookings on their website, United Airlines is awarding 500 bonus miles to customers who have not purchased tickets from united.com within the past 12 months. According to the terms, the bonus is available for one-way or round-trip tickets purchased at united.com between August 14 and October 31, 2009.

Mileage Runs: Who and Why?

By Mike Grasso

Imagine yourself crawling out of bed at five in the morning to catch a 7 AM trans-continental flight, arriving on the East coast with just minutes to spare before you make the trek back home. At its simplest form, this is a mileage run. Although likely fatigued from the all day journey, tomorrow will be better, particularly since you earned a whopping 6000 miles (or more) for your efforts.

The rules are simple: Fly as far away as you can, for the least possible amount of money. It makes no difference whether you embark off to Sarasota, Florida or Hilton Head, North Carolina, because a true mileage run means you will probably never leave the airport of your arrival city. Just enough time to visit the airport facilities and enjoy a fresh cup o' joe, before boarding begins for your return flight home.

A complicated question asked so many times of me: Why? Why do people do this?

Some view it as a necessity. Frequent travelers who find themselves just a few thousand miles short of maintaining their elite status need to find a way to earn some quick elite-qualifying miles before year end. A mileage run is perfect for them. A simple flight from point A to point B and back allows one to fancy their elite status for yet another year. The banking of useable miles, the ones used to redeem for free award travel, may be less of a priority for this type of mileage runner.

Some regard mileage runs as an opportunity to visit cities while creatively building off-the-beat routings, maximizing mileage potential. For example, San Francisco to Washington D.C is available non-stop, earning 4,820 miles round-trip. Instead, consider San Francisco to Seattle, to Washington D.C, earning 5,956 miles round-trip. For the clever and so-inspired, you could add stops in two other cities enrute to D.C, without adding a substantial cost, to accrue even more miles. These types of mileage runners seek to bank as many useable miles in their frequent flier account, enabling them to redeem for more frequent free trips in the future. (It's important to note that since the focus of the trip is to visit the city - meaning a stay of 1 or more nights is involved, some in the industry do not consider this a true mileage run.)

Finally, a smaller group of travelers view mileage runs as a sort of hobby, sometimes spending hours composing an exciting itnerary that includes four stops - in each direction, including visits to small regional airports that most would simply fly over. These extended mileage runs last upwards of 24 hours, and often include a red-eye flight. The exaustive journey yields huge mileage payouts, and provides avid travelers a chance to see parts of the country - at least the airports, they might not otherwise fly to. Some find themselves volunteering-for compensation on oversold segments, esentially paying for the cost of the mileage run.

But let's face it, if you have an aversion to flying, mileage runs are no friend of yours. But, if you find yourself a bit short of a status level (December 31st is the last day to accrue miles for next year's status), or you want to try your own mileage run, I highly recommend visiting the Flyertalk Mileage Run Forum (it's where I started many years ago), where a community of like-minded flyers can offer expert advice and recommendations on putting together a run that works for you.

United Announces 2009 Mileage Plus Changes

In a press release Monday, United announced some fairly significant changes to Mileage Plus, its frequent flyer program. Depending on your specific travel habits, you will find the changes either favorable or as yet another example of the devaluation of frequent flyer miles. 

• Restoration of 500-mile minimum accrual for elite members. This past summer United eliminated this benefit for short-distance flyPublish Posters. The policy changes is retroactive for flights dating back to July 1, 2008.


• Mileage Award Adjustments. UA will maintain the 25,000 mile requirement for economy saver tickets for flights within the U.S. But, it will increase the mileage requirement between 5,000 and 25,000 additional miles for flights between the U.S and different regions throughout the world.


• Co-Payment and reduction in miles requirement for upgrades effective July 1, 2009. If you purchase an economy class ticket, United often allows you to upgrade that flight with miles. The airline will lower that mileage requirement, but institute a co-payment of up to $500 for this benefit. Additionally, the airline will allow international upgrades, regardless of the fare class purchased. Previously, only higher cost fares were upgradeable.

United Airlines Promo: Double Elite-Status Qualifying Miles

United Airlines just released a promotion offering double elite-qualifying miles for all flights between now and June 15th. This promotion is for those working toward achieving or maintaining elite status with United. These are not miles redeemable for travel.Click here to be directed to the UA promotions website and to register. This promotion matches one American Airlines offered earlier in the month.