Triangle Trip

Furthering my previous post regarding United counting partner miles towards United’s MileagePlus Million Miler Program, it seems like United is only performing a one-time true-up to count all partner miles toward the Million Miler Program as a part of the Continental merger. I have flown USAir and Lufthansa flights after the merger and banked my flight miles to my United MileagePlus account. The PQM (Premier Qualifying Miles) showed up on my account but was counted toward my Million Miler miles. I have heard from others where their Lufthansa miles were counted towards United’s Million Miler Program.

After reviewing United’s Lifetime Flight Miles section of the Million Miler Program website, I came to the following conclusion regards what flight miles count toward the Million Miler program:

1.  You must be on a United or Copa flight.

2.  You must purchase the ticket on United with a United Airlines flight number even though it is operated by another carrier. For example, you purchased on United a round trip ticket from JFK to FRA where the outbound is a United fight and the return is a co-shared Lufthansa flight.

For sure, United does not count the following flight miles toward its Million Miler Program:

1.  Flights operated by USAir (which is its competitor in the US).

2.  Flights operated by Star Alliance partners that does not originate or return to the US. For example, a Singapore Airline flight from HKG to SIN.

Please share your experiences, thoughts and suggestions with us.

I am sure you all received an email from United stating that Premier/Elite benefits will be extended into the first quarter of 2012. However it not state the exact date. The good news is your United status will not expire on January 31 unlike other carriers which carries your previous year’s status to the end of February (see my previous post).

The real news United did not highlight is the fact that United will be adopting the Continental OnePass system as I have predicted last summer (see previous post). This means United flyers will need to use their OnePass number to bank miles starting in March 2012 (see United link). For those United flyers without a OnePass number, I’m sure United will be sending you a new six digit account number soon.

More importantly, United will be adjusting all the actual airline miles you have earned from partner airlines and count them towards your MileagePlus Million Miler program. To get this information, login to United MileagePlus Personalized Preview via this link. As you can see below, all of my miles earned from partner airlines and Continental have been added to my lifetime miles on my MileagePlus account.

As indicated by United, MileagePlus and Continental’s OnePass program used to track lifetime activities differently. United MileagePlus counted only base EQM (actual flight miles on United and United Express), while OnePass counted both base EQM and additional EQM (those earned on partner airlines or through promotions or certain credit cards).

United was kind enough to recalculate its MileagePlus lifetime miles balances to include additional EQM earned since enrolling in the program. United will refresh the balance before the 2012 MileagePlus program begins on March 3, 2012.

For those of you who are curious, below are the perks of becoming a United Million Miler.

If you have not merged your United MileagePlus account with your Continental OnePass account, you should do it soon. It’s important that the first and last name and your addresses on your of your MilagePlus and OnePass accounts are identical - mine weren’t, so I called Continental OnePass to change my name to match my United Mileage Plus account.

The Continental OnePass agent suggested I should change my United information instead. Her rationale is that the combined airline will be using Continental’s OnePass system after the two frequent flyer programs have merged. The OnePass agent also told me our United number will be going away as the new system will be using the Continental OnePass number.

I also asked how lifetime miles will work in the new program - the agent didn’t have an answer for me because of how United and Continental currently counts lifetime miles. United only gives its members credit for lifetime Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM) when it is a United coshare, while Continental counts all partner miles toward your lifetime miles.

In hindsight, I should have banked all my Star Alliance miles with Continental instead of United.If you’ve not merged your accounts, I suggest you do it now (here’s the link)!