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Recent changes and devaluations to the American Airlines AAdvantage program have left me less than happy with what has been my loyalty program of choice for a number of years – but is the grass greener elsewhere?
In part 1 I took a look how earning status differed between the two programs and how their upgrade policies differed too. In this post I’m be taking a look at how redeemable miles are earned and how much worthwhile awards cost.
It’s worth bearing in mind something that I pointed out in part 1: I’m looking at how these two programs match up for my needs and from my point of view. Your needs and situation may be different so what works for me may not work for you (and vice versa).
Earning Redeemable Miles – MileagePlus vs AAdvantage
Earning Redeemable Miles on tickets purchased through United Airlines & American Airlines
Form some point in 2016 (they haven’t been able to give us an actual date yet) American Airlines will be transitioning their AAdvantage loyalty program from distance based rewards to spend based rewards and, as I’ve already discussed (American Airlines AAdvantage Devaluation: How The Earning Rate Changes Will Affect Me), going forward I expect to see the number of AAdvantage miles I earn in a year to be halved.
American Airlines will be awarding redeemable miles based on a simple formula:
Status multiplier x Fare (less taxes) = Redeemable miles earned
A top-tier AAdvantage Executive Platinum member is given a status multiplier of 11 so, based on that, I’ve worked out how many redeemable miles I would have earned under American’s new system if my travels in the future mirror those of the past year:
This isn’t wholly accurate as my $ spent figure includes taxes, so I would have earned fewer redeemable miles than the table indicates but, for comparative purposes, this will do.
How does this compare to what United offers?
United already operates a system that appears identical to what American Airlines are introducing….
…so, if I held Premier 1K status with United MileagePlus, it looks like I would earn exactly the same number of redeemable miles with United MileagePlus as I would with AAdvantage.
If there’s no difference to how many miles I would earn by flying with United and American, is there any difference in how they award redeemable miles for travel on partner airlines?
Earning Redeemable Miles on Partner Airlines
American Airlines isn’t changing how they award redeemable miles for travel booked through their partner airlines. The formula stays the same:
Multiplier (based on fare class) x miles flown = redeemable miles earned.
What is changing, however, is the multiplier that is used in that formula.
Wile the cheapest economy awards on British Airways have historically earned 1 redeemable mile per mile flown, going forward that will be falling to just 0.25 redeemable miles per mile flown. And the same is true for most of the rest of American’s parters….there are even a few partners where discount economy fares don’r earn any miles at all, like with Cathay Pacific:
So how does United MileagePlus deal with mileage earning on partner airlines?
Surprise, surprise! United’s MilagePlus program awards redeemable miles for travel booked through their partners in exactly the same way as American Airlines plans to award them – a multiplier (based on fare class) x miles flown gives the number of redeemable miles earned.
The only distinction between the two loyalty programs appears to be the multiplier used….but that’s quite a big distinction!
As the two types of fares I’m most likely to book are Deep Discount Economy and Deep Discount Business Class that’s what I’m going to focus on here.
I’ve taken 4 partners from both airlines (ones that I’m most likely to use) and compared the earning rates on each:
American Airlines Partners (Cheapest Economy Fare/Cheapest Business Class Fare multipliers):
- Cathay Pacific: 0 / 1.25
- British Airways: 0.25 / 1.25
- Qatar Airways: 0.25 / 1.25
- Etihad: 1.0 / 1.25
Lufthansa Business Class – Airbus A330
United Airlines Partners (Cheapest Economy Fare/Cheapest Business Class Fare multipliers):
- Lufthansa: 0.5 / 1.0
- Aegean: 1.0 /1.25
- ANA: 0.5 / 1.5
- SWISS: 0.5 / 1.0
Which is better for me?
For flights booked directly with United and American there appears to be absolutely no difference whatsoever – so that’s a tie.
For flights booked with partners it looks like United MileagePlus is more rewarding for Discount Economy Class travel while American’s AAdvantage program is marginally more rewarding for Discount Business Class travel.
This is genuinely very close indeed but I think I’m going to give it to United MileagePlus. The earning rates on Economy class fares are mostly double that of American’s while their earning rates on discount Business Class fares aren’t that far behind.
Winner: United MileagePlus
The Cost Of Awards – MileagePlus vs AAdvantage
There are two types of awards to consider:
- Awards on American/United operated flights
- Awards on partner operated flights
AAdvantage Partner Award Chart
All United MileagePlus Award Charts
I’ve chosen a number of routes which would interest me most and compared the cost of awards on each route.
Comparison of Award Costs on American Airlines & United Airlines Operated Flights
(Click table to enlarge)
Results:
- American Airlines has the cheaper Economy Class Awards overall.
- United Airlines has, overwhelmingly, the cheaper First Class Awards
- There’s not much between the two airlines when it comes to Business Class awards with American Airlines shading it.
Comparison of Award Costs on Partner Operated Flights
(Click table to enlarge)
An overwhelming win for American Airlines AAdvantage.
United MileagePlus partner awards cost considerably more miles than the same awards cost with AAdvantage – and some of the differences are huge.
Just a few examples:
- USA – Europe (Business Class) – United MileagePlus costs 22% more miles
- USA – Europe (First Class) – United MileagePlus costs 30% more miles
- USA – Tokyo (Business Class) – United MileagePlus costs 25% more miles
- USA – Tokyo (First Class) – United MileagePlus costs 37.5% more miles
Which is better for me?
Things to bear in mind:
- If I’m going to spend hard-earned miles I’m going to try to redeem them on the best carriers available (as long as they don’t charge ridiculous surcharges) and those that give me the best flight options.
- I’m very unlikely to redeem miles for International First Class awards on a US airline – they’re simply not worth it.
USA – Europe:
As I have a base in the UK I tend to fly American Airlines on this route rather than any of their partners. It wouldn’t be too hard to swap over to United but, a quick look at the award charts shows that there’s not a lot in it.
I could move to a United Partner airline but most of those would require a connection in mainland Europe and that’s inconvenient.
USA – Asia:
I wouldn’t choose to spend award miles on a US based airline on these routes so it’s the partner awards that matter here and American’s partner awards are considerably cheaper.
USA – Australia:
This is one of those routes where award availability is so tough you just take whatever you can get. Overall, both United operated flights and United Partner airlines have the cheaper awards down under so they come out the winners on this route.
Europe – All Routes (other than US):
This is all about American’s partner airlines and the value with them is just so much better than the value with United’s partners. It’s not even close.
The decision on this section is an easy one….
Winner: American Airlines AAdvantage
While United MileagePlus narrowly beat out AAdvantage in the earning stakes, AAdvantage trounced MileagePlus when it came to a comparison in the cost of awards. But that doesn’t tell the full story.
In the next instalment in this series I’ll take a look at how easy it is to book awards on American, United and their partners – It’s all very well American charging fewer miles for their awards but that’s not much use to anyone if there isn’t any availability. Let’s see how that works out.
