United Airlines’ MileagePlus program last-minute saver awards have jumped to higher-than-typical rates on domestic rates ahread of the holidays, according to a report by View from the Wing.
It’s unclear if the jump is an orchestrated longer-term increase or just a temporary jump triggered by demand ahead of the busy holiday period.
A TPG spot check found many close-in economy awards that were previously priced at 15,000 miles appeared to be going for 20,000 miles one-way, representing a 33% increase in some cases. This appears to be true for itineraries booked within about two weeks of departure.
However, pricing beyond that window still looks more typical — raising the possibility that the increase could be a pre-holiday surge in demand.
TPG reached out to United for comment.
Thanksgiving and the end-of-year holidays do constitute peak travel periods. However, TPG’s tests of popular short-haul United-operated domestic flights have found prices increased by more than 50% on some routes.
Here’s what you need to know about the current award pricing and how you can still book last-minute flights on United for fewer points and miles.
Related: United Airlines deploys Starlink Wi-Fi on its first mainline jet
United MileagePlus last-minute award prices are higher
United MileagePlus prices awards operated by United dynamically, so there is no guarantee as to what price you will pay from one day to the next, although last-minute awards on the shortest domestic routes can sometimes be found for 6,000 miles each way.
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When searching for last-minute award flights from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to San Francisco International Airport (SFO), TPG found that one-way economy flights cost at least 13,900 miles in the coming weeks. But after that, the price drops sharply by more than 50% to just 6,000 miles on most days.
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In the Northeast, there are higher rates from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Dulles International Airport (IAD) near Washington, D.C., over the next 14 days, before most flights drop in price back to just 6,800 miles in that gap between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
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And from Denver International Airport (DEN) to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS), prices have risen to 20,000 miles one-way for the next 13 days (not 14), after which they decrease back to 15,000 miles or lower.
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In TPG’s testing, long-haul routes do not seem to be affected by these last-minute award pricing increases.
Perhaps these higher prices are just Thanksgiving fallout, but if you do need to book award tickets with the airline, we suggest doing so sooner rather than later in case these higher prices start creeping to future dates.
Are there cheaper ways of booking last-minute United awards?
You can also book United awards through Air Canada’s Aeroplan program, a Star Alliance partner of United.
While Aeroplan now prices United-operated flights dynamically (and may not have access to as many United-operated seats as United MileagePlus has), on the same routes above, we have found the following lower rates through Aeroplan for United flights departing within the next 13 days:
- EWR to IAD: 10,000 Aeroplan points plus $33
- LAX to SFO: 10,000 Aeroplan points plus $33
- DEN to AUS: 15,000 Aeroplan points plus $33
Note that Aeroplan adds a 39 Canadian dollar (approximately $30) partner booking fee to United awards.
If you are looking to book short-haul United flights departing within the next 14 days and have transferable credit card points and miles, consider redeeming them through Aeroplan instead. As always, check availability on the Aeroplan website before transferring, as these transfers cannot be reversed.
Bottom line
Hopefully, these close-in higher prices are just an unusual fluctuation due to the airline’s dynamic pricing model and not another of the numerous negative United MileagePlus changes we have seen lately, including the end of the valuable Excursionist Perk.
This is a reminder that it’s a smart strategy to earn transferable points and miles so you have various choices when it comes to booking award tickets and can do some searching for the best-priced options.
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