United Confirms Dynamic PARTNER Award Pricing – What Does This Mean?

**NOTE: Please see this follow article from the next day**

Are United Partner Awards Maybe NOT Going Fully Dynamic (Yet)?

Original Post follows….

A small detail in a MyFico post (tipped via @IadisGr8 on Twitter) this morning seems to confirm that United plans to start applying dynamic award pricing levels to partner awards starting November 15th.

You can see the text right on the United website.

United Discloses Upcoming Dynamic Partner Award Pricing

Now, I would have thought the key words here would be “for travel on or after” meaning that if you search a travel date later than that, this dynamic system should be apparent.

It’s not, though, at least for me, showing dynamic partner pricing.

Have you seen any partner awards at all pricing at anything besides the expected saver level? If so please do let me know in the comments.

Still, I take this text at face value and we should be on guard that United miles will be worth *even less*  as this unfolds. After all, if you ultimately can only use United miles at a fixed value, they become essentially worthless to earn when you could be earning transferable bank points, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve – spending the latter at 1.5 cents a point (or transferring to UA or any other partner) which will certainly yield more than a United miles.

United Co-Brand Credit Cards

And it *certainly* makes United a less valuable co-brand card product. I get that much of the mass public likes dynamically lower pricing on cheap flights more than they “get” scoring a $5,000 Business class seat for 89,000 miles, but I also think that with the blogosphere as it is now, in both travel and finance, there is enough of the people like me that will drive this point home that it will have an effect.

Transferable Bank Points

Also keep in mind that, for now, you still have other options. That United partner flight (when no longer pegged to a good value) can still be booked by other Star Alliance partners such as Avianca or Singapore Airlines.

Sure, I have a nagging pang that over several years, more and more (all?) airlines will demolish the value proposition of their Frequent Flyer Program similarly, but for now – continue to earn transferable point currencies and continue to burn them as you have the opportunity.

• Credit Cards That Earn Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
• Credit Cards That Earn American Express (Amex) Membership Rewards Points
• Credit Cards That Earn Capital One Miles
• Credit Cards That Earn Citi ThankYou Points

What is your strategy going forward?

Let me know here, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group.

You can find credit cards that best match your spending habits and bonus categories at Your Best Credit Cards. 

New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available on Amazon and at major booksellers.