On February 1, United Airlines became the latest airline to improve the value of its miles by implementing one-way award ticket redemptions. For those of you who might have paltry United balances, they just made it half as difficult for you to use your miles. This competitive move follows American Airlines' implementation of one-way awards in May 2009. The rules are simple enough - fly the most direct routing, without stopovers. Taxes are especially cheap on these one-way tickets, with most domestic routings pricing out at a mere $5.00. Award tickets are priced at exactly half of their round-trip counterparts - domestic travel starts at 12,500 miles one-way.
United has also implemented a Miles & Money award option, which gives you a monetary discount on your ticket in exchange for a disproportionate amount of miles. We don't consider this a stellar value by any means. You are far better off saving up your miles for a one-way award.
Some of you might wonder why anyone would want to fly one way. Well, the answer is flexibility. Without a set return ticket, you are free to make your own schedule without having to worry about change fees - simply book a return ticket when you're ready to go home. Or, combine your low balances on United, American, Alaska, or British Midland to create a custom-made award ticket.
Kudos to United for stepping up to the bat and making travel with them easier. This is a good move. Now, why isn't Delta joining in the party? I'd love to see that in 2010.
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