Here's a UA Question

[HUGE AL]

A buddy of mine (who just made 1k) and I were debating this the other night. He flies SFO-PVG-SFO every five weeks. His company is super cheap and insists he fly in whY with a maximum budget of $2k -- but usually his tickets around $1k.

Question: Is he best off flying UA in whY and hoping he can periodically use his SWUs, or should he start flying the route on NH via NRT and continue to credit his MP account? Is NH any better than UA in the back of the bus?

[Bon]

I'd stick with UA for the double miles and E+.

[kevino]

I agree. And he'll earn more SWU's at 150k and have lots of domestic upgrades too.

[kkjay77]

Let's see...

SFO-PVG is 6168 miles.
As a 1K, your friend would earn 24,672 miles.
Every trip in 5 weeks mean at least 10 round trips, which would earn more than 246,720 miles.

Also, if (s)he can find UA domestic flier, it is very reasonable to trade 2 CR-1s (confirmed region 1 upgrade certs) to 1 SWUs.

6 SWUs + 4 SWUs (from CR-1 trade) + 240K miles, it's very likely that OP's friend would not fly Y often.

[kevino]

And if he does happen to fly in the U.S., he can use this e-500 milers to upgrade. He will earn 4 for every 10k miles he flies.

[sudsoz]

The advice for HUGE AL about sticking with UA makes sense - especially with the Bonus miles. The other thing is that the UA lounges at SFO and LAX are miles in front of the others. The lounge at Bradley in LAX is the pits.

[SQ LPP]

The lounge at Bradley in LAX is the pits.

The StarAlliance lounges at TBIT LAX are very decent. Perhaps you were talking of lounges prior to the renovation and refurbishment last year?

[HUGE AL]

Also, if (s)he can find UA domestic flier, it is very reasonable to trade 2 CR-1s (confirmed region 1 upgrade certs) to 1 SWUs.

6 SWUs + 4 SWUs (from CR-1 trade) + 240K miles, it's very likely that OP's friend would not fly Y often.

Where does one go about trading their CR-1s? Coupon Connection on TOF?