United Miles Are The Best. No Debate

In case you didn’t realize I like United miles. But seriously, for most all situations, United miles are the most valuable and I’ll only accept a few other options as remotely comparable to being as valuable. This is my reasoning for United being the absolute best miles currency. Hands down and nothing is close.

Award Pricings

The first category is having a good (and usable) award chart. Prices for a roundtrip to Southeast Asia in economy should run 60,000 – 70,000 miles, prices shouldn’t be above 60,000 to Europe, etc… In terms of prices by region United, American Airlines and US Airways are the top contenders. Other programs like Delta (although practically unusable), Air Canada, Lufthansa, etc… have some good spots in their award charts but not across the board.

Fuel Surcharges

But of the top 10 contenders there are very few that do not pass on fuel surcharges. United and American Airlines are the best about not passing on fuel surcharges when redeeming awards. The only airline that AA does pass on fuel surcharges with is British Airways. United passes on no fuel surcharges on any partners, pretty simple.

In fact, British Airways is one of the biggest airlines in the OneWorld alliance so even AA’s one restriction is a big one. It’s not actually a big deal in getting to Europe it’s just a big one in getting to many places in Africa as there are basically no options for intra-Africa. I mean, it’s not a big deal considering the most common uses of miles are not to Africa but regardless, United has no fuel surcharges on a bigger network of airlines.

Ease of Use

United Miles are the easiest airline miles to use. Not only do they have all their partners loaded in their award search system (although they’re not the only one in Star Alliance to do so), it’s the friendliest search engine. As easy as buying a cash ticket. The key to searching is simply checking the box that says “Award Travel” before hitting search!

The real difference is availability. There aren’t a million award options like there are cash options. But as far as using miles goes… it’s one of the best. Certainly better than AA. I get questions about not finding flights on AA and then I have to explain that you can still search partners on Iberia and what not… none of that.

Plus, unlike US Airways, their stopovers and open-jaws can be booked online.

Best Alliance

I don’t think there is a question about which airline alliance is the best, right? Star Alliance is the biggest alliance with 28 airlines. This means that you can use one programs’ miles to book flights on any of the others.

Star Alliance is the biggest in terms of members, flights, destinations, countries, etc… Not only that, but it is the best alliance in terms of luxury. Star Alliance has the most “5 star” airlines in it (3/7). If you care about first class seats and what not it has a plethora – Thai, ANA, Lufthansa, and Asiana all have amazing First Class seats that are bookable with United miles.

To reveal one of my frustrations with the alliance, it’s without a doubt flying over the pacific. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy taking the long way around (trans-Atlantic). But most people are not wanting to fly that much. The actual problem is its limit on availability. Many times people have to route through Asia just to get to Australia. Getting to Australia/New Zealand is hard enough but then turning around and finding a valid flight to the Polynesian islands can be impossible. If it weren’t for this one detail, United miles might be perfectly fine as my only miles currency. Well, almost…

Stopovers

The final thing that sets United apart from American (and US Air) is their stopover rules. For no extra cost you can pretty much book a stopover anywhere on the way to anywhere. Plus, you can throw in an open-jaw, even by adding the open-jaw on your stopover. (If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, please read “How to Book Stopovers on United“).

I exaggerate a little, but I often say that you can book anything with United. See the Top 6 Uses of United Miles to get some creative stopover ideas. There are way more creative things possible besides the included Europe on the way to Asia route.

I must confess, this is the thing that blows AA out of the water. I would chase AA miles just as much but this one thing is very big simply because it increases your options so much. Even just the mere fact that having more than 24 hours for a layover (meaning a stopover) increases your award options and routing options! It’s bookable, anything is bookable, and it’s mostly bookable online.

I’m not saying United is the best frequent flyer program for elite status. Perhaps they don’t upgrade as much and perhaps you earn slightly more miles with AA… but in the end 1) I’m in this for free travel and 2) the number of miles is important but so is what you can do with the miles. And in this case, there is no comparison.