United makes it easier to upgrade your Ethiopian Airlines flight
This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. For an explanation of our Advertising Policy, visit this page.
United Airlines is using the downtime during the coronavirus to make a bunch of adjustments to its MileagePlus program.
We’ve seen the carrier extend elite status, remove its partner award chart, make it harder to qualify for status through Star Alliance flights and raise the cost of such awards across the board.
Today, however, the carrier is back with a (small) positive update.
As a member of Star Alliance, United has enabled us to redeem United miles for one-cabin upgrades on many Star Alliance partners. Though there have always been a bunch of terms and conditions associated with these upgrades, one of the most limiting was that you could only process upgrades on All Nippon Airways and Ethiopian Airlines within eight weeks of departure.
For more travel tips and news, sign up for our daily newsletter
No matter how much availability there was more than eight weeks before departure, you couldn’t use your United miles to lock it in.
What’s changing
As of July 14, that’s now changing. United now allows upgrade requests on Ethiopian-operated flights between 330 days and 24 hours prior to departure. United’s website has been updated to reflect this policy update.
Though availability is capacity controlled, you now have a much longer window through which to find the space. Pro tip: Use ExpertFlyer (owned by TPG’s parent company, Red Ventures) to set an alert.
Related: The best websites for searching Star Alliance award availability
In and of itself, this is great news. However, many of the remaining terms and conditions are still quite restrictive.
For one, you can only upgrade expensive economy tickets. Specifically, this includes Y, G, S or B classes of coach tickets — though United could always opt to make this less restrictive in the future. These one-cabin upgrades are offered from coach to business.
In the below example, the cheapest B class round-trip coach ticket from New York to Addis Ababa costs $1,840. (For reference, the cheapest round-trip business-class ticket on these dates is around $4,500.)
If you’re looking to bump to business class using miles, you’d be out 35,000 miles one-way. This could be a good use of United miles, especially if you’re sitting on a stockpile of transferable Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Plus, Ethiopian is a great option for those looking to fly to Africa, the Middle East and beyond, thanks to the plethora of business-class award availability the carrier releases.
Related: It’s now easier than ever to upgrade your flight to Japan using United miles or certificates
Bottom line
Ethiopian is the last of the Star Alliance carriers to have its upgrade window extended. On May 5, 2020, United made a similar change for flights operated by ANA.
Previously you’d need to wait until eight weeks before departure to upgrade ANA flights, but now UA allows upgrade requests on ANA-operated flights up to a full year before departure (until 24 hours before your flight). Note that if you’re a United Premier Platinum, 1K or Global Services member, you can redeem PlusPoints instead of miles for the upgrade.
Some people have many extra United miles to spare. And if you’re looking to upgrade a flight with Ethiopian Airlines, you’ll now have 11 months in which to confirm the upgrade.
Featured photo by Aldo Bidini / via wikimedia
Sign-up Successful!
Welcome to The Points Guy!
WELCOME OFFER: 80,000 Points
TPG'S BONUS VALUATION*: $1,600
CARD HIGHLIGHTS: 2X points on all travel and dining, points transferrable to over a dozen travel partners
*Bonus value is an estimated value calculated by TPG and not the card issuer. View our latest valuations here.
- Earn 80,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $1,000 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
- 2X points on travel and dining at restaurants worldwide, eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
- Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards. For example, 80,000 points are worth $1,000 toward travel.
- Get unlimited deliveries with a $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees on orders over $12 for a minimum of one year on qualifying food purchases with DashPass, DoorDash's subscription service. Activate by 12/31/21.
- Earn 5X points on Lyft rides through March 2022. That’s 3X points in addition to the 2X points you already earn on travel.
Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
Disclaimer: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.