nubbeldupp

Since I currently don't have the time to maintain my PQP CALC I'll put up a Link to your calculator if that's ok with you.
It looks way cleaner

ccgcollector

I'm looking to book a flight to KBP from EWR that has two layovers. I'm wondering how much PQP would be credited for each segment to my UA account?

Segment 1
- EWR to YUL
- Ticket issued by AC
- Operated by AC
- Class P

Segment 2
- YUL to MUC
- Ticket issued by AC
- Operated by LH
- Class P

Segment 3
- MUC to KBP
- Ticket issued by AC
- Operated by LH
- Class P

Thank you!

WineCountryUA

The easiest approach is to use this FTer (kevflyer) member's webcalculator (assuming not on 016 UA ticket stock)
For the gory details follow the steps in the wiki
Remember just the flight operator matters, and the flight operator's fare class -- marketing carrier and marketing carrier fare class does not matter.

ccgcollector

Thanks for the advice! It's not on 016 UA stock, it should be AC's 015 stock. The LH-operated segment on LH metal look like it's marketed on an AC codeshare (i.e. AC 9207). Even in this case, I should use the LH partner earnings chart, right? I use kevflyer's calculator, it's very useful, but I'm guessing should I should select LH for the segment, and not AC?

jsloan

Yes. In Star Alliance, only the operating carrier matters.

ccgcollector

Sounds good to me! It'll make all of the calculation easier.

SCtime

Does anyone have experience with with successful 'higher' PQP earnings on MP for partner ticketed & operated flights in July or August 2020? I have a couple of flights for Q4/Q1 '21 booked prior to 29 April which were booked on & operated by partners and seem likely to fly though I may have covid waiver options. With the generally exceptionally challenging experiences I've had with UA and it's partners this year so far, I'm looking for data to make the best decision possible. Thanks in advance.

mysticalice

Hi -
Fairly frequent flyer here, but shooting for United 1K this year with the reduced requirements. I'm gold now, almost Platinum.

I need to fly from U.S. to Athens in a few weeks. Rather than buying the ticket through United, i'm trying to fly on their premier partner airlines as much as possible so i can get the PQP of miles divided by 5, rather than the fare cost if i book through United.

Houston to Newark (United flight)
Newark to Frankfurt, Germany (Lufthansa flight)
Frankfurt to Athens, Greece (Lufthansa flight)
then coming back:
Athens, Greece to Frankfurt, Germany (Lufthansa Flight)
Frankfurt to Chicago (Lufthansa Flight)
Chicago to Houston (United flight)

Total ticket cost was well under $1000, and I was happy, as I'd land two tickets at the max 750 PQP, and a few 200ish PQPs. Plus the 2 United flights which would be who knows how many PQPs

However, I found out Lufthansa's LIGHT BASIC transfers to "BASIC ECONOMY" on United, so i wouldn't have got any PQPs...
I called United premier support and they said because it's a partner, they can tell that it's a 'basic economy' equivalent ticket. Didn't know that they had that visibility, but oh well. Cancelled the ticket (within the 24 hour cancellation period), but need to rebook.

My understanding (at this point) is if i book "Economy Basic" with Lufthansa (as opposed to Economy Light), that i will get the mileage divided by 5, for each flight on a preferred United partner (Lufthansa), and some amount based on United's portion of the fare, if the entire itinerary is booked through Lufthansa (or another company, as long as not United.com)

Basically these 6 flights i'm expecting to come back with 6 PQFs, and 2400ish PQPs (750 max on the two international legs, and the other 4 will be 200ish each)

Am i on the right track?

P.S. - I'm not concerned about earning miles. I don't care if i earn 1 mile this entire trip, I'm super concerned about earning the appropriate PQP and PQFs

jsloan

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

There's also a fare class multiplier you have to take into consideration... and for economy tickets, it's often a big penalty.

That wasn't going to work, because the fare classes would have been too low.

True
Not true. Basic Economy would give you the same number of PQPs as regular economy, based upon the fare class you're ticketed in. However, you wouldn't get any PQFs.

Correct.

I'm afraid not. See the thread's wiki for more details, and consider using the calculator there. Note that you'll need more information than what you've provided so far -- not just Economy Basic, but also the specific fare class. For example, a K-class fare will only give you 25% of distance traveled as the starting point, and then the PQP is calculated from there.

While is definitely possible to get a fare-to-PQP ratio of more than 100% by flying partner airlines, it's not always the case. Premium Economy and discount business class fares often have this trait; economy generally doesn't.

Hope this helps.

Actually, you are -- because the PQP is calculated from the number of award miles granted . If a fare doesn't qualify for award miles, it also doesn't qualify for any PQP -- and if it only qualifies for 25% award miles, it only qualifies for 25% PQP.

mysticalice

Wow that's extremely confusing. So here i thought it was as simple as "I'm flying 1000 miles on Lufthansa, so i would get 200 PQPs (1000 / 5)"

So if i understand (after checking the chart on the top of the page), If i fly Lufthansa and "full economy", of 30%, then it would be 30% of 1000 miles (assuming the flight leg is 1000 miles), or 300. THEN I take the preferred partner 1/5 multiplier, so the PQP i get would be 60.
That can't be right - that's 60 miles for every 1000 miles traveled? Geez... it's going to be impossible to get to 1K at that rate. Hah.

Anything I'm missing here?

Actually i'm still confused; because going through the pqp.economiles dot com calculator, it shows the full flight segment miles, with no 30% multiplier, etc.
What am i missing here?

jsloan

The chart at the top of the page has dividing by 5 or 6 included in it already. "Full economy" is actually a very expensive ticket, so you'd get a bonus -- a 1000 mile flight on Lufthansa in full economy (Y or B fare classes) will earn you 300 PQP.

The "second-level economy" fares for Lufthansa, that say 20%, work the way that you thought every fare does -- mileage traveled divided by 5. (20% = 1/5). But those are still going to be quite expensive.

The very cheapest tickets on Lufthansa that actually earn PQP are the K class tickets at 5%: That's a 1000 mile flight, times 25% to yield 250 award miles, divided by 5 to get 50 PQP (50 = 5% of 1,000).

You're probably best off by using the calculator from the wiki and comparing the number of PQP you'd get from buying the ticket on Lufthansa to the number you'd get for buying it from United.

I put in AUS-FRA, LH, K-class, and press calculate, and I see the following:
Miles: 5,310
Earn: 25%
RDM (redeemable miles in the MileagePlus program): 1328
PQP: 266
PQF: 1

Note that 266 is 5% of 5310. This matches the chart above.

If I put in Y class, and keep everything else the same:
Miles: 5,310
Earn: 150%
RDM: 7,965
PQP: 750
PQF: 1
750 is the cap for economy travel.

It is impossible to calculate the earnings in the new system without knowing the fare class that your flight will book into.

mysticalice

Perfect; thanks - I've been using the calculator from the wiki.
The problem is the ticket I bought (that since refunded) says it's class "L" (on the Lufthansa email), but when i put that fare destination in for just one leg (EWR to FRA), it shows i would get 1 PQF (this i knew), and 750 PQPs, but that doesn't seem to add up when looking at the rest of the info you provided as well as the chart :/
Not to mention that United shows the Lufthansa "L" ticket (Economy Basic) as basic economy, which gives NO PQPs, according to them

jsloan

If I put EWR / FRA / LH / L into the calculator, I see 387 PQP, which is the correct value. Perhaps you mistyped the class?

UA is wrong about Basic Economy not giving PQPs. Unfortunately, people on this board often know the systems better than United's reps. . A Basic Economy flight would not give PQFs, but it would give PQPs.

mysticalice

Thank you; I had, in fact, typed in the wrong fare class. Lol.
Sigh.
I need 5200 PQP and 14 PQF to get 1K for the year. Had hoped this trip would get half of my PQPs, but looks like now i'll be lucky to get 1/4 of them

One more thing that confuses me:
Is there anywhere on the United Lufthansa page that shows that partner airline 'basic' equivalent tickets (which i'm guessing is what the Lufthansa 'L' class was) translates to 'basic economy' on United, and therefore doesn't qualify for PQF?

jsloan

Happy I could help, but I'm sorry the results weren't more to your liking.

The limit increases with time.

Unfortunately, not as far as I know. The Basic Economy system is, itself, extremely complicated -- you can buy a Basic Economy L fare and a regular economy L fare on the same flight. In general, on Lufthansa-group airlines, the Basic Economy equivalent is called "Light." On Air Canada, it's called "Tango." I don't believe it's an issue for any other partner airline... yet.

Hope this helps...