The week is shaping up to be significant for United Airlines.
As part of a previously unimaginable cooperation with Emirates Airline, the carrier's brand-new route from Newark to Dubai landed on Sunday, March 26. Except from the introduction of United's new long-haul route and potential codeshare opportunities, the partnership's specifics have mostly remained a secret since it was first announced in September of last year.
The two airlines made some more announcements on Thursday regarding their partnership that focused on customer experience and loyalty benefits. You must be aware of the following.
Benefits of reciprocal loyalty
Starting of March 26, passengers who fly United's nonstop service from Newark to Dubai can now accrue miles on Emirates flights that have been booked in conjunction with United's service.
This indicates that you can earn MileagePlus points for both portions of a flight on United to Dubai and then on to Africa (all on one ticket).
You cannot receive United credit if you book the Emirates flight separately, though.
If you buy your ticket through United, the airline will credit your Emirates account with the amount of the tariff you paid, with the multiplier varying depending on your Premier elite tier from 5x to 11x the fare.
While this is going on, award mile earnings if you purchase your ticket through Emirates will range from 10% to 150% of the distance flown.
Be aware that some of the most affordable Emirates flights do not allow for miles accumulation.
In addition, if you occasionally fly United, you may want to think about crediting your future United flights to the Emirates Skywards loyalty program, an option that became available on March 30.
You can earn Skywards for any United flight, unlike with MileagePlus.
The full earnings table is available on Emirates' website, and it varies depending on the flight distance and the fare paid.
You'll probably do better crediting your United flights to MileagePlus or another Star Alliance member airline than Emirates, unless you have your eye on a specific redemption with Skywards or are a frequent traveler on Emirates.
The carrier's earning rates for United aren't outstanding, aside from the ongoing devaluation of awards by Skywards. A deeply discounted business class ticket will earn 110% of the Skywards points flown, but the same ticket will earn 150% of the Air Canada Aeroplan miles flown, which is a considerably better deal.
Also, starting of March 30, the two airlines have made it possible to use miles to pay for each other's trips.
Be aware that you can only use MileagePlus miles to pay for Emirates flights that are scheduled to coincide with a United trip from Newark to Dubai before you get too enthusiastic. There is no sign that this situation will change very soon, therefore MileagePlus travelers are unable to redeem for first class.
You must conduct a search spanning several dates because MileagePlus has fluctuating prices. Nevertheless, there isn't much saver economy or business availability on United's flight to Dubai, so you might end up traveling using a mixed-U.S.-Emirates itinerary to redeem for an "anytime" award.
United's saving award options are now available to Emirates Skywards as too. A distance-based award chart that Emirates is using to determine the cost of United awards is placed below for your convenience.
| One-way distance (miles) | Economy class | Business class |
| 0?250 | 8,000 | 16,000 |
| 251-500 | 10,000 | 20,000 |
| 501-1,000 | 14,000 | 28,000 |
| 1,001-2,000 | 20,000 | 40,000 |
| 2,001-3,000 | 26,000 | 52,000 |
| 3,001-4,000 | 32,000 | 64,000 |
| 4,001-5,000 | 38,000 | 76,000 |
| 5,001-6,000 | 44,000 | 88,000 |
| 6,001-15,000 | 52,000 | 104,000 |
The taxes and other levies will probably make these awards far less appealing, especially on international trips, even though the award pricing can appear appealing in some distance categories.
For instance, a one-way ticket from Newark to London costs $64,000 in total, including taxes and fees of $815.10.
Reciprocal access to a lounge
Reciprocal lounge access was promised at the time the United and Emirates made their so-called "historic cooperation" announcement.
Regrettably, the benefit has not yet been made available; we will update this article as soon as it is.
Customers of United Polaris departing from Dubai won't have access to the Emirates business-class lounge until that time. Assuming you didn't pay a "business-class special" fee, those connecting in the Gulf city should be allowed to use the Emirates lounge since their subsequent business-class trip probably includes access to it.
Connecting itineraries
The ability to book connecting flights outside of the hubs of both Emirates and United is likely the most fundamental level of coordination, but customers of both airlines stand to gain from the alliance.
Customers of United can now book nonstop flights from Newark to an unspecified number of Emirates locations in the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia. This enables United to advertise tickets in cities that it would not otherwise be able to reach.
Outside the airline's 12 domestic destinations, Emirates passengers traveling to or from the U.S. will benefit from extra connections. In fact, thanks to domestic United feed from Chicago, Houston, or San Francisco, Emirates passengers can fly to more than 150 U.S. cities through the codeshare relationship.
You can purchase any of these connected itineraries from United or Emirates.
Your checked bags will even be automatically moved between connecting flights, save for at your initial port of entry into the United States, according to a new interline agreement.
Also, both carriers will offer you alternative accommodation options if your flight is delayed or canceled.
In conclusion
Despite years of animosity in the 2010s, the United and Emirates have now put their differences behind them and formed a brand-new alliance.
Although the "historic" partnership is being heralded as "game-changing," the specifics aren't always as lucrative as you might anticipate.
MileagePlus members can only receive loyalty rewards on a certain number of flights, and reciprocal lounge access hasn't yet been formally announced.
Although there are more connecting options than ever before, I'd want to see the two airlines strengthen their alliance by expanding the number of eligible routes for MileagePlus redemptions and introducing elite incentives for regular flyers.
FACEBOOK