Will you earn United PQP's when booking through Princess EZ Air?

[ualstar]

Hoping that someone will be able to answer this question.  We're trying to maintain elite status on United Airlines for next year.  If we book our United flights through Princess EZ Air, will we still be able to earn PQP's (Premier Qualifying Points)?

[cjpj]

I do on Air Canada.

[skynight]

Try calling United. Tell them EZ Air is a cruise line consolidator.

[Paula_MacFan]

I just checked my United account. We flew Polaris Class round trip to LHR last fall using EZ Air and we received PQPs.

[DCThunder]

Yes, you will earn the PQPs even if booked through EZAir.  You'll get a record locator number at the time you make the EZAir reservation and that will show up in the Mileage Plus account as a booked flight and then as PQPs when you take the flight.

[ualstar]

3 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

I just checked my United account. We flew Polaris Class round trip to LHR last fall using EZ Air and we received PQPs.

Thank you.  I've been hesitant to book through EZ Air but now that I know PQP's are given, I'll be looking into future flights.

[Paula_MacFan]

Follow up comment -- we were able to use the United app functionality to order meals, track bags, etc just like normal.

 

We have United flights booked thru EZ Air for our trip home from our upcoming Alaska cruise and it shows up in our United account like normal.

[ualstar]

5 minutes ago, DCThunder said:

Yes, you will earn the PQPs even if booked through EZAir.  You'll get a record locator number at the time you make the EZAir reservation and that will show up in the Mileage Plus account as a booked flight and then as PQPs when you take the flight.

Thank you!  Your information has been very helpful!

[ualstar]

Thanks everyone for all the helpful information.  I've noticed that through EZ Air, sometimes the "flexible" rates are better than what's available through United.com.

[DCThunder]

6 minutes ago, ualstar said:

Thanks everyone for all the helpful information.  I've noticed that through EZ Air, sometimes the "flexible" rates are better than what's available through United.com.

It depends.  International flights are often better, but domestic flights not so much, at least in my experience.  But the routings on EZAir can sometimes be very wonky.  It pays to check both EZAir and the airlines own website before booking through either.

 

[azbirdmom]

Yes you will but it is calculated differently from what you would normally earn.  This is the page on the United website which describes how the credit works along with pertinent verbiage https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/mileageplus/earn-miles/united.html#specialty

 

Specialty tickets

Certain specialty tickets (including but not limited to unpublished, consolidator/bulk, group, tour and opaque tickets where the fare you paid is not provided to United) will earn miles based on the flight distancefootnote² and the purchased fare class using the chart below:

MileagePlus earnings on specialty tickets for flights departing on or after January 1, 2020

Eligible fare classes on specialty tickets for flights operated by United or United Express	Base milesfootnote4 earned (based on flight distancefootnote2)	Fare class bonus (calculated from base milesfootnote4)
J, C, D, Z, P	100%	50%
Y, B, M, O, A, R	100%	0%
E, U, H, Q, V, W	75%	0%
S, T	50%	0%
L, K, G	25%	0%

Premier members are eligible to earn Premier bonus miles on specialty tickets, in addition to the miles shown in the table above, based upon the member's Premier status on the date of travel and the base milesfootnote⁴ earned.

Members can earn Premier qualifying points (PQP) on bulk tickets. For flights operated by United, please visit the Premier qualification page. For flights operated by a Star Alliance partner, your Premier qualifying points will be determined by a formula that varies depending on whether you’re flying a MileagePlus preferred partner or a MileagePlus partner. Visit the partner page for the airline you’re flying to learn more.

 

 

Note that I also found something I had copied from another source to show how it works and I've shown that below - not sure if it's still 100% accurate (I've achieved 1MM status so I don't watch this as much now):

 

Members will earn PQP on bulk tickets for flights operated by United according to the specialty ticket award mile earn and fare class bonuses. Premier qualifying points will be equal to specialty ticket award miles* earned divided by 5.

*When calculating PQP, specialty ticket award miles should not include any Premier bonus miles earned from specialty tickets.

For example, if you flew one way from New York/Newark (EWR) to London Heathrow (LHR) on a bulk ticket in P fare class:

Base miles: 3,465

Base miles earn: 100%

Fare class bonus: 50%

Award mile earn: 5,198

PQP earn: 1,040 (Award miles earned divided by 5)

Edited April 24 by azbirdmom

[azbirdmom]

Just to add on to my last post I did find the section I appended above on this page so it is still accurate https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/mileageplus/premier/qualify.html

 

And this is still exactly the same:

 

[ualstar]

47 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

Just to add on to my last post I did find the section I appended above on this page so it is still accurate https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/mileageplus/premier/qualify.html

 

And this is still exactly the same:

 

Thank you so much for sharing this.  I guess Princess EZ Air would fall under the "bulk ticket" category.  Looks like quite a decrease in PQP's for this type of booking.  I'd have to really compare the price difference.

[milolii]

Excellent post by @azbirdmom.  
 

Not United, but on American, there is a big change coming regarding  award miles for fares “ticked” after April 30, 2024.  American will only issue award miles for tickets purchased on their website, One World Partner websites and approved travel partners. 
 

So far United and Delta haven’t responded with like changes. 

[azbirdmom]

53 minutes ago, ualstar said:

Thank you so much for sharing this.  I guess Princess EZ Air would fall under the "bulk ticket" category.  Looks like quite a decrease in PQP's for this type of booking.  I'd have to really compare the price difference.

Yes, EZAir is considered a bulk ticket.  Back when I cared about PQPs I did the math before choosing how to book so I definitely paid attention to this stuff.

[azbirdmom]

32 minutes ago, milolii said:

Excellent post by @azbirdmom.  
 

Not United, but on American, there is a big change coming regarding  award miles for fares “ticked” after April 30, 2024.  American will only issue award miles for tickets purchased on their website, One World Partner websites and approved travel partners. 
 

So far United and Delta haven’t responded with like changes. 

I saw that but I think they also allow miles earned by using their branded credit card.  I would not be surprised if other airlines followed suit although you never know.

[Arizona Wildcat]

3 hours ago, ualstar said:

Thank you.  I've been hesitant to book through EZ Air but now that I know PQP's are given, I'll be looking into future flights.

Do understand that the points you earn depend on your fare class code.  A consolidator fare will likely earn very few points.  Our last flight 25% of a regular coach ticket.

[capriccio]

We have always received PQPs on EZ Air United flights.  We've also been on the free upgrade list each time.  The best upgrade was made at the gate at Heathrow to business class om 2019.

[DCThunder]

15 hours ago, milolii said:

Excellent post by @azbirdmom.  
 

Not United, but on American, there is a big change coming regarding  award miles for fares “ticked” after April 30, 2024.  American will only issue award miles for tickets purchased on their website, One World Partner websites and approved travel partners. 
 

So far United and Delta haven’t responded with like changes. 

I was just looking at the American Advantage website and the change is now effective July 11, 2024, rather than April 30.  I also just checked and an international RT business class fare for January 2025, booked directly with AA, is around $100 less on the AA website than on EZAir.  

[milolii]

8 hours ago, DCThunder said:

I was just looking at the American Advantage website and the change is now effective July 11, 2024, rather than April 30.  I also just checked and an international RT business class fare for January 2025, booked directly with AA, is around $100 less on the AA website than on EZAir.  

Good to know.  We also booked with AA, RT business class for January, 2025.  EZair didn't come close with pricing.  This is for EZE.  

Edited April 25 by milolii