Update 9/2/20: More of these are showing again. Dans Deals has a detailed post on the options available.
Update 8/7/20: These lower priced awards are showing up again. Hat tip to TPG
Original post (3/25/19): United has started offering some award flights from 5,000 miles one way. Previously the minimum a flight would cost is 10,000 miles one way. The new 5,000 mile pricing seems to be only affecting short haul flights that also have low cash prices (e.g $50-$60). Not all of these cheaper flights are pricing at 5,000 they are also pricing anywhere between 6,000 and 10,000. Some will see this as a good move, but this is just a further indication that United wants to move to a dynamic award system with no standard pricing.
Less transparency on how pricing works always ends up being worse for consumers, as this will allow United to devalue miles without the traditional backlash that occurs when award charts are devalued. For the record I don’t have an issue with dynamic pricing, in fact Southwest is one of my favorite programs because you know how much value you’ll get. The issue I have is dynamic pricing without any transparency on how flights are calculated and no transparency when changes are made or why.
Hat tip to TPG
