It appears that United Airlines Mileage Plus has some kind of special access to Thai Airways award availability that isn’t accessible through other Star Alliance programs as I figured out through some searches this week.
Most importantly this is the case for Business Class awards on key routes that don’t appear to be bookable on major Star Alliance frequent flyer programs anymore while United Mileage Plus can access those readily.
This reminds me of the infamous Starnet Blocking that occurred in the mid- to late 2000s. Back then, it was United that blocked availability on Star Alliance carriers while the company wasn’t doing well financially.
In recent weeks I tried to search for multiple routes operated by THAI, such as Frankfurt-Bangkok, Bangkok-Denpasar/Bali, and Bangkok-Tokyo, but no flights were available on either Air Canada Aeroplan, Singapore Airlines Krisflyer and Lufthansa Miles&More.
United, on the other hand, always had availability in Business Class, sometimes even First Cass (to Tokyo).
Another issue was this week when I decided to seek out a flight from Frankfurt to Bangkok again:
Once again United offers me availability on both TG921 and TG923 in Business Class – at a very steep price of 140,000 miles (no thanks).
Nothing, however on other programs such as Singapore Airlines Krisflyer:
The same problem on Air Canada Aeroplan – nothing:
The Lufthansa website didn’t offer any award flight on THAI either, and after giving them a call, the agent at the Senator hotline said this has been a common problem in recent months, though he wasn’t able to say which side is causing the problem.
It’s really baffling why, all of a sudden, THAI award availability is blocked on the vast majority of Star Alliance programs. What I’d like to know even more is who and what is causing it.
There are only three options:
- It’s a technical error
- THAI blocks certain programs from accessing redemptions
- Other programs block THAI awards from being displayed in the search engine
For frequent flyers to/from/via Thailand this is not a great development because THAI was generally known for always having a somewhat generous inventory to burn off miles.
I also received some reader comments in the last two months so it seems to be a common issue across a large variety of programs.
Conclusion
There seems to be a problem between THAI and most other Star Alliance frequent flyer programs when it comes to offering and redeeming awards, especially in Business Class. Finding any availability on programs other than Thai Royal Orchid Plus and United Mileage Plus appears to be futile at the moment.
The downside is that Mileage Plus has devalued the program so much that Business Class awards on partners are now extremely expensive so even if you find a flight on THAI, it’s likely too expensive.
Have you encountered similar issues when trying to redeem miles on Thai Airways in premium class?
