United making Mileage Upgrades dynamically priced… Time to try Qantas

United announced 3 big crappy changes which are all general devaluations of their miles and their overall program. I never personally used the Excursionist Perk, nor the instant full-fare coach upgrades, but I get why people are sad they're going away. For us, the news that Mileage Upgrade Awards are becoming dynamically priced later this year sorta blows a hole in our current, Australia-heavy strategy. 

As I'd already mentioned, the per-leg cost of: a $1000-ish coach fare + $300-$450 co-pay + 30,000 miles  was already starting to add up, but if I'm suddenly paying, say, 60,000 miles per leg for an upgrade instead of 30,000 then it's time to look at other options. 

No good points game lasts very long (check my similar gravy-train farewell from 2014), and while I'm grateful for the 2 years of togetherness (and back health!) it's afforded us, it's time to start looking around at other options. For my next Sydney visit in June, I decided to follow a Seats.aero alert for a Qantas flight bookable via Alaska Airlines. I have a BILT card because I like getting free points on HOA dues, and it can transfer in to Alaska. The transfer was instant, the booking was painless (85,000 points one-way Dallas to Sydney).

While I'm excited for my first time on Qantas, it's tempered by the fact that they don't have wi-fi on any of their long haul planes, and this is one of the longest scheduled flights on earth: over 17 hours. Hopefully when they get their Project Sunrise planes (and this becomes a 21 hour direct flight!) they'll have wi-fi installed. 

I've gotten so used to staying connected in the air (that Louis CK rant comes to mind here) that I legit think I need to plan what to do with that time besides the obvious Xanax and vodka while lulling myself to sleep with my 80th re-watch of Crazy Rich Asians.