One of the good value spots on the KrisFlyer Star Alliance award chart is for domestic flights with United Airlines in the USA. While some shorter flights aren’t always a great deal, if you can pick up a longer coast-to-coast itinerary then the rates start to look quite attractive.
For example you can fly for over 5 hours from San Francisco to New York for just 12,500 KrisFlyer miles + US$5.60 in Economy Class, or 23,000 miles + US$5.60 in Business Class.
The super-low taxes and fees are also a reason these redemptions can give you even better value.
(See our KrisFlyer College Part 3 for the best and the worst cities for redemption taxes and fees on SQ/MI flights)
These UA transcontinental routes are very popular, so it can sometimes be hard to find a non-stop flight to suit your needs. Alternatively you might be flying somewhere a bit more obscure on the UA network, where a flight change will almost always be necessary.
That’s not usually a big problem provided you don’t mind a connection or two, as the airline offers a wide range of options through its hubs.
The problem
For some reason the online KrisFlyer system has started pricing these United domestic connecting flights as individual sectors, rather than applying the usual zone-based total miles amount, as you can see in the following example for an Economy Saver award from San Francisco to Newark with a flight change (layover) in Chicago.