Today, Chase announced a new kind of currency that its Mileage Plus Visa will earn called “Mileage Plus Choices.” These “Choices” will be redeemable for five new kinds of awards. From the Choices FAQ:

• When you fly United, United Express, Ted or Star Alliance on a ticket purchased using your Chase Mileage Plus credit card on united.com, you earn:
• Choices for the purchase
• Mileage Plus Redeemable Miles and Elite Qualifying Miles/Elite Qualifying Segments when you complete the flight.
• You earn a mileage bonus for booking on united.com.
• You can redeem Choices for:
  • A statement credit against the purchase of any available seat on any available flight purchased on united.com, as well as any car rental purchased at www.united.com/cars or hotel purchased at www.united.com/hotels with your Mileage Plus credit card – No blackouts.
  • Economy Plus Access
  • Elite Qualifying Miles/Elite Qualifying Segments

Also, when purchasing free air tickets the amount of “Choices” needed is based on the price of the ticket rather than the traditional set redemption amounts. For example, if you buy a round trip ticket on united.com for $180, you can redeem 18,000 Choices to receive a $180 statement credit. This compares favorably with the 25,000 Miles that you would traditionally have to redeem for an award ticket. If the ticket cost exceeds $250, you could also use 25,000 Choices for a Saver award (assuming availability) but any Redeemable Miles you have in your Mileage Plus account will be used first before Choices are used. As an example, from the FAQ:

1. Starting balance: Choices – 20,000 Redeemable Miles – 55,000
2. Book a Saver Award for U.S. domestic travel: 25,000 Redeemable Miles
3. Ending balance: Choices – 20,000 Redeemable Miles – 30,000
4. Your Choices balance is not reduced, because Redeemable Miles are applied first and your Redeemable Miles balance still exceeds your Choices balance.
5. Starting Balance: Choices – 20,000 Redeemable Miles – 30,000
6. Book another Saver Award for U.S. domestic travel: 25,000
7. End balance: Choices – 5,000 Redeemable Miles – 5,000
8. Your Choices balance is reduced because your Redeemable Miles balance falls below your Choices balance, requiring that Choices be redeemed to complete the transaction.

In general, these changes look like a true enhancement to the redemption program, rather than an “enhancement” disguised as a devaluation, as is often the case. For more information on these changes, visit: http://www.united.com/chase.