i have decided to start accruing mileage plus mileage in an attempt to gain status on united, since i fear us airways will cease to exist before too long.

i have been offered a "sort of" status challenge on united.

the only airlines that fly out of my hometown with planes that have fc cabins are us airways and delta. i don't want to have anything to do with delta.

i can fly united to gain the mileage plus status, of course, but if i do it means rj's all the time in and out of here.

so here's the question: can i fly continue to fly on us airways tickets/metal for as long as they remain in the air (so that i can continue to enjoy first class cabins as a chairman's preferred customer), yet credit the mileage for these us airways flights to my mileage plus account AND still stay in first class?

i understand that while i am accruing mileage under the terms of the ua challenge that i will not be getting any elite bonus miles. but if i book my us airways tickets using my mileage plus number, will i be eligible for upgrades at all? or should i book them with my chairman's number, upgrade at the 7-day window, then change the credit to my mileage plus account on day of travel when i check in?

i could not find this specific question addressed elsewhere. thanks for your help.

-- he who slacks

[This message has been edited by OverpaidSlacker (edited Jan 26, 2004).]

Short answer.......NO

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by OverpaidSlacker:
.......
so here's the question: can i fly continue to fly on us airways tickets/metal for as long as they remain in the air (so that i can continue to enjoy first class cabins as a chairman's preferred customer), yet credit the mileage for these us airways flights to my mileage plus account AND still stay in first class?.........
-- he who slacks

[This message has been edited by OverpaidSlacker (edited Jan 26, 2004).]</font>

There was a claim in the United forum that when flying on UA you could have two frequent flier numbers in your record. One for status/seat selection and one for accrual. But those same posters said you had to spend a significant amount of time on the phone with a UA supervisor to get it done and sometimes you got to the airport with no FF# in the record at all.

US will definitely not let you upgrade using US01, switch to UA and keep your F Class seats. From res agents to gate agents--I think they are quickly becoming aware of this maneuver. Sure some people claim to have done just this, but it is not a regularized process.

You can be comp'd to UA, but for a limited time only. Apparently, * Alliance members are not allowed to comp status to other * Alliance frequent fliers