emcampbe

There are lots of treads like this, including a similar one started yesterday.

My short response in practically all of them is it worth it question is that it is subjective and can only be answered by you. What is worth it for one is not to another. So look at all the benefits, as well as your expected flying next year, and they should help you determine what cost might be worth it.

As for how much it would cost, cheapest way is usually to do a mileage run - but this would depend on how much time you have and your flexibility, and cost is going to vary based on many things including location. Another way, but usually more expensive, is to simply by the PQM by looking at the offer on an existing itin (or booking one, seeing the offer, the canceling within 24 hours).

jbeckett

The cost depends on where you are located and when you can fly, but a reasonable estimate is $350 to $500 if you can fly at any time between now and the middle of December. After mid-December it will probably cost more, say $450 to $750. To get started, try to use google.com/flights, also look through the Mileage run and Mileage run discussion forums. You can post a request in the mileage run discussion forum.

CDKing

There would be a pretty big bump in number of redeemable miles earned next year as Solver over general member, upgrade chances are fairly low and you can get many of the benefits for just having the credit card.

Cargojon

I got exactly one upgrade in my career as a silver this year.

E+ at booking is nice, what you need to ask yourself is how to quantify the cost/benefit of either option (silver or not). E+ subscription, pay for occasional upgrade, baggage fees (if applicable) etc. as well as the projected increase in mileage earning.

JohnMacWW

Hi Atlas,
Welcome to FT. I cannot believe that you got such a good name on FT. I would have thought that such a travel oriented name like "Atlas" would have been taken a long time ago.

You are asking questions that are good and very normal to ask. But as several posters have noted, the answers are dependent on your own personal valuation of the Silver benefits versus the cost of getting the (6000 PQM) to reach it.
The cost of reaching it can vary significantly. One US coast-to-coast mileage run could get you something close to it. You can use cents per mile (CPM ) as a metric to search for a trip that gets you most or all of those miles at the lowest CPM. I would bet, depending on your freedom to travel in December, that you could get 6k PQM for about $600 (10 cpm)
The benefits of being a Silver in MP are spelled out clearly on the UA website. Their value to you will probably depend most on how much you would travel next year to gain something from them. So you need to think about why you want to be a silver and how you would use those benefits.

hookthem

From my perspective, it is not worth it. Simply get a United MP credit card and get 90% of the perks of Silver. There are several employees in my company that fall in to this same category -- identical advice given

horse glasses

I think this depends a lot on where you live. The stories many people tell about how it's not worth it are completely opposite of my experience, probably because I live in LAS. I will go back to Silver in 2015 because of PQD, but it's still definitely worth it to me. I have never had trouble getting E+, in fact I almost always got one of the bulkhead seats when I was at Silver. I got a few upgrades as well. If you live somewhere elite heavy, your experience might be different, but for me it is 100% worth it.

jbeckett

But Silver gets E+ seating, the credit card doesn't, and isn't this the principal benefit of Silver? Getting E+ seating on a RT international flight costs at least several hundred dollars, and a global E+ subscription for subscriber and one guest (equivalent to Silver) is $899.

flyingnosh

Well, you can get 5,130 miles by flying EWR-SFO on Dec 15-16 for $384 round trip. This will give you $100 worth of reward miles, so your net cost is about $284, depending on how you value your miles. Assuming you need to connect into EWR or SFO from your home airport, you'll get a minimum of 500 miles each way for those segments. That puts you over the top. So, it all depends on how much the additional fare is from your home airport.

[Off Topic: As I'm writing this, I'm thinking there's either a serious math error here, or I'm beginning to understand why UA is devaluing the miles. People drool over credit cards that give 2% cash back, and here is UA, giving 26% cash back??]

hookthem

True - as we fly a lot of short-haul domestic, we often overlook this benefit.

aacharya

OP is not yet Silver - so no 500 minimum.

scottpenderson

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

1. Last year I was in a very similar situation, but only needed about 2k miles. I decided to visit some friends and do a SFO>JFK>SFO trip to gain the necessary miles. I think it was worth it. This year, through 24 segments, I've sat in E+ on every plane but one that had a E+ section (mainly exit row) even though most of my travel is between SFO and EWR. I don't have a credit card, so I've gotten a free bag on every flight through my silver status. Priority security is a perk unless you are at a major hub, then the differnece can be negligible at certain times (though TSA PreCheck erases this issue).

2. The first question is what airport do you call home. Transcons will be the easiest way to accomplish your goal in the least amount of time. BOS/SFO roundtrip is 5408 miles and will probably run you around $400. Then you would need to find a way to make up the last 800 miles. Or you can do a SFO>IAH>LGA>IAH>SFO trip. That is 6102 miles roundtrip and probably around $400 as well.

Another great place to look at is the Mileage Run section of FT: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mileage-run-deals-372/. If you post your airport and amount of miles you need in the Mileage Run Discussion forum (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milea...iscussion-627/), you will probably have some help in finding a quick way to accrue the last 6k miles.

iiAtlas

Thanks for all the great replies! Of course my internet went down moments after I created the post, so sorry for the delay. I'll do my best to reply to all but I'm on my phone while the net is down so I'll have to keep it short!

I live in NYC, so that makes EWR an easy choice.

Thanks for the google.com/flights tip! I'll look into it.

Believe it or not, Atlas is my real name! Thanks for the long post, I appreciate all the info immensely.

Wow, great find!!! I had know idea that many miles could be earned so cheaply

Thanks a ton for the long write up! Those look like some good mileage run ideas, I have a feeling I may be doing one.

Mileage Plus silver appeals to me mainly for the E+ bump and 500 mile minimum. I plan on doing a fair bit of international flying next year, and if we don't end up doing business the e+ will be a nice perk.

One other point that I forgot to mention is I will be booking two flights, one to Palm Springs, CA (EWR -> Denver -> Palm Springs) and another EWR -> LAX. Both flights will be in February of next year, but I'll be booking them at the start of December, this year. If I book and pay these flights now will the miles count towards my current push to silver?

Thanks a ton for all the replies!! You've all been a huge help, and I'm sorry I couldn't reply to all.

JDS747

No they won't. Your miles will post about 48 hrs after you fly each segment and that's when they count toward your status.

For the Palm Springs trip you might want to look at flying EWR-LAX-PSP-LAX-EWR instead of via Denver. It will net you quite a few more miles.

Oh and don't be embarrassed by us 1Ks... We were all Silvers (or Premiers) at one point too!

iiAtlas

Damn, thats a shame! Thanks for the heads up