Joe K.

I currently do not have status with United but it looks like I will be traveling weekly (departing on Mon morning and returning on Thurs afternoon) from IAH-EWR for up to six months. Does anyone fly this route regularly? My question is how quickly will I get status (appears almost every fare is M class) and how soon before I could expect some automatic upgrades. I can't get over how expensive these fares are (average is $1100-$1400 R/T). Also on average how much more is an economy plus seat for these fares? I had status with Southwest (as I live much closer to Hobby) but it doesn't appear they fligh nonstop to Newark anymore. TIA!

saFlyTalk

E+ will fluctuate. But $49-89 is probably reasonable based on that distance. Premier Silver gets free E+, if still available at T-24. Premier Gold and above can get it for free at time of booking.

At those fare prices, qualifying for Premier will be more limited by PQM instead of PQD. To hit Premier Silver, you basically need $3000 spend (not including some fees) and 25,000PQM (miles). You get double or triple PQM miles for travelling in discounted or full-fare business.

IAH-EWR roundtrip non-stop is 2800 miles. M-fare class economy, that would be 2800PQM per week. 2800*9 =25200. So 9 weeks is how long it will take you to hit the mileage threshold. You'll easily hit the spend threshold. Moving your fare up to first class a couple times will give you a multiplier on PQM (2x or 3x) on those flight, and could accelerate you into premier status some.

The requirements for Premier Gold are double that of Silver.

The requirements for Premier Platinum are triple that of Silver.

Since both IAH and EWR are United hubs, it may be more difficult than most routes to get upgrades, especially since you'll be travelling on business heavy Monday morning. You might get a couple, especially once you are up to Gold or Platinum.

There are "instant upgrades" for any Premier level at the Y or B fare class. M is just one below B. Would your employer bite on getting you B fare class tickets? These would be prioritized above the standard upgrade hierarchy.

I think this article is worth reviewing: http://thepointsguy.com/2015/03/unit...-your-chances/

Joe K.

Great info, thanks! Is there a particular credit card I should get to enhance the points as well?

saFlyTalk

Depends exactly what you are looking for, but these are the official partner credit cards: https://www.united.com/web/en-US/con...e/default.aspx

Basically on any of them, you get 2 miles per $1 spent with United. Some have a sign-up bonus additionally.

There are definitely some nice perks, even with the simple Explorer Card. If you can find the right targeted advertisement, sometimes you can get 50,000 or 60,000 miles, instead of 30,000.

Edit: to be clear, the cards enhance award miles, not premier qualifying miles. Keep these two entities separate in your head--they are different things.

sbm12

Can you buy a one-way to EWR and then EWR-IAH-EWR r/ts over the weekends? Should be <$500 r/t on the non-stop flights that way, a significant savings over the M-Th plan. Even with a proper one-way ticket at the beginning and end you'll save a ton of cash.

And even with status don't expect upgrades. It is not a viable expectation at this point, particularly at the lower elite tiers. E+, sure, but not F.

rmlanman

I think something might be wrong with .bomb right now. That seems really strange. Expert mode is showing availability to fare classes much lower than M, though it is not letting me book into them. I would check back in a day or so and see if you have different results.

FTstudent

I would definitely consider the Chase Club Card which will give you access to the UA Lounges, since both IAH and EWR have several lounges. The lounges are a decent place to wait out delays, and if necessary get rebooked if your flights run into trouble.

Joe K.

Interesting idea. I may decide to fly out on Sunday evenings versus Monday mornings, so I guess that's an option, but the company is paying so I am not that concerned about cost.

Yeah, those fares seem really high for that far out.

After many miles on SWA, I would enjoy a lounge visit now and then. ^

sbm12

Lack of Saturday night stay is the issue, not a bug in the system.
I've found that saving money in the travel budget typically means better things for me down the line. Especially when it is so trivial to do. In this case the $500-700 fares are a week out purchase so you're not even really committing to having to schedule this stuff months in advance to save significantly.

Though if you're going to buy the higher fare look at P fares. They're around the same price and you get double PQMs and the seat up front, though I'd be they also require the Saturday night stay to work.

jsloan

A quick search on ExpertFlyer showed that IAH-EWR is filed as one-way fares, at least for the days that I searched (8/15-8/18); there are no Saturday-night or minimum stay restrictions. I see S, L, E, and M fares, with varying advance purchase requirements from 0-14 days.

WineCountryUA

No Instant Upgrades on TATL flights. Instant Upgrades are only offered on CPU-eligible flights.
Additional Instant Upgrades are only available for elites. And only 1Ks/GSs are waitlisted.

Bonehead

IAH-LGA nonstop FC fares are quite reasonable ($720 RT +/-) on some the dates I checked...is LGA an option?

I also see some IAH-EWR FC fares in that range...mostly for Sunday-Friday AM trips, if that schedule is a possibility. If you have the flexibility to fly to either EWR or LGA and have some flexibility on your travel days I bet you can piece together some trips in FC for the price of economy at peak times. Search IAH-NYC and see what you can put together.

truncated

Isn't this thread about IAH-EWR?

Joe K.

I just can't believe how expensive these fares are! It seems like every trip is $1149 R/T every single week. Leaving Sunday night is the same price. Now if I connected in Cleveland it would only be $266 but that's not happening.

BBSHOPSINGER

Although that would give you more segments. As someone who's always on the edge of qualifying for Silver, I look for whatever I can find to get me there. So when I fly for business, I actually look for opportunities to connect rather than fly direct so I can get more qualifying segments. I know - a little weird, but every little bit helps.

In your case you'll be qualifying pretty quickly anyway, so there's no incentive to jump through hoops.

If this is long term, chances are you'll be qualifying for better than Silver next year, so you'll start increasing your chances of upgrades.