zvezda

Of course, I know that. So what?

RTWSTARALLIANCE

I've been under the impression lately it is a friend contacting UA and letting them know a MM flight was coming up.

anc-ord772

For my MM flight the crew got iTunes gift cards and the flight deck Starbucks. I sure as hell was recognized on that flight and the whole aircraft knew what was up. Pay to play, but whatever, it was a fun flight, and now I have a framed flight plan and positive memories. I bet had I said nothing, done nothing, nothing is what would have happened.

1Konsultant

I'm currently at 993,708 lifetime miles and should hit MM on my next trip (omg!).

Am flying UA 926 (SFO-FRA) on July 23. That'll get me 5,699 flight miles and put me at 999,407, juuuust shy of MM -- meaning I'll cross the threshold on the way back on UA 902 (FRA-SFO) on Aug 9.

Have folks seen a difference in recognition ex-US vs. coming back? Also, I'm flying C both ways if that makes a difference.

Based on my experience with UA agents at FRA, I'm not holding my breath...

1Konsultant

WineCountryUA

Don't expect any automatic recognition. You can mention it by asking for info on where the 1M mile location will be and then wait to see if the crew response.

Then a week or so later you will get an email congrats & companion sign-up link and then the 1MM package a few weeks.

WingWise

No automatic recognition! I am surprised to hear of people getting "auto-recognition" on any of the MM milestones. I don't think the system is set up for it.

I was GS for 6-7 years until this year, when I dropped down to 1K. But, only for a few weeks until mid-March when I crossed 4MM on HKG-SFO, in Business Class. Not surprisingly, no word or whisper from any of the crew.

On arrival at SFO, I had a 3-hour layover, so took a chance and walked into the International 1st Class lounge. Even my ticket and status was still in the system as 1K, I was technically now GS again, and should be entitled to use the 1st class lounge as a GS Intl Business Class customer.

I gave the hostess a short synopsis of my case and figured they would either say I had to wait until the system shows me as GS, or else they could probably verify my stats in the system and let me in. But, with hardly a flinch, and to my pleasant surprise, she was extremely accommodating and congratulated me on the major milestone. She actually seemed a little flustered and started looking through a small card file box on the desk and said something like "we should have known about this...." But, in any case, I was back in GS and appreciated the 1st Class lounge access for my layover... that's the best recognition that counts!

RTWSTARALLIANCE

Congrats on reaching 4MM. Forget the recognition. You are there! ^

WingWise

Yes, thanks! Just in nick of time, as I recently retired, so won't be taking advantage of GS as much, but nice to know it will always (hopefully) be there when I do fly.

LAXOGG

My congrats as well. Both RTWSTARALLIANCE and I hope to join you in the 4MM Club by the end of the year.

RTWSTARALLIANCE

We are all hoping for many more years of good flying.

UA_Flyer

Congratulations for making 4 MM!^

A milestone that I hope one day to achieve before retirement.

MrMillion

If you want to add me to the record, I am a 3MM and about six years short of making 4MM (at the current clip). I passed 2MM when they were giving away lifetime UA Club memberships. I got on the road many moons ago when the RCC went for about 150 a year and they were selling lifetime memberships for 1800 or so. I figured they must be crazy because I wasn't planning on doing this for that many years. Turns out it was I how was crazy... I always found the club a worthwhile investment and many time I would truck out to T3 at LHR alone to sit at the club because I had no status on BM and no access to the lounge for a three-hour layover... But I digress.

My 3MM flight happened between ICN and SFO and was remarkable only in that we had the seatbelt sign on the whole flight and no service as a 1000mph tailwind propelled us and we arrived 84 minutes ahead of schedule. It felt like you were skimming the waves in a cigarette boat. The 1MM flight I do not recall but I was, indeed, recognized on the 2MM flight. I was on the 927 from Frankfurt and had casually remarked to an FA that somewhere over Eastern Canada I would cross the 2MM mark as I had only x more miles to go.

At about that time, the purser made an announcement to the entire cabin; telling them about the special nature of the flight. I was then presented with a sectional that showed the track and had an X where the threshold was crossed. I was also given a bottle of champagne from F that was signed by the entire cockpit crew with date and flight number. The flight was conspicuous in one other respect: The entire cockpit crew was female and all but one of the cabin crew was as well. The flight was helmed by Captain Wentworth who I never met again (although I am certain she's still out there) but I did find myself behind the FO at immigrations in a later year.

Those were the days...

crenshaw

Today was the PERFECT experience for reaching the lifetime milestone on the new United airlines. I was booked for SEA-SFO-PHL, which would bring the total to 1,000,001 total lifetime miles. I woke up at 4:30 AM to find I was even upgraded (using a GLOBAL cert) for the SFO-PHL portion! woo-hoo!

Well, guess what? I forgot I was flying United. We board the flight ("on time") only to find that SFO is under flow control and we won't be taking off for two hours. But the captain insisted that all the other planes would be effected as well, so no worries.

The service director (?) brought me a gift (a journal that says "United") and a congratulatory card.

Incoming to SFO at gate 90, my connecting flight (delayed 15 minutes) is at gate 65. Could you have made it any worse? The flight was pushing back just as I was running up to the gate.

So my choices are: (A) wait 11 hours in SFO and take a red-eye to PHL (B) fly to Denver, wait 3 hours and take a third flight to PHL arriving at 1:34 AM (yes, that's the scheduled arrival time!), or (C) fly to Dulles and risk it on Trans-States to get me the final 134 miles.

I chose (C), arriving in Dulles at 9:30 PM, not realizing that the entire concourse shuts down at 10PM in terms of services (e.g. a stiff drink). So as I am writing this, I'm awaiting the third (and hopefully final) flight of the day, which is delayed by 1h 45m, and will likely arrive at my destination around 1AM (42 minutes earlier than the Denver flight, so there!).

This is actually pretty typical of my experiences recently on United.

So now I have my "lifetime" Gold status, but have absolutely no plans on using it. I'm now flying the rest of the year on Alaska. As I was explaining this to my seatmate on the 2nd flight, she said "what about giving up the upgrades?". Well, I was 13th on the upgrade list (as a 1K) for that flight, so no, I'm not giving up anything.

At least I have the 14 e-mails from United from today to remember my experience ("your flight is delayed and will leave at 10:15", "No, it is still delayed but it will be 10:45", "NO, we mean 10:20", "No, 11:15".......

And an addendum: United never credited me for the 2500 miles I flew on the 2nd of the 3 flights, so now I have to go back and beg them ("may take up to 14 days"). Again, a PERFECT way to end my regular flying on United airlines

Extra addendum: I received a congratulatory e-mail from Mr. O'Toole 17 days later. I will receive my official credentials in 4 to 6 weeks. I'm still very impressed with the speed of United Airlines' information technology systems!!

tom911

I wonder if they would have moved you over to US(AA) which had SFO-PHL nonstops at 0825, 1045 and 1335 if you asked. Might have saved you a big chunk of time.

crenshaw

Yeah, I asked about that, but they claimed they couldn't since it was weather-related (which was actually true in this case). I did reach my destination (PHL) at 12:40 AM. All in a day's travels at United Airlines!