2008 Elite Choice Team Competition Status Master Thread
OK, we all have learned there will be a 1K team competition in 2008 as part of the 2008 Elite Choice Offering.
I am creating this thread to keep track all the teams and provide periodic competition status progress report.
Moderators, I hope the creation and maintenance of this thread by me is complying with the FT rules... if members on this board wish to keep this thread as the default tracking thread.
If you plan to join a team or form a team, please PM those FTers who have expressed their intention in this thread. Once a team is formed, you can either PM me or post them directly to this thread and I will update new team information daily to post #3 of this thread
Please post direct to this thread regarding your progress, and I will reserve space on page 1 of this thread to provide periodic updates.
Good luck everyone, let the teams be formed and start counting the miles
2008 United Elite Team Contest
This year-over-year themed contest is open only to Mileage Plus members are legal residents of the fifty (50) United States or the District of Columbia as of January 1, 2008, and who are 21 years or older as of January 23, 2009. To be eligible, participants must have been enrolled as Mileage Plus members as of January 1, 2007, and hold Premier Associate, Premier, Premier Executive, 1K or Global Services membership as of December 31, 2008. Employees of United and Mileage Plus are not eligible to participate. Online registration is required for this contest and must be completed by September 7, 2008. Registration for this contest is separate from registration the Elite Choice promotion - if a member wants to participate in both, member must register for each separately. A team must be composed of four members that are all registered at the same time, with one member designated as team captain. Prior to registering a team, the team captain must obtain permission from the other team members to participate in the contest. Any unauthorized registering of teammates will disqualify all of the team's members. Once a team of four members is registered, no changes will be made to the team roster under any circumstances. Members are not allowed to participate on multiple teams. To qualify for the offer, qualifying Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM) must be earned between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2008 and be posted to Mileage Plus account on/before January 14, 2009, and includes travel flown on United, United Express®, TedSM and Star Alliance®. A valid e-mail address with opt-in designation, which will be used to email the team captain updates of his/her team's 2008 year-to-date EQM totals (in or around March, June and September 2008) must be established at time of registration if the member does not already have one on record with united.com. When the team captain registers his or her team online, the captain will be provided the team's combined total Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM) for 2007 as posted to Mileage Plus accounts on/before January 5, 2008, which will be the team's 2007 EQM baseline for the purposes of this contest. The team's combined total EQM for 2008 will be determined as the EQM earned by the team's members between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2008 and posted to their Mileage Plus accounts on/before January 14, 2009. Each of the top fifty (50) teams that have the largest year-over-year increase (2008 vs. 2007) in total EQM will earn the following reward divided evenly among its four members: 1,000,000 redeemable Mileage Plus miles, 50,000 Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM), 50 Elite Qualifying Segments (EQS), eight (8) confirmed regional upgrades, and eight (8) United Red Carpet Club one-time passes. The top 50 teams will be notified between January 15th 2009 and January 31, 2009. A team's year-over-year EQM increase for the purposes of this promotion will be calculated as shown in this example: four members of team ABC had a combined total of 123,000 EQM in 2007. In 2008, team ABC ended the year with a combined total of 168,000 EQM. Team ABC's year-over-year EQM increase for purposes of this promotion would be 45,000 (168,000-123,000). If this 45,000 year-over-year EQM increase was one of the top 50 team EQM increases for all teams participating in this contest, then team ABC would earn one of the fifty rewards. In the event of a tie, the team with the highest number of total 2008 EQM will be the winner. Proof of eligibility via a signed affidavit will be required of all winning members.
Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of the reward is $5,700 USD for each member of a winning team. No transfer, substitution or cash equivalent of prize is permitted except at Sponsors' sole discretion in the event of prize unavailability. Each winning Mileage Plus member is solely responsible for any and all federal, state and local taxes. Winning members will receive a tax form reflecting the actual final value of the entire prize value.
By entering this contest, member agrees to the use by United Airlines of your personal information as described in the United Airlines Privacy Policy, located at www.united.com/privacy. Except where prohibited by law, a winner's acceptance of a reward constitutes permission for United to use such winner's name, address (city and state only), team name, statements, photograph, voice and/or likeness for any advertising and other promotional purposes relating to the contest without further compensation, consideration, review or consent. For the names of the fifty (50) winning teams, mail a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: United Elite Team Contest Winners, United Airlines - WHQUV, 1200 E. Algonquin Road, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007. VT residents may omit stamp. Requests must be received by February 14, 2009.
Only listed reward will be awarded and no substitutions, cash equivalents or redemptions will be made, except that United reserves the right to substitute any reward package with another reward of equal or greater value in the event that the advertised reward (or any component thereof) is not available. All rewards are subject to the rules and regulations of the Mileage Plus program.
Each winning team member will receive 250,000 redeemable Mileage Plus miles. Miles will be credited to the member's account 2 to 4 weeks after winning team's are notified. Miles are redeemable miles and do not count toward elite status. Miles accrued, awards issued and bonus offers are subject to the rules of the United Mileage Plus program, and this program is subject to change without notice.
Each winning team member will receive 12,500 EQM/12.5 EQS for calendar year 2009, which will be deposited in the member's Mileage Plus account 2-4 weeks after winning teams are notified. Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM) and Elite Qualifying Segments (EQS) are not redeemable for flights, but do count toward Premier, Premier Executive and 1K status.
Each winning team member will receive two confirmed regional upgrades, which will be deposited in the member's Mileage Plus account 2-4 weeks after winning teams are notified. Upgrades are valid for 12 months from the date of issue. This upgrade certificate may be used only on qualifying United, United Express or Ted flights (only on multi-cabin aircraft) and not on flights operated by other airlines. Upgrade requests for flights marketed by other airlines but operated by United are only permitted at the airport on the day of travel, subject to availability. 2. Valid Routing: This upgrade may be used for travel on United, United Express or Ted within Region 1, which includes North America, Hawaii, Caribbean and Central America. For specific definitions, please refer the Upgrade Award chart on united.com. Stopovers are not permitted. 3. Upgradeable Booking Classes: This upgrade may be used on United Business® (C, D) and United Economy® fares (Y, B, M, E, U, H, Q, V, W, S, T, L, K) in Region 1, except where the terms and conditions of sale state that the booking class is not eligible for upgrade. 4. Non-Upgradeable Tickets: This upgrade may not be used on any booking classes not specifically listed as upgradeable, or on any Mileage Plus award ticket. Some Internet sites, such as Priceline.com and Hotwire.com, issue tickets that are not upgradeable. Please check with your Internet site for terms and conditions. 5. Mileage Plus Accrual: The Mileage Plus miles earned will be based upon the class of service purchased, not the upgraded class of service. 6. Ticketing: Ticket must be issued in the purchased United Economy class or United Business class fare. Ticket will not be reissued using this upgrade certificate. 7. Request Upgrade: The upgraded United First NF booking class or United Business NC booking class of service may be requested after ticket is issued in the purchased United Economy class or United Business class fare. If available, the upgraded class will be confirmed and a seat assignment may be requested. The upgraded NF/NC booking class may not always be available on all flights or on all days of the week when traveling. 8. Upgrade Processing: For United-, United Express- and Ted-operated flights, upgrade may be requested anytime after ticketing, and this upgrade will be processed based on the availability of capacity-controlled seating. Upgrades are subject to availability. 9. Upgrade Rules: Multiple certificates or awards may not be combined to obtain a two-cabin upgrade. For flights that stop en route, the upgrade is only permitted when the upgraded seating is available and confirmed on all portions of the flight. 10. Changes/Refunds: The rules of the fare purchased determine the changes or refunds that are allowed. Check with United or a travel professional. 11. Other Important Notes: This upgrade certificate may only be used to upgrade one person. Certificate has no cash value and may not be altered or duplicated. This upgrade is assignable in person at the airport or online at united.com. Valid ID is required for authorization. Lost, stolen, expired or destroyed upgrade certificates will not be replaced. Expiration date will not be extended. This certificate is void if sold or bartered. Other restrictions may apply. Terms and conditions subject to change without notice
Two United Red Carpet Club one-time passes will be mailed to each winning team member at their address on file with Mileage Plus within 6 weeks of winners being notified. Red Carpet Club one-time pass grants one person one-time access to the Red Carpet Club. Guests are not permitted with a One-time Pass. Access subject to space availability. Valid only in United Red Carpet Clubs.
I would like to thank Seat1A for all his help in making this table more presentable. I had a tough time formatting the table in FT, and Seat1A has been great providing the instruction and did the first draft of the table.
Please check for accuracy, and continue to provide me with your updates. Please feel free to PM me your 2007 or 2008 EQM figures if you don't mind sharing them.
Thanks for your patience!
Code:
Team Name 2007 EQM 2008 EQM Net Gain
1. THE GRATEFUL TED 835,668 2,228,224 1,392,556
2. United we Fly 170,518 815,160 644,642
3 . FlyingsBeenReallyNeat 182,378 786,026 603,6484. Zero to 1K 77,000 668,210 591,011
5. The Skys The Limit 397,952 924,437 526,485
6. Exit PathoGents 94,072 612,454 518,382
7. Todd Approved 101,576 619,125 517,549
8. EliteQualifyingMasochists 124,055 639,369 515,314
9. Team 2 221,831 734,782 512,951
10. Turn on Channel 9! 59,545 502,884 443,339
11. The Away Team 223,437 653,467 430,030
12. Destinu 85,454 499,991 414,537
13. Four For The Miles 113,486 519,127 405,641
14. GoN41M 145,166 545,052 399,886
15. Team Last Minute 216,649 587,981 371,332
16. No Coats in the Overhead 34,729 405,824 371,095
17. Livitup In The Sky 166,647 537,512 370,865
18. UnitedWarriors 134,679 505,277 370,598
19. A PIT crew in LAX 306,028 674,818 368,790
20. Grey Coupons 118,409 477,593 359,184
21. Shut Up and Start Flying 78,934 436,932 357,998
22. Sotodays 665,682 1,002,151 336,469
23. The Weakest Link 204,599 532,352 327,753
24. United Elite Team Winners 185,456 506,109 320,653
25. Team Red Carpet 168,197 477,565 309,368
26. Road To 1k 177,175 456,849 279,674
27. Eject Eject Eject 21,376 272,376 251,000
28. Team Swimming Shacks 194,093 431,500 237,407
29. Better Late Than Never 211,108 433,562 222,654
30. RedStone 28,133 249,317 221,184
31. We Speak Jive 150,378 370,474 220,096
32. mitbbs 121,246 340,798 219,552
33. UA Flyers 188,799 403,107 214,308
34. Traveling Quartet 308,000 514,620 206,620
35. Team WAS495 95,130 294,416 199,286
36. Running for the Gate 24,056 209,828 185,772
37. 22 Philips 287,242 450,709 163,467
38. Will Work for EQMs 140,600 263,200 122,600
39. Pooters 209,899 302,975 93,076
40. Channel 9 a holics 192,903 274,510 81,607
41. ROW 62 - - 56,511
42. We heart EQMs 256,986 269,228 12,242
43. Final Boarding Call 406,580 - -
44. Team Prestige 195,051 109,262 (85,789)
45. Stuck in Transit 343,178 243,000 (100,178)
Teams indicate ther final numbers are underlined Teams did not provide meaningful updates or joined this thread until after 12/31/08 are listed in italics.
Interesting, although I think before truly getting anywhere we need to know what the rules are. Who knows, it may be something totally different than we think. If it's not, this could be fun.
Interesting, although I think before truly getting anywhere we need to know what the rules are. Who knows, it may be something totally different than we think. If it's not, this could be fun.
If the rules make this competition totally unattractive for anyone to participate, this thread will fade away into FT abyss.
i have no idea what the rest of 2008 will bring, but my january flying will leave me 4000 miles short of my entire 2007 total.. :-)
(tho, as i read the t&c's, the 2007 elite choice carryover may not count. "To qualify for the offer, qualifying Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM) / Elite Qualifying Segments (EQS) must be earned between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2008. . . ." but then, will the 2006 elite choice carryover into 2007 count toward the 2007 total?)
Team #1: lucky9876coins, ajthegreat, stevenshev, hsxagent
Given the t&c, I don't think this team is a great position as the 2007 basis for comparison is so high to begin with. it's the GMs to status (and better yet first time 1Ks) that will be well-positioned
I would like to be on a team, and I think if I have read this right, I would be good since I did just over 32K eqm in 07, but will be a 1K for 09...should be 1p by April!
Given the t&c, I don't think this team is a great position as the 2007 basis for comparison is so high to begin with. it's the GMs to status (and better yet first time 1Ks) that will be well-positioned
Right. The ideal team would be something like four people who are all 3Ps (and could, in theory, have had zero EQM in 2007) and plan to do significantly more flying this year than last. I must say, I like the structure MP has set up. And it certainly rewards those who fly United more than they used to.