I'm only 25,000 miles away from a million hard miles on United metal. What is advertised is that I will become Premier Executive for life. Crossing that threshold has been a goal of mine for some time. I've "hurried" in recent years, going out of my way to fly United.

Here's why I've been "hurrying": I think it's likely that perpetual status will be discontinued as a marketing strategy. The kind of people who are moved by such marketing schemes are the very ones most likely to exploit them. This thread illustrates that very point. Lifetime status attainers are likely to start shopping for another airline right away.

And how many lifetimers and benefit packages can airlines sustain? Just think how many people have, like me, averaged 60,000 a year. On UA only 17 years like that and you are there, whether you knew it was coming or not. There's a lot of near mileage millionaires who don't even know they are in for a windfall. How many more will gain MM status with AA even more quickly? Frankly, the Social Security system in the USA makes more sense than this kind of "retirement" system.

Perpetual status could be a loyalty breaker - more like "Temptation Island" than "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?" If you fly this much, you might not really care about a lifetime of double miles. The benefits, as long as they last, are still worth something to me. I like priority check in and getting a shot at the better meal and an occasional upgrade as much as anyone. But I'm likely to expand my flying life beyond my two primary carriers.

As I approach the million mark, I have three questions:

1. What "lifetime" means. Who's going to live longer, United or me, is of course, a big question.

2. What other airline might give me the best one-time comp and ongoing benefits?

3. Will anyone at UA notice that I'm MM? And with inflated ranks of MMers, how many years will it be before that status becomes a negligible thing? I recall seeing a plaque 15 years ago. It was produced in the 60's. It was a special award from United Airlines honoring the then president of that company for flying one hundred thousand miles!! Now United has announced that are discontinuing paper statements, and that will probably be the case even if they had miles in seven figures. Times change. We are all flying farther.

So I'm still hurrying to get my million. It's the very kind of cut back to expect when they are cutting everything else.

And yet there's one reason that I have half a mind to delay crossing the threshold. I'm not going to keep straining to make 1K since the SWUs have been so greatly devalued. Since UA customarily gives 3 SWUs (instead of a nice plaque!) when you attain MM status, crossing that threshold will give me what I think will be my last batch of SWUs. So I may delay it until the end of the year, and fly other airlines or award travel.

For this strange reason, even approaching the lifetime status is affecting my loyalty, which was your question.

If you work for United and you are reading this, what I really mean to say is that the Million Mile program is wonderful. All those benefits are going to keep me on UA for the rest of my days. You should by all means continue the program for at least one more year.