There will, however, be a residual effect. It's possible I'm not the only "1K lite" to come from the ranks of the lowly 2P and, having tasted the forbidden fruit for even a short while, I don't want to go back. If I'd been content to remain a 2P, I could have save a lot of $$$ on air fare this past year, flying *A code shares (which I avoided because, who knows, DEQM could hit again, plus those darned SWUs), or spreading my flying across other airlines.

So United got lots more of my $$$ this year than in the past, and I've decided to make 1P status for 2011 a priority. I thus suggest (humbly, as a future 1P must be!) that the 1P ranks may see some added members they didn't have before, and United may have benefitted significantly as well.

Hopefully my brief intrusion into the world of the Bold 1K didn't cause too many problems. I was pretty well-read (about various 1K issues) ahead of time, and at turned down over 50% of the UDUs I was offered (because I was traveling with other family members not upgraded) so I likely didn't take any more seats in F than I would have been entitled to as a 1P.

All I ask is this- if you see someone who, as they start boarding the red carpet, looks tremendously embarassed and at the last possible moment steps out of the line... well, that might be me. Be kind, smile, tell a small white lie and say "Maybe you'll be back next year."