Another option you may want to consider is TK Elite. Takes 40,000 annual miles to earn, but then only 25,000 miles within one year or 37,500 within two years to keep.

Having said that, I'd moved back from the US to Europe before gaining 1P or 1K status on UA, and I am very happy with it - but then again I fly to the US often enough to make use of international and domestic upgrades.