mecabq

I suppose I am closer to group 2. I live outside the U.S., and my strategy is to fly 2-3 round-trips from the Middle East to the U.S. per year when I go home, buying V/W and upgrading to C with GPUs. To qualify for 1K, I also take a handful of trips from the Middle East to Europe, always buying a more expensive fare-earning class if I am flying LH, along with a handful of miscellaneous Star Alliance flights.

When purchasing C for business or pleasure, I never take United. (I occasionally buy C on LH and try to upgrade to F, but with the changes to the LH GPU process, that is now pretty much impossible.)

GPUs are getting harder and harder to confirm at booking (I managed it twice this year on the BAH flights and once to NRT), so I am really just squeaking by. I will most likely continue this strategy until I reach 1MM, then abandon the annual pursuit to reach 1K status. I will buy non-UA C for long-haul trips, or dip into my sizeable mileage balance to purchase upgrades or, at worst, redemption trips since I won't fly more than 8 hours in Y. In the past, I have never used miles for an upgrade -- only for premium long-haul redemptions on non-UA Star Alliance members for myself or others.

So, in short, I look forward to the day in a couple of years when I will convert to a net redeemer rather than a net earner, going from a decent UA customer to a drain on them. I don't know if I am the type of customer that they are trying to wean away from UA, but I am surely not the type of customer who will suck it up and purchase premium-class tickets on UA, since once I reach lifetime *G, there is no reason to do so.