Originally Posted by
ebjers
Thanks guys for the advice, particularly the way out of PQD requirements.
I just changed my primary address to my SA address and sure enough the PQD requirement went away. Also not sure how but I have 14 qualifying segments already even though the only UA tickets/ planes I have been on since May of last year were purchased using miles.
UA tickets are so much more expensive than others, for example my flight back from US
UA ticket from IAD -> FRA -> JHB 1 way was close to 4K using Lufthansa planes
Same flight path on Lufthansa was 650
I hate United as an airline but their millage redemption is not bad so I may stick with them if I can.
Qualifying segments that you're seeing are all of the flights that you've flown this year on any carrier that get segment credit (PQS) as well as PQM. That is not about the 4 segment requirement to maintain status with UA. Click My Account Details and you'll see it, it's not on the homepage version. Should look something like this:
YTD Premier qualifying miles: XX,XXX
YTD Premier qualifying segments: X
4 flight segment minimum: X of 4
Lifetime flight miles: X,XXX,XXX
Regional Premier Upgrades: X
Global Premier Upgrades: X
Honestly unless you cant' get 4 UA metal flights in the year, I'd stick with Mileage Plus. It depends on what you want out of the program, but there really isn't a significantly better program out there in *A for redemption. Especially as others charge fuel surcharges (not a small amount either) and the majority of Asia based programs charge a pretty hefty number of miles to redeem as well (NH may be the exception depending on your patterns).
If you can hit top tier in SQ or NH then maybe there are some perks that are worth it but you'll likely cringe when you try to redeem for anything.