Originally Posted by
Baze
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MileagePlus
Doesn't totally address your questions but this is all I could find. I do know there were only 2 levels before, many years before. Premier (25K) and Premier Executive (50K). Later they added Premier Executive 1K (100K), they also had a secret VIP levels(s) which led to the GS level which was not really part of the Mileage Plus program. You used to be able to be a 1P (Premier Executive) GS. Then the merger happened and they changed the names and added Platinum for 75K and GS became more of a real level but still no mileage requirement, just high fare spend, and a lot of it. Don't know the years these changes happened other than 2012's changes to what we have now.
That article says that Premier was introduced in 1987, but my June 1986 guide talks about the miles you needed to fly in 1985 to reach these Premier levels for 1986:
Level 1: > 25,000 actual United miles
Level 2: > 30,000
Level 3: > 45,000
Premier Executive: > 75,000
IIRC Premier started a year or two before that, with maybe just the 25k level the first year. I think '86 was when Premier Executive was created, which held steady at 75k for a number of years until replaced at the top by 1K (originally called Premier Executive 100K).
ETA: Looking at this chart, it's interesting to note the large gap between the top level and the next level, similar to pmUA's pre-merger gap or AA's current gap. They presumably felt that the top level should be extra special and difficult to reach.
ETA2: In that old folder, I have guides from around the same time for a number of other airlines, none of which show anything like Premier levels. Particularly amusing is OnePass, which is the only one that touts the benefits with their credit card as well as the ability to buy miles. Guess those have always been more important to them than elite benefits.
