Originally Posted by
butterblogger
Thanks for the insightful questions. While I like the perks of status (who doesn't) there are a couple things in particular I'm thinking about.
1) the extra RDM are low priority (would still take the flight miles on UA). Was thinking about *A Gold.
2) I would like to move to economy plus for free, and don't think TK status gets me that
3) Lounge access is nice but not essential (traveling companion has that covered)
I think I'm going to wait 'til fall. In years past UA has offered Status Match Challenges late in the year, and hopefully will again. If not, the TK offer has been around for a while, and I can go for that.
I'm not sure they are mutually exclusive. I don't have a problem using my TK elite card to gain lounge access while crediting flights to UA. You don't get economy plus for free with TK on UA flights, so the main other benefits if you don't have united status is bag check and elite screening lines (the TK card works here too). For Bag check you probably have to change your ff# after you check your bags.
Still, you can always get both TK status match and UA challenges, if you want to cover everything.