FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Did you give up "early?" (higher elite status). How does it feel right now?
Old Dec 18, 2016 | 9:33 am
  #27  
IAHFlyBoi
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: IAH
Programs: UA GS/MM, MR PPE/LTG, ‎TSA Pre✓, NEXUS, APEC BTC, UKBF RT, CLEAR, DXB E-GATE
Posts: 251
Originally Posted by azzurro
Will go from 1K to Plat, and then to Gold in 2018 thanks to MM. After many years of 100K BIS, went through a few months of withdrawal due to not flying 2-4 segments a week given some changes at work. I am loving being home ALL THE TIME. And my family does too. Cue McDonalds theme song... I didn't know what this would feel like as we are all so used to my being gone. Even the dog knows who I am now, lol.

Will I miss preferential treatment? Of course, UA for the most part has treated me VERY well, other than the occasional snarky FA. I can't even begin to list the small things that made a difference. The biggest change that will affect me is the new charge for change/cancel of award tickets as I have only started spending them in large amounts this year after a decade of accumulation. Having the ability to reserve multiple saver award dates (often not knowing which vacation date will meet the family sports schedule needs), waitlisting for a more favourable date and canceling it if the waitlist never clears has been very useful. Perhaps too useful and that is why they are changing it.

Free SDC will still be awesome. Do I regret not spending more money and time in a plane seat, Y or F? Nope. Being more involved in my family's daily life is priceless. Cue MasterCard commercial. Exit stage left... at least I won't open the emergency slide on my way out...
+1, Been on the road for 46 weeks this year. I went from GS > 1K > G, due to change in jobs. Back to 1K, will likely make GS this 2017, but that said, what you said resonates with me. It is ironic in a way, we care of these creature comforts (as subjectively perhaps) when we are on the road quite a bit. When the travel dies down, I'm like you, I won't care as much if I'm in BG1 or BG2. Being Gold, I was in BG2, and it wasn't a big deal.
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