Originally Posted by
joe_miami
With the CC waiver through the Plat level, that renders much of my concern moot. Thanks for the reminders.
Still curious if others want to chime in with how they go about valuing the F / J buy-ups as a general matter. Thanks again.
Yes, if going for Plat and not 1K, then the CC waiver is the easy answer.
For my part, I buy the premium cabin if I don't think I can get upgraded. I'm fortunate to be in a position where my time is the primary factor which limits my travel, so I can afford it. On trips under ~800mi I will usually just buy Y as it's short enough to not really matter. Last year I
still didn't do very well on the PQD game though, despite flying UA Y a grand total of twice. The math depends a lot on your travel mix, but the general advice I would give is buy what makes you happy - you can always do a dollar run at the end of the year to make up the difference.
Originally Posted by
joe_miami
Thanks for the replies. When I started the thread, I was concerned with balancing PQM vs. PQD. With the CC waiver through Plat, now I need to determine just how much Plat is worth to me. On paper, there doesn't seem to be much difference between Gold and Plat, but comments at FT suggest Plats get quite a few more upgrades over the course of a year.
As
jsloan notes, it's all about your travel patterns. Watch the upgrade lists when you do go for an upgrade. There are travel patterns where a 1K wouldn't get through four RPUs all year, and travel patterns where Golds get upgraded routinely. It just depends.