Most of my trips are HNL to the East Coast so it doesn't take much, roughly ten trips, to make 1K. If the tkts avg around $750, that would be $7500 for 1K.

I gotta believe that at some point, UA will base status on $ plus miles. After all, to give me 1K status the same as someone who spent four or five times that amount doesn't make sense. I'm not complaining, mind you, but from a business sense, it is a bit strange.