Originally Posted by
spartacusmcfly
Having passed several United MM tiers, I net out as follows:
1 Million LT Miles - Do try and get it. Will take a lot of hassle out of flying for decades to come
At that point, project forward and continue to loyally chase MM status if you're confident you'll hit 3M LT miles. 3M provides benefits that even the most cynical person would value at several thousand dollars/yr. (280 PP, fee waivers, call priority, generous interlining). Little things like interlining often get overlooked, but they are extremely valuable. They're also complex to negotiate and maintain, which is why UA has a Harvard Business School graduate running interlining.
The 2M and 4M mile tiers aren't that much more valuable than the tiers below.
I agree with everything except the 4mm remark.
1mm / *G for life / gifting status to your partner is a great perk for the 1M threshold.
2mm is the real donut hole in the hierarchy as Platinum itself is a bit of a donut hole in terms of what it is. Is Plat "diet 1K" or sup'd up Gold? The forty PlusPoints are nice perk but the removal of award fee waivers a few years ago really ate into one of the core value propositions of Plat IMHO.
Anyways, my point is 1MM is something worth aiming for but 2MM is kinda "meh" unless it's just a milestone on one's way to 3mm+.
100% correct about 3mm and 1K. Solid benefits there and hopefully UA can continue to defend what 1K can offer (GS-lite?) if they keep the barriers to the status high enough.
I'd also throw out if you've already hit 3mm on UA - and still have enough pep in your step - 4mm for GS is worth pushing for. As someone who's been a GS on and off over the years UA's execution of the program and the benefits it offers are solid and a material step above what 1K offers. That's not to diminish 1Ks, just rather to say GS offers IME that much
more than 1K.