Originally Posted by
tx_wiingman
Just some benefits you may want to consider.
- UA does offer somewhat of a soft landing. Qualifying for Gold will give you 1000 PQP to start next year with. This is 500 more than silver. It will make qualifying for silver next year 10% easier. You're effectively buying 600 PQP this year AND 500 PQP next year.
- As someone that has yo-yoed between gold and silver, you will get CPUs more often. At silver my upgrades were usually around 1 in 20. At Gold it was more like 1 in 4 or 5.
- Even if you don't need the extra legroom, e+ seats are nice just because you're closer to the front of the plane. More options to pick from at time of booking is always better.
- Group 1 boarding vs. group 2 boarding with silver.
- The matching status at Marriott and Avis has been very beneficial to me this year. Avis especially. I've gotten a free1 to 2 class upgrade on every rental this year.
Thank you for this reply.
The first bullet point does give me pause and will make me think about this over the next 10 days. I will definitely get the PQF, but the question will be if I can eek in Silver with 3500 PQPs instead of 3000 based on my potential flying. Maybe it'll be better to spend the $600-700 next year to get me over the hump back into Silver instead of this year. Who knows. That said, I should've qualified for Gold, but three work trips got canceled over the past few months--one due to a family emergency, and two due to company decision.
I also should've clarified that I'm happy to move up to E+ if there is an aisle or window available (and it usually is if I'm checking the seat map judiciously at T-24). Getting off the plane early isn't the biggest deal since I'm usually traveling with co-workers and waiting for them to deplane so we can order an Uber.
As a Platinum back in 2017/2018, I got upgraded about 20% of the time (maybe less). I just can't imagine my success rate as a Gold today being any better.
I'm perpetually Marriott Gold through Bonvoy credit card and stays, and thank you for reminding me to upgrade my Avis account to Preferred Plus. I rarely rent cars, but we do have a rental coming up next week.