To some extent, the number itself doesn’t really matter. Last year was the first year that United truly rewarded dollars over time: how much you pay rather than how many miles you fly. The number could be the same; however, you’d expect fewer 1ks actually flying. So by that criterion, the effective number should drop.

The other imponderable is the number gifted 1k status, which is something none of us knows.

So, with all that background, the actual figure is a very large number, which this year will drop to a slightly lower very large number.