Originally Posted by
jsloan
I can’t speak to OP’s memory, and unfortunately, the relevant CPU page uses JavaScript in a way that isn’t captured by the Wayback Machine, so I can’t pull the old text from it, but here’s a decade-old thread about Northern South America; Quito was on the CPU list then:
What counts as Northern South America for CPU Purposes? . The only reason they would have removed it would be if they were going to make it a Polaris route, which it certainly is not.
I can't speak to how it was treated a decade ago, but I am quite sure that since 2020 that I have been flying IAH-UIO regularly, it has not been CPU-eligible. I'm not sure exactly when the change happened, but it is quite recent for both Colombia and Ecuador - I flew both UIO-IAH and IAH-BOG in September 2024 and neither was CPU-eligible (and I was flying alone, so no issues with multiple non-Premier companions).
During these past few years an upgrade for an itinerary from UIO to any US destination has cost 20 PP.