I'm just under 30k miles away from 3M miles and a current 1K. It took me just under 30 years to get there (and lots of cheap J NW flights credited to OnePass to BKK/MNL/SEL/HKG connecting in MSP/DTW/SFO).

Currently 'between jobs,' otherwise I would have made it last year. Now self funding my own travel and hoping to make it this year. Looking at a cheapish mileage run turn around from NYC to SIN/HKG.

However, I think once I hit 3M and get 1K for life, I'll go back to being a free agent. It is the strange irony that after hitting these milestones, means I'll potentially fly UA less. At the moment, the best benefit for me from 1K is early boarding and getting E+, and when we ski, getting bag fees waived. So maybe I'll just stay put.

My wife is at 1.7M miles and made 1K on her own last year. But it will be nice for both of us to have 1K moving forward (assuming they don't change the program) and not have to hit the revenue targets.