Originally Posted by roundtheworld
..I should get the 1K level (6SWU) and if I things go along well I might even land the GK level ???
But what if I just miss the 1K as some trips might be postponed ??? WHat then; did I waste the miles ??? I could also not put any FF number on my UA flights and then decide afterwards, once I can be sure I reach 1K ...
Do want the 1K level just for the SWUs? That is sensible.
There will be a double EQM qualification period later this year which normally
lasts between mid October and mid December. In that window, it will
only take you 50K flying in cheapo Y or 40K in the fare classes Flymaster
listed or B and Y.
You could also go for Flymaster's idea of buying the prepaid 1K card. But
A,D, and Z inventory on LH operated flights will be badly diminished compared
to calling LH directly.
As for GK/GS you have experienced its randomness before. There are strong
hints that it is award with a huge bias to corporate customers. I bumped
into GS - same station SYD as I am - who spent quite a bit less on UA than
I did.
Now it gets tricky on the award side so something for weero how difficult is it to get C or F awards to AUS on UA or NZ..
NZ does not have an F anymore and to get I inventory on MP miles proves
to be very, very tricky. I never managed to get a seat for my friend on the
routes which sport the new C class and I find it easy to get SQ C awards
on MP .. (the Tasman features the old C class, so it is much easier to get
a seat).
UA itself I find very hard to do online if you have more than one segment.
But by calling say 2 months ahead, I have been lucky so far.
Which opens up another possibility as I want a few awards to NZ shall I collect on NZ and go for gold
You can stll use M&L for NZ awards as they generally are a bit easier to redeem
on the Kiwi carrier.