Let's get back to the UA elite thresholds for 2024. AMEX usability and Emirates food are for other forums.

WineCountryUA
UA coModerator

As long as United Airlines MileagePlus Premier� Silver remains at 3,000 PQP, I'm happy.

I have shifted all our spend and most of my stays to my wife's Marriott card & account, so no more UA Silver via Marriott Bonv∘y Titanium Elite status for me.

OK, that's an improvement at least. Thanks for that data point.

But, yes, I remember seeing the second point as well (which I would originally have said I expect UA to copy, but with the way PlusPoints works, I suspect they'll just tweak the chart instead). So, yes, you'd be looking at upgrading a PE fare vs. a Y fare. In some markets, that's (relatively) fine -- I've seen PE fares as low as $300 RT more than Y, which isn't zero but wouldn't torpedo the program entirely for me. But I've also seen PE fares that are 3-4x the Y fare...

So, again, for all the kvetching, it's one more reason I chose to stick with UA... but I'll continue to reevaluate periodically. as, IMO, everyone should.

hardly. While UA Polaris is not spectacular, it IMO beats DL by quite a bit

If only lie-flats are the measuring stick, but personally I like them from both carriers - some features edge to UA; others I would give nod to Delta. This isn't the Delta vs United which is better thread, but I think the OP is talking about the overall fleet, and I would rate Delta's narrowbody fleet higher than UA's, especially from a comfort level. Also, Delta's soft product has the edge still.

Most of my flying during the pandemic was domestic-95% on mileage basis. Based on my experiences, DL beats UA in every aspect domestically-seat comfort being the most important to me. I've also noticed how much friendlier and helpful their FAs were.

Like I've said many times before, UA only gets most of my business because they are usually the cheapest on my routes (paid F/J). The only exceptions are the short flights, where I will pay DL's much higher rates to shorten my total transit time. I never buy based on brand.
My purchase priority: 1. Price (included in this is the ability to use UGs instead of buying F/J outright). 2. Total transit time (including the drive to/from the airports-I live in a remote area). 3. Seat comfort. Nothing else matters to me.

I think it's a pretty common view that if you only fly domestic US, DL is pretty far ahead of UA. But who solely flies domestically?

Back to the OP - I think UA will copy DL, based on history and current revenue/loads. If we head into even more of an economic downturn, that could prove a mistake - but I'm purely guessing. It will be very hard to retain 1K for certain business travelers who are still not yet back into the customer/client project travel - and may never will be (in my case).

There is going to be a thinning on Feb 1 regardless. There are still people like me flying around based on the status earned in 2019. Plus anyone who qualified in 2020, 2021 or 2022. 2020 was supposed to be the first year of PQD qualification and we never got to see the real result of that due to extensions, bonuses and lowered levels. That said, the market forces that existed in 2019 when they came up with the original $ levels are different now, but to date they have been in lock step behind DL. I would expect us to go back to the original proposed (and never used) 2020 PQD qualification amounts, and that is what I am planning my travel for next year based upon.

Well, in some sense, you are a classical example of why it doesn't always make sense for carriers to invest in improved service. I mean, you basically just said that, at least in your mind/opinion, DL is superior to UA in almost every way that a premium passenger would care about, but you are in fact not willing to pay a premium for that improved service.

Regards

I do think that being the cheapest with the worst product works for UA. Kirby is being smart by not investing in better food in F and Polaris. He knows he can't compete with the international carriers in quality, so why bother trying? Although, UA is very often not the cheapest for international flights.

Would be nice if you could simply find open space in one click, regardless of dates (or can you?).
Say for example, show me all ABC-XYZ with PZ>0 during a range of 90, 120, 150 days....

And in regards to the other ongoing conversation on this thread - yes, rewards aren't getting better, but I'm holding out hope that less elite flyers, and PP expiring means chances of upgrades improve... might be a pipe dream but we'll see...

A mere six years ago they were competing... Back then Polaris was a product I looked forward to, versus apathy today.

Yes, that would be great. No, you cannot do that.


UA is selling the seats. There�s not some big coterie of upgraders who are sneaking in front but will soon dissipate. If there are fewer Premier members, and fewer PlusPoints, in the future, it�ll mean finishing 5th on the upgrade list instead of 10th.

I don�t know if it will be a direct response to the actions of Delta, but I expect United to raise the qualification requirements for 2024. It wouldn�t surprise me if they want back to the original target of $24k for 1Ks, etc. If they do, they may even add a bump of a few thousand PQDs at the start of the year.

I'm part of a 1K/GS group on a social media platform, and someone there reportedly spoke to the head of Mileage Plus. This person indicated that qualifications will likely go up, but there should be some sort of starter bonus. No more extensions for status.

Whatever UA does decide for next year's requirements (for 2024 status) I just hope they announce it sooner rather than later.