WineCountryUA

Note to get Plat in 2020, you start from zero, even if you have Gold Status (earned in 2019).

Mary2e

To close the loop on this....

My friend decided to go for platinum for the year. He is unsure of his future travel plans, and with moving to Tampa sometime late this year, and not necessarily flying on UA very much going forward, he's going to use up what he has and become airline agnostic.

Thank you for all the help!

8MiHi

You are welcome.
Going out as a Platinum with 40 Plus Points works if you think 2021 will turn out to be a year of non-travel or other airline travel.
My personal lens does not have me flying much outside of United or Star Alliance so 2 years of Gold would be more desirable than 1 year of platinum.
In response to posts above, his FPQMs can be converted into FPQPs anytime after January 1 at a rate of 1 for 5. 55,000 FPQMs would turn into 11,000 FPQPs. So he would not have to wait for April.

You have the ability to convert to FPQPs anytime after January 1 at the rate of 1 for 5. Your'e 40,000 FPQMs will turn in to 8,000 FPQPs.
If you wait to apply these next year, you may be able to get status for two program years. If you used your 8,000 FPQPs in January you would get Silver through January 31, 2022 upon completing 4 segments. This would turn to Gold upon generation of 2,000 PQPs (flights or CC spend) and would also be good to January 31, 2022.

stringmom

I am so confused. We have a Presidential Plus card. Every December, I use FPQM to top off PQM in my husband's account to get gold status to always board in the first boarding group. This year we have only 13,780 PQM (fewer than normal). We have 70,386 FPQM (37,000 expire 3/31/2023; 28,196 expire 3/31/2022; and 5,190 never expire). My questions:

1) should I use 36,220 FPQM to get gold status for 2020 or

2) forfeit the 13,780 PQM and wait until Feb 2020 (when we will have flown 4 segments--is this a requirement?), convert the 70,386 FPQM to 14,077 PQP, and use 10,000 PQP for gold status in 2020 and 2021. When will the remaining 4,077 PQP expire?

3) Does the Presidential card (without status) get us on the plane in the first boarding group without a first class ticket, which is all my husband really cares about!)?

I don't know who to call, so I'm posting here. Thank you in advance for your guidance!

kaplan88

It took me 5 calls to the mileage plus desk to figure this out.
should I upgrade now, 2019 to platinum, or wait till January 2020 ?
Correct me if I am wrong. Seems like a no brained.

I am platinum till 1/31/20. If I convert my PQM’s now to platinum, it is only good for 2020.
if I wait till January 2020, the PQM’s will convert to PQP’s at a 5/1 ratio. My 100,000 PQM’s , will be 20,000 PQP,s
enought to get me to platinum. And will be good till the end of 2021.

Is this correct???

WineCountryUA

The dates and timelines are correct

stringmom

That's my question, too. You may need the minimum 4 flight segments, but I'm not sure.

WineCountryUA

Yes, but not worth doing unless you are flying UA on a regular based that would not get those segments easily.

ffI

You have
28k fPQM till 3/22 - 5.6k PQP
37k fPQM - till 3/23 = 7k PQP
5k fPQM - "forever" - which in UA might be tomorrow
You already have "silver lite" with the PP card - bags free, (and lounge)
I would get at least 4 years of status by waiting

It depends on your spend ability and your flying
If you spend 240k a year, you will get 10k PQP for THAT earning year status e.g. 2020 spend status will count for 2021 till Jan 2022

Fly in 2020 - add enough to get to Gold
In Jan /21 dump the 5.6k PQP in your account and fly as needed - covers you till 1/23 AND spend on card to get to Plat
in Jan /23 dump the 7k PQP and fly + spend = Platinum till 2025 Jan

The main trick is to use the flex PQP sparingly in alternate years in Jan by using in 2021 and 2023 you will boost your status for 49 months

ffI

It also depends on your expiration dates and your spend pattern going forward
I would hold your Flex PQP to the latest date of expiry if possible

Looked at it another way - right now you can get to plat with spend
Going forward you can only get Gold with spend = 10k PQP for 240k spend
The balance 4.5k PQP is useful to jump to Plat
Note you still need 4 segments = 0,5PQP (no more PQD waiver with the cards!)

Also do not use your 20k for Plat
Even if you no longer spend on it, you may not get any use beyond 14.5k if you dump it in your account
Better to
1 calculate your flying
2 know your spend for the year /24 = new PQP
3 add the extra Flex PQP (before date of expiry)
That will get most bang for buck

Ideal is to put the flex every alternate year in Jan to get the most boost for longest
UA is gradually devaluing the card - from now on it is a card for lounge - domestic and if you spend 240k = Gold = Star Alliance access as well.

For now it is platinum for 190k spend - 380 in 2 years = 76 Flex PQMs every other year and no flying needed
It will be no longer PP without flying

ffI

True, you can not use your last year status to get a jump start, but you can coast your flying status up
You can get status in 2019 that lasts till 2021, so no hurry to use up any Flex PQMs unless they expire in 2020

stringmom

Thank you so much! Are the PQP I acquire in 2020 only good for 2020?

WineCountryUA

Yes, there is no new (PQP) carryover .

stringmom

Good to know. I don't think I saw that published anywhere that mere mortals would access or understand.

ffI

AFAIK, going forward you can get 500PQP with card for every 12k spend - max 10k PQP (for 240k spend) each year. Yes they are "good" to deposit in 2020, but the benefit is till end 2022 Jan.
The Explorer and Club cards get only a max of 1k PQP each year

The grandfathered Presidential cards get 10k PQP max - only reason to hang on to them
So if your spend is enough you can get to Gold every year (instead of Platinum) and you have to fly at least 4 segments
The cheapest 4 segments will set you back 500$ approx - So you can plan to spend 228k$ for 9500 PQP every other year for Gold

or if going for silver - spend $108k for 4500 PQP - though why bother?
The main benefits of silver are free bags - you can get that just by having the card - and you can pay 800$ at most for a yr of economy plus
You can then spend 108k on the club card or even the fee free Chase Business unlimited cards - get 50k miles extra

The main thing is to hit it every other year - NOT every year. Conserve your spend on card in alternate years
For you - I would maximize spend in 2020 on card and fly
Do not use your flex -
In 2021 I would dump the 5.6k Flex and get to Silver day 1 and spend 240k to get to Platinum for 2021-22-Jan 23
In jan 2023 I would dump the balance of expiring Flex PQP - spend 240k = get platinum for 2023-2024 - Jan 25
AND continue to fly paid on UA for 1k if possible

The sweet spots are
UA Any credit card - free bags
UA Gold - lounge abroad (you have Domestic access with the card anyway)
1K - 280k Plus points
so better to go Gold every other year than Silver each year
if you fly enough, then to get 1k is better than plat (there will be a lot of thinning of the ranks going forward)