abhicoolmax

Okay great; I have been past the PQD for even 1K for quite a while. Is there a direct line for the supervisor?

PTahCha

Can you upfare one of your future flights to get the extra .5 segment, or add a connection?

With the current regime, I would not count on any favors.

gobluetwo

I would ask for it with a note to Mileage Plus. I had an issue last year where I ended up a few hundred miles short of Plat due to a canceled flight, resulting in a trip in vain. They bumped me up to Plat.

One way is to do a same day change to a connecting flight somewhere along the way. That would assure you of the extra segment you need, although flights with segments don't always show up as options.

In the last few years, UA has also been allowing you to buy up to the next tier come January. May be cheaper than a mileage run, if it comes to that, although I can't find the details at the moment.

steveman518

You'll have to call in and ask for one (or you can email MP)

Keller281

Not too the EXP level.
Would UA match that ?

Mattboston

Hello

First time posting here. I seem to have missed platinum status last year by only 500 miles. A flight with Lot Polish Airlines that never seemed to get credited to my account was apparently booked in a class that does not give PQM and in the end the missing miles with that flight imply that I am 500 miles short of platinum.

So far, customer service has only told me that towards the end of January they might decide to offer the option to buy PQM to those who are "close" to their threshold for status. Has anybody had any experience with this? They told me it is something they seem to do every year towards the end of January (that is, they offer customers who are at 48,000 PQM, say, the option to buy 2,000 PQM to become gold, and so on).

Looking forward to hear your answers!

sbm12

Yup, and what they told you is accurate. You may be given the opportunity to buy the missing PQMs. It is unlikely to be cheap and no guarantee that the option will be available. But it might happen.

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

Mattboston

Thanks. How much could 500 (PQ)miles end up costing?

And related, additional question. How often, if ever, do they bump up for free to the next tier the customers who are this close? This is something customer service also alluded too, although much more vaguely...

emcampbe

Welcome to FT.

If you're asking if (free) bump ups have happened in the past, sure they have. More commonly in the days when the airlines were hurting, and they needed to incentivize more people to fill planes. If you are asking if they are common...the answer is no, nor should they be. The market has changed, and they can fill planes pretty easily these days. If they wanted to let those with 74,500 miles to make plat, they would change the cutoff at -500 miles to what it is.

As for buy-ups, they tend to be expensive. In past years, I've always seen them in 1000 mile increments, and fairly expensive. It does (or at least, did) tend to go up (per mile) the more miles you need. And whether it would be worth it for you personally is probably going to depend on a lot of things, including how much you plan to fly next year.

As one other factor this year that may affect things is PQD, which because it is only year 1, no one really knows about. But first of all, for you, if you are US-based and didn't hit the PQD threshold, the 500 miles might be a moot point anyway, as any buy ups don't tend to qualify for PQD. Depending on where UA is vis-a-vis their goals for number of premiers by level, it may mean that buy ups may be a bit more favorable (if they didn't hit their projections) or way more expensive/not offered at all (if they are above their targets).

There is a whole thread that should be pretty easy to find with thoughts, etc. on this (which this will probably be merged with). As well, your experience is a good reason why you should always make sure you check partner earnings as soon as you book a ticket. That allows you to cancel right away and re-book at a higher fare level, or at least plan out a way to get the extra miles you need before the end of the year. It is usually much cheaper to do this then wait until the end of the year.

RNE

If you are made an offer, please aid the community by letting us know the particulars.

Often1

As the program changed and will likely change again, nobody here can tell you what will happen or what it will cost.

Whether the buy-up is offered and whether it is targeted seems likely to be based on market analytics. E.g., "do they want you".

Unlikely that they give you for free what they sell others. The issue is not what 500 miles costs, it is the increments in which miles are sold and what you are getting.

It's water under the bridge for OP, but Award Accelerator would have given OP certainty and likely at a lot less cost. But, we won't know until later in the month.

Denvercccc

I was 1K in 2014 and have been a loyal UA flyer for several years. I have a decent shot at MM this year.

I finished with 99 PQS, 66,799 PQM, $10,000+ in PQDs and spent > 25K on the Club card...

Is this worth making a call?

RNE

You have to ask? Yes. Call.

Viking547

Same situation on this end with pretty much exactly the same PQM/PQD for last year. Would be curious to hear your result if you do end up calling.

robbgrn

as i posted in a similar thread, the answer is YMMV but it is possible:

For two different years I was granted level-ups (Silver>Gold) when I didn't make the PQM requirements. On one of those occasions I was off by over 17,000 miles.

Just takes a little social engineering ;-)