I am having trouble deciding how to handle my travel next year. I've been 1P (and sometimes 1K) on United for more than ten years. I travel internationally less than before so keeping even 1P will require effort next year. In the meantime, the benefits of 1P have been degraded and one can buy the same services a la carte in some cases. For instance, I could buy first-class tickets on Hawaiian Air for a fair price, skip upgrade roulette and get what I assume will be better service. For international vacation trips, I can simply plan ahead to buy discounted Z fares on United (or probably another carrier with more pleasant service). Since overall I end up paying more to fly on UA consistently during the year, I suspect--though I can't be sure--that the total cost will be about the same, especially considering that no mileage runs would be necessary.

What I would lose is 1P status on my domestic business trips; since it seems less and less likely that I will be upgraded due to all the various changes, I am beginning to think this will be a meaningless loss for me. Many of my colleagues are flying Virgin America and are much happier with the service and attitude.

One other factor is that, with the one-time recalculation of lifetime miles due to the merger, I will probably have about 725-750K in lifetime miles. My partner flies a lot less than I do, so the spousal benefit for him would be useful. But...the lifetime 1P status is worth a lot less than before.

I am sure I am not alone in making these decisions. (And I know many of colleagues have abandoned UA in the last couple of years for similar reasons.) Advice and references to other threads welcome.

What might be a good idea is to make a spreadsheet, perhaps:
-domestic trips costs
-international trips costs
on UA vs. buying a la carte

And does E+ matter?

For me, beyond th calculation, I'd personally say just go for the MM status, but that's just me!

I agree. MM status is pretty big. Lifetime 1P is a lot, no matter even if 1P was devalued.

I'm finding myself in a similar position after moving to SEA two years ago. I'm primarily interested in maintaining MVPG on Alaska, but have been able to balance my flying so as to keep hitting at least Gold (this year, 50,005) on UA/CO. Access to E+ on an occasional 4-5 hour domestic flight is nice, as is the slight mileage bonus.

Echoing what the other two posters have said, though, I'm at about 800K lifetime and that's what's really keeping me somewhat focused on UA/CO. Being able to gain lifetime gold and extend that to my partner who flies fairly infrequently keep me coming back. Once I'm at 1MM, though, I'm likely gone.

I'm in the very same boat as the OP, but with fewer lifetime miles. Before the 2012 program changes were announced, I was pretty much a lock for 1MM. Now, I'm just not sure it's worth it. As a 1P this year, my upgrade success was abysmal. Since reattaining 1K last month, it has improved to over 50%, but there is no way I'm making 1K for 2013. The revised boarding procedure has further cheapened the benefit of 1K, and now that there is a new level between 1P and 1K, lifetime *G doesn't seem like all that much. If someone can convince me otherwise, I'm listening.

Lifetime Premier Gold is going to be worth a lot more than it used to be given that the ranks of Premier Silvers are probably going to thin out and won't be taking up E+ seats.

If you don't foresee yourself hitting Premier Silver, I'd just pay ala carte. The Premier Travel option gets you 2 bags, E+ assignments at the time of booking, Premier boarding, Premier security line, Premier check-in, and (not sure on this one) priority luggage.

Or you can apply for the MileagePlus Explorer card, which has benefits similar to Premier Silver with the exception of E+. You could then just buy the E+ annual option.

1MM is still definitely going to be worth it.

I think if you take into account, last minute trips, the calculus of using miles/status changes significantly.

I'm in a similar position - 1P for several years followed by 1K the past couple of years. This year, I'm down to about 40K EQMs and really can't justify the time and money required to do a mileage run to make 1P. I've got the CO card that allows access to the United Club and allows me to check two bags for free, so the added benefits of 1P just don't seem worth it. Of course I'm hoping for either a soft landing (1K to 2P is a big drop) or at least some early year incentive program to reach 1P by flying a specific number of EQMs over a short period as UA has offered in the past. I'll also have around 650K lifetime miles once other EQM are factored in, so it's not a bad idea to keep flying UA in hopes of one day reaching 1MM.

I would rather earn FF miles with UA than I would with VX. More and better reward redemption options with *A airlines. Think dream vacation.

+1 that 1MM status (with *G attached) is a goal worth pursuing. I am at approx. 830,000 lifetime miles with UACO, so circumstances permitting I am aiming for 1MM status by the end of 2013. That coupled with my LTUC membership means I should be good to go during my retirement years. ^


SunLover

I suggest your plan for 2012 to stick with united then jump ship if your not happy with how things are going you can change.