Dec 12, 2014, 9:17 pm

FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides

UA has a program called Premier Status Accelerator.

Quote:

Premier Accelerator
Premier Accelerator℠ helps you achieve Premier® status faster by allowing you to purchase additional Premier qualifying points (PQP) or Premier qualifying flights (PQF). Premier Accelerator is available when purchased in combination with Award Accelerator.

Summary -- for those with a purchased itinerary, you will be given the opportunity to purchase RDMs and then optionally, a similar number of ~~PQMs~~ PQPs. You are given two quantities to purchase (in the past it was X and 2X, but it has become more variable recently).. The numbers seem to have some relationship to the length of the existing itin.
The offer, for a purchased flight, will be found in your online reservation, It may say " Grow your award miles balance by purchasing Award Accelerator®. "
You will have to select the Award Accelerator in all cases, if you want Premier Accelerator also, then select it next.
The purchased miles post quickly -- generally less than an hour or two.
Purchase price does not count for ~~PQDs~~ PQPs
The offer will be available once ticketed and then until the itin is completely flown. The mileage offered decreases as segments are flown.
The cpm rate can change at any time -- up or down. See the thread on Rates.

Don't have an open itinerary? Just "purchase" dummy itin as refundable or non-refundable. After purchasing the RDMs/PQMs (must select the RDM offer to see the ~~PQM~~ PQP offer and must purchase the RDMs to purchase ~~PQMs~~ PQPs), cancel the dummy itin (if non-refundable do within the fee-free 24-hour cancellation window). The purchased RDMs/~~PQMs~~ PQPs are non-cancelable / non-refundable and will stay purchased even if the dummy itin is canceled.
As before there will be two offers, if the offer is too many miles try a shorter itin, even a OneWay -- say SFO-LAX. There does seem to be a min offer level but it varies for the individual. You don't need to purchase to see the options, they will be displayed on the "United Travel Options" page, the page before you enter your credit card info,

Attempt to change the offer amount
-- try an international itin (seems to increase the offer)
-- try an international with a partner (seems to increase the offer)
-- try an OW itin (seems to decrease the offer)
-- try a short sub-500 segment (seems to decrease the offer)
-- try itins with a higher or lower price (offers seems to track relative price)
In practice, there is no close form method to get a specific amount. UA has your information.

Related thread -
United Airlines Award/Premier Accelerator Rates [2022]
United Airlines Award/Premier Accelerator Rates [2021]

United Airlines Award/Premier Accelerator Rates [2020]
United Airlines Award/Premier Accelerator Rates [2019]
United Airlines Award/Premier Accelerator Rates [2018]
United Airlines Award/Premier Accelerator Rates [2017]
United Airlines Award/Premier Accelerator Rates [2016]
United Airlines Award/Premier Accelerator Rates [2015]
United Airlines Award/Premier Accelerator Rates [2014]

Consolidated Award / Premier Accelerator questions

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Nov 26, 2018, 5:29 pm

#346

WineCountryUA

Moderator: United Airlines

Join Date: Jun 2007

Location: SFO

Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat

Posts: 66,731

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockyBalboa

So I am going to come up 280 PQM's short of hitting the 25k this year to re-earn my meager Silver status.

Can I buy those 280 PQM's?

yes, you can -- this thread's wiki discusses the process.
This may be expensive and will get more expensive daily -- UA increases the pricing toward the end of the year.
United Airlines Award/Premier Accelerator Rates [2018]

However, the real question is it worth it -- see discussion in https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...solidated.html

Nov 27, 2018, 8:07 am

#347

RNE

Join Date: Sep 2005

Location: JZRO

Posts: 9,169

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockyBalboa

Can I buy those 280 PQM's?

You probably cannot buy just 280. You may have to buy thousands, whatever you can get UA to offer you.

Dec 4, 2018, 1:17 pm

#348

quantumslip

Join Date: Jan 2009

Posts: 599

I traveled a bit more than I expected this year, and will actually hit gold with the help of my remaining FlexPQM + Award Accelerator, or so I thought. Because of me misunderstanding Asiana fare classes for united members, I now find that I would be short 56 miles.

Few questions about this:
-If I bought an award accelerator for a reservation I have in 2019 with the EQM option, would it apply to 2018 or 2019 qualifying year?
-How granular does the AA get? Does it go down to 500 mile increments or maybe even smaller? (AA offer for 5500 miles would be perfect for me, as I then can avoid doing a MR, though I'm not opposed to it especially if it were cheaper).

Last edited by WineCountryUA; Dec 4, 2018 at 10:10 pm Reason: moved to master thread

Dec 4, 2018, 10:20 pm

#349

WineCountryUA

Moderator: United Airlines

Join Date: Jun 2007

Location: SFO

Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat

Posts: 66,731

Quote:

Originally Posted by quantumslip

... -If I bought an award accelerator for a reservation I have in 2019 with the EQM option, would it apply to 2018 or 2019 qualifying year? ...

Premier Accelerator PQMs post in the year of purchase, not the year of the flight. In fact, you don't need to take the flight to get the EQMs and the EQMs remain even if you cancel the flight purchase.

Quote:

Originally Posted by quantumslip

...-How granular does the AA get? Does it go down to 500 mile increments or maybe even smaller? ...

Unfortunately, the offers are difficult to predict and difficult to impossible to adjust for smaller amounts. Some strategies are posted in this thread's wiki.

You may find the minimum you are offered (on a sub-500 one-way flight) will be 3,000 to 5,000 EQMs Premier Accelarator.

quantumslip likes this.

Dec 6, 2018, 9:52 am

#350

RNE

Join Date: Sep 2005

Location: JZRO

Posts: 9,169

Quote:

Originally Posted by WineCountryUA

Premier Accelerator PQMs post in the year of purchase...

It would be less confusing for newbies if United would specify the applicable year, something like this... "Add 2018 Premier Accelerator" or "Add Premier Accelerator for 2018". You get the idea.

Dec 14, 2018, 11:55 am

#351

Kleinnaf

Join Date: Jun 2018

Posts: 488

Can't seem to find any route that offers less than 5k miles
anyone have luck recently?

Dec 14, 2018, 2:12 pm

#352

WineCountryUA

Moderator: United Airlines

Join Date: Jun 2007

Location: SFO

Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat

Posts: 66,731

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kleinnaf

Can't seem to find any route that offers less than 5k miles
anyone have luck recently?

In the past for someone with status, minimum offers of 3-5 K are not unusual.
Have you tried a sub-500 mile one-way ticket, such as AUS-IAH or SFO-LAX or ...

Dec 15, 2018, 3:42 pm

#353

Kleinnaf

Join Date: Jun 2018

Posts: 488

Quote:

Originally Posted by WineCountryUA

In the past for someone with status, minimum offers of 3-5 K are not unusual.
Have you tried a sub-500 mile one-way ticket, such as AUS-IAH or SFO-LAX or ...

Thanks for your reply.
This isn't for me it's for a friend of mines who is silver at the moment and only 1700 away from gold.
I tried sfo-lax, ewr-fll, and a few more but all pulling up 5k min accelerator

Dec 16, 2018, 11:30 am

#354

wpcoe

formerly 1984SW

Join Date: Aug 2008

Location: Merida, Yucatan, Mexico

Programs: UA

Posts: 1,058

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kleinnaf

Can't seem to find any route that offers less than 5k miles
anyone have luck recently?

Have you tried LAX-SAN? I get an offer for 2k or 4k miles, but not sure if they target the offers to the individual MP member (I'm MP Gold):

PS: Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but even if the travel is being booked for 2019, the Accelerator bonus posts as soon as the transaction is posted, i.e. this year (today), right?

Dec 16, 2018, 11:35 am

#355

Kleinnaf

Join Date: Jun 2018

Posts: 488

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1984SW

Have you tried LAX-SAN? I get an offer for 2k or 4k miles, but not sure if they target the offers to the individual MP member (I'm MP Gold):

PS: Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but even if the travel is being booked for 2019, the Accelerator bonus posts as soon as the transaction is posted, i.e. this year (today), right?

thanks!
What are the dates?

And yes you are correct it will post within as transaction posts. You can cancel flight as well

Dec 16, 2018, 2:18 pm

#356

wpcoe

formerly 1984SW

Join Date: Aug 2008

Location: Merida, Yucatan, Mexico

Programs: UA

Posts: 1,058

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kleinnaf

thanks!
What are the dates?

And yes you are correct it will post within as transaction posts. You can cancel flight as well

That particular test was for LAX-SAN on 15-Jan, just a random date I chose.

Dec 16, 2018, 5:10 pm

#357

Kleinnaf

Join Date: Jun 2018

Posts: 488

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1984SW

That particular test was for LAX-SAN on 15-Jan, just a random date I chose.

thank you!

Dec 16, 2018, 8:30 pm

#358

model_un

Join Date: Nov 2002

Location: Geneva, Switzerland

Programs: UA 1K, AA Plat, 6C AMB, HH Silver

Posts: 238

Was about to purchase... but need a clarification... can they just be 'Award Accelerator Miles' or do I also need the 'Premier Accelerator Miles'... since I already have Premier status... what do I need for the next level RPU/GPU awards???? Thanks again!!!