exerda

And with a lot of VDB vouchers and e-certs?

gbryan84

I spent no more than $5k for 125k PQM, but then you'd need to subtract the ~$2-3k in various vouchers I got (from 4 downgrades and 5-6 bumps) and used. I got in on both of the LGA-IAH-PDX deals for about 70k PQM with a cost of $114 each r/t (~6k PQM per r/t).

JohanSlam

<5k all cash

sfo

Have booked all but my last flight for 2013, total will be around $8887.00 which will put me just over the top as a 1K again. Mostly International flights with a couple of domestics. All on my own dime. Have not missed an upgrade in 2012 and have 4 GPU's confirmed for two RT flights, one to Poland and one to HKG, cleared immediately on them.

TomA

It's funny how so many moderate spenders ($15k - 30K) think the airline values them much more than others when they are simply buying the cheapest available seat at the last minute. I seriously doubt this is true. There is very little reason to value a moderate spender over a lower spender when both are buying the least expensive seats available at the time of purchase.

This is WHY the GS status is not ONLY about spend. It is also about buying full fare tickets (e.g. paying more when cheaper options are available).

rgrunnah

I am pleased to brag about how little I spend every year for 1K Status. I realize it's not GS, but I don't see much difference other than having one more ear to air complaints to - and I don't doubt those ears can be more proactive in challenging situations..

Last year I spent $9,000 and flew 101,000 EQMs. About 15,000 of those were purchased via $.12 EQM Accelerator. Because I book international travel months in advance, I only book if I see R* inventory available, and use the 1K GDU's for the upgrades. This year, I'm flying LAX - PVG on the 787 in pre-guaranteed F for $2,000 RT, SFO - Sydney also guaranteed F for $2200, and Buenos Aires for around $1,000 guaranteed F..

Anyone else got stories of spending LOW $$ for 1K, but also flying first class internationally in the bargain?

XCstud

Some of these costs you guys are posting for achieving 1k makes me feel under-entitled. In the first half of 2012, I had 4 IAH-CMH flights on ERJs that cost about $4k in total and I racked up a whopping 7200 miles on those flights.

In 2012, I probably spent between $25k - $30k on UA metal and another $10k on tix for my wife and daughter on the same reservation as me and was "gifted" plat status sans the RPUs.

rankourabu

I am curious how you do the double upgrade from economy low fares all the way to First class. Even to upgrade to business, you need a W fare.

For 2013, I have over 90k pqms booked for just over $3200, about 70% is already upgraded, or are premium cabin fare mistakes, all used for vacations. Others are economy fuel dumps.

Need to pick up about 8k more for a fall vacation.

golfingboy

Actually, the airlines DO prefer last minute buyers and they DO reward them more over those who purchase in advance at the lowest possible fare.

The logic that as the cheaper buckets fill up leaving last minute customers with Y/B fares only is flawed. Almost all sub W fares have 10-14 days advance purchase requirement with some being 21 days out. Then the mid-range fares typically have 7 days advance purchase with the remaining few higher fares having 3 days requirement. So, if a plane only has 10 customers booked on them, last minute customers will still be stuck having to purchsae Y/B fares. The scenario will NOT change whether the plane is full or empty. The only difference is how far out Y/B fares will end up being the only option.

United likes customers who purchases last minute fares intentionally and they want to encourage this kind of purchasing behavior by giving them far greater flexibility [SDC and refundability], upgrade priority, bonus PQMs, more points if you participate in PerkPlus/PassPlus, etc.

If I had to wager, I will bet that most GS do routinely purchase last minute fares. I know one who never books any ticket more than three days out [domestic flyer] due to the nature of his job and almost everybody in his group are GS. Even the owner [small firm] has Smisek's number on speed dial and Jeff does stop by at their office in Houston from time to time. UA does value last minute purchasers and they want to encourage this purchasing pattern.

787fan

Do you mean guaranteed J or guaranteed F ?

$2200 for SYD-SFO is just economy ticket during peak season. You have a double-upgrade coupon ??

craz

I higly doubt many folks who are MRing for their miles are buying close in Cheap tkts , that is the ElCheapo Base Fares eg G A cheap for say next Tues today most likely will be anything but cheap.

If there are any ElCheapos say a week out that means UA didnt sell the flight so Im sure theyd rather get whatever they could then have it go out full of emptys and wont have any affect on taking away the seat from a high paying passenger

Most MRers buy their tkts weeks if not months in advance and once the allotment for that fare basis is gone it usually stays gone = no real affect on if they are preventing a full fare passenger from being able to get a seat or not. Most likely other folks already purchased the full fares

your 7.5 figure may be good for the Plat level but not for 1K imo, and both #s would preclude me from attaining either level. Now if they arent going to TLC these people who have the Spend no sense having a Rev basis

787fan

hope you have friends over in Portland, cuz I can't imagine visiting Oregon 11 times a year by myself

TomA

Other than GS... how? Higher fare buckets get upgraded earlier, but only AFTER status. EG: a 1K in T beats a Plat in H who beats a Gold in M. They are rewarding loyalty BEFORE spend. As they should, I might add.

Incorrect. That is only true in a few hubs. I can get S/T fares with a couple days notice fairly easily. It just doesn't work that way across the board anymore. Try it in a non-hub. I can get a TPA-IAD fare for MONDAY in L--L!--for $234. Even in a hub: SFO-ATL S fare $522 on MONDAY. Guess what? Yup! Planes not nearly full.

In addition, who told you W fares are always high? Sure enough, ORD-ATL on Monday only has a V fare available. The price? $313. LAX-ORD in V? $494.

No. They give those things to people who purchase HIGHER FARE BUCKETS regardless of purchase date or price. PerksPlus COULD have been price based and no one would have cared. In fact none of those things have to do with price directly. They have to do with FARE BUCKET. And any given fare bucket is not always expensive. Nor is any given fare bucket always cheap. That is why you can find a last minute L fare. Because the plane is empty and they don't want to let you get the benefit of an H fare if you are going to buy the cheapest seat available even at T-72. And a GS is still probably going to buy a Y/B even with that L sitting there.

That's the point. If you bought it because you HAD to buy it, they don't really care.

Of course. If you are going to buy Y/B you might as well wait until the last minute. But again that IS the point. Even at the last minute GSs often buy Y/B even though M/U/H are available.

And BTW: I'm not even talking about GS. GS are highly valued. I am talking about moderately high spending 1Ks that don't make GS. They are no more valuable than any other 1K on average.

And finally. I absolutely GUARANTEE you that you would not be seeing $1250 transcons out of SFO if those planes were consistently going out half full. They are very nearly at capacity.

Joshua

Spent $9k in 2011, including a one-way on Air New Zealand in Premium Economy (excellent deal at 150% PQMs), a couple bargain $86 one way fares PIT-SAN, and lots of expensive $500 R/T CLE-SAN fares.

rgrunnah

Sorry for not being clear; there are very few first class cabins left on UA mainline; I meant BusinessFirst for all of my trips (and the fares I quoted were W or V).

I flew F from Tokyo to LAX last year in a 747 and was woefully underimpressed.

$3200 for 90 PQMs seems very impressive to me. What are those routings, typically? The cheapest fares from Austin per seat mile I usually see are specials to SFO for $240. For $3200, I could buy 13 of those and still only have 39k PQMs. How do you do it?