LaserSailor

I'm another 1k on both miles and segments

Trust me, I don't add any unnecessary segments to this lifestyle.....

prestonh

Where are you flying from/to primarily? When I was based in FAT I made easy 120 segments on a few double connections on transcons (via SFO or LAX). the fare engine isn't as kind these days but you can still force routing using multi-city booking. The obvious downside is irrops but if you have a flexible schedule there was some compensation for your vacation fund.

Now I'm in NW WA and these options are more limited unless i want to get on the UX puddle jump again, and I really don't miss that, particularly the delays and cnx. I now just try to route through a transcon (either SFO, IAD, EWR) as they net more miles than the midcon connections.

dorisrpas

Also a rookie 1K segment flyer. As folks have mentioned, RJs carry higher risk of being delayed and/or canceled, so, if getting to your destination by a particular day is important, consider going as direct as you can outbound and adding in a segment here and there on the return.

Silver isn't much, but definitely trumps no status. And improves from there. Is a long first year, riding in the back and at the bottom of the upgrade list. But if you see yourself traveling a lot the next years, definitely worth doing what it takes to get as high a status as you can.

blueman2

Word. ^

exerda

One thought on direct vs. connection: if the nonstop is an RJ and the connecting flights are mainline (which can actually be the case more often than you'd expect), you might be better off on the connection than on the nonstop.

dorisrpas

Absolutely a good consideration. Something I didn't think about, as I book all my travel within 4 - 24 hours of takeoff so I always check weather at home, at destination and the connecting cities I am considering. Anything to avoid 2.5 hour DSM-EWR or DSM-IAH on E145.

Of course, doesn't account for mechanicals ...

GregMM

I've been basically doing both at the same time this year. Up to this point in the year, there have only been three flights that gave me a higher PQM % than a PQS %, and it was only 1% or 2%. My next trip is TATL, so my PQM % will surpass my PQS % by quite a bit when Saturday credits, and it should stay there for the rest of the year. I'm going to hit Silver on miles and just miss on segments on the return flights (finishing the day at 29.5K PQM/29 PQS).

There have been a few times this year where I routed through a farther airport when it didn't affect the price of the flight (connecting through IAH or DEN instead of ORD or EWR), or taken a connecting flight (2500 PQM) instead of a direct flight (1750 PQM). I generally fly the day before I need to be somewhere (I really don't like early morning flights, especially since I live an hour from the airport, and the shuttle picks me up 3 hours before my flight), so the extra time doesn't generally cause an issue.

bmoy210

Elite Segment flyer for 15 years (10+ of them as 1K). It's not easy... going to hit 1 MM this year basically on segments.

It used to be MKE-STL via ORD 12 times a year with MKE-CAK via ORD six to eight times, a couple MKE-MLI via ORD trips, a couple ORD-LAX (via DEN and SFO) and a few other random trips thrown in. Highest count was 154 segments with a double segment promo in the mid-2000's. Now, it's ATL-ORD twice a month, ATL-CAK a bunch and a few ATL-MLI trips. And there is the one trip to DUS each year.

Incoming gripe... CO dba UA is what has happened in the merger and I am unhappy about it... going from 100 to 120 segments for 1K is horrible. The reduction of CR-1's from 2 per quarter (8 per year) to basically 4 per year was completely unnecessary. MM's losing CR-1's and SWU's just as I am about to hit 1 MM really sucks. Ah well...

Barratt

BlackMountain

1k on segments for four years, this year again probably and will do it flying probably less than 80k BIS miles, last year reached 1k on segments with less than 70k BIS miles.

This is a very un-fun way to get "status" and raising the bar to 120 segments a year was a slap to face, IMO, especially since there is no first class cabin to comp into on 90% of my flights, no meal to choose from at all, no IFE at all, no PDB ever, and anything larger than a knapsack goes in that big closet under the plane. The best boarding privilege is getting to board last, just before the door closes, minimizing the time I have to sit in the seat on the plane. Working out of Chicago, most of my flights to where I go are non-stop 50 seat RJs so 1 trip = 2 segments, not four, most of the time.

No way do I go out of my way to get extra segments or miles in this world, not one minute.

All that said, United's regional partners generally seem to have very pleasant and congenial FAs and gate agents, they do the best they can with what they have. YMMV.

LaserSailor

Agree 100%. I try to make their day a little brighter too with a smiling passenger...

mre5765

The number of times UA has forced me to overnight since '96: I can count on one hand. A period of time when I've been gold or 1K (1K since 2007).

One needs to be proactive on going standby for earlier flights.

EMAW

Out of the 14 years that I was a 1K, 13 were on segments. It was certainly not a lot of fun, lots of time on BAC 146's which were actually pretty nice since they replaced the Convair 580's that previously served ASE. It also took almost 20 years to get to 1MM, which unfortunately is no longer worth what it once was.

sogboulder

I'm in a similar situation to the OP, especially since I fly out of DEN (the CRJ-2 capital of the world). What I've found is that connections are often cheaper than non-stop RJ flights (which makes the accountants happy), and that 3.5 hours on a mainline jet is often preferable to 2 hours on the Devils Chariot (kudos to whoever came up with that appellation). I'll only opt for the additional segments if it actually saves my employer and if I have enough scheduling leeway to insure that I can make it to my final destination in plenty of time.

ilovesprint

Can the OP ask for a Challenge to get status faster?

IflyfromABE

talking about devaluation of segments (and I average close to 150 a year)

The olden days it used to be 1 segment = the equivalent of 1000 miles for qualification (i.e. 25 segs for silver, 50 for gold etc.)

Now you can actually get top level elite with only 10 segs (to India in J) while people with 100 segments are not at the same level...

talking about frequent and infrequent fliers