jewels421

In terms of the "non-flying" benefits, I don't think 1K gets you anything that Platinum doesn't (I'm thinking here of things like Marriot Gold status). If you're not going to fly UA any more, I can't think of any reason why you'd want to be 1K over Platinum.

escapefromphl

Yeah you may as well put any miles onto the carrier you will be flying after Jan '15. 1K gets you six GPU's but not much use if you don't actually use them.

gobluetwo

There is theoretically some slightly better saver award availability, and I'd have to imagine there must be some prioritization of 1K's over Plats for customer service (supposed to be a dedicated 1K desk), if it comes to that; and the credit card statement credit. Otherwise, you're right - it's flying related: earlier upgrade window; GPUs; M-upgrades; bigger RDM bonus.

Doesn't seem worth it, if you're not going to fly UA revenue and maybe just burn miles.

PV_Premier

i guess in theory, 6 GPU + 2 RPU could generate some extensive trade value, so there's that. but probably not enough of a value proposition to justify running 15-20K to get your hands on them.

embarcadero1

I'm going to be 1K for the 12th year. Here's what I like:

- Someone answers your call. Now that UA has done away with the 1k desk, they don't have a clue what they're saying, so you must know what you want and how to do it before the schmuck in Salt Lake City answers, but you do get a human.

- That's it. There is no more confirmable upgrade space, so I'm always booking with LH or ANA. There's zero chance I'll leave a good business trip to UA in coach. The irony? I'd pay for business If I could upgrade to first with a GPU, but since they're all worthless these days, I don't see the point.

I wouldn't bother trading these things. They're pretty much worthless.

My one question: given that I always fly first domestically, should I join Miles & More?

teeceedee

Just did the math for 2014, all the same routes. I went through all levels of status - My CPU rates are:

1K: 67%
Plat: 50%
Gold: 24%

So there's a bit of value in 1k if you fly a lot domestically. 1kvoice is handy as well

buttking

Just about reached Platinum. Im really set on gunning for 1k status this year with 1 more trip to Asia (20k miles).

The domestic part benefits dont appeal to me too much since I normally book Y fares for my business trips.

However seems like that the growing consensus on GPU is that its useless unless flying on an expensive fare. So what do you 1ks do with your GPUs in that case? Are you shelling out extra $ to get the GPUs passed?

tyroner

It all depends. I had to fly a couple of W tickets anyway this year as it was the lowest fare available. In all those cases my GPUs cleared. My final 2 GPUs have been applied (not confirmed) to biz fares to Europe over Christmas. The min fare in that case was $50 each way cheaper than W (min GPU fare). In this case, yes, I burned $100 for the chance at using 2 GPUs.

Kacee

You are hearing from a vocal minority.

GPUs can still be quite useful depending on your travel patterns. I've burned 12/12 over the past two years, mostly on TPAC's.

Where you will have trouble clearing is if you have to fly a specific flight on a specific day, particularly TATL.

chinatraderjmr

What routes do you fly if you don't mind me asking? I also use my GPU's to upgrade from D to ON and have found availability on almost every flight I've needed. R is one thing (almost non existent) but I find ON space quite easy to find

Out of my 6 GPU's I've used 3 from NRT-SFO or ORD, 2 from BAH-IAD and from IAD-DXB..no problem upgrading at booking

transportprof

+1

If you can be flexible and a bit creative, there's no place that a GPU can't take you. In the past two years, I've used them to fly in J on flights to: SIN, HKG, NRT, ICN, SYD, AMS, BRU, LHR and MUC. These flights have almost always come with 'domestic' upgrades to F from YVR - often to ORD, SFO, or LAX gateways.

flynovice

like the name says, i'm a novice flyer, but somehow i just hit Gold on UA because of bunch business trips (mostly domestic). Looking at rest of the year, I think I'll be short of ~14,000 PQMs for 1K this year, I'll end up Platinum for sure. My question for everyone who's a pro at this is whether 1K is worth it, I don't really want to travel more to get the PQMs, I was thinking of doing the Premier Accelerator, where right now I can get 21,000 PQMs and award miles for .129 a mile or about 2,700USD. I recently moved to SFO and I heard some of my friends who are 1K having to let their GPUs expire. thoughts on how to get those last 14K PQMS? I already met the PQD for 1K.

teeceedee

What do you value from 1k that you don't get from plat?

$2,700 is a lot for just the difference between PLAT and 1K, IMO. You could get that with a cheap $400-ish ticket, instead.

TommyC80

First of all, don't buy 21k PQM when you need 14k....you can book a flight that gives you 14k as an option (you might have to do a few till you find one that works)....then after you buy the miles cancel the ticket.

That just dropped your cost from $2700 to $1800.

$1800 might be worth it to you....you're getting 2 more RPU, 6 GPU and an extra 25% bonus on all your miles, you're also getting a $60 credit against any MP credit card you may have...of course, you're getting somewhat better CPU chances as well

Depening on your travel patterns next year, just clearing a couple of GPUs would certainly pay for the $1800 regardless of the other benes.

If it were me, I would defintiely do it for $1800...

Also, the sooner you do it...the sooner you get to platinum as well...

hookthem

To me, GPUs are worth at least $500 each (I don't think you'll find W -> P for cheaper... then again, my experience with GPUs is mostly TPAC/longer flights).