Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > United Airlines | MileagePlus
Reload this Page >

The Consolidated "Is United 1K Status Worth It? - 2013/14 Edition

The Consolidated "Is United 1K Status Worth It? - 2013/14 Edition

Old Jul 20, 2013, 12:12 am
  #91  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,300
Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
I have gone thru my fares YTD (20+ RTs), all domestic, the base fares have run 84% to 92% (averaging 88%) of total fares. Understand certain international airports (sometimes based on cabin) can have additional taxes but I will need to leave those to others to run the numbers. So, for now, 2x $10K estimates appear to be a bit on the extreme side.
This is consistent with my calculation. Average this year in the high 80s (incuding a P fare to LHR, which is going to have higher proportionate tax than just about any other ticket, and two TPAC W's). That's a spend number just north of $11,000.
Kacee is offline  
Old Jul 20, 2013, 4:31 am
  #92  
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 4,645
Originally Posted by gpicur
MITCHMU, WOW that is news to me. About 10 days ago I bought a W class ticket for my wife ORD to Paris. When I checked the FARE CLASS bucket on United.Com I thought I saw R-0 RN-1. I have seen on other itineraries O-0 ON-1, etc. So I think there is a bit of an advantage for 1Ks. Also, the 800 XXX-1000 number I use is open to all premiers ? Who knew ?
That number goes to same place as others - they eliminated the 1k desk shortly after takeover. There is a thread on that.

I have truly never seen RN>R since takeover.

Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
I have gone thru my fares YTD (20+ RTs), all domestic, the base fares have run 84% to 92% (averaging 88%) of total fares. Understand certain international airports (sometimes based on cabin) can have additional taxes but I will need to leave those to others to run the numbers. So, for now, 2x $10K estimates appear to be a bit on the extreme side.
Are taxes the only part excluded from "qualifying" dollars?

I noted clearly that that a major portion of the incremental was value attached to time and frustration for tracking and fighting with CO.
FlyWorld is offline  
Old Jul 20, 2013, 4:57 am
  #93  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: NYC
Programs: AA DULtArer
Posts: 5,552
So, for now, 2x $10K estimates appear to be a bit on the extreme side.
What, hyperbole on FT? That's shocking!!

I can't believe people waste their lives tracking spend/miles/credits chasing some contrived 'status' dangled by a company as a piata...

For biz, get me and my group where I want to go, and home,... On time. Biz success means dollars, which I spend on......

For pleasure, with Ms Laser Sailor, who hates flying. I either nail down First with an instrument or buy it on a trip of substance. When your spouse of >25 years will reroof your house to save 6000 USD, she flies First. Wonder how many cpm that is???
LaserSailor is offline  
Old Jul 20, 2013, 5:41 am
  #94  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: LGA/JFK/EWR
Programs: UA 1K1.75MM, Hyatt Globalist, abandoned Marriott LTT (RIP SPG), Hertz PC
Posts: 21,165
Originally Posted by gpicur
MITCHMU, WOW that is news to me. About 10 days ago I bought a W class ticket for my wife ORD to Paris. When I checked the FARE CLASS bucket on United.Com I thought I saw R-0 RN-1. I have seen on other itineraries O-0 ON-1, etc.
No, RN always equals R unfortunately...there is no 1K/elite benefit with that bucket

And ON/O have a different relationship now, since ON is upgrade and O is award
UA-NYC is offline  
Old Jul 20, 2013, 7:42 am
  #95  
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: near to SFO and LHR
Programs: BA Gold, B6 Mosiac, VS, AA, DL (and a legacy UA 2MM)
Posts: 2,271
Originally Posted by gpicur
MITCHMU, WOW that is news to me. About 10 days ago I bought a W class ticket for my wife ORD to Paris. When I checked the FARE CLASS bucket on United.Com I thought I saw R-0 RN-1. I have seen on other itineraries O-0 ON-1, etc. So I think there is a bit of an advantage for 1Ks. Also, the 800 XXX-1000 number I use is open to all premiers ? Who knew ?
Yes, you are right! I also saw R=0 R1>0 just before I booked a trip, coincindentally from Paris. I grabbed it of course.

And I believe the 1K number is different from the Premier telephone number. I occasionally get it answered as "1K line" too, so it may be an overflow situation when it is answered "premier desk" perhaps (and the overflows happen a lot). Just a guess on this.
StingWest is online now  
Old Jul 20, 2013, 11:14 am
  #96  
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: 66,582
Originally Posted by mitchmu
...
Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
I have gone thru my fares YTD (20+ RTs), all domestic, the base fares have run 84% to 92% (averaging 88%) of total fares. Understand certain international airports (sometimes based on cabin) can have additional taxes but I will need to leave those to others to run the numbers. So, for now, 2x $10K estimates appear to be a bit on the extreme side.
....
Are taxes the only part excluded from "qualifying" dollars? ...
what I used was the item list as "airfare"
FARE INFORMATION
Fare Breakdown
Airfare:
U.S. Federal Transportation Tax:
U.S. Flight Segment Tax:
September 11th Security Fee:
U.S. Passenger Facility Charge:
Per Person Total:
eTicket Total:
Originally Posted by mitchmu
...I noted clearly that that a major portion of the incremental was value attached to time and frustration for tracking and fighting with CO.
If you feel the need to self-track versus letting UA, then with the purchase info, the deriving the airfare info takes 30 secs -- maintaining a personal spreadsheet would be well under 5 minutes (closer to 1-2 minutes) per trip. This includes the extra time to add back in fuel surcharges and any other item we learn will be counted. The one tough case will be non-UA ticket stock itin with UA segments -- but for most this not a common case. Hard to see this self tracking amounting to thousands of dollars of personal time to reach "$20K" level need.

Originally Posted by UA-NYC
No, RN always equals R unfortunately...there is no 1K/elite benefit with that bucket ....
even with multiple posted statements to contrary
I will agree it is very rare and a very minimal benefit but have seen it one or twice, it does happen. RN is NOT always equal R -- but usually does.

Last edited by WineCountryUA; Jul 20, 2013 at 11:24 am Reason: self merge
WineCountryUA is offline  
Old Jul 20, 2013, 11:25 am
  #97  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: LGA/JFK/EWR
Programs: UA 1K1.75MM, Hyatt Globalist, abandoned Marriott LTT (RIP SPG), Hertz PC
Posts: 21,165
Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
even with multiple posted statements to contrary
I will agree it is very rare and a very minimal benefit but have seen it one or twice, it does happen. RN is NOT always equal R -- but usually does.
I've posted about my $20 RN>R or IN>I challenge, and no one has taken me up on it yet. If you pull the fare codes in Expert Mode, or on sites like KVS/EF, the PN bucket coms right before R, and of course PN>R almost always. I think people see them and mistakenly think they're comparing RN/R.

As always, I'll PayPal $20 to the first person to send me ANY future example (1-330 days from now) where RN>R or IN>I.
UA-NYC is offline  
Old Jul 20, 2013, 12:15 pm
  #98  
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 4,645
Originally Posted by UA-NYC
I've posted about my $20 RN>R or IN>I challenge, and no one has taken me up on it yet. If you pull the fare codes in Expert Mode, or on sites like KVS/EF, the PN bucket coms right before R, and of course PN>R almost always. I think people see them and mistakenly think they're comparing RN/R.

As always, I'll PayPal $20 to the first person to send me ANY future example (1-330 days from now) where RN>R or IN>I.
Every search that I've done, I check RN and R in EF, and not once have I seen a case since 3/3/12 when RN>R. Not a single one.

Interesting that the one or two people claiming to see RN>R are unable and/or unwilling to provide us with itineraries that we can independently verify.

In contrast, anyone can verify my assertion that RN=R simply by searching for RN and R on any international flight in the system.
FlyWorld is offline  
Old Jul 20, 2013, 12:46 pm
  #99  
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: near to SFO and LHR
Programs: BA Gold, B6 Mosiac, VS, AA, DL (and a legacy UA 2MM)
Posts: 2,271
Originally Posted by UA-NYC
I've posted about my $20 RN>R or IN>I challenge, and no one has taken me up on it yet. If you pull the fare codes in Expert Mode, or on sites like KVS/EF, the PN bucket coms right before R, and of course PN>R almost always. I think people see them and mistakenly think they're comparing RN/R.

As always, I'll PayPal $20 to the first person to send me ANY future example (1-330 days from now) where RN>R or IN>I.
OK, it's more correct to say that I'm pretty sure I saw RN > R on the Paris flight booked recently, but of course these things disappear once one grabs them, so there's no way to be certain.

Your challenge is duly noted....

And back On Topic here, 1K is definitely worth it! If you're close - go for it! You'll get most all international upgrades (unless you buy the very cheap fares or travel at peak business times). You'll get a lot of domestic upgrades, even occasionally hug-to-hub (which are the most difficult, I think). And regardless of how the call center technology works, the 1K line number will get you to an agent fast. The 1KVoice email has always responded for the past year or so, anyway, usually with a reasonably coherent message and applicable compensation when appropriate.

Oh, and I forgot to mention those 6 SWUs (whoops GPUs) - definitely nice...

Last edited by StingWest; Jul 20, 2013 at 4:04 pm
StingWest is online now  
Old Jul 21, 2013, 3:57 pm
  #100  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
Originally Posted by StingWest
Yes, you are right! I also saw R=0 R1>0 just before I booked a trip, coincindentally from Paris. I grabbed it of course.

And I believe the 1K number is different from the Premier telephone number. I occasionally get it answered as "1K line" too, so it may be an overflow situation when it is answered "premier desk" perhaps (and the overflows happen a lot). Just a guess on this.
You can call any UA reservation # and will be directed to the appropriately senior person based on your #. If you call 1K and enter a GM, that's where you are routed and if you call GM and enter a 1K #, that's where you go.

There are no "desks" (images of happy people sitting in nice surroundings). Higher elites simply routed to more senior people and the CSR can see your status, $ spend and so forth.
Often1 is offline  
Old Jul 21, 2013, 4:04 pm
  #101  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Jersey Shore/YYZ
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond, Hertz PC
Posts: 12,521
Originally Posted by mitchmu
That doesn't sound like the 20% tax rate that aacharya is asserting as reality.
Both of you are not adding back the international fuel surcharges.

I'm so happy neither of you are my accountants. Or involved in anything where upfront accuracy (or, more precisely, straightforwardness) are treasured. Not thrown aside to try to make untrue theories somehow seem accurate.

Last edited by iluv2fly; Jul 26, 2013 at 4:15 am Reason: unnecessary
aacharya is offline  
Old Jul 25, 2013, 8:36 pm
  #102  
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 2
Hey All,

Read through this thread (and the thread from the last few years) and was curious to get you all's advice. Based on the below, do you think it's worth it for me to go for 1K?

Currently Premier Gold with Premier Platinum pending based on travel booked between now and the end of the year. Never had status before this year, but now living in a hub (IAD) and working in the private sector for the first time. As of now (assuming no unexpected business trips), I'll end up with around 79,000 PQM for the year. I do a good mix of leisure and business travel, domestic and international. I place a bit of value on the increased upgrade chances, but would likely derive most of my benefit from the GPUs and lack of change fees on awards.

I'm not particularly able to do any MRs this fall (although I see in the MR forum that a couple of jaunts to ANC would do the trick.) At what price would it be worthwhile to purchase the additional PQMs? Right now, the best offer I've received is around 15.2 CPPQM (which doesn't seem worth it to me).

Thanks for any and all advice you're able to provide...
smsanso is offline  
Old Jul 25, 2013, 8:50 pm
  #103  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Jersey Shore/YYZ
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond, Hertz PC
Posts: 12,521
Originally Posted by smsanso
Hey All,

Read through this thread (and the thread from the last few years) and was curious to get you all's advice. Based on the below, do you think it's worth it for me to go for 1K?

Currently Premier Gold with Premier Platinum pending based on travel booked between now and the end of the year. Never had status before this year, but now living in a hub (IAD) and working in the private sector for the first time. As of now (assuming no unexpected business trips), I'll end up with around 79,000 PQM for the year. I do a good mix of leisure and business travel, domestic and international. I place a bit of value on the increased upgrade chances, but would likely derive most of my benefit from the GPUs and lack of change fees on awards.

I'm not particularly able to do any MRs this fall (although I see in the MR forum that a couple of jaunts to ANC would do the trick.) At what price would it be worthwhile to purchase the additional PQMs? Right now, the best offer I've received is around 15.2 CPPQM (which doesn't seem worth it to me).

Thanks for any and all advice you're able to provide...
Fly on some mileage runs. The best you might get buying miles is 12 CPM. Still way too much when you can fly for 4 to 6 CPM.

If you get within a few thousand then it might be worth buying the rest.
aacharya is offline  
Old Jul 25, 2013, 9:13 pm
  #104  
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Colorado
Programs: Lifetime UA 1K, Lifetime Hilton Diamond, Lifetime Marriott Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 1,261
Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
I have gone thru my fares YTD (20+ RTs), all domestic, the base fares have run 84% to 92% (averaging 88%) of total fares. Understand certain international airports (sometimes based on cabin) can have additional taxes but I will need to leave those to others to run the numbers. So, for now, 2x $10K estimates appear to be a bit on the extreme side.
2X might be the case if you buy cheap roundtrips to Europe (my last one was 45% tax). I looked at my last 4 trips:

SFO-FRA 880 Base 698 Tax
SFO-PEK 2713 Base 457 Tax
DEN FRA (through IAD) 1032 Base 693 Tax
DEN-AMS (through IAH) 1543 Base 590 Tax

This puts me at 71% for 4 international fares.

Originally Posted by anc-ord772
Yeah if I was a 2MM I would not fly UA. It is pretty much a garbage airline right now. I would fly whomever would deliver the best service and schedule, knowing of course that I could fly UA whenever and still have status.
It really depends on whether you have another choice. Living in Colorado I don't. If I lived in NY, LA, Atlanta I would not be on United.

I would not say that UA is garbage though. I would take e+ over coach on LH, ANA, Emirates, and most others.

Last edited by iluv2fly; Jul 25, 2013 at 9:38 pm Reason: merge
bldr1k is offline  
Old Jul 25, 2013, 9:38 pm
  #105  
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: 66,582
Originally Posted by bldr1k
2X might be the case if you buy cheap roundtrips to Europe (my last one was 45% tax). I looked at my last 4 trips:

SFO-FRA 880 Base 698 Tax
SFO-PEK 2713 Base 457 Tax
DEN FRA (through IAD) 1032 Base 693 Tax
DEN-AMS (through IAH) 1543 Base 590 Tax

This puts me at 71% for 4 international fares.
suspect you are including YQ, fuel surcharge in taxes
dummy bookings I try show SFO-FRA with $164 taxes
The UA portion is based plus YQ
WineCountryUA is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.