The Consolidated "Is United 1K Status Worth It? - 2013/14 Edition
#91
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Join Date: Apr 2013
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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.
#92
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 4,645
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 ?
I have truly never seen RN>R since takeover.
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.
I noted clearly that that a major portion of the incremental was value attached to time and frustration for tracking and fighting with CO.
#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.
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???
#94
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And ON/O have a different relationship now, since ON is upgrade and O is award
#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
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 ?
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.
#96
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
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Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,582
...
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Are taxes the only part excluded from "qualifying" dollars? ...
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? ...
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:
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:
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
#97
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Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: LGA/JFK/EWR
Programs: UA 1K1.75MM, Hyatt Globalist, abandoned Marriott LTT (RIP SPG), Hertz PC
Posts: 21,165
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.
#98
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 4,645
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.
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.
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.
#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
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.
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.
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
#100
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
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.
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.
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.
#101
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Jersey Shore/YYZ
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond, Hertz PC
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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
#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...
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...
#103
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Jersey Shore/YYZ
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond, Hertz PC
Posts: 12,521
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...
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...
If you get within a few thousand then it might be worth buying the rest.
#104
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Colorado
Programs: Lifetime UA 1K, Lifetime Hilton Diamond, Lifetime Marriott Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 1,261
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.
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.
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
#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
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.
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.
dummy bookings I try show SFO-FRA with $164 taxes
The UA portion is based plus YQ