MSPeconomist

Yes, but instead of 25,000 PQMs you can qualify via segments, IIRC 30 PQSs for Silver. Thus, you would need the following:

30 PQSs and $2500 PQDs and 4 segments on UA.

Before deciding whether is's worthwhile purchasing some PQMs before your travel, figure out what benefits you would get on your international trip and what they're worth.

IIRC there's a trick to "purchase" some short cheap UA ticket, claim the extra redeemable miles for a fee and then the extra status miles for a bigger fee and pay for them. They apparently post instantly and then you can cancel the ticket without penalty within 24 hours. Others here should be experts on this, but you probably don't need to buy all those PQMs for $450 when you only need a few.

kevstev

Thanks all. So far what I am getting is that since my wife is already silver, an early upgrade gets me nothing aside from the mileage bonus for the trip to europe. Since it is really unlikely I will be getting near gold range this year, buying the PQM isn't worth it at all.

I think I will try the tactic of just asking after my trip this week to be granted silver status over the phone. If I get it, and the extra ~1000 miles, great, if not, no big deal.

IADFlyer123

If you have met PQS (segments - 30) and PQD ($2500), you should already be silver. Call MPSC and verify.

JBord

Yep, you got it. I wouldn't sweat it, but if you call, do it after your flight that will get you within 26 miles, point out your upcoming trip, and ask politely if they can bump you prior to the trip. They probably won't give you miles, just manually change your status to silver, and you'll officially reach it during your takeoff to Europe.

mikethe1

Hi,

I want to share positive experience I had this week with customer service staff:

After outbound long haul I'm short 2K PQM from Gold, and in between I have another *A domestic itinerary + the return flight has long connection (so the value of Gold is quantifiable here - lunge access etc.).

In this forum I was advised just to ask to be bumped up especially since I've already completed the outbound direction, and it's obvious I'll earn those short missing PQMs.

So the customer service immediately accepted the request and already during the call updated the status online.

So yeah, it was really nice gesture from UA.

MorePolka

I'm currently at 52,000+ PQM's & $5366 PQD's. Need $644 PQD's for Gold. I have a transatlantic flight next week (coach) that will take me over the top to Gold.

I called Customer Service today, requesting "early gold status" to get lounge access both in the US & Germany. The rep said that they never process such requests in Q4; they want the flyers to earn status. Denied.

beckcommar

I too tried calling to get a "bump" up to gold today. Was denied quickly. My situation: 15 PQM short of gold, $7k+ PQD. Will fly LHR-SFO Polaris tomorrow and thus go over the top to gold (and past platinum PQD) but was hoping to have lounge access for my connecting LX flight in the morning purchased separately.

Nope. "It is against the rules." Which is, of course, correct. No good will gesture to me this time.

SFOrunner

Does anyone have any experience with asking United to "bump" your status up after miles have been flown but before they've posted? I am flying SFO-YUL on 11/28 and upon landing I will have reached Platinum. I'm flying SFO-EWR-MIA-EWR-SFO at the end of next week and would love to make sure I'm BG1 and potentially have a shot at a T-72 CPU. (Ignoring the fact that I know I won't be upgraded on the SFO/EWR routes.)

WingnutSYD

A question related to upgrade priority and status in general: if one is on a multi-segment trip and jumps up to higher status based on earning during the first segment, is there any way to have one's upgrade priority updated immediately for the following segments? Or will it have to wait for the earning to post (at which point it would be too late for this trip...)

NoLaGent

No, it's not possible to update until it's been posted.

findark

You can call and request an early status bump based on the pending earnings, but no guarantees.

StuckinITH

I don't know if your first segment is international but those take 48 hours to post. As an example, after an international flight my wife would become Platinum. When she checked in for another trip one day later, she was still Gold and Boarding Group 2. The next day she became Platinum. At the UC in ORD she asked for a reprint of her boarding pass. Even though the boarding pass now said Platinum, her Boarding Group was still 2. She asked the Gate Agent why it was 2 and he stated that Platinum only provides Boarding Group 2 but we all know that it's not true.

WingnutSYD

Cool, thanks guys! I suppose it's worth a shot.

Are you speaking from experience/have you heard of this working? Or speculating?

findark

Several reports of this working on FT - just call and explain that you would be qualifying for the next status but would like to use it faster than the system will update. Some have also been successful in getting an advance on a status for the flight on which they will qualify.

The "no guarantees" is because it's not a stated policy so you are still asking for a favor.

Kacee

Higher than the 1K listed in your profile?