Consolidated Global Services Thread - Qualifications, Benefits and Q & A [2015]
 

Time for a new 2015 thread? It should be an interesting year on United :)

My big hope is that UA solves the preboarding conundrum. Perhaps an invitation for all GS pax to line up at the gate five minutes early outside the boarding lanes?

No way...makes too much sense

This!

While they generally say "please wait to approach the gate area until your boarding group is called", they put those darn BG1, BG2, ... BG5 queues to encourage everyone to line up prior to pre-boarding! Would calling GS 5 min before help this? My experience is that the boarding area will still be crazy crowded :mad:

Simple: add a queue for GS and other preboard.

I hear you. However, I think a five minute buffer would be helpful. You could cut through any boarding group line and let the other pax know that GS pax were paged to the front.

By doing it the way they do it now, you really can't move to the front until the preboard announcement and if you're not at the front of one of the BG lines, it is virtually impossible to fight the crowd. If the GA calls for all GS pax to come forward five minutes before the preboard announcement, I think that would fix things.

By the way, this is what they've been doing at LGA the past few months which is where I got the idea. I think it should be rolled out everywhere else. That way, we don't have to get to the gate early to stand around but can get there within five minutes of the announced boarding time and simply go all the way to the front around the lines and just wait there.

In most airports, I'm afraid there's not enough space to do this.

They have been doing it in FRA too and I liked it.

If people don't line up ahead of time it would be chaos at the time of announcement. On a recent flight from SNA I arrived at the gate 30 minutes prior to boarding and there were more then 50 people ahead of me in BG1. At least it was a peaceful line...

My wish is that a group of ground agents carry me through the masses on their shoulders, but I'm unlikely to get that to happen.

We had a baby this year and my travel was abruptly stopped, so my first year of GS likely is to be my last for a while, but the early boarding thing is a nice but goofy benefit.

Really not feasible to wade through a line of 20+ Group 1 boarders unless you are close to the front of the line, and if you are close to the front of the line, you do not need the special early boarding.

If I'm feeling cranky, I wade through the group. If I'm feeling crafty, I sneak around through one of the less populated other boarding groups. If I'm lazy, I just board whenever my space in line happens.

I'm going to miss GS next year. I did not miss a single upgrade opportunity this year.

I thought I read on the 2014 thread that someone got their invite yesterday as a newbie. Are any of the newbie invites coming through yet?

One person got an invite on the notifications thread. I haven't seen anything else. I can speak for myself (53k PQD, 50 cpm) and a friend (90k PQD, 45 cpm) and we haven't seen anything yet. Denver Market.

on the mystatus.united.com page it says:

"Enjoy your 2015 Global Services status, with all the benefits and services that come with it.Your current Global Services status and benefits are valid through January 31st, 2015"

I guess that means I re-qualified?

Hopefully GS GPU and RPU should continue to clear to PN.

Also, awards using GS miles should inherit GS status regardless who is traveling.

My wishes for 2015:

-LAX GFL return ASAP
-unrealistic wish for GS on UA BF to get invite to FCL in stations like TPE and PVG where partner lounge is utilized
-higher success rate for prioritized meal choice
-complimentary and mandatory charm school sessions for UA EWR based airport staff
-direct number to access HNL and Dearborn call centers. I am tired of educating IAH based agents on UA policies. (two weeks ago I had to change an international flight and was told that the GPU would be lost and the agent pulled another. Not forfeited, just lost she explained. Called back the next day to get it added back to my account. And so many other examples....)

Somewhere above that, it probably says:
"We are still finalizing our Global Services℠ invitations for 2015. Please check back after January 12. Reserved for our top-tier Premier members, Global Services status is based on many criteria, most notably how your flight activity compares to others'. This exclusivity helps us deliver the best possible service to our very best customers."

You'll note that your message says January 31st, 2015, not 2016.

You have the same message I have, and I almost assuredly won't qualify in 2015.