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[2015] Version: Survey of plans you have in 2015 for earning 2016 Premier status.

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Old Feb 6, 2015, 3:38 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: mkr

THIS IS A THREAD FOR WHICH ALL MP MEMBERS WILL BE ABLE TO RESPOND ...THANKS.
The goal of the survey is to benefit all of us.
This thread is to ask ALL MileagePlus members who read the MileagePlus Forum to please respond to this
short 3 question survey. It will only take a few minutes..

PLEASE PM YOUR MP FTer FRIENDS TO ASK THEM TO ALSO POST IN THIS SURVEY....THANKS.
The 3 questions are in Post #1


WIKI UPDATED FEBRUARY 24 (already over 160 posts)

PLEASE READ THIS WIKI AND POST #1 BEFORE RESPONDING TO THIS SURVEY. THANKS.

WE NEED YOUR INPUT....PLEASE TAKE PART.


IF YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE WHO HAS ALREADY RESPONDED, KINDLY CHECK YOUR POST TO MAKE SURE YOUR REASONS FOR SEEKING THE STATUS LEVEL YOU ARE SEEKING ARE CLEAR IN QUESTION #3. KINDLY CONSIDER EDITING, IF NEEDED. THIS IS TO HELP IN GATHERING OF DATA FOR THE SURVEY, TO BENEFIT US ALL. THANK YOU.

The data will be compiled and posted in this WIKI after approximately each 100 respondants during the year to keep it simple for someone (me) who has trouble figuring out where Boarding Line 1 is

DATA WILL BE UPDATED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WIKI


UA monitors these threads. They will not release their statistics on MP membership changes, so let us work together to compile our own data.

PURPOSE OF SURVEY


The aim is to get a very large number of data points in the coming weeks/months to see percentages of those who are planning on dropping, maintaining, or increasing in status through their 2015 earnings activity for 2016 status in MP because of many reasons.

The survey asks persons to state their individual reasons for their 2015 plans for attaining a certain status level for 2016. The survey will determine in a objective, structured, measurable and efficient way, what are persons' experiences in flying on UA in light of various changes in the MileagePlus program or other UA flying experiences that have affected the amount of flying they plan to do on UA in 2015. This MAY affect their planned Premier status. Kindly PM your UA FTer friends to ask them to post in this survey. Thanks.

YOU MAY NOT YET KNOW YOUR SPECIFIC PLANS FOR 2015, ie, number flights within the USA or number of TATL flights you plan to take, etc., but please at least post your general plans...like, "I am Platinum but plan to reduce to Gold for 2016." OR, "I am Gold and plan to keep Gold status." Post the minimum status you know you will likely achieve, even if that may just be GM. Then expound on how you plan to do that and your reasons for seeking or not seeking a certain status level.

Later in the year when you have a better idea of your travel plans, you can come back and post again in this thread, referring back to your original post, so your second post will make it clear that you are not a new person responding.... (AN EXAMPLE FUTURE POST: A POST ON APRIL 10: "I posted on Feb. 10 [QUOTE POST] now I am amending my post... (1)I was Gold on Feb. 10 and estimated I would reach 1K status for 2016. (2) I now realize I will only reach Platinum through the following planned flying on UA....XX TATL flights, XX Domestic (3) I no longer plan to reach 1K, as my travel on UA will be cut and I will not reach the required PQMs for 1K. I am shifting XX% flying to AA and doing a status match. 1K on UA is not valuable to me anymore BECAUSE....state reasons,compared to other airlines.")


(There is another thread to ask persons if their status decreased, stayed the same, or increased from 2014-2015. Please also respond to that survey.) Thanks. [Survey] From 2014-15 Did your MP Status Increase, Decrease, or remain the same? The data from that survey will be compiled and reported in that thread.

PLEASE READ POST #1 before responding to this present survey for 2015. Thank you.


Since the PQD requirements have increased in 2015 for earning 2016 Premier Status for all Premier levels
($3,000/$6,000/$9,000/$12,000)
AND since the requirements for earning Reward Mileage is changing on March 1, 2015, this a survey of ALL FTers who belong to MileagePlus about plans for achieving 2016 status throughout 2015.

There has been speculation in this Forum that increases in PQDs for earning 2016 status and the changes in earning Reward miles beginning March 1 may significantly reduce those seeking particular Premier status for 2016. Many other reasons have also been cited in other threads in this Forum for persons reducing their flying on UA in favor of other carriers.

The goal of the survey is to also see if any trends become evident in regards to persons reducing, keeping, or increasing their status in MileagePlus over the course of the next few weeks/months....as well as to see if any trends emerge for reasons given,

It will take just a few minutes for you to respond. THANKS AGAIN FOR TAKING PART.

Statistics will be updated occasionally during the year in this WIKI when a significant number of persons respond to the survey.

Please read Post #1 before responding to this survey. Thank you.

FIRST DATA REPORT FEB. 17


It is very early in the year and not all persons have their specific travel plans for the year. There are many 1Ks who fly enough each year that they already know they will make the requirements and several already have several trips booked, so they have been able to respond to the survey.

I am asking persons to estimate the status they will attain, as some have done, based upon a general idea of the travel they will likely have. People can come back later in the year to amend their plans in this thread when they have a better idea.

Some persons are very clear in their reasons why they will attain certain status. Some persons are making statements like..." I will make somewhere between Gold and Platinum."
When persons make vague statements like that, I take the conservative measure and project the lower status. When I can take some time to see if any trends emerge for reasons, I will update that information. Several have made statements alluding to the increased PQDs and RDM changes, but I noticed no real trend emerging in the early life of this survey.

I do wish persons would go back to their posts to edit and give some clearer reasons for why they are keeping, dropping, or increasing status. That will be more helpful for the survey results to see if any identifiable trends are emerging.

Some persons would not commit to any particular status for 2016, so I did not count them. I am going to clarify in the instructions for the thread to see if persons will commit to the lowest status they likely will achieve in MP for 2016. If you post in the future, please commit to the lowest status you will likely have in MP.

DATA
SO...for the first 100 respondants reported in this survey, here is the breakdown:

3 GS, 52 1k, 13P, 24G, 6S, 2GM.

33/100 report they plan a drop in status from 2015-2016. 62 report they plan to maintain status. 5 report they plan to increase status.

All 3 GS feel they will keep it.

35 1Ks report they will maintain 1K. 5 1Ks report they will drop to Platinum.
11 1Ks report they will drop to Gold or below
(several will maintain Gold through MM status) 1 1K aims for GS

3 Platinums report they will retain Platinum.
9 Platinums report they plan to drop to Gold.
(several will maintain G through MM...I will report later)
1 Platinum reports increasing to 1K

18 Golds report they will retain Gold ( several are MM...I will report this later)
4 Golds report they will drop to Silver. 1 Gold will drop to GM
1 Gold will increase to 1K

3 Silvers will retain Silver, 3 will drop to GM

1GM will aim for Silver, 1 for Gold

PLEASE READ POST #1 BEFORE RESPONDING TO THIS SURVEY. THANKS.
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[2015] Version: Survey of plans you have in 2015 for earning 2016 Premier status.

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Old Feb 7, 2015, 7:21 pm
  #76  
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Programs: UA GS>1K>Nothing; DL DM 2MM; AS 75K>Nothing>MVP
Posts: 9,341
1) Platinum

2) Might buy Platinum status with PQM accelerators in January of 2016.

3) Bottom line for me anyway,

  • UA international premium product on TPAC has gone from best to worst over the last 3 years.
  • Price for RT F to SE Asia was effectively raised by 95% because of higher award redemption rates, and
  • UA dropped SEA and BKK

Really no reason to fly UA (or *A) anymore.

Last edited by 5khours; Feb 8, 2015 at 12:23 pm
5khours is offline  
Old Feb 8, 2015, 1:25 am
  #77  
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: UA 1K, NW forever
Posts: 1,390
1) 1K
2) Definitely platinum, possibly 1K.
Currently estimating 35k of domestic travel, 1 paid C ticket to India (30K pqm), 1 MR to SIN (17k PQM), and 10K from the legacy CC = 92K. Could easily MR up to 100K but my PQD will only be about $10k.
3) I love the GPUs but not sure it's worth $2000 out of pocket. I'll have to make some more business trips happen.
dfreeman02 is offline  
Old Feb 8, 2015, 2:49 am
  #78  
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: ROC/NYC/MSP/LAX/HKG/SIN
Posts: 3,214
(1) What is your MP Status on UA right now?

1K

(2) What are your plans for earning MP Premier status for 2016 AND how?

Planning to remain 1K.

(3) What are your reasons for seeking or not seeking certain status on UA?

Still a long way to go for 1MM. After this month of crazy travel, I should still be roughly 300k short, so I am not sure how much more I can do for the rest of the year. Could just suck it up and rack up four TPACs to get closer to 1MM with seven GPUs left. Door to AA is always open for me(Already got 85k taken care of). DL is dead I can fly AF/KL/VS Premium to get more RDMs than the pathetic DL network.
PaulInTheSky is offline  
Old Feb 8, 2015, 5:40 am
  #79  
RNE
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: JZRO
Posts: 9,169
Originally Posted by tkc98110
Once I get to 2MM (no fees for canceling award tickets is a very nice perk when you are flying kids and spouse around), may consider a status match with DL.
But on DL you won't earn those cancelable MP miles that make your UA 2MM status such "a very nice perk."

Not trying to vex you, merely highlighting that it is the FF program—not the airline—to which you (and I) are really yoked.

RNE, married to MileagePlus.
RNE is offline  
Old Feb 8, 2015, 6:54 am
  #80  
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: SAN
Programs: UA-GS,1.95MM, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Titanium, Hyatt Explorer
Posts: 423
(1) What is your MP Status on UA right now?

1K

(2) What are your plans for earning MP Premier status for 2016 AND how?

I'll have locked in my 1K by Feb 20th.

(3) What are your reasons for seeking or not seeking certain status on UA?

Have not decided. Even though I'm a 1K buying mid-price tickets, upgrades are still fairly elusive. I have another 150,000 miles or so I know I'll need to fly the rest of 2015, so not sure if I should share some of that with American. With the mileage change in March, locking in top tier on American seems like a smart option and then I can evaluate for 2017.
PDILLM is offline  
Old Feb 8, 2015, 7:43 am
  #81  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Canada
Programs: UA*1K MM SK EBG LATAM BL
Posts: 23,314
1K
1K

Pre March 1 will be Plat with a couple MRs and a couple vacations, the rest will just be regular flying without MRs for rest of 2015 with travel on partners due to the new ridiculous RDM scheme that kicks leisure outofpocket flyers in the nuts. PQD irrelevant as foreigner.
Also have 80k+ BIS miles in awards booked for a 9 week vacation.

Full exit in 2016 from MP.
rankourabu is offline  
Old Feb 8, 2015, 8:13 am
  #82  
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: San Antonio, TX
Programs: 1K
Posts: 784
(1) 1K

(2) Shooting for 1K or GS. This will be attainable through weekly business travel.

(3) UA has good non-stop coverage to the cities I frequent. There aren't any good alternatives.
hookthem is offline  
Old Feb 8, 2015, 8:23 am
  #83  
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Virginia and Vitoria, ES Brazil
Programs: UA 1K, Million Miler, *G, JJ, AD, Global Entry, CLEAR, H.O.G. Life Member
Posts: 1,407
1) 1K
2) Continue monthly trips between US and Brazil
3) Should reach 1MM in October
qfrodo is offline  
Old Feb 8, 2015, 2:19 pm
  #84  
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: SYD; Central Coast, NSW
Programs: UA, 1K 2MM
Posts: 947
1) 1K

2) 3 X SYD-SFO-FRA return; at least 3 X SYD-USA return;

3) Should reach 1MM in August. Seek to maintain 1K due to dominant international travel schedule and 1K benefits, particularly GPU upgrades with UA give highest chance for travelling in C of any airline I am aware of out of SYD.
IainC is offline  
Old Feb 9, 2015, 10:30 am
  #85  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: SEA
Programs: UA Plat, AS MVP, HH Gold, MR Gold
Posts: 1,848
Status now: Gold, down from 6 year at Plat/1K

Status goal 2016: Gold for sure, Plat likely.
I go where research opportunities take me, and looks like I'll have some SE Asia, Japan, and conferences in Europe and several domestics US. Too soon to know exactly where, but at this point it feels like a high travel year.

Why not higher status:
UA canceled my highest CPM route (SEA-ANC), so even if I have the miles, I'll fall short on PQD for 1K.

Why not lower/no status:
Status matched to DL, but soul searching told me award redemptions for international family trips in economy in Summer is what I really want out of my FFP, so Skypesos is a non-starter. Old Chase Platinum card gives me double miles on most things I really buy and PQD waiver to up to Plat, so CC miles keep my earning rates decent.
PVDProf is offline  
Old Feb 9, 2015, 12:05 pm
  #86  
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: IAH
Programs: formerly UA GS, now lowly MM lifetime gold :(
Posts: 1,204
Gold due to MM status. Was formerly a multi-year GS before changing jobs.

UA really should add some sort of incentive for MM folks like me to fly more with them. Right now, whether I fly zero miles or 50k, I'm still gold. Why not implement a system for MM folks where if one re-qualifies for gold (plat for 2MM, etc), then they give us one status level higher. Based on my my current travel patterns, I fly enough to requal for gold, but not enough to qualify for plat. So why bother putting 60k miles on United if it gets me nothing incremental in terms of status?

Why fly on united when others have more convenient routes from MSY? Upgrades as a gold are few and far between and the benefits of an E+ seat are wiped out if I can fly non-stop instead of connecting. As it stands, I do and will fly other airlines where more convenient.
osxanalyst is offline  
Old Feb 9, 2015, 1:27 pm
  #87  
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Houston, TX
Programs: UA Platinum, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 149
1: Gold
2: I expect to once again squeak into Gold--2 TATL or TPAC vacations, a moderate amount of domestic, and a few FPQMs from the old PPlus CC.
3: That PPlus CC means no PQD required (though I come really close anyway since a lot of short work trips have very high cpm). I'm a hub-captive at IAH, so other airlines (at least domestically) don't make much sense. WN is fine from HOU, but I need those domestics on UA to hit Gold.

Star Gold gives one the business-class lines and such from TK, LH, NH, etc., even if in Y, though I have lounge access anyway through PPlus CC. At the risk of sounding like an apologist, even though RDM earning will be less, the 8/$ as a Gold is a 60% bonus over 5/$ as a Kettle, better than the old 50%. I put any expense I can on the CC, so the RDMs I get from it match or exceed what I get from actual flying.
festdave is offline  
Old Feb 9, 2015, 1:45 pm
  #88  
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: UA MM, Marriott LT Plat
Posts: 264
(1) What is your MP Status on UA right now?
Plat

(2) What are your plans for earning MP Premier status for 2016 AND how?
Business travel; some predictable much not predictable over a few weeks out. I'll most likely make Gold (use this for the stat's). In the last 4 years I've been Plat and 1K. But that all depends on TPAC / TATL C tickets for both PQM's and PQD's.

(3) What are your reasons for seeking or not seeking certain status on UA?

Hey, I like status. But in my recent experiences as a 1K (most recently in 2014) the CPU's don't really exist, and that's one big driver. More redeemable mile earnings are a nice benefit that my family benefits from. Silver doesn't really get you much... So I'd say I'd like to target Gold as a minimum for the check-in and baggage benefits.

Last edited by jtet; Feb 17, 2015 at 1:24 pm Reason: Clarifying level I expect to make for the survey stat's.
jtet is offline  
Old Feb 9, 2015, 1:49 pm
  #89  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: KEWR
Programs: UA 1K, HH Diamond, SPG/Marriott Gold, Hyatt Plat, National Exec, GE/Nexus
Posts: 501
1) Platinum
2) Maintain Plat via MR. PQD waived through CC spend. Would go for 1K in a heartbeat if I could use OPM.
3) Plat is the new Silver since the merge. Any leg up from lower tiers will help.
miasmal is offline  
Old Feb 9, 2015, 1:57 pm
  #90  
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP, UA Plat
Posts: 311
1) Platinum (After 4 years 1k)
2) Likely to barely maintain Plat (business & personal travel).
3) UA status, mileage earnings & redemptions just aren't worth chasing anymore. That said, I can't always avoid UA (based at EWR) but will redirect spend to AA when possible.
LeftsideWindow is offline  


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