RumorMill

Recently had a friend book 3 unnecessary transcons for December with overnight returns. When I asked him why, he said that he was ~10k short of 2 million miles and wanted to make it by the end of the year so that he could have Lifetime Plat before they changed the program. Evidently, a friend of his in Willis Tower keyed him into the following changes, and this is what he speculated was going to be happening sometime next year:

• All Million Miler tiers will move down one "notch." Example: 1 Million will now be Silver for life, 2 million=Gold, etc.
• There will no longer be a way to get GS for life. 4 million will be 1k for life, with no 5 million tier. However, certain "high-revenue" flyers will be eligible for lifetime GS by invitation.
• GPUs and RPUs will no longer be given to Lifetime 1Ks and Plats if they have not met the annual PQM quota for their respective lifetime status level in a given year. Example: Someone who is lifetime 1k will not receive any instruments if they only get 50k PQMs in the year, if they fly 75K PQMs they will receive 2 RPUs, and if they fly 100k+ PQMs only then will they receive 6 GPUs.
• People who made a certain lifetime status before the effective date of the change will be grandfathered.
• The companion status benefit will remain the same.

Seems like a pretty big devaluation to me , but when looking at Delta and American's programs (see links below), it looks like United was offering more than them to begin with, and this change just brings UA in line with what Delta and American are currently offering.

Delta: http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_...er-status.html
American: https://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/e...lion-miler.jsp

Created a new account here btw so that this "leak" can't be linked back to my MP account if this ends up being true.

Thoughts?

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Postscript
"Hello everyone, original poster of the thread here replying through the moderators. Now that UA Insider has definitively denied this rumor, I thought that I should issue a prompt and sincere apology to all of you. Please understand that it was never my intent to fear-monger or mislead, but instead just to pass on a rumor that I had heard through a friend of a friend so that it could generate an academic discussion as to the future of the MileagePlus program. Most importantly, I think that this will serve as a good lesson to myself on jumping to conclusions when I hear or view other rumors posted on here in the future. Again, I want to re-iterate that I am positively elated UA Insider has denied this rumor (which would have eventually affected me personally as a member of MileagePlus), and I once again truly apologize for any hardship or unnecessary anger that this post may have caused to my fellow members of FlyerTalk or to the employees of United Airlines."

Kacee

I am suddenly contemplating two SFO-HKG MRs to hit 1M before Dec. 31.

awu25

Wow...seriously hope this isn't true. My only goal was to hit 1MM. But if it only silver...might have to reconsider

hughw

Whew! I was sweating being downgraded to Silver from Lifetime Gold until I read that I will be grandfathered.

chitownflyer

Those whom have already qualified for a particular status level are grandfathered into their current status. However, the question becomes what further incentive is there for the lifetime elite to continue their loyalty when the qualifying criteria is suddenly changed and downgraded? If the proposed changes are true, this is another example of the bean counting cost cutting and elite hostile practices United has undertaken since the merger between Continental and United. $mi/J wishes he could appear on an onboard video and tell his customers that, this is a change they are going to like."

compwhiz

So, if I get grandfathered in as 1MM, does that mean I won't get anything new, like lifetime Platinum?

cova

One difference between UA and AA - that UA (and merged CO) is based on BIS only (and CO had earlier counted EQM). But AA for a very long time included Elite bonus miles and CC (basically all miles earned). So there are lots of AA LT Platinum that earned it for less than 2MM BIS. So an earlier AA Plat that earned a 100% bonus only needed 1MM for mid-term LT. And that is not counting CC.

You might have some AA LT Plat that have never flown AA.

bmr12

You wouldn't get lifetime Plat until 3MM. Of course, at the current trajectory, the plan would be highly devalued again long before you could get there.

mherdeg

This would be a great change; it would let me feel no guilt about abandoning UA after 750k lifetime miles.

RumorMill

I should mention that I almost didn't post this because I would feel EXTRAORDINARILY BAD if anyone did any un-necessary flying to quickly make a certain MM tier and then this rumor ended up being untrue -- so I should mention a few caveats:

• When he and his friend last talked, his friend said that these changes were being "considered" and were definitely NOT finalized. He is doing the Mileage Runs in December out of extreme caution and an abundance of free cash.
• Also, they were conceived under SMI/J, and evidently "all changes are being delayed and reconsidered" until Munoz takes the throne. So, we might not see this happen for awhile or at all.

From what I've heard, I would not personally do any extra flying if I was close to a MM tier unless I was in a position where I would not be disappointed by having spent money on MRs without these changes occurring.

Still, ultimately felt like I was obligated to put it out there to see what everyone thought in the event that it was true...

awu25

I think your second point there is HUGE. Hopefully, Munoz foresees the backlash that would occur if he approved the change

xliioper

They are also different from DL as DL counts all earned MQM's towards MM status including partner MQM's, credit card MQM bonuses (sign-up and spend thresholds), and class-of-service MQM bonuses.

adambadam

Lifetime 2P is a complete joke. Anyone who flies 1M miles shouldn't get credit card perks.

I can understand axing the lifetime GS (or perhaps make it 5 or 6MM) and even the full allotment of SWUs but still brining everything down a rung is just crazy.

LaserSailor

This is second order speculation. It's perfectly logical but we don't the details of the grandfathering on this speculation yet.

Your premise that the program will be devalued again is a certainty.

MM status chasers are the most pitiful marks.

JerseyCityS

I"m not the last bit surprised by this. I expected it. I killed myself this past year getting MM fearing this would happen. I hope I stay grandfathered in.

I did MM strictly on my own person leisure travel, and $, so for me, its' a HUGE personal accomplishment.