My biggest hope lately is the possibility of moving to NYC metro area (due to a job opportunity that popped up). Living in/around NYC means I can say F it to status since literally every airline flies out of NYC, and you can bet I'm not going to drag myself out to EWR to fly UA if there are more sensible options. As opposed to now living in Houston where I essentially have to fly UA if I want to get anywhere (besides DAL) on a direct flight.

I wouldn't call it a "relief," but I'm in the same boat. This year will likely be the first time I'll dip below 1K or Plat in the last 12 years, and I see no reason to chase a higher tier despite ending up about 9K short based on bookings through end of this year.

As with everything else UA and MP, PMUA had it right. Actually the intro of Plat watered down the value of 1K. That was the critical error.

Didn't 2MM use to earn lifetime RCC? That is actually something of some value.

I'm 1MM flyer who realistically will hit 2MM around the time I retire and 3MM never (or right at the time I die so I never reap its benefits). I definitely enjoy 1K, and used to think that if I retire at 2MM and have Platinum, I can live with that because it's kind of "1K lite"--looks like 1K to the outside world (checked bags, boarding lines, bring all your friends into E+, etc), but you just never get upgraded. However, with the free meal benefit and now this change fee, it seems clear that Platinum is going to end up much more like Gold than 1K. I don't really change awards that often, but I certainly do last-minute bookings, and, at this rate, surely by the time I drop down to platinum there will be fees for that as well.

That got me thinking... I'm a little behind, but maybe I should switch airlines and try to earn 1MM on another airline before I retire. Unfortunately, it really doesn't seem that the grass is greener on the other side. In particular, AA used to give out lifetime miles for everything, including credit card spend, and then recently cracked down and limited it to BIS miles. But they have so many legacy MM flyers that they can't ever give any real benefits for that status. DL gives only *silver* status for MM, and gold for 2MM. Adding insult to injury, DL doesn't even give anything of note for 3MM.

Another option, I suppose, is to stop chasing status now. In particular, I've been intrigued by B6, which might have a superior product on some of the routes I fly (such as SFO-BOS and SFO-JFK) with cheaper fares (or rather identical fares with fewer restrictions like Friday/Saturday stay). So I could just fly whatever domestically and enjoy my lifetime gold when flying internationally on United. But then I worry that some of my international upgrades might not clear, or, worse, that instead of earning miles faster than I can spend them, I might actually run out of miles to use for upgrades. Plus I travel a lot with family, and want to send my kids off to college with a good head start on their MM status, because 1MM is definitely still way better than 0MM. I can't even imagine flying UA without at least gold at this point.

So basically after considering the options, I think maybe I'm stuck with UA for now. I'm okay with the 1K benefits I get today, and given that I can't predict the future, sticking with UA might turn out to have some benefits. I used to have to stretch to hit 1K, but with the new 200% premium cabin benefits, it's a bit easier. (I'm still kicking myself for not getting that credit card that gave you 10K EQM annually, which would make 1K trivial for me at this point.) With SFO as my home airport, sticking to UA is kind of the path of least resistance anyway. Plus, perhaps ironically, I'd be pretty sad to lose access to the SFO centurion club when I fly.

I made 1K for the first and probable only time last year when I married my wife in Vietnam. Now we might make gold every two year if we time vacation and trip to Vietnam well. I never taught I would need the baggage allowance that Platinum gave me, then I got married ha ha now I have hit my 5 bag limit twice already(me 3 bag wife 2 bags).

Maybe this is slightly off-topic but I recently heard that UA knows acknowledges that Plat is not a well-positioned status level and that there are early stage plans to "differentiate" Plat. Now we all know that in UA speak that may mean more devaluation.

I will make Plat for the first time this year and have never been 1k so I try to enjoy the benefits, whatever they are.

This devaluation is a slap to me, not a punch. It'll probably cost me a few hundred dollars per year, or merely force me to change my habits. I've often booked INT awards and then cherry picked changes within 2-3 days of travel- scoring saver business quite often (especially to Munich and Frankfurt when I need to connect). If saver opens up, I'll still switch and pay the fee....

That being said, Group 1 is much more important to me. Completely eliminates stress of boarding. Ability to book E+ seats much more important to me. I have a family of 4.

Interesting, what has pushed me away from UA at times is the relatively affordable F fares on all airlines.

i'm a plat and i don't really care too much

i only book large north-america-to-africa-2-in-business-class awards every year or year and a half that i plan far out, so the whole close-in period doesn't affect me too much.

but that removal of free one ways on a round trip intl bums me out, but that's something that applies to all

plats get absolutely better treatments than gold, it has been really noticeable over the past year. but honestly ua gold is good enough. i'll 'only' qualify for gold next year but meh. lounge and e+ are only 2 things that matter to me. a lot of my flying is on oal like et and sq where award miles are still very generous.

you'll notice it. i find that call center agents apply fare rules very very very liberally towards plat and 1k. i've had dates of certain segments on complex low-y intl itineraries changed simply by asking.

Same here. I don't chase status levels, I just wind up where I wind up after taking the flights I want to take. Due to a combination of fare differences, strikes and where I needed to fly, I just happened to go up from Gold to Plat this year by flying more on UA than AF and will be well over 1K by the end of the year. As someone who flies international for work several times a year, I am just looking for the cheapest way to get into business class. The move from Gold to Plat was not really noticeable. The 2 RPUs were nice, but I probably would have either done a TOD upgrade or done without on domestic flights. I will probably be able to use the GPUs, but they won't open up any more R space than I just could have gotten with miles. (Actually, the one thing that could make me chase status would be to open up more upgrade space earlier to higher level elites). I will check out if there is PN class on any flights next year that might make buying M attractive, but I don't fly on many award tickets, so I don't think I will find 1K to be something worth going out of my way to get.

I disagree. We each have our own single experience so I'm not saying you're wrong, but I've noticed no difference. In fact, in regards to your example above, I've noticed very little difference in how agents make exceptions for me than when I was a 1K.

I do notice a little nicer treatment when seated in F, sometimes I would get a special welcome as a 1K. That always surprised me, but it's not something I really cared about.

Perhaps it was a timing thing? There was about a 12-16 month period under Smisek where I felt agents were trained to start every conversation with "No". I believe I was 1K at that time. But over the last couple years I've felt, even as a Gold, that it starts with "let me see what I can do for you".

I just moved to Chicago. I would say I feel validated by this new value dilution. I've never regretted my decision two or three years ago to forget about MP and fly UA only as a last resort. From my new home base I find Southwest represents better value and convenience from MDW to DCA, LGA, etc. and I don't care about the points any more.

That comment should make Golds worry about *G status...

Sort of....

I am at 1.2 MM and try to do about 100K a year (usually I slow down travel once I know I can get 1K with no problem).

One of the things I ask myself is: do I try to make 2MM before I retire. I have sort of decided I would not - this lifestyle is just too tough. Now, this definitely gives me even less incentive.

On a year-to-year basis, on the other hand, it gives more incentive to make 1K. Given the limited availability and the uncertainty of work travel, fee-free cancellation and change are very important to me.

FWIW - I wrote a letter to UA last night (and got a response within hours). Here is the transcript:

Dear Mileage Plus,

I hope this email finds you well!

I received the information regarding the changes with award travel. I see that Platinum Elite members will now be required to pay a fee of $50/ ticket for changes made within 60 days of travel.

After years of travel, I earned 2MM status this year. The greatest incentive I had to achieve this level was that all award change fees were waived. This was particularly helpful, as many award seats open within days of travel. I would often be able to change to nonstop flights rather than double connections.

I'd like to know if those who are lifetime Platinums will be grandfathered in any way.

I appreciate your listening!

Take care,

Dear ZRS70,

We’re always glad to hear from one of our most loyal customers. Not many can say they've flown more than a million miles! Thanks for writing.

I regret you are disappointed in our new program. We do not have a a grandfather clause in the Million Miler program that affects the Premier Platinum change that takes place on or after October 06, 2016.

United has always been a leader in quality customer service. We know in today's economy, customers want to control the cost of their air travel.

Even as we adopt new ways of doing business, please know that we will never change the most important characteristics of our airline — optimum customer service, working together culture, and clean, safe, and reliable travel.

We appreciate your business and look forward to welcoming you on board a future United Airlines flight.

I appreciate you taking the time to share your comments with us. We work hard to consistently provide superior service.
Your constructive comments give us an opportunity to address concerns that may not have otherwise come to our attention. Because we value your concerns, they have been forwarded to our management team to assist them as we continue to make positive changes within our company.

We always welcome your feedback at http://unitedairtime.com

Regards,