drew in the air

A full 25K is a lot.. the higher priority is relatively hit or miss so it comes down to valuing the 2 RPUs, additional 1x on RDM, and boarding group 1, which only you can decide.
FWIW, although still not great value, 150+500 for 6000 PQM is better than any offer I've ever gotten. The lowest rate I've gotten is 12.5 cents while this would be 10.8 cents.

jj12345

Thanks everyone for the advice and moving this thread to the correct spot.

So I looked at booking a SFOLAX and the mileage offer is 64CAD+200CAD for 2000 miles. Is that a good valuation? my other alternative is purchasing a my return on united (SJCYYC) for 319CAD and it gets me the additional miles required.

Alright...I found that purchasing business on my YYCSJC flight was cheaper than doing the mileage purchase on that separate ticket. I was able to do the following:

YYCSJC - 458CAD - 3692PQM. This will put my at 50330PQM.

atword

Plat is worth it to me for the aforementioned reasons. I'm making a mileage/status run on Dec 13. ORD-PHX-LAX-ORD. Low price but gets the miles I need. Two legs will be in P. I'm really looking forward to this...should be a great day of flying. If you can originate at ORD check it out.

maverickar15

So it turns out I will be Plat for the first time this year, at 79K PQM. Pretty excited for boarding group 1, since group 2 now days seem to be longer than 3...

Other than the things discussed here in detail, I noted something interesting. Myself and my father were trying to book a business saver award on a transpac UA flight for my mother a month ago.
I looked up the flight first using my Gold account and then sent the information over to my father so he could book it with his Plat account.
To our surprise, instead of the usual 70K one way, his account showed 65K one way. So by being a Plat, he saved 10K miles round trip on business saver award, vs had I booked it being a Gold.

I don't think this was published anywhere...can anyone confirm if they saw this as well?

jsloan

That's definitely not a benefit of Platinum vs. Gold. What was the route? Are you sure the flights were exactly the same?

maverickar15

The flight was from DEN to NRT during Thanksgiving. It showed 70K miles one way for me, but when he logged in it only showed 65K.

One catch here is that he actually had booked it first a few months ago for economy saver (35K one way) but when I checked for him again, I found the business saver award availability had opened up.

Thus he was able to change the class of service to business saver with only 30K additional miles (65K total) instead, without any additional fee since the date was the same.
(Oh by the way - I did try to upgrade her flight using the confirmation number with my account and it did show 35K additional miles instead of 30K, although I actually cannot change it since it was first booked using my father's UA account.)

jsloan

Pre-November 1 devaluation, Saver Business from the US to Japan was 65K each way on United-operated flights. Post-November 1, that flight is 70K. This is true for all status levels. I assume that this change was after November 1? It's possible that he was grandfathered in on the older award chart since he was changing the class of service on an existing flight.

I'm a 1K, and I see 70K for that flight in Business Saver (available Monday through Thursday of next week, it looks like, for anyone with a last-minute desire to visit Japan.

maverickar15

Ah, you are absolutely right. I forgot about the devaluation... He booked the original flight back in September, and we changed it after November - so UA grandfathered it then.

8MiHi

I have been Platinum for 8 of the last 9 years. Out of EWR this has been a very good status level to have and would be worth significant effort.
BG1 is worth a lot out of a hub as I feel comfortable going for the first row (bulkhead) E+ seating on long haul flights knowing I will have OH space nearby.
I have consistently been able to use my RPUs for significant flights such as HNL-EWR (worth in excess of $1500).
The extra miles are modest but nice to get.
I will admit to using P fares where they are cheap so I may have missed out on a CPU or two, but out of a hub I do not count on CPUs happening much anyway.
Finally as a Million-Miler I am earning status for two...
While I would not do a weekend run to TPE or SIN, I would be happy to do an interesting 3 or 4 day trip to someplace exotic, but then my wife is sure to insist on joining me.

spin88

There is zero practical difference in group one and group two boarding. You are going to get overhead space regardless, and in group two you can walk up after boarding starts, rather than having to wait in line.

Other than a nominal increase in earning (an extra 2 miles/$, which at my spend for Plat this year on DL would be another 40K miles) the real benifits are the 2RPUs and the ability to upgrade 8 to E+. However, as someone who has been about 25K short of 2MM (and therefore lifetime Plat) for the last two years, both of which I have done my year end flying on DL or VX/AS to secure the higher level, there is very little there for me. I already get 4 in E+ (due to SO companion status), and E+ has become worthless to me as UA has gone 3-4-3 on the 777s, which I am simply not going to fly. And the RPUs don't clear IMHE.

PLT really is sort of an orphan status on UA. Not much more in benefits over GOLD (and basically none for a business traveler) and none of the big benifits (6 GPUs) and higher upgrade chance of 1K.

The contrast with Delta (where gold is not as good as gold on UA as C+ is not cleared at time of purchase) PLT on DL is a real jump up in status, with very real benifits (4 RPUs, upgrade to C+ at booking, higher upgrade change).

drew in the air

Strongly disagree with this especially at EWR and LAX. When I was relegated to boarding group 2, I had to arrive early to make sure to get in front of BG2 line otherwise there were many times I arrived at the beginning of boarding in the very back of an extremely long BG2 line and while overhead space is likely available for the very last of BG2, many times I found myself in row say 12 and fighting my way past my crowd to get my bag in row 25+. Now in BG1, I don't have any worries of getting to the gate earlier and that happening as now I can arrive after boarding starts and know I'll be fine in front of all the BG2 people. (even if BG2 already started)

WineCountryUA

That's is perhaps a subjective statement
From the wiki
Whether it is would the effort is certainty open to debate. And value will be based of individual circumstances.
Clearly the benefit jump of 1K is bigger. But Pat is eligible for PQD credit card waiver and 1K is not.

StuckinITH

+1. This also applies to TPAC and TATL flights. Group 1, you can board and put your luggage above your seat. The plane is empty, you can stow your belongings in a relaxed manner. Group 2, if you don't rush to put your things in the overhead space, somebody else will use the space you thought you would use and then you have to go some rows further. The aisles are filled with passengers, you have less space to maneuver with people pushing you to get to their seats. A much less relaxed experience.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Free cheeseburger and booze is a huge benefit jump for 1K over Plat (nowadays)....

Boraxo

You must not fly much from hubs like SFO/IAH/IAD. Group 1 is usually the longest line, sometimes 25% of the plane. Was in G2 last year and would sometimes find the nearest bins full by the time I boarded. And as noted above, I find Group 1 far less rushed as most people know what they are doing except for some of the kettles flying paid F.

Disagree, I find the RPUs very useful, more so than GPUs in the sense that I won't pay extra to roll the dice on clearing a GPU for TATL/TPAC whereas RPUs (and GPUs) can be used on the lowest fares for transcons & Mexico.

Now 1K is definitely a bigger step up since UA eliminated some of the fee waivers for PLT and added the free food & bev for 1K flying economy. But IMO the CPUs are mostly an illusory benefit @sfo - I cleared 1 of 4 from SFO in the past 2 weeks and ended up 4th, 16th and 21st on the waitlist.

For now Gold remains the sweet spot in the UA program (assuming you don't qualify for GS).