Nov 8, 2017, 5:41 pm

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Global Services Qualifying Discussion- 2018

Qualification Form

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Please only fill out the above form once you are 100% certain that you have made or not made Global Services for 2018.

Qualification Spreadsheet

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https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

This will be a discussion thread, for discussing the needed qualifications and timing of notification.
Use "Global Services 2018 Notifications (ONLY)" to report your actual notification.
For discussion of GS benefits, please use Consolidated Global Services Thread: Benefits, Questions 2017
For 2017 qualifications, see the 2017 thread

To find your PQDs if >than $12K
Go to MileagePlus activity since my last statement and it is in the "Account summary" table at the top of the page.

Note this is not just the UA operated PQDs (which is commonly believed to be what matters for GS) but rather your total PQDs.

Definitions

BIS is actual scheduled flight distance (Great Circle Mileage Distance -- GCM) between airports with 500 mile minimum for elites. This is the standard used for Lifetime miles also. Those flying mostly sub-500 segments sometimes prefer to not use the minimum rule.

The definition for CPM is a bit vaguer, especially since CPM is used in multiple different situations.

Believe for the purpose of this thread, GS qualification, folks are using

PQD CPM = UA PQDs / UA BIS

Note there is no direct evidence UA uses this CPM number for GS Qualification but it is a number FTers like to use.

As for BIS, UA does not report this number your account and it needs to be manually tracked.

One way is to make use that PQMs are based on BIS but there may be a multiplier / bonus for high end fares. If always in 2x PQMs, you could divide by 2 to get BIS.

rwsteelers had a good method for determining UA BIS -- the change in Lifetime Miles from the first of the year.

2018 GS Qualifying Discussion

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Apr 4, 2018, 6:11 pm

#901

acousticbiker

Join Date: Jun 2011

Posts: 178

What spend counts towards United Global Services?

Of course United ticket on United metal, but what about United ticket on other metal or any other Star Alliance tickets?

Apr 4, 2018, 6:23 pm

#902

WineCountryUA

Moderator: United Airlines

Join Date: Jun 2007

Location: SFO

Programs: UA Plat 1.997MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat

Posts: 66,861

Quote:

Originally Posted by acousticbiker

...what about United ticket on other metal or any other Star Alliance tickets?

All indications suggest only UA operated flights count.

Will moved this post to a thread with a wiki the goes into more detail
Also see the wiki of Consolidated Global Services Thread: Benefits, Questions 2017

Apr 4, 2018, 7:43 pm

#903

John Aldeborgh

Join Date: Jul 2014

Location: Rowley, MA / Edgartown, MA / Christiansted, St. Croix (USVI)

Programs: UA LT GS/4.96MM, Marriott LT Titanium, IHG Platinum, Global Entry, TSA Pre✓, Korea SeS, APEC

Posts: 579

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ari

I'm not going to disagree that the program takes into account "total $ spend" as you say above; however, one ongoing debate in these threads is whether the program has a yield metric. At one point the program did. Your experience demonstrates that folks who buy lots of cheap tickets don't make GS, not that GS is "only" one metric. If anything, your post proves that yield was taken into account as I have a GS member who was consistently renewed at a shockingly low $ numbers (think around the $ of coach tickets you were buying year after year in the 2000's) who would fly 50,000-100,000 BIS and would get GS-- year after year-- sometimes missing (and getting comped 1K). That suggests that his business (think international F,A,C,D,Z fares) was valued by UA more than your coach fares even though you traveled more and spent the same amount. (AKA yield).

I'm kinda think we're aligned, the big spenders are, for the most part, the high yield flyers. I never considered myself a big spender, just a bunch of discounted coach. While I don't know that, if I had flown $50K worth of low cost (yield) tickets, whether or not I would have been given GS status, I would estimate 500K BIS miles would be needed to get close to $50K, I do agree all things being equal except yield, that UA would select the higher yield flyer. At the same time the numbers of people flying discounted coach and putting in 500K BIS miles annually has to be very small. The numbers flying ~100K BIS miles and spending close to $50K could be fairly large.

Apr 5, 2018, 4:02 pm

#904

jjmoore

Join Date: Mar 2013

Location: LBB

Programs: UA 1K 1MM ★G | Marriott LTT | Hilton ♦ | Hertz PC | Global Entry TSA Pre ✓

Posts: 2,820

Quote:

Originally Posted by acousticbiker

Of course United ticket on United metal, but what about United ticket on other metal or any other Star Alliance tickets?

Explicitly stated that ONLY UA metal counts ... that is UA mainline and UA express. Needs to be 016 ticket stock (United issued tickets).

Apr 5, 2018, 11:38 pm

#905

getagb

Join Date: Apr 2014

Programs: DL Gold, UA nothing (ex-GS), Marriott lifetime Plat, Hyatt Globalist

Posts: 920

Quote:

Originally Posted by WineCountryUA

This policy is a little weird. Recently booked a pricy ATL-YYZ ticket on Delta because the only nonstop UA options were on Air Canada and had a worse schedule. I probably would’ve put up with the worse schedule if AC PQD counted towards GS spend.