username

I thought about doing that but see multiple issues:

1 - will UA want to touch the ticket?
2 - will this trigger a review by the Corporate TA and trigger a fee?
3 - if the trip gets cancelled or changed, your money is stuck and not sure how the TA can take the ticket back and re-use it (and how you could get your money back)

So, I have not tried it.

cfischer

good. I also got confirmation I will be getting 200% on already purchased tickets. Why don't they just do this up front instead of making people angry and then allowing it anyway. Leaves a bad taste.

tarheelnj

Here is some data confirming that calling an agent to buy up does give you the additional PQM's and PQD's.

Purchased EWR-SFO round-trip in January on a flight showing R space available (early Saturday morning - only R seat that day or the next). Once reservation ticketed, I upgraded from G to R on the outbound with an RPU. The return didn't show any R space the day I needed to travel back (mid-week), so the only confirmable option was to buy-up. The online offer was $499. I called the 1K line, and the agent quoted me $469 (less!) to buy up my fare from K to P. She pointed out that if I had booked the upgrade online it would have booked into P but gotten PQM's as an H fare. By her handling it I got the 50% additional PQM's and the PQD's for the buy-up amount.

Here are the screen shots:

Kacee

If you upfare, by definition PQD, RDM, and PQM will be calculated based on the new fare.

janddouglas

Yeah, probs not going to make it it for 2020 so maybe this is a chance to go try some different airlines away from UA & Star.

Status match onto AA and start flying AA / BA / QR etc.

StuckinITH

Easier said than done for some of us. I had to status match to UA from BA Gold as, when I moved to a new city, OneWorld could not get me out of here and, even now, it cannot really help my new travel pattern.

AAExPlat

Not to mention AA does not status match from 1k to EXP...I think you can get a match to Platinum. I was alrady LT AA Plat and have been flying AA quite a bit this year and will earn EXP the regular way. I specifically asked (and I buy domestic F) and was told no dice.

Bonehead

Do you happen to know what the underlying fare code (e.g., H, Y) was after she handled it since it was still showing as "P"?

JimInOhio

My guess (all it is) is UA doesn't mind losing 1K people with low annual spends. I'm in a very opposite situation to those who are most vocal about the PQD pinch. I'm already over $12K PQD this year and yet at Gold status.

Who would UA rather have:
1) Occasional TPAC with P ticket gathering 200% on miles and making 100K PQMs?
or
2) Someone, for example, commuting ORD to CLE three times a month?

#2 is almost certainly going over $12K and probably close to $15K yet only has 36K PQM and 72 PQS to show for it. I think UA makes a heck of a lot more profit on this person. No, it's not me.

Kacee

My guess is that UA doesn't expect to lose most of them; they'll just drop down in status. Most people are not so status obsessed as those of us on FT and wouldn't switch carriers just because of the increased 1K PQD requirement. Plus, many flyers don't have much of a choice in carriers due either to location, route needs, or corporate contracts. Finally, it's not like there are a ton of other options out there. DL already requires $15k for Diamond. I would expect AA to match within a year (and wouldn't move to that dumpster fire even if they didn't). AS only works for a pretty small subset of UA flyers.

unitedfanboy

I am heartbroken to see this thread and to find out 10 days later (huge United flyer that has been, well, busy flying for work/leisure). I am terrified to fly commercial in the coming years with the influx of Basic Economy customers, and de-emphasizing the entirety of the 1K program.

This is a joke, right? Ashton please come out now.

- RPUs being nuked
- P-Class 50% reduction to 150%
- 1 GPU every 25k PQMs

Where is the 5th tier that obviously is being created to boost shareholder value? It is apparent that 2018 has illustrated the most travelers ever willing to spend sums to get to where they want to go for work/leisure. Why I'm taking this so hard is I'm a pretty loyal United customer and my company has chosen to work with United bc of my recommendation. Hearing the news? Hard recommendation now. My company spends a lot so it's not the issue of being booked into First Class/Biz Class typically, however it's the "future" of how much these oligarchs are going to demand.

I'm at $65k PQD / 200k PQM on the year w/ 10 United Explorer Club cards for my team that travels internationally. I only fly United metal abroad (that will change if I'm not in GS next year especially with the news). I have committed my loyalty at young age to a company (my base is LAX/ORD) that is fundamentally changing the loyalty programs for every airline in what genuinely seems like a ploy to segregate further/congest airports in every capacity. Basic Economy has been a prime example on larger flights to SFO, LAX, IAH, EWR, etc. I've had 2 experiences where things got dicey on the plane from the back and usually, it's hard to hear from Polaris. To see United follow in the steps of Delta's Diamond, we're going to quickly realize that when fares eventually rise, top-tier experiences minimum qualifications will too.

Seems like all United lovers took a blow this year and I'm curious to see if anyone is really at the end with the company? I myself will continue to fly if I clear into GS (I'm in my early 20's so it'd be wise to hook me in for life with what I'll end up paying $85k PQDs for, at the end of December)

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Two issues-

I'm not sure why one would be terrified of BE flyers. They (non-status ones) don't bring on bags and they create a wider inventory of seats for non-BE to select from. And they board last.

Of all the Premier levels, 1K is the one UA seems to making a little extra effort towards in last couple of years. Free food/drink, M-ups, pre-boarding. Seems like they are trying to make it a little more of an important group by increasing quality of them (ie the $15K spend and no credit card spend waiver). I'm not sure what you mean by "de-emphasizing the entirety of the 1K program"

findark

At the end of the day, UA is still the only airline that flies nonstop to my frequent destinations (SFO-WAS I'm looking at you...) and also internationally (although with the AS/VX merger and expansion it's looking more attractive). If I don't make 1K under the new rules, I'll be disappointed, but "switch carriers" isn't really a choice.

Kacee

AS inherited SFO-DCA and SFO-IAD from VX. I got upgraded on a former VX 320 SFO-DCA last month. Great flight.

findark

Yes, the VX pickup and expansion of Horizon flying on oddball routes out of the West Coast has definitely increased the attractiveness of AS. So far, the GPUs from 1K are a benefit AS can't even come close to matching, but if I start missing 1K then I would think twice.

However, *G is invaluable for international travel on *A and I'm not sure I could make MVP75 and UA Gold in one year, plus if "more upgrades" is supposed to be an AS benefit I'm still not sure my Y tolerance is high enough to roll the dice on longer flights. There is some inertia to it though, definitely.