Oct 22, 2018, 3:44 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
GS Qualifying for 2019 Discussion
This will be a discussion thread, for discussing the needed qualifications and timing of notification.
For posing formal notifications (but no discussion), use this thread Global Services 2019 Notifications (ONLY)
2019 GS Timeline
First requal notifications came out on 6 Dec 2018
First-time notifications started about 3 Jan 2019
Numerous reports that all regular notifications will be out by 11 Jan 2019
Initial successful reconsideration appeals reported 15 Jan 2019
First reports of challanges15 Jan 2019
For discussion of GS benefits, please use Consolidated Global Services Thread: Benefits, Questions 2018First-time notifications started about 3 Jan 2019
Numerous reports that all regular notifications will be out by 11 Jan 2019
Initial successful reconsideration appeals reported 15 Jan 2019
First reports of challanges15 Jan 2019
For 2017 qualifications, see the 2017 thread and for 2018, see the 2018 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.
Hello:
To help with collection of qualification metrics for global services, I created a Google Doc. This will be useful for future members. For ease of use, I created a form which feeds into a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet and form does not require a google account and is free to use.
Similar spreadsheets were created in years past, so I'm hoping to continue this tradition. Please take the time to enter your stats into the spreadsheet. Many thanks
LINK to entry form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1SYm...xRKZ_EUD8/edit
View responses here ( read only ):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing
To help with collection of qualification metrics for global services, I created a Google Doc. This will be useful for future members. For ease of use, I created a form which feeds into a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet and form does not require a google account and is free to use.
Similar spreadsheets were created in years past, so I'm hoping to continue this tradition. Please take the time to enter your stats into the spreadsheet. Many thanks
LINK to entry form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1SYm...xRKZ_EUD8/edit
View responses here ( read only ):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing
GS Qualifying for 2019 Discussion / Questions
Jan 28, 2019, 8:12 am
#766
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: EWR
Posts: 894
All you can tell is out of the small sample who answered the poll, the re-qualifiers were bigger spenders. That could just be because re-qualifiers who aren't huge spenders didn't bother to answer because it's not that big a part of their life. LOTS of possible reasons.
Again, you are mischaracterizing what I said. I never 'selected' one group over another. I simply pointed out which comparisons were statistically different. I really don't want this thread to devolve into an argument about statistical minutiae, so if you'd prefer to debate me, I'm happy to do that offline via PM. But I'd prefer to keep this discussion focused on Global Services.
Last edited by sgopal2; Jan 28, 2019 at 8:18 am Reason: edit
Jan 28, 2019, 10:05 am
#767
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: SFO
Programs: United
Posts: 2
went and took another look...$44K on United Metal and the rest on other star alliance carriers (although often booked with a United ticked & United flight number, sometimes the actual plane was Luftansa). Didn't realize that could sink me.
Jan 28, 2019, 10:11 am
#768
Join Date: Jul 2013
Programs: DYKWIA, But I'm a "Diamond Guest" UA 1K/2MM
Posts: 2,258
Agreed we won't have a debate about stats. So this is the last thing I'll say about the subject.
You nailed the problem with your analysis right there! The problem is you are not making "inferences about a larger population." You're make inferences about criteria (minimum PQD for qualifying vs. re-qualifying GS) that are completly orthogonal to the population -- just as the freezing point of H20 is orthogonal to the average temperature of random samples of liquid H20.
The only useful data in this survey are the minima and maxima for rejections/acceptances across different groups. The averages are meaningless.
The only useful data in this survey are the minima and maxima for rejections/acceptances across different groups. The averages are meaningless.
Jan 28, 2019, 11:01 am
#769
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: London
Programs: UA GS
Posts: 2,438
definitely would. Rule of thumb is at least 50 UA metal to get a first time invite.
Jan 28, 2019, 12:31 pm
#770
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Chicago
Posts: 11,513
Jan 28, 2019, 12:43 pm
#771
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Somewhere in EWR
Programs: UA GS, HH Diamond
Posts: 858
Jan 28, 2019, 12:52 pm
#772
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Chicago
Posts: 11,513
.
Jan 28, 2019, 5:48 pm
#773
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: EWR
Posts: 894
If you look at the spreadsheet, there were about 40 GS qualifiers who had spent less than $50K UA metal PQD. The lowest reported UAPQD for a qualifier is $32K. Looks like in this case the ratio of UA metal vs Star alliance was not high enough.
Jan 28, 2019, 6:36 pm
#774
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: BOS<>NYC<>BKK
Programs: UA 4.3MM LT-GS; AA1MM; Amtrak SE; MAR LT TITAN; PC Plat; HIL DIA; HYA GLOB
Posts: 4,393
It's possible the "low" spenders were part of a corporate contract program where they were granted GS through the contract. No way to draw a definite conclusion.
Jan 28, 2019, 6:43 pm
#775
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 21
Requested GS to review GS and they came back and declined for 2019. They also didn’t offer a challenge option. Is the challenge only usually for those that had GS and lost it? Can I call GS desk and request it. I had approx $35k spend.
Jan 28, 2019, 6:51 pm
#776
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: 66,859
Jan 28, 2019, 6:54 pm
#777
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 21
Sorry $35k metal and $12k on partner. I wasn’t expecting necessarily to get it (although thought outside chance as I fly with a large firm). But was curious on the challenge and when are they offered. I have 4 long haul business class flights coming up so should meet challenge requirement fairly easily.
Jan 28, 2019, 7:11 pm
#779
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: NYC
Programs: UA MileagePlus 2MM
Posts: 1,567
Adam
Jan 28, 2019, 7:29 pm
#780
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 20
2018: 226K PQM, $48,849 PQD ($46k on United metal). 1K every year since 2009. Didn't qualify. Requested review, declined. No challenge offered.
Someone mentioned an "appeal" process. Is that an option for me here? Thanks
Someone mentioned an "appeal" process. Is that an option for me here? Thanks