Say Vandelay

I tried calling about the Gold card yesterday and the agent said she is getting a lot of calls about it but they literally took away the option in the system to request a physical card for us. She also said that digital is the way things are going and to expect this to apply to other tiers in the future.

I guess if we do get denied by LH, I would just document it and send to Premier Voice. Probably will get a few thousand RDMs or ETC $.

FlyerTalker70

Tried again and got same response. This is really frustrating - it only costs them $2 to print out the packet and mail it and you're telling me they can't afford that for some of their most valued customers? Many of us are also AV geeks and love having a collection of Premier cards they can collect over the years (remember the old Tulip cards?). It's also troubling to hear them say they're phasing them out by tier. When will the uproar begin about this change? When Platinums no longer get cards? How about 1Ks? GS?

I also disagree with their suggested solution of reporting denied entries. The LH group agents have had this objectively dumb policy on the books for ages and are adamant about enforcing it in spite of me showing them my digital card or boarding pass which clearly states *Gold. I've also occasionally seen other non-LH groups lounges request it (most recently the NH lounge at NRT). What will reporting the issue to UA really do? If anything, UA probably doesn't mind denied entry since they save the ~$20 they would have to pay LH to host me in the lounge. Out of curiosity, could you buy in these lounges? If so, I'm guessing I could just send it back to MilagePlus for reimbursement?

Safe Travels,

James

Huzordaddy

I also called Premier helpdesk today to request a physical card for Gold and was refused.

acr113

Got my 1K kit yesterday, after re-qualifying in mid November.
Nothing new or exciting in the kit.

FreFly

My kit is still pending, may arrive late as it has last year. I had an amusing experience because of that. When checking into an LH lounge on February 1, 2018 German time, but January 31 US time, I was asked for my 1K card. But the e-card showed January 31, 2018 as an expiration date, as it updates on US time (Central?). Luckily the LH lounge agent did let me in as an exception.

The fact that UA takes over a month to mail kits is disappointing.

JimInOhio

Aren't we at the point where no one gets into a *A lounge (UC or otherwise) without a boarding pass anyway? All the agent need is in the BP. As for me, I accessed a couple AC MLLs with my BP only... no need for my UC card, physical or digital.

Lastly, it seems access to *A lounges other than the UC for UC members is going to be for INTL flights only. Or maybe I have that wrong?

FlyerTalker70

I wish that were the case but sadly no. IME I've been forced to flash the card at LH and LX lounges. On one of my trips through NRT I also was requested to show it at the NH lounge. Perhaps something has changed between 2018 and now and all the lounges are on board. I remain skeptical and would not be surprised one bit if a thread were to open up on February 1st talking about lounge denial issues for us UA Golds!

That's a myth! Flying UA domestic in the US, you can access any *Gold lounge that is not a UC. While that may seem limiting at first, in reality there are tons of airports that have this peculiarity, most notably LAX, ORD, IAD and EWR. In fact I've compiled a spreadsheet listing all the *Gold lounges us UA elites have access to flying UA domestic.

Call me old fashioned, but there's nothing better before or between flights to have a lounge to unwind in, to get some business documents printed and to have a quick snack and booze to smooth everything off.

-James

StuckinITH

No, you cannot buy in these lounges. It's a different model than the US model for the Clubs. In the US, you cannot buy in the Polaris Lounges.

Who knows: if too many Gold passengers report the issue to UA, they may change their mind and send a card to Gold passengers who request one.

FlyerTalker70

JimInOhio

I wrote "is going to be" not "is". Yes, my prediction is we'll only be able to access *A lounges for international travel that day (other than our paid-for UC access). My guess is this will be announced some time in 2019.

As for access to other *A lounges, none are practical other than maybe IAD. No one is going to fly from Columbus to Omaha and go over to ORD T5 just to access yet another lounge besides the four UC lounges spread across T1 and T2.

tht

1K Kit arrived today in CT, not opened it yet. None arrived for Mrs tht yes, I assume 1K via MM should also get a kit.

Mrs tht’s was inside mine, but only 10 drink vouchers inside for both, is that normal?

username

Those who expect more from UA have not been trained by UA well enough to deserve to be 1K

Miles Ahead

This is really weird.
I started 2018 as Gold.
I crossed 75K and got a platinum kit good to 2020/
I crossed 100K and got a 1K kit good to 2020. Black coasters.
I crossed 2MM and got a 1K kit good to 2020. Black coasters.
I just got a 1K kit good to 2020. Blue coasters.

This is like what - 35 drink tickets?

I can't figure out why they sent me the 2nd 1K kit.

FlyerTalker70

tht