FlyerTalker70

Re-qualified for Gold last month (crossed the 50K mark on Dec 15) currently based in the UK (updated my MP address a couple of months ago). Currently have the physical Gold card but that will expire at end of month I believe. Requested UA ship out tags via MyStatus.

Any ideas whether UA will ship out my Gold card and when I should expect it? The Gold card is vital for me as now that I"m Europe based I'll be frequenting LH lounges more and the last time I was at a LH lounge (in DTW of all places) they requested the physical card (and my first born son )

-James

StuckinITH

UA does not automatically send physical Gold cards. You will have to request it. It will help if you indicate the reason for your need: the frequent visits to LH lounges.

FlyerTalker70

Is this a recent change? Last year they sent me the Gold card within 3-4 weeks of qualifying!

StuckinITH

Funny. Had you qualified early in 2017? Because when they started sending the kits in January 2018 they were not including the physical cards for Silver and Gold. There were complaints from Golds in the 2018 thread version of this thread, exactly for the reason why you need a physical card.

FlyerTalker70

Per my records, I crossed Gold in early October 2017 and I believe the card arrived in late November/early December to my Canadian residence. Should I call UA to confirm that a card has been shipped out?

Side note: It's also cool to just whip out your Gold card and say I'd like to check in to the agent.

-James

StuckinITH

Yes, call but I'm sure that it's going to be a call to request one.....not a call to confirm that a card has been sent.

Say Vandelay

I did exactly that and received this reply:

"Thank you for taking the time to write to us. Our Customer Care department forwarded your e-mail to MileagePlus to process your request. I am very sorry to hear that you've been denied access to Lufthansa lounges as a Star Gold member without a physical card. Regrettably, we no longer provide physical membership cards for Premier Gold members.If you can give specific dates/times/locations when you were denied access, we can work with Lufthansa for corrective action. Whenever possible, we try to accommodate our customers' requests. I'm sorry we're unable to do so in this instance. We value your business and look forward to serving you in the future.
Regards,
MileagePlus® Lead Representative"

StuckinITH

Sorry to read this. I do think that it's wrong of UA not to send physical cards to Gold members so it's even more wrong not to send them to Golds that do travel internationally and it's extremely wrong to not send them to Golds that have a compelling reason for the need of one, like having being denied entry at an LH lounge. There were also some complaints last year about TK and LX but the usual offender is LH.

timezone_trooper

Returned home for the first time this year and 1K pack was waiting for me so arrival was sometime between Jan 1 and Jan 15. Same coasters as others have posted.

FlyerTalker70

Called MilagePlus up and to my horror you are correct, they no longer send them out to us lowly Golds (which gives me another reason to aim for 1K this year ) Pleaded my case with the agent regarding Lufthansa lounges and was curtly told, "We have a contract with the Lufthansa Group to access the digital card from the United app/website." My next booked flight with a LH lounge is in March so will try this theory out. Worse case scenario I'll push past the dragon and get into the lounge. If they got a problem, they can take it up with UA!

-James

WineCountryUA

Not a smart move
In a German airport, more likely they / LH will take it up with the Polizei (who carry Uzis in the airport)

FlyerTalker70

First off this is Germany not America. Even if there was an issue, their first instinct wouldn't be to shoot first and ask questions later. Second, it's unlikely I'll be that often in FRAZHRMUC that often - I'll most likely encounter these lounges at LHR, IAD, DTW and EWR. Whilst the latter three are in the US, I suspect nothing will happen again thanks in large part to the furlough

Joking aside, is there any merit to doing HUCA? How far should I push for the Gold card?

-James

WineCountryUA

Other than wasting your time and their time, can not imange any reprecussions.

But the writing has been on the wall about this for a couple years and it appears this year to be no standard Gold / Silver membership kits.

FlyerTalker70

One other question: after Jan 31 will my card still work at Kiosks/check-in counters to pull up my reservation (since the mag stripe presumably would still be good). I always found that feature handy compared to schlepping through my emails to pull up the PNR.

-James

StuckinITH

The only thing I can suggest is that any Gold who is denied entry in a LH Lounge because that day an agent wanted the physical card should write in to UA documenting the event. Maybe UA is right and they really firmed their contract with LH to allow entry with just the digital card on the UA app/website** but errors can happen. As errors also happen in the UA UCs where some agents just make their own rules.

**And then there are some passengers like my wife who don't own a cell phone and think that the computer takes too much space in the hand luggage (don't worry she does not put the computer in the checked luggage, she just leaves it home).