narvik

Agreed.

gpicur

Oh Wise UA FlyerTalkers,

This Forum has grown quite large and very fast. There are lots of very informative posts and strategies to try to qualify for 1K, Plat, Gold, etc for 2021 without stumping up $24,000 to re qualify for 1K. (especially for those of us that reside abroad and in regions not served by UA where making the "Flight Segment" option is largely impossible)

As far as TATL flights, the only strategy I see in re-qualifying for 1K for 2021, might be to buy AC "P" Class on non UA (non 016) Ticket Stock. RDM Mileage Earnings are at 200% on P Class and as a preferred Partner, the "5" factor might get one close to re-qualifying for 1K at a discount over the $24K. However, I am not encouraged and will likely abandon any efforts to re qualify for 1K.

I have a dumb question, and I apologize in advance if this has been addressed in this massive forum. Will United still honor lifetime Gold status to its' Million Milers in 2021 and if so, is the only remaining qualification requirement for Million Milers to complete 4 UA Flight Segments ?

Thank you in advance for your replies and insight.

Silver Fox

I can offer no insight at all on this. But.

I must have missed the informative posts about qualifying for 1K by not meeting the minimums. I'm not being sarcastic at all here as I genuinely have!

And, what is the point of qualifying as a 1K on a non-UA ticket if you don't then get the benefits of a 1K on UA. Honestly, I am not having a go but worried that I am missing something very fundamental in this and it might be something that I should do but I just can't see it.

I am in a kinda similar boat to you so know the feeling.

gpicur

Silver Fox,

Thanks for the quick response and in pointing out the fallacy of having to re-qualify for 1K on another airline, thus losing the very 1K benefits earned on UA.

1K on any other Partner is still only Gold. As a Million Miler, I already have Gold for life (or is that one of those changes the "we're really going to like" ?).

findark

One way or another, it's almost always used to describe a purchase pattern which is different than traveling on your own dime, and usually one that results in much more expensive fares.

As a 1MM you will continue to be Premier Gold with no further requirements. You do not even need to meet the 4 segment minimum.

Earning Status (PQP) on non-016 Tickets and Partner Metal

ContinentalFan

If you’re already a MillionMiler, there’s only one criterion for continued membership: a pulse.

SS255

For now.

FlyingBeanCounter

and if the C+ class of service comes trough then gold might not be worth all that much.

jsloan

Obviously, it depends upon the fares that you’re able to find. However, if you were to fly exclusively AC P fares, you’d qualify for 1K after flying 60K BIS miles: or just 45K BIS miles, if you somehow managed to get 54 segments doing so. (This assumes that UA doesn’t adjust the AC P fares down from 200% at some point during the year).

As for why you would want to do this: as a US-based traveler, I suspect that I will qualify next year by mixing my domestic US travel, PointsPlus upgrades from discount fares on UA, and discount business class fares on partner airlines. I expect this to be cheaper than qualifying for 1K this year. An international traveler could do the same thing, but you’re likely to get less value from the 1K status because you presumably don’t have a ton of domestic US travel.

Note that *A flights will qualify as PQF, so the 54 flight segments might not be out of reach if you do a fair amount of regional travel on *A partners. You will still need four flights on UA to qualify for any status (excepting lifetime status levels, as already mentioned).

You could potentially use PlusPoints on LH or NH, but generally you’ll probably do best using the program of whatever airline you plan to fly most often. The thing is, discount economy travelers are likely to find that the grass isn’t much better anywhere else. The US programs have been much more generous than their foreign counterparts for years.

STS-134

For upgraded seating, I definitely agree. But I've always seen this as coming at the cost of a much worse soft product, i.e. it's not compelling enough for large numbers of people to actually spend money on premium cabins (for domestic routes especially). You don't see NH giving away F seats to elites but then again, NH F is something I'd actually pay for. For generic *G benefits on the other hand, no way. At least foreign programs always give you lounge access regardless of class of travel and route you are flying.

jsloan

I meant what I said.

Miles & More will happily give you *G status simply for achieving Senator.

If you’re flying on discount economy fares, you’ll need about 100K miles to achieve Senator.

While there are a couple of known sweet spots, if all you care about is *G (Asiana and Aegean), in general, if you’re flying a lot of economy fares, airlines aren’t beating down your door. I’m not saying it’s a good decision, and I’m not saying it’s a bad decision. It’s just reality.

Repooc17

Imagine if US legacy carriers give all elites lounge access, even on domestic only itineraries, holy crap there would lines out the door; most other carriers do not have nearly the flying network US carriers do. Chinese carriers will probably get there one day.

If lounge access is the primary motivation, nowadays all you need is to get a premium travel credit card. There is no need to fly x amount of miles and spend y amount.

findark

It's actually 400,000 flown miles in discount Economy, as most discount fares earn 25% of the distance (for example, anything less than W on UA).

M&M is a completely worthless program for discount Economy fliers.

dts9

With all the changes is united still keeping the tie to Marriott golf status with united gold. I find that beneficial.

LondonElite

Expect an announcement on Monday about a comprehensive overhaul to M&M. No chance to earn SEN with 100,000 Y miles in the future.