Oct 11, 2019, 5:20 am
Last edit by: SPN Lifer
tl;dr - PQMs/PQDs/PQS going away, replaced with PQPs. $1 = 1 PQP. See chart below for thresholds:
ex
New Status Measures
Premier Qualifying Points (PQP): Basically the same as PQD. Everything that was a PQD continues to count, plus:
Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF): Same as BIS segments (no class of service bonus) except Basic Economy and award tickets don't count.
PQP Earning on Partners
You can now earn PQP on non-016 tickets when flying eligible partners.
"Preferred" Partners (mostly JV partners): 1/5 of the RDM earned, excluding status bonuses (but including fare class) on AC AD AV CA CM EW LH LX NH NZ OS SN.
Others: 1/6 of the RDM earned, excluding status bonuses (but including fare class) on other airlines with MP earnings available.
Note: Because all partners earn RDM by distance when not on an 016-ticket, this effectively awards PQP by distance, from 40% in many JV First and Business cabins to 5% in things like LX K.
Preferred partners:
Bulk Tickets
Per UA Insider in this post: Yes you will now earn PQP on bulk tickets but not necessarily for the cash value since the price of the ticket is opaque. Bulk tickets will be equal to the award miles you earn for the ticket (excluding Premier bonus miles, if any) divided by 5.
Foreign Addresses
The PQD waiver for foreign MP addresses will no longer apply beginning in 2020.
Credit Card Holders
The PQD waivers and PQM earnings from all Chase cards are ending. Instead, Chase cards allow you to earn 500 PQP for every $12,000 of eligible spend, but only up to the following limits:
1,000 PQP / $24,000: MP Explorer, MP Club, MP Awards, and MP cards, plus their business equivalents (bonus PQP do not count for 1K)
3,000 PQP / $72,000: MP Select and MP Platinum cards
10,000 PQP / $240,000: Presidential Plus and PP Business cards
Existing Flexible PQM (FPQM) on eligible cards will become FPQP at a 5:1 ratio on 01-Apr-20 and will only be applicable through Platinum status.
ex
New Status Measures
Premier Qualifying Points (PQP): Basically the same as PQD. Everything that was a PQD continues to count, plus:
- Copay component of miles+copay upgrades
- Paid upgrades (TOD or "sticker-type")
- Travel on partner airlines on partner stock (awarded as a fraction of the distance, similar to DL)
Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF): Same as BIS segments (no class of service bonus) except Basic Economy and award tickets don't count.
PQP Earning on Partners
You can now earn PQP on non-016 tickets when flying eligible partners.
"Preferred" Partners (mostly JV partners): 1/5 of the RDM earned, excluding status bonuses (but including fare class) on AC AD AV CA CM EW LH LX NH NZ OS SN.
Others: 1/6 of the RDM earned, excluding status bonuses (but including fare class) on other airlines with MP earnings available.
Note: Because all partners earn RDM by distance when not on an 016-ticket, this effectively awards PQP by distance, from 40% in many JV First and Business cabins to 5% in things like LX K.
Preferred partners:
- Air Canada
- Air China
- Air New Zealand
- All Nippon Airways
- Austrian Airlines
- Avianca
- Azul Brazilian Airlines
- Brussels Airlines
- Copa Airlines
- Eurowings
- Lufthansa
- SWISS International Airlines
- Aegean Airlines
- Air Dolomiti
- Air India
- Asiana Airlines
- Croatia Airlines
- Edelweiss
- EgyptAir
- Ethiopian Airlines
- EVA Air
- Juneyao Air
- LOT Polish Airlines
- Olympic Air
- SAS
- Shenzhen Airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- South African Airways
- TAP Air Portugal
- Thai Airways International
- Turkish Airlines
Bulk Tickets
Per UA Insider in this post: Yes you will now earn PQP on bulk tickets but not necessarily for the cash value since the price of the ticket is opaque. Bulk tickets will be equal to the award miles you earn for the ticket (excluding Premier bonus miles, if any) divided by 5.
Foreign Addresses
The PQD waiver for foreign MP addresses will no longer apply beginning in 2020.
Credit Card Holders
The PQD waivers and PQM earnings from all Chase cards are ending. Instead, Chase cards allow you to earn 500 PQP for every $12,000 of eligible spend, but only up to the following limits:
1,000 PQP / $24,000: MP Explorer, MP Club, MP Awards, and MP cards, plus their business equivalents (bonus PQP do not count for 1K)
3,000 PQP / $72,000: MP Select and MP Platinum cards
10,000 PQP / $240,000: Presidential Plus and PP Business cards
Existing Flexible PQM (FPQM) on eligible cards will become FPQP at a 5:1 ratio on 01-Apr-20 and will only be applicable through Platinum status.
United is updating the way MileagePlus members qualify for Premier status in 2020 for the 2021 program year. We recognized that distance was not the best way for us to measure customer loyalty, which is why we are introducing a new qualification structure to better deliver Premier benefits to our most valued customers. In 2020, members will only need to account for two factors to earn status: number of flights taken (Premier Qualifying Flights) and value of tickets purchased (Premier Qualifying Points).
Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF): every flight, a takeoff and landing, will count as a PQF except Basic Economy and tickets booked using miles.
Premier Qualifying Points (PQP): 1 PQP = 1 U.S. dollar spent. You will earn PQPs on the base fare of your ticket (no taxes and fees), Economy Plus and Preferred seat purchases, and now on paid upgrades, MileagePlus upgrade award co-pays and credit for Star Alliance partner flights not ticketed or operated by United.
Qualification requirements for 2020
Here’s how members will qualify for each Premier status level starting January 1, 2020 for status in the 2021 program year:
United Cardmembers who are eligible for a PQD waiver, PQM, or Flexible PQM (FPQM) based on annual card spend will be offered new ways to earn Premier qualifying points (PQP) based on annual card spend. The ability to earn a PQD waiver, PQM, or FPQM on these cards will end on December 31, 2019.
Learn more: https://mileageplusupdates.com/milea...qualification/
Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF): every flight, a takeoff and landing, will count as a PQF except Basic Economy and tickets booked using miles.
Premier Qualifying Points (PQP): 1 PQP = 1 U.S. dollar spent. You will earn PQPs on the base fare of your ticket (no taxes and fees), Economy Plus and Preferred seat purchases, and now on paid upgrades, MileagePlus upgrade award co-pays and credit for Star Alliance partner flights not ticketed or operated by United.
Qualification requirements for 2020
Here’s how members will qualify for each Premier status level starting January 1, 2020 for status in the 2021 program year:
United Cardmembers who are eligible for a PQD waiver, PQM, or Flexible PQM (FPQM) based on annual card spend will be offered new ways to earn Premier qualifying points (PQP) based on annual card spend. The ability to earn a PQD waiver, PQM, or FPQM on these cards will end on December 31, 2019.
Learn more: https://mileageplusupdates.com/milea...qualification/
New Premier Qualification Requirements for 2020: Only Spend or Spend + Flight Sectors
Oct 11, 2019, 10:57 pm
#781
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bay Area
Programs: DL SM, UA MP.
Posts: 12,729
After some analysis and accounting for the partner flight "loophole" it might not be so bad to retain *G status. I can fly SQ LAX-SIN rounttrip in PE and get 2 segments, 17,639 RDM and 2,923 PQP for $1175.15. Adding positioning flights on UA (PHX-SFO-LAX and back) in non-BE yields an additional 165 PQP and 1320 RDM for a grand total of 6 segments (including the 4 UA minimum) 18,859 RDM and 3,088 PQP in return for an "all-in" cash outlay of $1,399.15
Do that twice and I have 12 segments, 37,718 RDM and 6,176 PQP for a total cash outlay of $2,798.30. I can very easily spend $24,000 on the Explorer Card, so with the two SIN MRs I would have 7,176 of the 8,000 PQP and 12 of 24 PQF needed to requalify as Gold. Furthermore, only one of the SIN trips need be a "true" MR, since I can use some of the earned RDM to book a roundtrip Y award from SIN-DPS on either SQ or TG turning one of the trips into a nice mini-vacation. (And I do have a friend I can visit in Singapore.)
The remaining 12 segments / 824 PQP will be covered by 4-5 domestic flights on UA with an estimated total "all-in" cost of $1,100-$1,300. Total out-of-pocket airfare to maintain *G status in the neigborhood of $4,000 or about $1,000 more than I spent this year with the Chase PQD waiver in effect.
I know the airline and I have an adversarial relationship. They want to get the most $$$ in return for the least benefits. I want to get the most benefits in return for the least money. They make the rules: my job is to figure out how to use them to my advantage. It's nothing personal.
Do that twice and I have 12 segments, 37,718 RDM and 6,176 PQP for a total cash outlay of $2,798.30. I can very easily spend $24,000 on the Explorer Card, so with the two SIN MRs I would have 7,176 of the 8,000 PQP and 12 of 24 PQF needed to requalify as Gold. Furthermore, only one of the SIN trips need be a "true" MR, since I can use some of the earned RDM to book a roundtrip Y award from SIN-DPS on either SQ or TG turning one of the trips into a nice mini-vacation. (And I do have a friend I can visit in Singapore.)
The remaining 12 segments / 824 PQP will be covered by 4-5 domestic flights on UA with an estimated total "all-in" cost of $1,100-$1,300. Total out-of-pocket airfare to maintain *G status in the neigborhood of $4,000 or about $1,000 more than I spent this year with the Chase PQD waiver in effect.
I know the airline and I have an adversarial relationship. They want to get the most $$$ in return for the least benefits. I want to get the most benefits in return for the least money. They make the rules: my job is to figure out how to use them to my advantage. It's nothing personal.
I can see going to SIN once. But twice for the sake of accruing a lot of PQPs?
Plus with the high hotel rates there, whatever savings on airfare could be eaten up by hotel bill.
Oct 11, 2019, 11:02 pm
#782
Join Date: May 2010
Location: AVP & PEK
Programs: UA 1K 1.8MM
Posts: 6,349
Oct 11, 2019, 11:07 pm
#783
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: UA MileagePlus (Premier Gold); Hilton HHonors (Gold); Chase Ultimate Rewards; Amex Plat
Posts: 6,675
Oct 11, 2019, 11:09 pm
#784
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 17
The requirements aren’t that difficult - for comparison, I’m at 90+ segments and $25k+ of spend on Delta and still not at Diamond. Rules that encourage spend over distance flown = rewarding the most profitable customers of an airline.
Thinking one deserves elite status just because they spend a lot of time on planes a pretty entitled attitude. Now United is fixing that and giving a bump to travelers who buy the most expensive tickets / book last minute.
Don’t forget that if the ranks of 1Ks get thinned out, Platinum becomes more valuable in terms of upgrade %, and so on down the chain.
I for one hope Delta follows suit.
Thinking one deserves elite status just because they spend a lot of time on planes a pretty entitled attitude. Now United is fixing that and giving a bump to travelers who buy the most expensive tickets / book last minute.
Don’t forget that if the ranks of 1Ks get thinned out, Platinum becomes more valuable in terms of upgrade %, and so on down the chain.
I for one hope Delta follows suit.
Oct 11, 2019, 11:13 pm
#785
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 19,502
I see decent lodging in Singapore <$100 / night on United.com. But as I indicated, I have a friend in Singapore who I can stay with.
Oct 11, 2019, 11:13 pm
#786
Join Date: May 2010
Location: AVP & PEK
Programs: UA 1K 1.8MM
Posts: 6,349
Oct 11, 2019, 11:18 pm
#787
Join Date: Oct 2009
Programs: UA 1K, Hilton ♦ , Hyatt Carbonado, Wyndham ♦, Marriott PE, "Stinking Bum" elsewhere.
Posts: 4,998
I haven't done any sort of mileage running in at least 5 years. It's a losing proposition because of the productive time lost, additional costs for hotels/positioning flights, etc. and the additional aggravation of adding longer routings or segments to achieve the desired result, without the potential rewards that were available in the past.
Time is money. Convenience is valuable. Flying somewhere for no other reason that to achieve status is sunk time and costs, especially in light of the devaluation of UA award miles.
If you take only 3 or 4 international trips a year, I believe that one could actually do better just buying the cheapest biz fare and come in at 18K or below.
Domestically, upgrading is almost impossible without cash these days, so I see zero value there as a 1K.
Last edited by zombietooth; Oct 11, 2019 at 11:23 pm
Oct 11, 2019, 11:21 pm
#788
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: UA MileagePlus (Premier Gold); Hilton HHonors (Gold); Chase Ultimate Rewards; Amex Plat
Posts: 6,675
Is that really what you believe? Because I've seen how these things go. What actually happens is that UA will sell more TOD or HOD upgrades to make up for the fewer elites, and the actual upgrade % won't change. A few people thought that the whole PQD thing would thin out the ranks and result in better upgrade %, but it's actually done jack squat for upgrade %.
Oct 11, 2019, 11:27 pm
#789
Join Date: Mar 2012
Programs: Mileage Plus 1K; Marriott Platinum; Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,355
Zooming out a bit from the specific changes to the broader logic, this new program could have been designed by Greta Thunberg as a way to punish those who fly on mileage runs. It mostly takes distance out of United's reward structure for flying, which I bet she would approve of.
When I teach transport history, I remind students that more mobility was not always regarded as a good thing. When the English were inventing the modern railway and the cost of travel (3rd class) dropped far enough that the common man could take trains regularly, the Duke of Wellington remarked in a parliamentary debate that he was opposed to the expansion of railways because "they would just encourage the common people to move about needlessly." United's new mileage program qualification rules would probably have pleased the Duke.
When I teach transport history, I remind students that more mobility was not always regarded as a good thing. When the English were inventing the modern railway and the cost of travel (3rd class) dropped far enough that the common man could take trains regularly, the Duke of Wellington remarked in a parliamentary debate that he was opposed to the expansion of railways because "they would just encourage the common people to move about needlessly." United's new mileage program qualification rules would probably have pleased the Duke.
Oct 11, 2019, 11:28 pm
#790
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Miami, Florida
Programs: AA ExPlat, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Spire, Hilton Gold
Posts: 4,009
Zooming out a bit from the specific changes to the broader logic, this new program could have been designed by Greta Thunberg as a way to punish those who fly on mileage runs. It mostly takes distance out of United's reward structure for flying, which I bet she would approve of.
When I teach transport history, I remind students that more mobility was not always regarded as a good thing. When the English were inventing the modern railway and the cost of travel (3rd class) dropped far enough that the common man could take trains regularly, the Duke of Wellington remarked in a parliamentary debate that he was opposed to the expansion of railways because "they would just encourage the common people to move about needlessly." United's new mileage program qualification rules would probably have pleased the Duke.
When I teach transport history, I remind students that more mobility was not always regarded as a good thing. When the English were inventing the modern railway and the cost of travel (3rd class) dropped far enough that the common man could take trains regularly, the Duke of Wellington remarked in a parliamentary debate that he was opposed to the expansion of railways because "they would just encourage the common people to move about needlessly." United's new mileage program qualification rules would probably have pleased the Duke.
Oct 11, 2019, 11:29 pm
#791
Join Date: Oct 2009
Programs: UA 1K, Hilton ♦ , Hyatt Carbonado, Wyndham ♦, Marriott PE, "Stinking Bum" elsewhere.
Posts: 4,998
Is that really what you believe? Because I've seen how these things go. What actually happens is that UA will sell more TOD or HOD upgrades to make up for the fewer elites, and the actual upgrade % won't change. A few people thought that the whole PQD thing would thin out the ranks and result in better upgrade %, but it's actually done jack squat for upgrade %.
Oct 11, 2019, 11:32 pm
#792
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: PHX, ICN
Programs: OZ Diamond Plus, Marriott Gold
Posts: 502
I think some people can't tell that, for many of us, we have no problem understanding "loyalty" = "$$". And that the airlines offer us products that affect experience for our money. We don't get cash back outside of the miles; we get upgrades, lounges, better seats, etc.
If a company wants the loyalty of my wallet, they have to earn it. My decision to go to OZ is based on the US Big 3's lack of desire for my dollars. True, UA gets it incrementally by me flying OZ, but it had to be somebody. DL could have it were Korean Air to have a better offer for my "loyalty". I'd assume my spend is worthy of something (I think UA would appreciate $6K-ish annually), but I understand it's definitely not worth what the big 1Ks are giving them. UA says my money = Silver, and I unemotionally say it's worth Diamond with OZ.
We're not naive. And I have no moral problem with UA's change. But there comes a point when everybody makes the hard calculus of whether the $$$/loyalty spend is worth the experience return.
If a company wants the loyalty of my wallet, they have to earn it. My decision to go to OZ is based on the US Big 3's lack of desire for my dollars. True, UA gets it incrementally by me flying OZ, but it had to be somebody. DL could have it were Korean Air to have a better offer for my "loyalty". I'd assume my spend is worthy of something (I think UA would appreciate $6K-ish annually), but I understand it's definitely not worth what the big 1Ks are giving them. UA says my money = Silver, and I unemotionally say it's worth Diamond with OZ.
We're not naive. And I have no moral problem with UA's change. But there comes a point when everybody makes the hard calculus of whether the $$$/loyalty spend is worth the experience return.
Last edited by SightseeMC; Oct 11, 2019 at 11:32 pm Reason: typo
Oct 11, 2019, 11:33 pm
#793
Join Date: Oct 2009
Programs: UA 1K, Hilton ♦ , Hyatt Carbonado, Wyndham ♦, Marriott PE, "Stinking Bum" elsewhere.
Posts: 4,998
...the Duke of Wellington remarked in a parliamentary debate that he was opposed to the expansion of railways because "they would just encourage the common people to move about needlessly." United's new mileage program qualification rules would probably have pleased the Duke.
To quote Larry The Cable Guy, "That's funny, right there. I don't care who you are."
Oct 11, 2019, 11:34 pm
#794
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: LAS, ZQN
Programs: UA PP (2MM), BA gold
Posts: 2,198
Oct 11, 2019, 11:35 pm
#795
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: PHX, ICN
Programs: OZ Diamond Plus, Marriott Gold
Posts: 502
In fact, upgrade rates have gotten significantly worse since the PQD changes. Very likely because more pax are just paying cash or buying the TODs (which I regularly do). If you are paying for F or J, why do you even need to be in a loyalty program? --I can only think that it would be to benefit your family or friends.
There's a disconnect there, IMHO.