ryman554

That qualifies as a change in flying habits.

John Aldeborgh

I don’t have a dog in this fight as I have lifetime status, but I will say the new system has taken the fun out of “showing-off” about how many miles (PQM or BIS) I and others have flown. I’ve always been fascinated by the astonishing number of miles some of the FT members have flown. Also, I’ve enjoyed the funny stories about mileage runs and last minute antics to secure status for the upcoming year. All of this seems gone, replaced by how big is your checkbook, which is far less appealing and seems to have nothing to do with travel, IMHO. I will say I spend much less time browsing FT now that the new system is in place, I guess that’s an unintended consequence. Some people will call this progress, just not me.

Exleftseat

I agree. It is indeed an unintended result and I already see the time I spend on FT greatly reduced, though I guess that will hardly be noticed but that's good. Certainly no loss to the FT community. Au contraire.

Kacee

UA - leading the way on how to squeeze the joy out of the travel hobby. What their spreadsheets don't show is the degree to which these intangible actually drive customer loyalty.

VegasGambler

With PQDs gone and partner ticketed & operated flights earning points purely based on distance traveled and fare class, I'd say that miles are bigger then they have been for a while.

This is the first time in a long time that US residents have been able to earn all statuses (other than GS, of course) with no minimum spend. If anything, the hobby is bigger and better than ever.

I'm very curious to see what the minimum spend someone reports achieving 1k with at the end of the year.

The game changes all the time. You have to adapt. This year's adaption seems to be, pretty clearly, to book with partners if you want to beat the system. People are always complaining that Polaris is overpriced and is lacking in service -- you should be happy that you now have a wide range of partners to choose from, without worrying about where UA will ticket the fares you want. There are now more options and therefore more opportunity for people to game it.

AeRoSpaceman

There is no game anymore... It's all about $$$

Edit to Add: There is nothing left for new members to try to achieve. All these new companies/startups are going to do the best they can do to try to telecommute. There was just an article I read today that said this is the biggest "work from home" experiment in history due to COVID-19 and "might" change travel from now on. Of course it is just a statement but gosh darn I was born in 80' and the movies might just be right.

Polytonic

Why do I have the sneaking suspicion it'll be someone flying 3x YVR-YYZ-HKG-SIN RT ... Probably toss in some domestic segments (have to use your status after all) so maybe $8k all-in?

Is 1K really worth $8k out of pocket though? Maybe if I were flying OPM ...

Silver Fox

I'll miss 1K, but bollocks to chasing it on United and especially on other airlines. I realise I have a life that needs to be lived!

zombietooth

No.

It used to be, when RPUs (i.e. domestic UGs) used to clear. Also, many have warned me that you'll get bad IRROPs treatment if you aren't a 1K, and I believed it. But since I've started flying DL and AA domestically, I find that I get excellent IRROPs treatment in paid F with no status. I am actually saving lots of money over UA by flying other carriers in discount F, so I believe that the loyalty engendered by being 1K was costing me thousands per year by preventing me from bargain hunting with other carriers.

The above being said, I do have lifetime Plat and am close to 3 MM, so I could easily hedge my bets if the other carriers raised their prices.

Kacee

Ex-SFO, I have been buying F on AS and AA intra-California for less than UA charges for Y. I know that "screw your hub-captives" is an industry-wide strategy, but am still moderately shocked each time I see it in action.

kulak

Sorry 1K’s and GS. I have been the guy paying for upgrades in 40+ deep upgrade lists on 73x and 757 domestic flights.

I just see no reason to chase status when upgrades will barely ever clear.

I know I am successful when GS board with the beep for emergency exit row.

I’ve got good company with many others like me.

fatlasercat

True, but I always felt bragging about PQM was not completely genuine because of the multipliers. Now we can focus on BIS again. Another category to be proud of is partner PQP for those who like to play the game. Of course, you have to track these yourself, but hey that's a sign that you're serious about this stuff

Silver Fox

Why sorry? Good on yer I say!

SPN Lifer

Another consideration for not-so-frequent flyers is striving toward PQP for annual status versus obtaining an initial lifetime (MM) status.

With my best-ever status at Platinum (over a decade ago), the latter is the highest priority for me.

ReinaDeLaSelva

Yes it is not all bad now. I feel free to buy partner airline tickets and now these often generate more PQP than UA's own metal. Por ejemplo BR has some good deals ex-EU, they were even good before nCoV. But also I do not care about 1K and being able to redirect spend into better individual trip products is generally a better experience. I am at 1.3MM lifetime so I feel only a very slight incentive to load onto UA. Plat is not worth greatly more than Gold and will take some years to reach even with full UA loading so I will not prioritize this any more.

The only problem I have is that I was denied my match application for CM status last month.... so OK I must be tough and earn with CM BIS lol!