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UA • CONFIRMS • Status Extension to JAN 2022; PQP Thresholds Reduced by ½ for 2020

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Old Mar 6, 2020, 1:30 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
05April 2020
MileagePlus Status Extended Until 2022

Throughout these unprecedented times, we remain committed to doing what is right and fair for all of our MileagePlus members and are pleased to share the steps we are taking to reciprocate the trust and loyalty that you have placed in United. These steps include not only Premier status updates, but also an extension of current memberships and subscriptions. The updates will happen automatically over the next few weeks — there's nothing you need to do.

The big news: If you have current 2020 Premier status, it will be extended to January 31, 2022. At a minimum, you will enjoy the same published status next year that you have today, up to Premier 1K®.

We're reducing the 2020 Premier qualifying points (PQP) and flight requirements for all tiers by 50%. You'll still need a minimum of four flight segments on United or United Express®.



We're also doubling PQP for United Explorer cards and quadrupling PQP for the United Club cards.

At the same time that we're decreasing the published program's PQP requirements, via a promotion from May 1 – December 31, 2020, we're doubling (for United Explorer cards) or quadrupling (for United Club cards) the maximum number of PQP that Cardmembers can earn during 2020 to help achieve a higher level of status than you already have.

1K® and Platinum members, we're increasing your ability to upgrade by extending PlusPoints expiration dates by six months and expanding Skip Waitlist.
  • This means a six-month extension of any PlusPoints set to expire on or before January 31, 2021.
  • Last year we introduced Skip Waitlist on select flights as a benefit to 1K members, giving you more opportunities to confirm an upgrade request at the time of booking. This benefit will now be available for the rest of 2020 in a significantly expanded selection of long-haul international regions and will have expanded availability in 2021 as well.
We're extending all annual membership and subscription benefits by six months.
  • We want to make sure your benefits are still there when you're ready to start flying again. That's why we're extending purchased United Club℠ memberships and purchased subscriptions for Economy Plus®, United Wi-Fi℠ and checked bags by six months. You should see this reflected in your MileagePlus account soon.
All electronic travel certificates now have 24 months to be used.
  • If your travel plans have been disrupted, and you have an electronic travel certificate from us for the value of your ticket, you now have two years from the date it was issued to book a new flight, as well as up to an additional 11 months to travel. This includes all currently valid and all new electronic travel certificates issued on or after April 1, 2020.
We have removed some redeposit fees for the rest of the year.
  • We are currently waiving all award redeposit fees for travel through end of May 2020.
  • We are now also waiving all redeposit fees for award ticket cancellations made more than 30 days before departure for the remainder of 2020.
Finally, we'll be making it easier to earn status in 2021 for the 2022 program year. We recognize that getting back to travel will occur at a different pace for different members. Keep an eye out for changes we will make to help you earn status in 2021 for 2022, as we'll share details later this year.

Over the years, you have placed your trust and loyalty in United, and we are honored to do the same for you. We are all in this together.

Status extension to January 31, 2022, applies to all members that met the published criteria of the MileagePlus program in 2019, status associated with the United/Marriott RewardsPlus program and status offered as part of a Sales nomination. Status granted from other programs and policies may not apply.
FAQ
With extended status. will we automatically get additional PlusPoints in 2021 (40 for Plats and 280 for 1KsGS?

No, your existing PlusPoints will be extended 6 months but to get additional 2021 PlusPoints you will need to meet the reduced thresholds for 2020

[5 April 2020] Status extended 1 year - United Hub
- Status extended 1 year (expires 1/31/22)
- Plus Points extended 6 months
- Lower qualifying thresholds to gain 2021 status in 2020 (about 50%)

[5 April 2020] United will extend Premier status for 12 months (SF Gate):
United will announce on Sunday that it is extending elite status to MileagePlus Premier members through 2021 and members will retain their current status through January 2022. This follows a similar move by Delta Air Lines on April 4 to extend SkyMiles Medallion elite status to 2021.

A United spokesperson has confirmed this to SFGATE, adding: "We are also going to help both general members and members who want to reach the next status level by lowering thresholds for Premier Qualifying Points (PQP’s) for the 2021 status year."

In addition to the elite status extension, United will extend all its annual subscription options by six months, including United Club memberships, wi-fi, checked bags and EconomyPlus, according to the spokesperson.
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[7 March 2020] A message to our Premier members (email):
At this time, we are not planning any changes for our 2021 Premier program but we will continue to evaluate our options as we learn more about how the current climate is affecting members' activity. In the interim though, we do plan to give members who are participating in a MileagePlus 2020 Premier Status Match Challenge promotion an additional 30 days to complete their challenge. This extension will automatically be reflected in member accounts within the next week.
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Originally Posted by Sykes
There's a good (but not exhaustive) crowdsourced list of company travel restrictions here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...bWhYFM/preview .....
Originally Posted by Fims
Hey there!

As true loyalty is best tested in challenging times, I did a bit of research on how different airlines and hotel programmes have responded:
  • 74 airline loyalty responses (status, miles expiration extensions) and booking flexibility terms (changes and refunds)
  • 18 hotel loyalty responses (status, points expiration extensions) and booking flexibility terms (changes and refunds)
The full outcome is freely available at https://bit.ly/loyalty-response-covid19

Feel free to comment that Google Sheets file and if you have some better insights, let me know (I used only what was available on English-speaking websites and some blog posts I could find, showing emails from the programmes). ....





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UA • CONFIRMS • Status Extension to JAN 2022; PQP Thresholds Reduced by ½ for 2020

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Old May 5, 2020, 7:57 am
  #1051  
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Join Date: Aug 2017
Programs: AS 75K, DL Silver, UA Platinum, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Platinum + LT Gold
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Originally Posted by benz37
But if I understand the new policy to extend status, there are no "new" requirements to be a 1K in 2021 if one is already a 1K in 2020, no?
The game has not changed. You'd still have to earn your status this year (at lower qualification level) to get a new batch of PP.. Your having status through January 2022 is merely a rollover.
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Old May 5, 2020, 7:58 am
  #1052  
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
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Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
Correct but as always you need to meet the annual requirements to earn the upgrade certs. So you will retain your status and the PlusPoints you have have been extended 6 months but to get additional PlusPoints you need to meet the reduced threshold in 2020.
Ok I got it. So I guess that means if I expect to do very little flying in 2020 (like many of us), I won't be getting any more Plus Points other than those left over from 2020 that will be now extended through July 31, 2021. Oh well. Thanks for clarifying that for me!
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Old May 5, 2020, 9:31 am
  #1053  
 
Join Date: May 2005
Programs: United 1K 3MM
Posts: 387
Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
Correct but as always you need to meet the annual requirements to earn the upgrade certs. So you will retain your status and the PlusPoints you have have been extended 6 months but to get additional PlusPoints you need to meet the reduced threshold in 2020.
What about those that have MM status that automatically gets renewed each year? New set of PlusPoints deposited for those in Jan. 2021 valid through Jan 31, 2022?
MMProfessor is offline  
Old May 5, 2020, 2:07 pm
  #1054  
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Tampa
Programs: UA Global Services and 3MM, Lifetime Hilton Diamond/Marriott Titanium Ambassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 250
Originally Posted by Repooc17
The game has not changed. You'd still have to earn your status this year (at lower qualification level) to get a new batch of PP.. Your having status through January 2022 is merely a rollover.
I am GS (9 consecutive years) and 3MM. I exceeded $12K PQD prior to having to suspend travel, I got 280 PP's per the changes made two weeks ago. The PP expiration extensions helped a lot as many don't expire until 2022 now. I lost 1,200 PP's at end of January (expired), was given back 40 of them, but still have a hefty PP balance of 1,120 PP's I hope some day I can use...
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Old May 5, 2020, 7:00 pm
  #1055  
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Originally Posted by KevinPK1
I am GS (9 consecutive years) and 3MM. I exceeded $12K PQD prior to having to suspend travel, I got 280 PP's per the changes made two weeks ago. The PP expiration extensions helped a lot as many don't expire until 2022 now. I lost 1,200 PP's at end of January (expired), was given back 40 of them, but still have a hefty PP balance of 1,120 PP's I hope some day I can use...
only the 280 new ones have a January 2022 expiry, at least mine do. The other ones are October 2020 and July 2021. Being able to use those 920 +Ps will be a different question.
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Old May 6, 2020, 10:02 am
  #1056  
 
Join Date: Mar 2020
Location: EWR
Programs: United 1 Million Miler Platinum, Marriott Gold
Posts: 4
As it was in previous years FPQP's can't be used to qualify for more than Platinum (e.g. 1K). That said, it's still nice to get Platinum with half the PQP's!!
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Old May 6, 2020, 10:28 am
  #1057  
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Tampa
Programs: UA Global Services and 3MM, Lifetime Hilton Diamond/Marriott Titanium Ambassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 250
Originally Posted by cfischer
only the 280 new ones have a January 2022 expiry, at least mine do. The other ones are October 2020 and July 2021. Being able to use those 920 +Ps will be a different question.
Yes, I should have been clearer. 80 PP expire October 2020, 720 PP expire July 2021, and 280 PP expire in January 2022.
KevinPK1 is offline  
Old Jun 4, 2020, 1:05 pm
  #1058  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 15
Sad about losing one year of my two year gold status

I know there are worse things in the world but we've been scrimping and saving miles and buying miles for 2 years now and pulled the trigger in January 2020 to move to Gold status. Yay!
Then Covid-19 happened.
All of our trips so far this year we'd planned on are cancelled and I'm sure that our Oct Hawaii trip will likely cancel out too due to restrictions.
So we thought we had two years of Gold status for 20/21, and if we're lucky we might get next year but darn it we lost this year
I did read where United was "extending" status's but in our case it didn't help us at all based on when we started Gold status and when the 2 year cycle for it ends.
marklyn is offline  
Old Jun 4, 2020, 1:45 pm
  #1059  
Moderator: United Airlines
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
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Posts: 66,857
Originally Posted by marklyn
I know there are worse things in the world but we've been scrimping and saving miles and buying miles for 2 years now and pulled the trigger in January 2020 to move to Gold status. ...
Was this with FlexPQMs /FlexPQPs?
WineCountryUA is offline  
Old Jun 4, 2020, 9:32 pm
  #1060  
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My MyStatus page just says "keep flying to earn more PlusPoints..."

(As if spending an extra $9k to earn 20 PP is some kind of inducement to travel.)

Anyway, I'm not sure what the concern is. The new status year doesn't begin until February 1, 2021 - still some time, at least according to my calendar.
Doppy is offline  
Old Jun 4, 2020, 9:49 pm
  #1061  
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Originally Posted by Doppy
My MyStatus page just says "keep flying to earn more PlusPoints..."

(As if spending an extra $9k to earn 20 PP is some kind of inducement to travel.)

Anyway, I'm not sure what the concern is. The new status year doesn't begin until February 1, 2021 - still some time, at least according to my calendar.
???
If you qualify for 1K by spending $9k, you get more than 20 PP. In addition, if one flies premium cabins on *A partners, the spend for PQPs might be significantly less. Those receiving status beyond 1/31/21 strictly because of an extension won't get PPs.
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Old Jun 4, 2020, 10:30 pm
  #1062  
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Originally Posted by IAH-OIL-TRASH
If you qualify for 1K by spending $9k, you get more than 20 PP. In addition, if one flies premium cabins on *A partners, the spend for PQPs might be significantly less. Those receiving status beyond 1/31/21 strictly because of an extension won't get PPs.
I (re-)qualified for 1K under the reduced requirements ($12k PQP), so I already earned the 1K PPs, but they didn't also lower the requirements for additional PPs, so you have to get to $21k PQPs to earn the next 20 PPs. So it's another $9000 in spending (or potentially less if you fly on partners, not that there's much international travel this year) to get the equivalent of one domestic upgrade.

Doesn't make any sense. They should have reduced the requirements to earn additional PPs as well.
SPN Lifer and leoo like this.
Doppy is offline  
Old Jun 5, 2020, 9:14 am
  #1063  
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Join Date: Aug 2005
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Originally Posted by Doppy
I (re-)qualified for 1K under the reduced requirements ($12k PQP), so I already earned the 1K PPs, but they didn't also lower the requirements for additional PPs, so you have to get to $21k PQPs to earn the next 20 PPs. So it's another $9000 in spending (or potentially less if you fly on partners, not that there's much international travel this year) to get the equivalent of one domestic upgrade.

Doesn't make any sense. They should have reduced the requirements to earn additional PPs as well.
makes absolutely no sense. But this is what UA has decided on. Certainly affects my 2H20 travel plans as UA is offering me no additional PPs when I actually fly my $10k ticket ... so I will likely get a refund and book elsewhere instead.
Doppy, AirbusFan2B and leoo like this.
cfischer is offline  
Old Jun 5, 2020, 7:33 pm
  #1064  
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Chicago
Posts: 1,162
Originally Posted by cfischer
makes absolutely no sense. But this is what UA has decided on. Certainly affects my 2H20 travel plans as UA is offering me no additional PPs when I actually fly my $10k ticket ... so I will likely get a refund and book elsewhere instead.
Delta!
AirbusFan2B is offline  
Old Jun 6, 2020, 3:56 pm
  #1065  
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Join Date: Aug 2005
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Originally Posted by AirbusFan2B
Delta!
possibly. Could also go AS, not sure yet. No incentive to fly UA; they wanted it that way.
cfischer is offline  


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