Is it even worth it to go for million miler lifetime status?
 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. I have 825K lifetime miles on UA, and I'd like to push for 1 million.
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- is it even worth it to go for the million miler lifetime status. I'm currently Silver after 8 consecutive years of Gold with a few 1K's thrown in. Silver feels like such a downgrade, especially traveling internationally.

Thanks!

While many are down on striving for lifetime status, either because it might be best not to tie yourself to a single carrier (shop for the best price) or because of the fear of potential downgrades of benefits. It is true there is a growing population of MMers and it surely is a consideration in airline planning. The UA BIS miles on only UA operated flights is the most stringent MMer program.

I have less concern there is going to be a major downgrade of MM benefits per se. If it does it hit will be *G that is the target, not MMers. However if one is more then 2-3 years from a MMer threshold -- and definitively if >3 years, this is too volatile of an FF environment to make MMer status a major consideration in your decision making. If it happens organically, fine. If all else is equal, it can tip the scales.

"Lifetime" *G is presently a sweet spot and while it is easy to worry about its future, I really doubt it is that much of a concern for UA. Back at the merger (2012) that was a significant change in benefits. Annual RPUs were dropped (& threshold GPUs) and companion status was added. This was a loss for some and a gain for others, opinions are greatly shaped by how one felt about that change.

You have to decide if the benefits are worth it to you. To me, E+ and free bags throughout *A make it worthwhile.

I'm a big fan of the companion benefit. And I think it's a bit underrated by many. Of course, if you have no one to whom to extend that benefit ...

The sooner you liberate yourself from the shackles of airline frequent flyer programs the better your life will become.

E+ sitting, companion/partner benefits, free bags, Star Alliance benefits on other airlines and lounge access on international flights are still worth the hassle of keeping United Gold or getting to lifetime Gold
No doubt this will be further devalued with time but for now these benefits still keep me with United for most longer flights in coach
Business/First depends on other factors but most of my flights are still in coach
I have stopped amassing miles with Untied since they are not worth nearly as much.

It depends....

If you have to travel for work and/or for personal needs, then why not go for it? You are close enough.

If you are just spending $ flying to achieve MM status as the only reason, then I would not suggest it. Just a personal view of mine that spending $ and valuable time sitting in an aluminum (or carbon composite) tubes for no other reason just to achieve airlines status that you cannot use unless you are flying, is not logical to me.

If you have to fly anyway and continue to fly after passing MM mark, then I strongly suggest doing it for the benefits others have mentioned already.

But this could also be used to justify obtaining MM status, no?

All the benefits mentioned are definitely worth it. UA Million Miler is order of magnitude better than AA Million Miler, which I earned before switching to UA.

And the million miler companion benefit as goalie-dad is my mm companion so that means when goalie-parents fly, it’s E+ x2 and free checked bags x2

Depends on what you want out of it and your current travel pattern. Personally my spouse is pretty happy to now be a GS.

Definitely worth it to be a MM.

However, less clear is whether worth the effort for you. If you are currently a silver and usually Gold, and maybe fly other * carriers or premium class as well (such that BIS miles less than PQM that you used to reach status), it will take a few years or more to get the remaining 175 K miles you need unless your flying habits change and you fly more. If it is indeed a few years from now that you got MM, then probably not worth bothering as a lot is changing in the FF world that may mean it might not be worth it to fly your next 175 K miles on United.

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Indeed, after achieving 1MM ~ 5 years ago, I shifted away from UA and now fly different airlines but concentrate most of my mileage earnings with AA and oneworld partners. It's great to come back to UA/*A occasionally knowing that I still get *G benefits. For me, the most valuable *G benefits are:
1) +1 *G status for wife/husband/companion/friend,
2) lounge access on CA/ZH, BR, and NH,
3) *G bag allowance on the above-mentioned Asian carriers
4) free bag and E+ on the 1-2 trips/year I now fly on UA,
5) the small but still >0% chance of CPU, which happened on a LAS-LAX flight last fall.

My brother gets my companion benefits, which are such a huge benefit of being MM. He gets the same allotment of Plus Points that I get. It's so valuable.

I'm up to 1.3M. Pushing ahead toward the 2M, then 3M, then 4M goal!

Confused?? MM Companions do not get PlusPoints unless they earned them on their own.