Perhaps and perhaps FT is focusing on the corner cases.

Yes UA introduced two promos and had to account for a variety of different customer situations (and the recent competitive move by DL) BUT IMO most people will clearly fit into one of two common cases. The most common case -- they have not requalified and the straightforward Fly to the Finish will be their path. But UA did not want to leave out those that have already requalified (I suspect this is the next larger group) and perhaps want to go up a level or get more PlusPoints, hence Breakout Bonus. And then what are you do with those that would have qualified organically -- probably the third largest group. Most will go thru this without gaming, FTers will obsess on things most will not care about.

Yes, UA could have gone simple like DL and then there would be those complaining (as was occurring) why? "Dissing those that did fly". UA at least requires some travel to maintain status Honestly under these conditions, there was nothing to keep everyone happy. UA has done this because they think it works best for them and FT will second guess this like everything an airline / hotel chain is second-guessed.

Was this over-engineered trying to provide something for everyone, perhaps -- but the intent to provide something for everyone seems like something most would have supported. However, appears some did not want that.


Clearly BB as they are no longer eligible for FttF. So, as stated, in the T&Cs once they qualify on their own, they revert to BB

As was noted in GS program last week, gifted status is the annual decision of their employee. This is an interesting corner case, without consideration of the gifted status, have they achieved any level? But I would think they would be just BBas there is no concept of requalifying due to the gifted status.

"massive" It was pretty clear the intent Fly to the Finish was UA only and it was left off of one condition --it was hard to see that anything else was intented

Sorry, but how was that clear?
It's still not clear if you don't click on the terms. How does "Earn a total of 3,000 PQP only" make it clear it's UA flights only? Based on the dozens of questions posted here, it was not clear at all.

There is no need to incentivise them because they are not the target of the promotion. The promotion is aimed at elites who have not qualified and otherwise will not. It kills two birds with one stone - helps retain loyal customers and helps raise some money for the airline. There are many other such promotions over the years targeted at unique scenarios and types of flyers. For example, offers to cheaply buy-up to F don't go to those who have already bought (expensive) F fares, offers to accelerate progress to next elite tier don't go to those already in the maximal tier and generous status match offers to OAL elites don't go to existing UA elites

The typical Premier member, and probably over 95 percent of those who received the email do not need to figure out the intricacies. It is mainly for FT folks, travel nerds, nitpickers, and lawyers to work out every contingency, exigency and loophole.

For the average traveler this is very simple indeed - spend a designated amount of PQP flying on UA or UAX before end of November to keep your status another year. Most who follow that rule will have success with the promotion. For many American MP members this will be no different from the pack of Cheerios offering an instant win of a Fitbit or a McDonald's sweepstake offering a free roundtrip to Disneyland. Most people are not bothered about the rules and small print and are content taking the offers at face value and moving on if they later come to realize there wasn't really anything worthwhile or 'free'.
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So with the updated:
T&C:
Only United and United Express flights qualify for this offer [Fly to the Finish].

Does that confirm that UA credit card spend PQPs do not count against the 3,000 PQP part of the Fly to the Finish promo?

Mostly wishful thinking

The two lines before were UA only, and many of us responded it was likely UA only on the third case. Yes, it was missing but realistically to consider it was a change of terms is farfetched. The logically reading was UA only, the wishful thinking was it allowed partners / credit card PQPs / accelleratorPQPs / ....

In addition, in the BreakoutBonus which does allow partners, as has UA done before, it explicitly states one UA segment is required. If, in a hopeful reading of that one condition of Fly to the Finish was going to allow partners, would it not also have had the 1 segment requirement?

Yes, it was incomplete and needed further clarification -- but IMO the most reasonable reading it was UA only. To call the clarification a "massive modification" is hyperbole. Many of us never had any doubts (but it is better clarified).

I am not sure how that leaves any room for credit card PQPs to be counted.
But there is no explicit statement they will not be count -- so some may hold out hope -- my guess they will be disappointed.

Gifted GS has no 280 PP unless they qualify for 1K.

UA is excluding this group for the FttF promotion. Why?

3000 PQP can be easily done with one flight.

All I can do is speculate but a Gifted GS has no earned status to requalify. So they are only eligible for Breakout Bonus.
Additionally, there is no such concept as "earned requalifying" for GS.

GS is an UA invitation-only program and a gifted GS will need to be re-sponsored by their employer, same reason they were not extended until 2023 as other GS were

I have an offer to retain platinum status . My account indicates that I haven't reached platinum this year however it shows I have over 9,000 PQPs this year . I have only 7 flights but as a legacy Presidential plus card holder the 9,000 PQPs should qualify me for platinum . Is it time for a call to the mileage plus service center ?

If you cancel the return of a round-trip award, UA will not give you a refund. Someone who is considering this should either (a) change to another flight that they need anyway, beyond the challenge period, or (b) change to the absolute cheapest flight they can find and then no-show it. I suspect you can still find SFO-LAS or SFO-PHX for 5K on some days.

It would be a personal analysis based on how valuable the PQP bonus would be for any given individual and what their other travel plans are. I wouldn't recommend doing this unless it was going to make a material difference in the likelihood of qualification, or in the cost of qualification if someone's already decided it's worth it and is planning to pay out of pocket.

It's legitimately confusing. The exact text says "Meet these goals: Complete 10 PQF on UA or UA Express; Earn 2700 PQP on UA or UA Express; or earn 3000 PQP." The word "and" does not appear in the qualification rules.

When I first read it, my mind treated it as three independent options: either earn 10 PQF on UA/UAX, earn 2700 PQP on UA/UAX, or earn 3000 PQP. Upon closer inspection of the T&Cs, I saw that they intended the first two to be grouped together, but it really isn't clear at all without the fine print. (They could have just inserted a line with the word 'and' between the first two bullet points, and there wouldn't be any ambiguity).

And leaving off "on United or United Express" from the main page -- still unchanged -- is also quite deceptive. By including the terms in the first two, but not in the third, a reasonable person would infer that there is no UA/UAX requirement for the 3000 PQP option.

If it weren't for the degree to which airlines have been granted de facto immunity from consumer protection law, I suspect that someone who earned 3000 total PQP, but not on UA, would win a lawsuit and force UA to extend their status -- but (a) the lawyer would cost more than flying UA and (b) de facto immunity.

You're right. Your situation is a corner case that is deprived of the opportunity to quickly turn $3K into 280 PlusPoints. If you were 1K before being gifted GS, they may grant you an exception. If you were not 1K before the GS gift, you shouldn't be eligible as the FttF promotion is about maintaining prior status, not upleveling.

I don't see anywhere that states that Presidential Plus cardholders are allowed to qualify at the lower PQP amount even if they haven't met the PQF requirement. I suspect you haven't earned Platinum yet.

What if a gifted GS via MM program earned 1K last year? There is no good reason why UA won't encourage 3000 PQP spend .......

Will PM to UA Insider :-)

• An award Trip must be redeemed and flown within the Promotion Period to qualify. An award Trip must be redeemed using the eligible member’s miles and flown by the same eligible member to earn Bonus PQP for this offer. A maximum of one award Trip is eligible for PQP bonus for this offer.
  

Found above paragraph under Terms and Conditions of "Breakout Bonus". Looks like the the award ticket has to be booked and flown on or after August 6, 2021, unlike the regular ticket.

there is no specific mention of card, though seems clear by this point card PQP aren’t supposed to count, since the fttf PQP terms have been ‘corrected’ to only based on UA/UAX flights.

I say supposed to because, well, marketing and IT are different departments, and UA IT isn’t known to always be 100% accurate in carrying out marketing terms. Heck, if UA could overlook what is a relatively important note that promotion PQP need to be on UA/UAX only (when it is clearly written in the line above for the PQP/PQF option), then there is definitely a possibility of a lazy line of code that causes ineligible PQP to count for tallying the requirements. Especially given the complexity. If that happens, UAs reactive move would be key - will they claw back promo PQP or just let it slide?

and on another thought, I wonder if there will be a promo tracker to track PQPs for this promotion.

Thank you. I have edited (with strike-through deletions and underlined additions) my Post # 275 above.

I guess, I'm going to have have to book FC on couple of my LAX - DEN flight. Was going to book them in coach but its the only way I'll qualify the PQP before the end.

the PresPlus card doesn’t waive the PQF requirement. You haven’t requalified for Plat yet.

Not just 280 PP. I may not get MM nomination for GS next year, and would end up with Gold without this promotion.

Just wrote this to MP:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A new promotion, Fly to the Finish, is offered to all premier members.

https://promo.united.com/offers/flytothefinish

Apparently, Global Services members are excluded from this promotion. Although I obtained GS due to million miler nomination program, I made 1K on my own in 2020. Could you offer me Fly to the Finish promotion? I would be glad to spend 3,000 PQP to make 1K again for 2022, and to receive 280 PlusPoints. I may not get GS nomination for next year, and I would love to make 1K on my own. This promotion would be very helpful. Thank you.

If you're trying to achieve status with UA via this promo, it is definitely a little complicated. Also, as this thread has shown, there are very situational issues that arise. I would say that most FT's could figure out what they need to do if they were pushing for a higher status. I think it also saves UA the headache that will come the next several years of what Delta offered. While AA, and now Delta, have different tiers within tiers based on whatever metric (total spend, spend this year, etc) UA has kept it relatively simple which going forward will probably disfranchise less people. Maybe adding levels of complication is a good way to keep any airlines' elites in the confusion zone as to what to expect, but I know that doing so will definitely garner the attention on FT. Maybe (or probably), the brunt of elites won't notice. Either way, it's a creative way of determining value that UA has not shown so directly.

On the flip side of that, UA emailed a very clear email showing what I eligible for. So, to your point, I think UA did a good job keeping it simple to most of Premiers. While we all have different situations, I think most travelers are in a state of flux that changes monthly at this point as to where or not they can travel. UA went after them.

I have no complaints as this promo gets me to 1K a few months sooner this year. I normally would qualify for platinum at the end of every year, but now, I get to be a little higher on pecking order for CPUs. I am glad UA didn't exclude previously booked trips like they do with Mile Play. That move would have definitely put me in the BE fare only on UA. Now, they can expect $90/roundtrip from me every week for booking into regular E. Kudos US revenue management.

Maybe we need a separate thread for "I need xxx PQP for this promotion."

Is there a way to search for a flight with a specific number of PQPs?

Have you considered that those elites may not have been able to use their *earned* benefits for the last 18 months, and hardly even the next six months?

They have received their benefits on every flight they’ve taken.:)

That's simply wrong. The goal of the promo is to incent current UA elites to book and fly with UA. That's why there are flight and spend based rewards for those who have already requalified, those who complete the FtF challenge, and even for those who fly, but fall short of the challenge terms.

Whether certain aspects of the promo make any sense at all is an entirely different question.

Letter looks good. If they can't turn on a FttF switch, contact them again after satisfying the requirement and request the 280 PlusPoints and 1K (assuming you won't be sponsored). I believe the sponsorship deadline is Nov, so you'll know by then.

What is the spend based reward?

Have you achieved 1K levels in the past? Fly to the Finish is for folks requalifying.

The architect of this promotion is smiling and will include your post when they submit a promotion request to their manager!

Any promo that's based on PQP is spend based.

Remember when promos used to be based on miles flown rather than dollars spent?

I see your point now. When I first read this I was the reward for a spend. In the case of this promotion it’s retaining status, I thought I was missing something

Why do people already flying UA in the pandemic need this promotion as incentive to fly??? They may sure need some incentive but it is certainly a different type of incentive from those who are not flying at all or very little. The crux of this promotion is seemingly directed at those who have not flown enough to requalify for elite status.

Not sure then how I am wrong. Indeed the responses to this thread demonstrate my view well because most of those who were in danger of not requalifying (the likely target of the promotion) are by and large happy about the promotion. Most of those dissatisfied with the promotion are those who have requalified, those who were likely to requalify, and GS who had blanket extensions - their dissatisfaction hints clearly that UA were not thinking much about them when they put out this promotion.

Right. In the past it would have been something like "fly 12,000 PQM to retain your status." Now the promo thresholds are all spend based in one way or another (with even the Breakout Bonus rewards consisting of additional PQP, rather than miles).

By going purely spend based, UA's managed to take almost all the fun out of the game, while devaluing the status itself. The net result is I care less about status than ever before.
You said the promo is not targeted at people who have already requalified or will requalify without it. That's contrary to the promo terms, which expressly include incentives ("Breakout Bonus") to members who have already requalified or who will requalify outside the promo. It's a lame incentive, but UA is unquestionably targeting elites who don't need an additional promo to requalify.

Yes. I achieved 1K between 2006-2021 on my own. That's why I still have 320 Plus Points in my account.

Was nominated to GS due to MM companionship for 2020-21 then 2021-22.

All 1Ks and GS got extended to 2021-22 due to the pandemic.

But what if I will still be sponsored to GS for next year?

Without FttF promotion, I won't be able to receive 280 PlusPoints. Worse, if I don't get nominated to GS, I will be dropped to Gold.

I really like to buy this $3,460 one-way Y ticket PVG-SFO.

But if UA denies my opportunity for FttF promotion, then I'll use miles instead. GS can upgrade award ticket.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1e0cd589a9.jpg

I promise I tried to read through this thread, but I am confused. Haven't flown much on United this year, have Silver, would like to keep it if possible.

I currently have 8 PQF and 2350 PQP. I fly economy for work (policy) and these fares are low on PQP. Have two upcoming trips - future (I love that feature) situation through Q3 right now (and nothing else booked beyond) will put me at 14 PQF and 2675 PQP. I won't hit the 600 PQP requirement of the "Fly to the Finish" promo I got. HOWEVER, does that mean I get to pick up the 350 "Don't Meet the Challenge" requirement for my upcoming trip (bonus) and will re-qualify for Silver (3000 PQP) for next year because of the "didn't meet the requirements" bonus?

$350+ (325 PQPs) tickets with 6 PQFs, a lot of folks might be interested in that.

But to your question, yes the Breakout Bonus is the fallback promo and, in your case, appears it will push you over.

Just Making Sure I Understand
 

As a 1K, I currently have 11,076 PQP and 16 PQF. The way I read it with the 400 bonus PQP for Corporate travel, I need 10 additional PQF and 2,300 PQP or 2,600 PQP. Without the above promo, I calculate with the Breakout Bonus 11,076+2,250 gives me 13,326 PQP. Meaning I really only need 1,674 PQP to re-qualify.

I already have 1,300 PQP booked as well by early September.

To my fellow experts, is this correct?

To get the full Breakout Bonus, you need 3 trips. And the Breakout Bonus does not count toward the Fly to the Finish promo -- it is one or the other.

To qualify for 1K without PQFs, you need 15,000 PQP
If your 11,076 includes the 400 Corporate Headstart
Then if you take three trips, you get 2,250 Breakout Bonus, giving you 11,076+2,250 ==> 13,326 PQPs
Your three trips will need to earn at least 1,674 PQPs to get 1K without PQFs.

Help please. Is there anything in this for a GS who has already exceeded the spend threshold of $15,000?

I already requaled for 1K before this bonus. Wish there was a special "get to GS" for us that don't need the bonus...but are still flying.

Thanks. I already have 4 one way's booked so that would qualify. I will probably clear the promo anyway, but nice to know if all travel stops I will be only a few 100 PQP from qualifying.

I was at a dinner party last night and talked to a long time UA elite member who is not part of FT, and they received the promo email and couldn't understand a damn thing about it and will probably just give up. They said it was the worst written, overly complicated and convoluted promotion they've ever seen and they complained nothing about it made any sense.

So, we are not alone.