Kacee

The fact that we don't know the exact number doesn't mean we don't know there will be a whole bunch more 1Ks next year. Indeed, from TPG, we have the following:Moreover, we know that UA felt it had too many 1Ks in 2019, which is why it raised qualification thresholds for 2020 to $18/$24K. (Of course, those were never implemented due to Covid.)
Do you seriously believe that this extension will not further dilute 1K benefits, upgrades in particular?

SPN Lifer

Silver and not extended. Redeemed a single one-way TransPac award on UA this year. Not exactly a high-value flyer.

I got my status via Marriott Bonv°y Titanium Elite, for which I have requalified. So if not extended by UA, I will be a general member during February and until my RewardsPlus comp back to Premier® Silver is reapplied in early March.

chleonard

Maybe you still need to meet the 4 flight segment minimum to get extended? I'm also Gold and looks like I was extended, much to my surprise as I've only taken a handful of domestic flights this year. At least I'm pretty sure I was, the status tracker doesn't show anything but my digital membership card now shows a 01/23 expiration. Looking at a possible international relocation in mid-2022, so it'll definitely come in handy.

eng3

My mom was gold, had only taken two flights and was extended. She did also get the corporate bonus even though she doesn't work. She does book flights via cruise companies sometimes

uastarflyer

if you didn’t have to or want to travel why did you?

Most folks either chose UA for planned travel or spent a bit more on UA itineraries in response to the promo.

JimInOhio

I know plenty of people who spend $3k of their own money to travel places they want to go. You might be one of the only ones to spend that much just to maintain status in an environment that many believe is “diluted”.

greg99

I don’t think it’s a true statement to say that UA felt they had too many 1K’s. What I do know is that they didn’t think their 1K’s were sufficiently profitable. They would love to have more 1K’s if they improved UA’s profitability. Based upon the anecdotes here, that seems like that was a factor in who received extensions and who did not.

arshi007

Dang, this sucks. I needed about 600 PQP to requalify for Platinum based on the FTTF promo and actually took an expensive thanksgiving trip to meet the promo requirements and now i find that i really didn't need to do that. United should have atleast given a bit more (PP or some other credit) for those who actually spent the money.
I suppose i paid 600 bucks to "purchase" 40 PP. Hope i can actually get to use them (than maybe it will soften the blow)

nycflyer222

Whatever “factors” they considered make absolutely no sense based off what has been posted in this thread alone.

If the UA marketing team is reading this, I suggest you educate yourself on the term “lifetime value.”

bocastephen

United really just cares about transactional value - how much money are you bringing me today.

nycflyer222

I’m aware. That strategy doesn’t speak to having a loyalty program at all.

Repooc17

The power of marketing and psychology is how UA got incremental revenue, and extended almost everyone the carrier planned to extend in the first place.

I don't believe for a second the other poster was the only one; a lot of people came out of hibernation due to the lower requirement and the uncertainly of the end of the year. In general, $3K for 1K is still an excellent deal for some. Also, this is FT - mileage runs (MRs) or PQP runs is something a lot of us do on a regular basis.

HkCaGu

My mother's Silver got extended. In 2021 she got 1 PQF, 3 one-way awards (some AC), 500 card spend PQP. Nearly 0.5M lifetime, senior, no wheelchair requests on record.

Joshua

Probably not, unless these 1Ks decide to start flying (and spending) a lot more than they did in 2020 and 2021.

In theory, 2021 should have been a year when very few 1Ks were flying, to the point UA felt the need to bribe us with qualifications around 1/5 of what was originally threatened for 2020. My actual spending on UA was around 3,734 PQPs (and 13 PQFs) with maybe 2000 of that spending I probably would have avoided were it not for FTtF. The thresholds were "supposed" to be 15,000 PQPs/54 PQFs or 18,000 PQPs based on the original 2020 program requirements.

Anecdotally, I don't see more 1Ks out there flying than I did in early 2020 - although upgrades are harder than ever, but I suspect that's because paid F/J is also cheaper than ever. I had a grand total of 2 segments I didn't pay for F or J this year (not including single cabin flights), one of them was upgraded and the other was sold out in F when I bought it. If you would have told me I'd be paying $287/segment for paid F back in the early 2000s, I would have thought you'd gone mad.

The benefits of 1K "feel" very similar to the benefits I enjoyed as a Silver Elite on Continental back in 2001: back then, I frequently got free upgrades, although they weren't a sure thing; priority boarding; priority luggage handling; and a dedicated phone number to call with skilled agents and no long hold times. I qualified in 2001 with a lot of single-cabin Y fares, qualifying on segments (ouch!) and 1 leisure trip. My actual spending to earn Silver Elite in 2001 (approx. $6,500) was more than I spent in 2021. It seems appropriate that the benefits be about the same.

The real tragedy here is UA's lack of differentiating for those who actually qualified for 1K on the published chart. They really need to consider a way to differentiate those customers, but knowing UA, they're probably a lot more interested in "enticing" the occasional flyer with this extension of Premier than treating their most loyal spenders better.

But no, I don't think the problem is that the program is "diluted" - the problem I see is that I find:

- Flights between out of the way outstations, something like ORD-MCI or PHX-ORD redeye
- Seating chart shows exactly ZERO first class seats assigned
- No upgrades don't clear until T-24, and then everyone on the waitlist gets upgraded - why didn't they bother clearing *anybody* at the 96, 72, or 48 hour mark?
- PlusPoints rarely go through domestically - I have them on the itineraries of basically every friend and family member I know flying United, and they stubbornly refuse to ever clear

UA seems to be aiming for a Spirit or Frontier-esque experience domestically, except with better reliability.

auandagbug

I earned Gold in 2019 and flew internationally in 2021 (HNL to NRT via SFO and NRT to HNL via LAX) due to a lack of operating nonstop flights between HNL and NRT. 3 of 4 segments were on UAL metal, but NRT-LAX was a UAL codeshare on ANA. it appears my Gold status has been extended to 1/2023.

I topped off my PQP balance to reach 7,000 PQP using my soon to expire tranche of Presidential Plus Flex PQPs. Otherwise, I haven't completed my FTTF qualification based on missing one United or United Express operated flight of the four normally required. I haven't received any formal notification from MileagePlus, just clicked on my Premier Gold membership card a few minutes ago and checked the apparently extended expiration date.

Since I live in Hawaii, a mileage run would have been possible to get my fourth United metal flight to requalify, but it would be a real hassle compared to taking a short, less costly flight in the mainland U.S., so I'm glad I may not have to spend money or time on an otherwise useless flight.

FWIW, pre-COVID, one time my daughter was a few miles short from requalifying for Premier Silver, and they offered her the opportunity to "buy" her requalification in January (no additional flights required), shortly before her earned status was set to expire.