Dec 30, 2021, 11:36 pm
United 2023 Qualifying Requirements (first The Points Guy, now UA.com)
Dec 4, 2021, 2:01 pm
#1
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United 2023 Qualifying Requirements (first The Points Guy, now UA.com)
Unsure if there’s another thread where it’s being discussed but thought this might be worthy of its own thread rather than buried in another one with speculation.
Per the Points Guy who says they were informed by UA, UA will have reduced requirements next year for status in 2023:
https://thepointsguy.com/news/united...Xe5ANT3fv7jsOU
Per the Points Guy who says they were informed by UA, UA will have reduced requirements next year for status in 2023:
The Points Guy
United also tells TPG that in 2022, it will use the same reduced Premier qualification thresholds that it used in 2021. This means that the thresholds will again be at least 25 – 30% reduced from the normal amounts, depending on the tier you are targeting.
United also tells TPG that in 2022, it will use the same reduced Premier qualification thresholds that it used in 2021. This means that the thresholds will again be at least 25 – 30% reduced from the normal amounts, depending on the tier you are targeting.
https://thepointsguy.com/news/united...Xe5ANT3fv7jsOU
Dec 4, 2021, 2:11 pm
#2
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Dec 4, 2021, 6:19 pm
#4
Join Date: Aug 2001
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Makes sense. The standard requirements are insane, and United has never actually applied them to a program year. The "reduced" requirements align fairly closely with the 2019 program year requirements ($15,000 PQDs were required then plus 100,000 miles). Effectively, United has just taken the 2019 program year requirements for PQDs and replaced the PQMs requirements from PQFs.
Dec 4, 2021, 6:28 pm
#5
Join Date: Aug 2008
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As I suspected, pretty meaningless since we won't know what promos they will do next year. For those who decided to call UA's bluff all year, they were rewarded with a status extension.
Dec 4, 2021, 6:28 pm
#6
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Even the reduced requirements are ridiculous for Silver. Perhaps Gold too.
And the reduced requirements for Plat and 1K are higher than 2019 IIRC
Willing to bet that won’t happen next year though
Vaccines were only approved for 18-50 mid April, for example. Those types of issues are not applicable going forward.
And the reduced requirements for Plat and 1K are higher than 2019 IIRC
Vaccines were only approved for 18-50 mid April, for example. Those types of issues are not applicable going forward.
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Dec 18, 2021 at 5:59 pm Reason: merged consecutive posts by same member
Dec 4, 2021, 7:53 pm
#9
Join Date: May 2010
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Just that they never actually applied that because Covid-19 hit?
Dec 4, 2021, 8:02 pm
#10
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: BNE/OOL temporarily-permanently at CAK/PIT
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Posts: 1,703
If they actually instituted these higher qualification levels and thinned the ranks - it might be a good thing as 1K now has surprisingly little differentiating from Silver. I flew on 2 Y segments this year. One got upgraded, the other didn't. Mrs Josh had the exact same upgrade success as a Silver. Wasn't able to book any fares in advance with PlusPoints to confirm upgrades, so it's been entirely WFBF this year.
I guess Silvers have to deal with the first class overheads being more full by the time they board.
And I've always wondered if anyone tried to hit the 24000 PQP thresholds in the first 3 months of 2020...
Last edited by Joshua; Dec 4, 2021 at 8:07 pm
Dec 4, 2021, 9:23 pm
#12
Join Date: May 2013
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Nobody knows at this point what is going to happen in 2022. E.g. Portugal, one of the most vaccinated countries has the most detected cases ever.
Dec 4, 2021, 10:12 pm
#13
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Dec 4, 2021, 10:32 pm
#14
Join Date: May 2010
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Yeah, 24000 PQP would be nearly impossible for me nowadays, and I think I only ever got to that much spend once or twice in the last ~14 years.
Once -or if- they ever 'go back' to this 24000 PQP it will be the end as a 1K for this flyer....
Oh yeah, now I remember: I actually started switching most of my flights from UA (EWR-PEK) to Hainan from JFK to PEK right before COVID hit, convinced I wasn't going to re-qualify as 1K with UA.
Dang, I miss those Hainan flights!!!
Dec 4, 2021, 10:56 pm
#15
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: UA Premier Platinum, DL Platinum
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I think it's unlikely UA will "return" to the laughable $24,000-for-1K threshold in the foreseeable future.
First, business travel will not recover to levels that would allow what United might consider an ideal number of customers to hit that target. That's especially the case for international travel, which is how you quickly rack up spend. It also doesn't help that New York and California—the states UA targets for premium transcon service—have been particularly cautious with respect to the pandemic, both as a matter of state policy and general corporate culture.
Second, hiking qualifications like that it would convince many flyers, including me, not to bother pursuing 1K. A lot of people necessarily spend $5,000-10,000 on flights for work each year, and then relent and spend an extra couple thousand to improve their status. I've done so myself. But there's a massive gulf between spending an extra $2-3000 and an extra $10-15,000 to earn 1K on United. Especially when work isn't willing to pay as much of the cost.
If I'm spending $24,000 annually on flights, I'm not even that worried about 1K status. I'm already seated up front.
First, business travel will not recover to levels that would allow what United might consider an ideal number of customers to hit that target. That's especially the case for international travel, which is how you quickly rack up spend. It also doesn't help that New York and California—the states UA targets for premium transcon service—have been particularly cautious with respect to the pandemic, both as a matter of state policy and general corporate culture.
Second, hiking qualifications like that it would convince many flyers, including me, not to bother pursuing 1K. A lot of people necessarily spend $5,000-10,000 on flights for work each year, and then relent and spend an extra couple thousand to improve their status. I've done so myself. But there's a massive gulf between spending an extra $2-3000 and an extra $10-15,000 to earn 1K on United. Especially when work isn't willing to pay as much of the cost.
If I'm spending $24,000 annually on flights, I'm not even that worried about 1K status. I'm already seated up front.