udpolo

I was wondering if you can ever negotiate a status upgrade if you are a little short of the next tier? At the end of the year, I will have about 55 status segments, 5 short of Premier Exec. I started a new job in July which has me traveling once a week so I shouldn't have any problem reaching what will be Premier Gold and likely Platinum.

Anyone know if it is possible to go and ask for consideration for a status bump? thanks

toyotaboy95

UA isn't exactly that accommodating when it comes to such requests, search this forum with the keyword "soft landing". Consider a mileage run instead if you want 1P/*G.

mahasamatman

Welcome to FT, udpolo!

It's hard to say what will happen next year, but in the past, United has allowed people who are close to "buy up" to their status level.

323power

Not worth the risk.

If you're 5 short, that's easily done in one day. Spend a day flying and then there is no doubt.

Mike Jacoubowsky

Either that or buy segments via the MP Chase CC "choices" option. However, it's not cheap... 5 segments would run 50,000 miles. I think you could buy a 5 segment fare pretty reasonably. Please understand that "choice" points accumulate only through credit card use, not flying miles.

Do not risk a "soft landing" possibility. It likely wouldn't happen, and if you end up 2P, you're a nobody in the new system, with very few benefits, only regrets.

udpolo

Looks like I came up three short for making it to Premier Exec (Premier Gold in 2012). I had three flights booked through United on Great Lake Airlines that I found out the hard way that you don't get EQM or EQS. One work trip got cancelled and didn't have the time for a MR, except a quick there and back to DTW for $100.

Pleaded with MP Customer Service by phone and email. No luck with that or any supervisors. Only option is to use the Choice's program, but not sure if I want to waste the miles that way. I have 100K miles and could easily switch to another airline in 2012 for my travel needs. Delta or SW serve most of my locations.

One of the supervisors did mention that they are planning a status promotion in Q1 2012 but didn't give any details. Anyone have an idea what that would be?

Also which of my options do you recommend?
1) Use Choices program for EQS
2) Stick with United and hope status promotion is something I can use (or just wait until april/may when I should reach gold)
3) Ditch United and go with another airline

Thanks and happy holidays

Often1

MP for 2012 is completely fluid and I would not count on any giveaways to get you to a higher status. Looking at the entire rework of the program, the goal is quite clearly to shrink the number of high-status pax down to what the program can reasonably acommodate.

If you really have your heart set on Gold, either buy the miles through Chase or do a MR, but don't count on anything from UA downstream.

That said, you should really ask yourself whether you care that much about Gold. What does it get you in the new program? That depends on your travel pattern. Is it overseas access to *A clubs, do you really need more than carry-on or possibly one checked bag, are you tall enough to care about E+?

Unless those matter, with the UDU going to Y/B pax ahead of 1K & Gold, why fight? If you are Silver on a B fare, you get UG ahead of a 1K on a deep discount.

As to jumping ship, all depends again on what your needs are. I don't see DL or AA as being particularly better overall and, again all depends on the route network you need.

jhayes_1780

+1 on Often1's thoughts on the fluidity of MP for 2012.

But to elaborate on your question, in the past its been a mailer that comes in Jan that offers retention of status for $$$ IIRC it was targeted, some were offered retaining 1P for 300-1000, and 1K's were 500-1500 (again IIRC). I also seem to recall that 1K's did not get SWU's (but I could be wrong).

udpolo

Thanks. Most of my travel is domestic though ill have 2 international trips next year. For the biggest thing for me is E+ and ability as gold to reserve at booking. At 6'1" and 210, e+ make a huge difference on a 3 hr flight. I assume that most of the time as a silver i'll be stuck with middles in e+.

Thanks

jhayes_1780

Thats what the chicken littles will have you believe. Frankly, I am waiting to see what happens, as I expected no upgrades once moved to UDU, but I have actually had more upgrade success then previous years.

Mike Jacoubowsky

If you are within the 5,000 mile max for buying choice EQMs, I would suggest (strongly) that that makes a lot of sense. You've invested too much to walk away (I say this only because 1P is where you're heading; if 2P, run, don't walk!), and any retroactive elite promos UA has offered in the past have been outrageously expensive.