Well, only as a form of status match. So if someone is an AA Platinum UA will give them a challenge to fly 12,500 miles in 90 days, I believe, but unlike AA United actually gives out the status in advance and you just lose it if you don't make it. I wish AA did it that way.

I find it hilarious anyone would care, and then maybe only 1Ks. 181 posts and counting, well there's one born every minute...

Let's face the cold facts: for $299 you get E+ access, no need to waste anytime flyings.

For $200 and change you can usually find a transcon roundtrip, that's 5k EQM. So for the same $600 (this year's est cost) you could fly 15k BIS and get 15k EQM + 15K real miles. That would put many people over the top for 2p or 1p.

AA is much smarter - they simply offer Gold and Plat for a fixed fee at the end of the year to those who would drop down. No time wasted on mileage runs. No seats filled with discount customers flying pointless itineraries. 100% profit to the airline.

The super-pricey EQM promo is the biggest boondoggle to come down the pike in a long time. Yes, at $99 it made some sense, but at $499 - you gotta be kidding.

Go ahead, flame away. :)

Not a flame, but a comment that you seem to be unable to visualize various scenarios.

A DEQM offer makes sense for people in certain circumstances. @:-)

Example: Suppose someone is at 65K EQMs, therefore needs another 35K EQMs to qualify/re-qualify for 1K, but only plans to fly about half of that during the remainder of the year. The DEQM offer makes sense. They don't have to "fly pointless itineraries" (your term) to make up the 17.5K difference; they just have to pay a few hundred bucks. Easier and (perhaps) cheaper than the alternatives. (Especially considering the time and ancillary costs that are involved with mileage runs; it isn't just the $200-$300 for a transcon, there's also the transportation to/from the airport x 4 and other out-of-pocket expenses.)

P.S.: I just noticed that you're only a UA 2P. So perhaps you're not familiar with the benefits of 1K and the value thereof?

Indeed, a DEQM promo is useful mostly to people wanting to (re)qualify for 1K.


And indeed, noone in this thread has suggested using a DEQM promo to get 2P.

1) Not everybody lives/is currently in the US.
2) Not everyone in the US lives on the coast.
3) $200 transcons are not nearly as routine as they used to be.
4) If you need, say, over 20K EQM to reach your desired status level, all the transcons are going to cost a lot more than the DEQM registration, not to mention the time and auxiliary costs involved.

Indeed. And the point of the double EQM promo is to (re)qualify for 1K, not 2P or 1P. Although in some cases it may make sense for 1P (re)qualification.

AA is indeed often smarter. However, as far as I know AA doesn't offer a way to renew top status with them, much less qualify for the first time. Which is the point of the UA DEQM.

Indeed, at $99 it made sense for a whole more lot people than at $499. However, at $499 it still makes a whole lot of sense for some people. Just because it wouldn't be useful to you it doesn't mean it wouldn't be useful to others.

No flaming at all :). I just think you missed the main point of the double EQM which is achieving 1K status. I agree with you that it is (mostly) useless for the lower tiers.

Believe me I would love to be more familiar with 1k benefits! :)

But given how much air travel has degraded these days I don't think it makes much sense to pay big bucks to go from 65k to 100k (your example) if you don't even fly enough to earn 1k. Yes the SWUs are nice but you have to price the time and $ spent vs. the potential rewards. You don't get any additional bonus miles over 1P level, so really it is all about the SWUs and clearing your upgrades. And even then at big hubs there are often 1ks who don't clear (as we see from the complaints here).

So yes, YMMV, but I think most people who sign on to this deal are not going for 1k (since they send it to all elites) and therefore are suckers. People (myself included) get very caught up in status, but it really doesn't mean all that much anymore beyond an E+ seat, priority checkin and priority security lines. And you get all that with 2P. :)

Not everyone does it just for the status though

My flights (which I would have taken regardless) will take me to 125K+ but with the DEQM will take me to 150K+

Therefore I would for my $500 get two additional SWU's. The benefit I will get from them I value at much more than $500

Jeff

Based on this thread and the DEQM threads from previous years, I think that the majority of FTers who pay for DEQM are going for 1K or 100K+ benchmarks. I would also disagree with your characterization of anyone who doesn't as a sucker, again based on some clearly stated rationalizations in the aforementioned threads. I think if you read them, you might not agree with these posters' priorities, but, given their priorities, I think you'd find most are thinking quite rationally.

I find your choice of the word "sucker" to be unnecessarily inflammatory and poorly justified.

For me, to spend $499 + approx $1000 for a mileage run to get 6 SWU's is worth it. I already have personal (internbational) travel planned for next year, with the likely result of not making 1K = flying Y.

It's a simple calculation for me, really. The cost of paying for Z fares (at best) minus what I would spend to make 1K under a DEQM promo is a significant chunk of change.

If it's not worth it to you, don't so it.

This was exactly my scenario last year. I requalified by paying $499 and flying a Singapore run, which took me from ~65k EQMs to ~101k EQMs. Paying the DEQM fee saved me from spending another $1200 and two days of my time flying a second SIN run.

This year, I've blasted past the 100k mark, most of it in comfort, thanks to the upgrade instruments I earned as part of my 2007 1K qualification. It sure hurt to pull the trigger on that $499 DEQM fee, but I have made excellent use of the benefits that expenditure produced.

I would never do this for 2P status, but I have in the past for 1P and will do so in the future if I fail to make 50K EQMs from BIS or promo miles. The benefit of 1P is easier upgrades than 2P, 3P, and other pax AND the ability to prebook exit rows AND the Star Gold status (which could land you free u/g to F on US domestic flights ... it's happened to be in the past).

Since I fly transcon most of the time, having that exit row is pretty important to me and would be worth an extra $500 if I needed it to make 1P. But you're right, YMMV.

Also, it's not just about the SWUs (well a lot of it is!). With 1K you get CR1s, no ICC, higher priority on upgrades, reduced fee for RCC, no fees for award changes - plus SWUs.

Cheers.

Don't forget the annual fee waiver for MP Visa cards either.

And obento priority!! ;)

Question: do the two additional SWUs come when one simply reaches 150,000 EQMs (regardless of how they were obtained), or does it have to be 150,000 BIS miles in a calendar year?

EQM's...