Originally Posted by Javan69 (Post 8511057)

No way to take additional flights as I have the gf until 12/15

Originally Posted by jef7

With fewer and fewer perks? Hmm, I'm not sure if that makes sense.

I would speculate that the process of making it harder for 1K status to be achieved is in the drawing board. If indeed, the double EQM promotions will not be offered this year, then it would be a good indication that the tightening of the qualification process is in fact taking place.

But I don't see the perks decreasing. For this to make business sense, the process of aligning loyalty with revenue contribution should only further enhance the value of 1K status. In other words, I envision United saying, "Yes, we're rewarding you for achieving 1K, big time, but you're also going to have to pay for it, big time".

Originally Posted by J-H (Post 8510852)

That's true if you want to restrict to UA. But if you didn't care about status, you would be open to flying on any carrier - which opens the possibilities tremendously.

I did a lot of MRs in my 20's and early 30's. At 33 and married with a two year old and three month old baby, it simply isn't fun or practical to do these cross country/continent runs.

And I discovered that the alternatives are not expensive. I paid for two Z fares to Japan ex-JFK for a little under $7k. If could have flown to Europe on paid business for about $1.5k a person - not that much more than what I spent (about 8k/year) to maintain 1K out of my pocket. When you do an intercontinental MR, it is not just the cost of the ticket you have to figure in to the cost. Time is expensive, and it got a lot more expensive for me in the last few years to take a couple of days off from work/family for MR purpose.

The crux of the issue is that I can't afford to not have a SWU clear on a JFK-SFO-Asia trip if I'm travelling with my wife and two young kids. We need confirmed seats in business, not upgrades. And we can afford the once or twice yearly overseas trip, plus a few domestics/Carribean/Florida runs in paid premium cabin. Note: Our tickets on CO's fare to the Costa Rica were only $900/person, about 3x economy tickets, this really is not that expensive. Alternative would have been sitting in the back with a 1 year old on a five hour flight - who wants to deal with that?

Originally Posted by GadgetFreak (Post 8511166)

Wirelessly posted (TMobile DASH: BlackBerry7230/4.0.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1)



They have did that. Its called Global Services. It isn't clear what the comppetitive advantage of doing it again would be.

Originally Posted by jef7 (Post 8511234)

Right.

But I am speculating more with regards to qualifications for Premier all the way up to 1K. Aligning revenue contribution to loyalty does not simply have to be how much spending one contributes per geographical area as the case for UGS members, but could also be adjusted based on limiting EQMs earnings on select fares, elimination of promotions such as the main topic of this thread, etc.

Originally Posted by Javan69 (Post 8511057)

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I'm booked to approx 98,200 through end of year. No way to take additional flights as I have the gf until 12/15 and after that, flights are $$$. So I may be redeeming. Ehhh.

Originally Posted by fzwinter (Post 8511270)

Maybe in your upcoming flights you can manage thru irr. ops. a rerouting or two into the Y class bucket and get those extra EQMs

Originally Posted by fzwinter (Post 8511270)

Pretty steep for 20K RDMs, but still worth it to get 1K without shelling out any more $$ or flying time. Maybe in your upcoming flights you can manage thru irr. ops. a rerouting or two into the Y class bucket and get those extra EQMs w/o redeeming choices - good luck!

Originally Posted by thegingerman (Post 8505347)

I'm curious what you mean here. Are you saying that US Airways will upgrade Star Golds for free on a space-available basis? Didn't know that.

If that's not what you mean, could you please elaborate?

Originally Posted by mahasamatman (Post 8511297)

It's never worth pinning your hopes on irregular ops.

Originally Posted by vt2k (Post 8511370)

That is exactly what I mean. If you do a search on this forum you can probably find posts from me about this topic. I've gotten two free u/g's in the past year while flying on US for being *G and them having seats available. I've also been seated only in exit rows while flying on US, whether I prebooked those seats or selected them at check-in time.

Originally Posted by lucky9876coins (Post 8511396)

This is definitely not an official policy and you have been lucky. I have been on flights with empty F seats on US and did not get a free upgrade.

Originally Posted by lucky9876coins (Post 8511396)

This is definitely not an official policy and you have been lucky. I have been on flights with empty F seats on US and did not get a free upgrade.

Originally Posted by cepheid (Post 8511123)

I'm sure the GF would appreciate a quick trip to HI... great fares in November! :D Just go for a long weekend...