United Airlines announced some unpopular changes to their frequent flyer program, Mileage Plus. While most met the changes with criticism and contempt, it may actually be better for flyers.
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United’s Changes 2020 Elite Qualification
I covered some changes last week with regard to United Mileage Plus elite qualifications. Spending requirements were added to elite qualification requirements in 2014, between $2,500 PQDs and $10,000 PQDs evenly split at each status level. The next year, that increased to $12,000/year and stayed there until 2019 when 1K requirements moved to $15,000. Just one year later, the requirement (now called PQPs) has moved up again across all levels:
- Silver – $4,000 (PQPs) & 12 PQFs
- Gold – $8,000 (PQPs) & 24 PQFs
- Platinum – $12,000 (PQPs) & 36 PQFs
- 1K – $18,000 (PQPs) & 54 PQFs
For United loyalists buying their own tickets (not business travelers) especially those that were accustomed to 1K, this was a staggering increase from six years ago of 80%, though just 40% for those flying less frequently at Silver. For business travelers, Platinum now requires 20% more than 1K did just a few years ago. Even for weekly flyers, $18k excluding taxes is a lot of cash.
Benefits Those That Spend More Than They Fly
I wrote about an old boss of mine that spent more than was required for top tier status at American taking a trip every other week. The distance he flew was so short that he didn’t even qualify for American’s Gold status (United Silver.) I asked the question then:
“Why does American Airlines care how many miles he flies? The thought that another colleague who happens to fly more miles on cheaper tickets will get complimentary upgrades for half the spend while he sits in the back of the plane is so counterintuitive to their goals it makes my head hurt.”
I was so far ahead of my time.
United agreed with my logic from February of 2018 and gave an option to eliminate the need for miles and segments to qualify in addition to revenue. As long as flyers sit on four United flights per year, the following will supersede distance/segment requirements:
- Silver – $5,000 (PQPs)
- Gold – $10,000 (PQPs)
- Platinum – $15,000 (PQPs)
- 1K – $24,000 (PQPs)
The situation I described isn’t so rare. My business partner would have qualified for Silver this year using 2020 requirements. He flies United exclusively but as a Houston hub-captive he pays more and, still worse, because he’s only a three hour flight from any destination in the US he struggles to accrue the miles needed.
My mother-in-law would have enough spend to qualify with United Gold next year based on revenue, but not on segments or distance. She also flies with American out of convenience but can’t qualify on both. Now she can move from splitting her loyalty to being exclusive with United. That’s better for her as she can earn a higher level of status, consolidate her mileage earning and amplify her chances of upgrading.
Casual travelers will also benefit from this (see the partner section below.)
Helps Elites Already Battling for Upgrades
For those on the fence that had not already left the building, this will push them out of the nest and let them fly elsewhere. My former UPGRD.com colleague, Sriram, has long advocated airline free agency due to requirements like these, he looks like a prophet finally vindicated for his move away from status a few years ago.
Considering defectors from American and the ever-swelling elite numbers, United wants to deliver an exclusive product to their best customers. As Delta put it: “When everyone’s an elite flyer, no one is.” They’ve got a point.
In 1K circles and even commenters on this blog say that they can’t clear upgrades on more than half their flights when an upgrade is available, there are probably too many. Those under 1K levels may only clear on Saturdays if ever. For flyers on United, upgrades will become more available with less elites in the fold at all levels.
That makes Plus Point upgrades even more valuable as Platinums and 1Ks won’t need to spend more points to guarantee an upgrade, they will simply clear more often. For casual flyers, however, that also means that TOD (tens of dollar) upgrades will remain available to everyone but elites will be less likely to buy up, so that benefits non-business travelers too.
Those Who Fly Partners
For whatever reason, United gave zero elite credit for flying their partner airlines. American and Delta both had elite accrual systems in place to keep business that couldn’t be flown on their metal within their alliance family, United didn’t until now.
This is a seriously understated perk of these new changes. I postulated in my previous piece that one could actually qualify on partners for less money than what they used to have to spend on United alone. Matthew covered this as well. For casual flyers that still want to hold status on United but struggle, this is their best option.
Conclusion
For those that stay with United, qualification levels may have increased but it’s worth it. Plus Points enhance the experience, earning on partners will help to re-qualify like their flag carrier peers, and elites of all levels are more likely to clear upgrades. Business travelers will have an option to qualify without adding miles and segments and that will benefit many flyers.
What do you think? Are United’s 2o20 elite qualifications actually better for flyers?
This really hurts one group in particular, tho. Flyers with international addresses that could qualify solely on miles alone. With cheap longhauls in Economy, a lot of people could qualify without spending a ton this way
For those that were not trying to surreptitiously circumvent the system, I agree, it hurts. For those who were actually based in the States but had access to a foreign address that allowed them to utilize the foreign address dollar qualification loophole for the last half decade, I am less sympathetic.
That said, if you’re flying cheap long hauls on star partners, you still stand to earn a lot of PQPs and qualify anyway.
Doesn’t work like this… for most people, even with business travel every year would never get the 5k spent in united in a year unless you really really try hard. In most cases, consider United service and plane conditions, would expect non business traveler fly less United now that there are better options on west coast and changes in frequent fliers. For business traveler, they might be stuck with United for various reason but definitely would get less benefits compare to the past. Long story short, it’s a loss loss for customers with this change.
@Charlie – I’d encourage you to run a quick experiment. Take a common flight last year on Star Alliance partners, run it through the new math and then report back where you’d stand if your 2020 models like your 2019. I think you’ll be surprised.
OK, but you’re missing something important in the analysis…to meet the spend requirement (especially if you’re a domestic traveler) you’re almost always going to have to fly first anyway, so the elite benefits don’t even matter to the clientele United is trying to lure. They’ve made their ‘loyalty’ program effectively worthless as it will be incredibly difficult to qualify unless you’re already flying F most of the time. The problem for United will be that there is no real incentive to fly them if you’re flying F (service isn’t better, hard product isn’t, ground experience isn’t…). I almost always fly first domestically on paid tickets, but now I’ll just look for the cheapest fare instead of going out of my way to, or even paying more to fly UA. Oh, and on top of that, now there’s really no reason to have my United Club or Explorer credit cards. This is all on top of United continuing to devalue their points. If they want to load up their planes with more first class seats and lower the prices on the tickets I will gladly continue to fly them, but to get elite status is no longer a reason to fly with them unless they have the lowest fare for the particular route..
The next recession will bring adjustments to some of this without doubt, and on the notes regarding the Chase cards, I absolutely agree. I mentioned that in my linked post on the qualification changes. Frankly, I think the serious devaluation for cardholders is to bring Chase back to the table for a better deal than the one they have.
I’m at $15.5K PQDs year to date flying domestic economy out of Denver. Quite a few last minute flights and 1 international business flight ($2K pqd).
Probably an outlier but it’s possible. I welcome the change because it benefits my low mileage, high dollar ticket purchasing habits.
It is possible, but it’s more just about the effort it will take to maybe make it (in my case). I’d rather put the $ into an airline where I have a chance. With the UA changes, I just don’t even want to try. Maybe they will rework some things with CCs or other shortcuts to status, but it will probably be too late as a lot of people will have moved on. I also have qualified twice through cc spend, which I can’t do any more. UA really just made their whole brand less valuable to me, and I’m not really sure what they gained from it – meaning, do they think there are other high spenders out there with AA & DL going ”wow, with these changes I want switch over to United because I might get upgraded more”??? If selling 1st class seats is the goal, they are already incredibly stingy with upgrades to leave those seats open, so what exactly are they trying to accomplish here?
Every time they raise the PQD rates, inevitably some say “well upgrades will surely clear more now!!!” They never do. Come on Kyle…they will just keep increasing monetization of the F cabin.
My 3 hour leisure flight tomorrow is booked 8/16 a bit over 24 hours out and they aren’t clearing upgrades. They will just keep selling them.
Some of that’s fair, but I think some of it is down to just how much elite flyers were spending. Were 1K flyers with 100,000 miles in 2014 spending $10k on airfare, probably. When they increased it to $12k, still few likely dropped off. When it moved to $15k this year, I would have thought a dramatic number would have fallen off, but with the American defections I think those numbers are irrationally skewed. Executive Platinums who were hitting $12k 15 months ago, and United 1Ks for that matter, won’t be able to make the jump to $18k in January. That will thin the ranks in my opinion.
But I agree that we often here the same thing. I would also suggest that the “Tens of Dollars” upgrades argument has been around since the Ted Days and yet we still clear upgrades with some regularity – I’m north of 70% for the year, though final numbers will be published once 2020 starts.
Hi, you mentioned in Feb 2018 United have the option of qualifying on PQD (PQP) alone, do you have a citation of that offer / option? I was never aware of that. I am one of those frequent expensive but short haul business travelers that would be easily 1K on PQD alone, so I’m curious. Thanks!
I think you misunderstood. I wrote (in the linked post) that United should have the option of qualifying on spend alone. Next year, you will be ok but this year you still need the miles/segments to get there. That being said, if you would definitely qualify just on spend this year based on next year’s new requirements you might want to reach out to customer service and see if they will give you a challenge or status due to your specific circumstance.
I’m Platinum flying out of a captive hub (Denver) and I’m at 30-35% for the year. And that’s on a lot of Monday/Thursday/Friday flights too, not super early morning or weekends.
Maybe depends on the airport but I would think my situation would be worst case…complimentary upgrades are still a thing!
I am a 1K 2MM flyer so I have lifetime Platinum. I will qualify for 2020 1K but not after. I live in London but still use a US address with United so I have always met the PQD amount. But I buy mostly J so upgrades aren’t an issue. Going forward I am looking at BA because of more convenience. So I will kiss my Chase Club card goodbye because I can use Polaris lounge if I fly United but I no longer have any incentive to go out of my way to fly United.
This is not rocket science.
When UA reslices the pie and distributed newly sized slices, someone’s ox will get gored at the expense of another’s. And the people who will enjoy comparative advantages here are those who pay for high revenue seats, with a sufficient number of those high revenue seats being in Y, which makes hoping for a free upgrade relevant.
If, indeed, the new system leads to thinning the ranks of elites, the most substantial beneficiaries will be those who have lifetime status, as they become, comparatively, more “special”.
I’ve never had issues clearing upgrades so it really depends on what route you’re flying. Those popular business routes aren’t going to lose 1ks from this change.
International flyers will now switch to SA flights with better service, less cost, more PQP. Not sure how that will help United.
The airlines don’t want you to use the rewards programs to get rewards. They want you chasing some elusive goal that is always just out of reach. Toughen up and pay for first class or business class as best as you can. Use last minute upgrade sales if possible. Accept the fact that the most you will ever get is a cheap trinket made in some low cost country. A key chain or luggage tag.
They are great luggage tags though…
I’m a decade+ 1K and 1.5MM living in Hawaii. Over the past three years, United upgrades have been harder and harder to come by.
My spouse (also 1K MM) and I have become so frustrated with upgrades on United that, over the past year, we’ve just started buying the lowest business or first class fare on the most convenient carrier.
If you think you will get upgraded more frequently because there will be fewer elite flyers, you are deluding yourselves. A simple look at the number of seats allocated to the various fare buckets (see expert flyer mode) and how they change (or don’t change) over time should shatter your illusion quite quickly.
Don’t bother leaping higher and higher hurdles for fewer and fewer rewards.
I fly strictly for personal reasons, vacation, family etc. I went to Europe 3 times this year and will end up the year platinum up from good last year. I got one free upgrade All year.
However,. I booked economy on all my European flights and waited till just before boarding and bought upgrades to first or business on every flight but one. The cost was always in the $700 range, down from $3,000 or more in the days even hours before the flight.
That said I doubt I will meet the new qualifying rules in 2020 so starting in 2921 I will be a frwlanxee
I’ve split my 125K per year between SWA and UA, which will now all go to SWA. (didn’t even wait for this devaluation…I voted with my wallet when they dumped their award chart in the prior devaluation). When I flew UA, I bought discounted first pretty consistently. For me, I don’t spend enough to make flying UA worth it, compounded with the devaluation, the choice is straightforward. All SWA, and buying the 3-5 overseas biz tix directly on European or Asian metal. (sure the UA status would be nice, but the lack of value for the miles kills the value proposition)
125,000 miles per year in a Southwest seat sounds pretty rough, man.
Everybody talks about how Southwest has the most generous legroom but flying Economy Plus all the time then going back into a Southwest plane made me realize I’ll keep chasing status.
I have to fly SWA every so often given my location close proximity to a SWA hub and work travel site taking note of cheaper flight options, but [redacted by admin] 125K miles on those planes would be a pain in the [redacted by admin]…pun intended. Not sure where you live, but seems like Delta would be a better switch.
United just converted my loyalty from its competitors in 2019. I hardly had time to enjoy the benefits for a year of both status and a Chase card. Less than a year into paying more to fly United to the same destinations than competitors, often on smaller aircraft, we’re given a wet gloved slap in the face. For one, luring folks into the United/Chase fold and then
watering down the motivations to do so is unwise. IOW, Renewal of the Chase card and spending more dollars to earn what invited us to join the party ? C’mon with the weak sell that spending more to earn the same or less is a good thing already. No airline raises thresholds for earning benefits for the good of the h.igh mileage flyer passenger population. Its to keep more money on the profit stude of the ledger by reducing benefit costs. This case included.
Wow. How much did United pay you to write this? This shift from a “frequent flyer” program to a “big spender” program is harmful to every group of flyers except one: Those who are flying on “Other People’s Money.” And, for those flying on OPM, these changes aren’t particularly beneficial because they are flying on other people’s money, and can pay for the benefits this would supposedly bring them at no cost to themselves. To argue differently is self-centered elitist drivel. This is a clear attempt by United to erode the frequent flyer benefits across the board to reduce the cost of their Mileage Plus program. I will be taking my 100k miles per year to another airline, and I hope others do the same.
This is my absolute favorite! Heaven forbid that while every other blog has written about how terrible the changes for 2020 qualification are, someone would present the other side for those who benefit.
If you read the post, and frankly it doesn’t seem like you did, you would notice that you can actually qualify for less money next year than you did last year by flying Star partners. Feel free to take your 100k miles to American, they’re having a great year, or maybe to Delta where you wouldn’t qualify for Diamond.
I think American’s system actually rewards high spenders fairly well because of its system of upgrades by tier then EQDs. An EP friend with fairly high spending (but not high enough for CK) basically gets upgraded on every AA flight, even really cheap ones. That wouldn’t happen with United’s fare class-based upgrade system. Yes, surely there are some high spenders that miss out, but as many bloggers have pointed out the mileage requirement is essentially a loyalty requirement (or else someone who flies 4 r/t expensive long-haul business class trips a year could be top tier with two airlines). AA’s system allows loyal lower spenders to play the game while rewarding the highest spenders the most.
As someone that is based in Denver, I am actually happy with these changes. Because almost everything West of the Mississippi is under 1,000 miles OW, it was impossible to even think about status as a leisure traveler. Most of the simple weekend trips that are cheap do not even get you close to this qualification pace even for Silver based on miles. With spend it is much easier to meet the qualification in a central hub, since spend is the factor not mileage. Anything over $150 OW is putting me ahead of the status curve, and that is generally along the curve of relatively cheap weekend tickets at decent times. That doesn’t even factor in any big trips that really get you ahead of the spend curve. With only 3 segments on United booked so far for next year, I am already halfway to Silver. Yes, 2 of those are booked in First, but that is also because I am flying Denver to Hawaii, one of those segments was specifically upgraded because it is the red-eye and getting a segment on a 772 is worth it for Red Eyes from Hawaii.
I am someone that tends to book up front when the fares are reasonable and/or the flights are long. Under mileage, I never really had a shot at status, since most of my flights are short, but not at the volume to even consider segments. With PQP, I qualify for Silver without breaking a sweat, and can honestly contemplate making Gold without too much work. Getting PQP for upgrades to F or Y+ makes it even easier to qualify based on my travel habits, and with the death of the WN Giftcard scheme for the AMEX fee reimbursement makes it even easier to flip my fee credit reimbursement to UA for the first qualifying year.
This new program gets me to 1K easier than I currently get to Platinum. I fly 3x a month to ORD, and only get about 600 miles one-way. I’ll blow past 54 segments easily, and just hit the $18k number. I love this!