The 2025 changes announced to United MileagePlus today confirm my already-made decision to abandon the hamster wheel of frequent flyer elite status. I’m sad, but somewhat relieved!
The End Of My Era As A United Premier 1K Flyer
Today, United announced it will take about 20-25% more spending in 2025 to qualify for elite status than it has this year. Candidly, I think the announced changes are fair and reasonable: there are far too many elites right now, such that Premier 1K members generally do not enjoy the sort of marginal benefits, particularly domestic premium cabin upgrades, that used to be far more common and distinguished 1K from other elite status tiers.
The idea that when everyone is an elite, no one is an elite rings true and while I don’t like that spending requirements will be increased without any meaningful extra benefits (at least not yet…we will see what the PlusPoints changes are once they are unveiled in mid-2025), that seems to me the only way to whittle down numbers other than going back to an old school way of actually tracking miles flown (one can dream…).
Why I Don’t Need Top-Tier Status On United Any Longer
As I look back on my travel record this year, I see that I have received very few complimentary elite upgrades on United; so few that the entire premise of space-available upgrades for 1Ks seems like a bait-and-switch.
> Read More: United Airlines Premier 1K Upgrades – A Reality Check
I’ve purchased a lot more premium cabin space this year, mostly on United but occasionally on American Airlines, and that saves me from upgrade phobia and stress in general. I like to fly upfront and I’m no longer willing to leave it to chance, not that I’d clear if I did…
I haven’t called United for months…the app and website are powerful enough that a call is rarely required. Thus, the 1K customer service and lack of a hold time have not been utilized this year.
Award ticket changes and redeposits are now free for all members, not just 1Ks, and so that is another marginal benefit that no longer matters.
Pre-boarding is nice, but I still (will) enjoy priority boarding and EconomyPlus seat selection at time of booking with my MillionMiler lifetime Premier Gold status. Same with priority check-in, luggage allowance, and security (I use PreCheck anyway).
And yet I don’t want to completely diminish the value of 1K status.
Yes, the loss of PlusPoints will be huge for me…and while many readers have graciously shared PlusPoints with me over the years, I understand that when they can be converted into travel credit or gifted status or PQPs, fewer will be shared.
I’m okay with that. I’m okay with spending more money for business class on the trips that matter and finally being able to fly the carriers I want. For example, I’ve made multiple church-related trips to Africa. I’ve always paid a premium to fly on United or Lufthansa versus Qatar Airways, even though Qatar Airways offers a far better product.
That ends now. I’ll just fly Qatar Airways. I think I come out ahead…
Now, I’ve done extremely well this year in terms of using up all my PlusPoints on longhaul United upgrades. My schedule tends to be more flexible and I have enjoyed upgrades to Polaris Business Class over and over this year. In fact, I was able to upgrade my entire family to London two years in a row using PlusPoints on cheap tickets. It’s a beautiful thing.
But there’s a cost for that. I’m done taking trips I don’t need just for status. I’m not going to do segment runs or extra trips just to renew status.
I’m at about $12K in spending for this year and will stop at Premier Platinum status. I just cannot organically get to $18K or $22K in spend for travel…both in good conscience and because my travel patterns do not add up to those amounts, even when I buy premium cabin tickets. I’m also not currently a Chase customer.
Embracing Free Agency When It Comes To Air Travel…And Hotels
There have been some life-changing events, both personally and professionally, that I have not written about yet, but I will in due time. That has impacted my travel as well and made it very hard to requalify for airline (and hotel) status this year. My British Airways Gold status recently lapsed, and my United status will drop to Platinum next year.
And at this point, I actually have no idea what my travel patterns will look like next year. There may be more domestic travel, there may not be. There may be more international travel, there may not be. I do have a couple of review trips already booked, but those were paid for with miles.
I just got back from Europe, flying Virgin Atlantic on the way out and JetBlue back…in economy class (with my whole family). Was it great? Well, about as great as economy class can be…but it was also far cheaper than a revenue ticket on United and we did just fine.
As an aside, I’m also giving up Globalist status with World of Hyatt. While I still hope to earn Lifetime Globalist status one day, I’m nowhere close and I realized at my recent stay at the rather disgusting Hyatt House in Schaumburg that I’m not going to deal with these limited-service properties just to maintain my status. There’s a backstory at play here, but I’ve enjoyed spending a lot more time at home lately.
I have friends and family members who are Globalist and they’ve already volunteered to share Guest of Honor benefits for me for any stay that really matters.
CONCLUSION
The MileagePlus news today comes both as a disappointment and a relief. In a sense, it does not matter since Ialeayd made the decision this year to step off the hamster wheel, but it just reinforces that decision and will make it easier to buy based on product, schedule, and price, not carrier next year.
Despite the poor food onboard, I like everything else about United, and I suspect I’ll continue to fly United quite a bit, especially domestically. But it will be on my terms and I look forward to seeing what true free agency is actually like.
While I agree with many people that Gold on UA is sort of a suite spot if you will, if and when I drop below Platinum, it will sting not having access to IN availability. That for me is sometimes more valuable than Plus Points.
And that is a fair point!
I let go of 1K somewhere around 2017 or so after a decade plus. As a UAMM boarding group 1 and star gold takes care of a lot of my needs and like you, if I want first/business, I just buy it. We’re about the same age and thankfully the ability to buy into premium cabin times well with the monetization of F and the upsell being much more reasonable than 15/20 years ago. I have explored so many other airlines premium cabins and it’s not always the top tier, but even American Airlines, British Airways, or Virgin J is a step up from United Y. I wouldn’t have looked at those options had I been on the hamster wheel in years past and deal with the upgrade phobia. Your pattern will change, but it sounds like it’s changing anyway, and likely a year from now it won’t have seemed like such a big adjustment. In the end you just chase the cheapest most comfortable option and that security blanket that is gold or plat (based on your requal), will supplement nicely.
After all my years of traveling for pleasure and business, the only truly valuable status for either flight or hotel is the top status. And today, in the USA there are only 3 airlines that extensively service it. The shrinkage in plane size (except for international flights) limits the number of premium seats, and therefore value of any status except for the elite frequent travelers. Although I generally stick to one airline, primarily for the million mile benefit, I no longer have loyalty to anyone.
I have lifetime Premier Platinum on UA, somewhat over 2M miles. I have little incentive to try for 1K.
It’s good for getting economy plus on UA domestic, but for International where I like to fly Business, I now look for a reasonable combination of route, duration, and cost. United has gotten to be very expensive on International travel.
For example, flying to Japan from SFO on Hawaiian via HNL in February. Saved over $4K for my wife and I vs. United.
Hopefully, you’ll get the new 787-9 on at least one leg!
Welcome to my world! After being a Diamond or 360 with Delta for over 15 years in a row, next year will be my last year as Diamond. My travel pattern has changed and I won’t be spending that much on business trips so won’t be reaching Diamond anymore. I will still try to fly Delta if price makes sense since I live in a hub and non stop flights are priority for me. In the last few years, I was able to buy Delta One flights for international trips at decent prices and I don’t really care flying coach domestic. As for hotels, I gave up on status many years ago. I usually stay at local chains or independent hotels in Europe and that has been amazing. Small properties with amazing service, breakfast included and no nickel and dime. I still have lots of hotel points that I will use wisely but will not stay at a hotel just for points. It used to be fun. Not anymore.
With how many people are buying premium cabin these days and with DL’s comments, you have to assume the affordability will never be as great to buy up as it’s been in the last two years. I’ve shared my opinion in other posts here but I see a near future where domestic first class fares go up while free upgrades become somewhat more obtainable as fewer people buy up (but premium cabin revenue for airlines does not decrease).
Airlines make decisions largely based on historical data trends. People purchasing premium cabin fares en masse is relatively new and now the airlines have enough data to better monetize that cabin. It’ll be interesting to see your upgrade success rate at a lower status as more people jump off the hamster wheel completely.
I’m waiting to see what the conversion is for Plus Points to PQP. I tend towards getting to just at the 24K mark each year so 28K will be sustainable consistently. However, I rarely ever find use for Plus Points so it the conversion could get me the edge for the extra requirements I’ll stick with them. If not, that’s it for me as well.
The phantom value for plus points seems to be 1,000 miles each. So I’d bet 20 plus points = $200 in PQD value but maybe they’ll surprise us to the upside.
Right, so basically 28K PQP to get 300 PP that you can then redeem for 3K extra PQP s so that you can just barely get to 1K again and get another 300PP that you can then redeem for…and around we go.
I fly primarily domestic and have found 1K to be marginally valuable the last 4-5 years as I’ve gotten it fairly organically but I will be hard pressed to stretch. Have taken several DL and B6 flights this year in paid F at good prices and have enjoyed the product and service, routing and yes the food (by comparison) immensely. Count me as very much on the bubble here as stretching to reach 1K again may be a game that is not worth the candle as they used to say.
I’ve found a lot more value in loyalty programs not based in North America. Sure, in a lot of them, I can’t redeem them for their US airline partners, but, the perks I get usually go a longer way even though I’m based in the US.
Sure, LH/LX have bad mileage redemptions, but I personally prefer having lounge access even if flying in Y with UA, for example. In addition, I get four upgrade vouchers with LH/LX as a HON, so that’s a nice touch
I’m in a similar boat but for Flying Blue. But, unfortunately, I mostly travel out of ST hubs, so I’m stuck with ST and DL for the time being, but hoping to branch out sometime soon.
A friend of mine, 3 million miler on UA, dumped them and does what you suggested. He flies almost exclusively on foreign carriers, with better pricing and a superior product.
Once upgrades dried up, I didn’t really find any benefit to being 1K. Happy to fly UA domestic in paid F, but the EU carriers are better and cheaper. OW Emerald is easy with the credit card and gives free seat selection on BA, which can be worth a lot.
Oddly, this change may cause me to do some old school mileage runs in 2025.
I’m currently Gold and have requalified for Gold in 2025. I’m also 120k miles short of Million Miler and lifetime Gold. It’s probably cheaper for me to mileage run the last 120k miles next year than it would be to get to 10,000 PQP. Even if I don’t get all the way next year, it will be nice to get as much of that last 120k in as Gold in 2025 rather than Silver (or without status) in 2026. I haven’t done a real mileage run in over a decade and I’m kinda excited by the idea while dreading it at the same time.
Once I get lifetime Gold with MM, I will almost certainly become a free agent. I’m SFO-based, so I’ll still likely have a decent chunk of UA flights, but it will be nice to be able to just book whoever is cheapest or has the best schedule without any regrets. I also have an embarrassingly large stash of miles (partially because I’ve felt like I have to keep inching toward MM with cash fares) to the point where I could probably cover all my travel for several years using only miles. I doubt I will ever make it to 2MM, or at least it won’t be until well after retirement if I do.
If you’re not a Chase customer not much sense in playing the MileagePlus game. Look at other options.
“… Qatar Airways offers a far better product…”
Yup. Just ask the Mullahs in Iran that sponsor Hezbollah and Hamas in Qatar.
I wonder how they compare Turkish Air to Qatar Air when flying the Jihadi Islamists.
Stupid comment.
1.Ask from Delta CEO how the co-operation inside the alliance with Saudia goes.
2. Ask from White House press secretary do they plan some additional military shipments to Taleban in Afghanistan beside the ones worth billions that US government left there and were visible in their military parade?
3. Ask from CBP why US southern border has more holes than in Swiss cheese?
It’s Israelis funded by the U.S. establishment committing genocide against Christians and Muslims in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon, not Iran. It’s Europe that criminalizes speech and arrests people for calling out rape by gangs in England, not Iran.
No one give a F about such trivial matter when the price and product is right. I couldn’t be bothered if they made a bunch of Australians strip when they give me the best for my buck
If AA is your 2nd carrier, you’re LAX based, and plan to fly QR more, you really need to think about AS status. They’re practically begging LAX/SFO elites to come over.
Mileage running in 2025, which you’d ultimately be doing, could make for some fun content too.
I am LAX based and a lot of my BA Gold tier point earning are on AA and AS. It’s been very nice having status through a foreign carrier. Should I look to move from BA to AS?
ah, yes THIS is the post I came here for
Congratulations on freeing yourself!
“Premier 1K members generally do not enjoy the sort of marginal benefits, particularly domestic premium cabin upgrades, that used to be far more common and distinguished 1K from other elite status tiers.”
I’m afraid that makes no sense. How would lower level elites be taking away free upgrades from higher level elites?
On a side note, if American follows through the way they’re hinting then I’m dropping my EXP status with them. It’s a death by a thousand cuts: Screwing over high level elites for a few bucks from others on domestic upgrades, pretty much never offering a couple of first class seats to Asia on partners anymore for a quality experience, ditto for business class, rare space available to use SWU’s, and no business class saver availability for 2+ pax to Europe without nasty surcharges. They’ve already taken most of the value out of redemptions through AAdvantage and now they’re likely to destroy the value of free upgrades from engaged loyalty members. I can get lounge access, an extra bag, and earlier boarding with a single credit card so why should I throw money to a business that manifestly scorns me for being loyal?
Finally, I may have up to six SWU’s available if I can’t use them myself. Let me know if you’re interested, Matthew.
My point is that it used to be 1Ks got upgrades, but Plats/Gold/Silvers rarely did.
Now no one does…
Some of it is selling upgrades, but a lot of it comes from the inflated/residual elite ranks from extending status thru COVID and also the PQD deposits that UA has been giving at the beginning of the year. Which is why they are raising the thresholds; to thin the ranks and possibly make clearing upgrades more realistic. Would you rather be able to earn 1K status and be #21 on the upgrade list for 3 seats, or just be able to earn Platinum and be #4 on the list?
Look reaching 1K is great. But lets also not kid ourselves here…..you’re one of UA’s biggest cheerleaders so it wouldn’t surprise me if your 1K status is magically extended anyways.
Are you planning to retain *G, or are you going completely free agent? From 15 years ago when I used to be OK+ Gold and they introduced Platinum, I have always been sticking to ensuring that I have the highest alliance-wide status as opposed to going for top tier with a specific airline.
Matthew is UA 1MM so he gets Premier Gold (*G) for the lifetime of the program. My question is how close is he to 2MM or 3MM where he doesn’t need to focus as much to retain status.
I have lifetime Star Gold via my MillionMiler status with United.
Would you be going the free agent route without it?
Yes, I think so. Star Gold is very important for me when I’m in Europe, though slighly less so now that SK is out (I still have a strong affinity for SAS).
Sounds good, that’s where the key status benefits (lounges, luggage, priority check in) really are.
It just doesn’t pay to be a loyal status chaser hoping for a miracle upgrade as you crowd the gate awkwardly until called to board.
If I want up front I pay to upgrade while the folks with higher status beep into emergency row.
Be a free agent. Fly less to only where you need and pay for upgrades on longer flights.
I’m about to let club membership lapse too since clubs are on general packed these days.
I buy my tickets in the class I want to travel in – I don’t use my pass plus benefits as it usually takes place within the 96 hour CPU upgrades for 1K. So for long haul flights, FC, and shorter flights econ. I’ve been upgrading friends and family for 2 years and even then – I leave 200+ plus points on their table! I wasn’t planning on chasing 1K last year, but ended up finding a last minute trip. This year, I’m chasing PQFs. I will achieve 1K, but I’m done with “status” in 2026. Whatever I fly in 2025 will not come with a goal.
Even when I first got my first airline elite status I remained a free agent and mercenary in my relationships with the airlines. After having simultaneously had top-tier status in DL, AA and UA, I eventually came around to trading some of it off for mid- or high-status in some European airline programs for cheap lounge access and then sometimes even better award ticket value.
I travel now as much as ever but I value top-tier elite status less than ever before and would question even the value of chasing mid-tier status with US airline frequent flyer programs.
Be loyal to your own financial accounts — not to any airline — and it’s simply good business for consumers.
Beyond frustrated after years of 1K status and the lack of PlusPoint upgrades. I’m just 200 PQPs away from 1K again this year, but honestly, I’ve lost the motivation to get there. On one flight, the flight attendant even mentioned I was the only 1K member on board, yet my PlusPoint upgrade didn’t clear. Something needs to change, or United’s most loyal clients will.
Well, I’d spend the extra $200 and see if next year (and the year after) makes a difference.
But as others have mentioned (and we’ll see if this changes), the relatively cheap confirmed upgrade cost or cost to purchase business class outright makes upgrades harder…and less necessary since the peace of mind is certainly worth something.
What a sad story that would be when reaching the retirement without any airline or hotel FFP lifetime status.
Couldn’t agree with you decision more
Btw you should run this through a speck checker
Matthew – United has an unofficial policy where if you’ve held status for the last five years consecutively, you can request a one-time extension of your status. Give them a call after the new year. You won’t get a new tranche of PlusPoints, but you can make use of the extension once every five years. (And then the year after, you could challenge onto a competitor if you want.)
My wife and I were 1K for many years – all out-of-pocket expensed flights. There have been many changes through the years but it’s evident that United wants to ensure passengers pay a set minimum to qualify for elevated status. United’s 1K limit keeps going up but because we’re retired now, we choose to use our funds on things we actually enjoy doing.
Do we miss boarding before Group 1? Yes, a little. But at our age we’re just thankful we don’t have to use the ‘people needing assistance’ priority boarding yet.
We’ll still fly long-leg business on United, Polaris lounges and lay flat seats are worth it for us. But we’re also amenable to considering other air carriers and modes of transportation (e.g., cruises). We both have million-miler status as well, so all isn’t lost. But I do agree – it’s nuts to fly just to maintain status.
As an aside, on international flights with the premium economy section, I found booking early in that cabin often led to an upgrade to budiness way before the flight in many cases. Never guaranteed though. On shorter flights, economy plus was free as 1K, so if we didn’t get an upgrade to business it wasn’t critical.
I often wonder if US airlines could push a reset button, would they even establish a loyalty program? If so, what would it look like?
It’s probably safe to say that the loyalty programs have made the airlines rich via deals with credit card companies points programs, or at least, the CEO’s have made out well in the perception of such.
I understand the frustration. Delta started this. The idea that you wholly or mostly base elite status on how much you spend versus how much you fly is absurd.
Unless you book paid first-class every flight or flight a lot of transcontinental/international business-class, I don’t know how the average business traveler in the USA spends $30,000-plus on domestic airfare.
I really feel sorry for all the road warriors working for nonprofits, public sector clients, or medium-sized businesses — the kind of road warriors who are flying every week but have to purchase the lowest economy-class ticket. Not to mention all the road warriors in corporate sales or business development. I know people who before the pandemic could justify flying to San Francisco at the last minute to take a client or a prospective client out to dinner. Not anymore. Same for flying halfway across the country for a single meeting. Not anymore. Those things are being done by Zoom. Even trade shows and conferences seem down in attendance.
I really want to know who is spending $53,000 for United 1K and Marriott Ambassador statuses? That’s a lot of money.
United, Delta, Marriott and others who follow their path are going to be in for a rude awakening when the economy crashes again. I think we are very close to a major international war that has multiple fronts.
GOOD FOR YOU! What a stress inducing program(s) it can be to rely on status for trips, upgrades etc.
I’ll maintain 1K. I made the decision not to go past Platinum on Delta for next year. My status will look like this:
United 1K, Delta Platinum, Spirit Gold. I’m deciding whether to extend my BA Gold status. I’ll hit Globalist (almost at Lifetime Globalist). I have Lifetime Platinum with Marriott and will continue to maintain Titanium. I stopped going for Ambassador two years ago.
I’m close to 2 million miler on UA and will push to lock that in. I buy F/J tickets and find myself hitting these levels without needing to mileage run much. We’ll see what my plans are for 2026.
It’s all part of a downhill trend: devalue the rewards for FFs and, since they’re all doing it, it has no effect on which airline we prefer. I take the miles they give me, knowing that maybe someday I’ll get something for it. But, it’s now just like the bonuses I get from supermarket programs.
I completely understand, though here in Australia at least my family flies Qantas so much we get status anyway! And it’s not as massive of an airline as United so it’s pretty worth keeping.
Yesss…..it is working!
Also, 3 PlusPoints say he ends up 1K by this time next year