When it comes to airline loyalty programs, there is “top-tier” status, and then there is true top-tier status…
While Premier 1K status is the top published status level at United Airlines, there’s one level above it. And the perks are quite nice. It’s called Global Services and we’ve written about it before.
My friend Chris McGinnis, writer of the Travel Skills blog on SFGate, wrote about it yesterday and so nicely encapsulates what this secretive program is all about.
My favorite part of his story was a Global Services passenger sharing about his delay experience in Shanghai:
“The Global Services employee boarded the plane, came up to me, and whispered in my ear: the crew doesn’t know this yet, but we are going to cancel the flight. But I’ve booked you on the last business class seat available on another flight home,” the flier remembers the agent saying.
“Everyone else is flying home in coach or staying overnight.”
LOL is my response. Let’s admit it, we’d all love to be in the position. It’s nice to be singled out for special treatment. Talk about special perks!
But it comes at a price. Global Services offered on an invitation-only basis. Those who earn it the hard way spend in excess of $50,000/year on full-fare tickets on United. Those road warriors at the hubs often spend far more. I say “those who earn it the hard way” because United also doles out this status to some of its larger corporate contracts and sometimes these travelers have no clue they have status or what the status means.
> Read More: The Totally Clueless United “Global Services” Passenger
Benefits of this status, in addition to rebooking situations like the above, include:
- Enhanced upgrade inventory
- First to board
- A smaller cadre of dedicated phone agents
- Gate-to-gate car transfers at certain hubs
- Access to Lufthansa First Class lounges in Frankfurt and Munich
The only published way you can earn this status is by flying 4,000,000 “actual” (butt-in-seat) miles on United. Absent that, this status is awarded on a “don’t call us, we’ll call you” basis.
images: United
CONCLUSION
United is not the only airline with this top-tier status. American offers “Concierge Key” level above Executive Platinum and Delta offers “Delta 360” over Delta Diamond. The perks are similar to that of Global Services.
I’ve flown United long enough to see so many Global Services airport agents take care of their Global Services passengers. It truly is something special. But I’ll never earn it. Not because I don’t want it, but because the world of miles and points means I never have to spend so much money to fly around the world.
If you have United Global Services status, do you love it? Do you notice a huge difference over 1K status?
My uncle had it through his employer. We never talked about it much but he shared one funny story. He was traveling on a leisure flight with my Aunt and they were seated in first class (I believe it was a domestic trip). He said his Global Services status meant flight attendants came to him before any other passengers in first class to check on him and take his drink and meal order. The flight attendant comes to him and takes his order and turns around. My aunt, seated next to him, says “Excuse me? Can I place my order?” The FA looks down at her list and said she was sorry but my aunt was not a Global Services customer, but she would be right back after finishing serving my uncle (and presumably other elites), My aunt shoots my uncle the death stare and he has a sh*t eating grin on his face. He loved giving her a hard time by rubbing his status in her face when possible.
Haha. I had something similar happen on a recent Finnair flight from JFK to Helsinki. Although I’m “only” executive platinum on AA, I appeared to be the only OneWorld emerald in business class. Therefore, the flight attendants were doing everything for me first. It was kind of awkward, honestly, as all the passengers around me were giving me the death stare.
Robert Kraft would have preferred to stay overnight and order “room service”. So not everyone wants to leave on the last seat on the last flight.
So much for those perks.
So I discovered another perk, I had Global Services but stopped flying United last year, I only qualified for Gold status. However they gave me Premier 1K for this year as a thank you for being Global Services Previously.
As someone who only has 1K, but works with a number of people who are GS, yes, they can tell the difference (they had all been 1K’s at one point), and they miss it when it’s gone. They all say it’s not worth spending tens of thousands extra just to get it, but if you’re spending that anyway, it’s fantastic.
Bummer, thought this would be about Chairman’s Circle.
Stay tuned!
At the end of the day, (even being GS) you’re still flying UA which ain’t that great.
I’m with you, RIC Flyer.
The last of my many, many miserable United Airlines flights was in 1989. I disembarked swearing I’d never EVER fly United again. Because I lived in San Francisco, it wasn’t always easy to abide by that decision, but to this day I’ve never stepped aboard another United plane.
GS for the last 5 years. 250k PQM and >$75k spend. Less than 15 mins. curbside to Polaris Lounge at EWR. Dedicated check-in, dedicated security line. Driven across the tarmac at ORD, to make a connection, more times than I can remember. United treats their Global Services clientele wonderfully and I appreciate it.
My dad was on a plane 4 days a week when I was growing up and as such is a perminant 1k member with united. So, I used to have him book me tickets when ever I flew and I would reimburse him the fair as it would add his 1k status to my ticket. On one such occasion, I remember my wife and I were heading to Mexico and I mixed up the departure time for the return flight vs the departure flight and we missed our plane… The gate agent was incredibly dismissive as he coldly clicked through blue screens until… he asked, “is your father’s name John… 1k member John T*****”. I said “yes” and all of a sudden the gate agent started snapping fingers and typing like a lunatic before we knew it we were on the next flight in upgraded seats to Cancun. The agent made a joke about how he couldn’t believe a 1k’s son could mix up a flight and we snacked and drank for free the rest of the trip. The point being: if thats how united treats 1k progeny I can’t imagine how great it is to be these guys!
This is also the status that UA “gifts” to politicians who can help the company.
How do GS members get access to LH first class lounges? I think the privilege was limited to when the GS member was ticketed in Global First, but since that class of service has been withdrawn, are you sure that GS members have any way to access the LH first class lounge when traveling on UA?
You’re right, that was in the Global First days. I was thinking of Centurion Card holders.
Wasn’t the Centurion benefit also very limited? Like it did not work in FRA at all, and in MUC it was only in the underused F lounge in the remote concourse? Was a Centurion card enough or did you also have to hold an LH C boarding pass? Because if the Centurion card is enough, it could motivate me to route via MUC sometime. Also, does it all for a companion?
Knowing the schedule from Shanghai.. 2 things.. He probably was not flown direct to his destination..so that’s not good, and there is no chance the other business class passengers went home in coach…. Zero!