Starting in 2027, United Airlines will devalue the companion benefit for its Million Miler flyers. Rather than inherit your status, your desingated compainion will receive status comensaute with the Million Mile threshold.
Devluation: United Airlines Makes Million Miler Companion Benefit Less Generous
Currently, you can earn lifetime MileagePlus status from United by earning so-called “butt-in-seat” miles (actaul flight miles, not elite bonuses or creidt card bonuses):
- 1 Million – Gold
- 2 Million – Platnium
- 3 Million – 1K
- 4 Million – Global Services
You can also designate a companion to share your benefits. Until now, it has been even sweeter: let’s say (like me), you are a 1 Million Miler (so you never drop below Gold status) but you fly enough to earn 1K status. Your comapnion would inherit your 1K status.
But that changes starting in 2027.
I recieved the follwoing email from United Airlines this morning:
Dear Matthew,
Being a Million Miler is an extraordinary achievement, and we appreciate your continued loyalty. As a valued member, we want to provide you with advance notice of upcoming updates to the companion benefits for 1 Million Milers.
Starting in 2027, 1 Million Miler companions will receive MileagePlus® Premier® Gold status, equal to the Premier status awarded to 1 Million Milers for life.
Here’s what this change means for you and your companion:
- In 2025 and 2026, your designated companion will continue to receive your earned Premier status.
- Starting in 2027, your selected companion will receive Premier Gold status for the applicable program year. As they do today, when your companion is traveling with someone at a higher Premier status level and is on the same reservation, they will continue to enjoy certain benefits of that higher status while at the airport.
So MillionMile companions will still enjoy status…but regardless of your own status, the status of your desginated companion will be limited to Gold for 1 Million Milers. Interestingly, companions of 2 Million Milers, 3 Million Milers or 4+ Million Milers will continue receive their sponsor’s highest earned status during the applicable program year.
To use the same example, if I fly enough to earn 1K status this year, my companion will drop to Gold status next year. However, if I was a 2 Mllion Miler and flew enough to reach 1K stauts, my comapnion would keep my 1K status.
This is a devaluation…there is no question about it. It will benefit some and hurt others, but at least United has no taken away the companion benefit.
Does this make me less likely to fly United? Probably not. But it is a clear devaluation and that’s always a sad thing.
What do you make of this change to United’s Million Miler program?
Email Nunn, Kirby. Why spend to become 1K as a Million Miler. It will change my calculus considerably.
1MM still gets lifetime Gold for you and your companion. For now – Free E+ at booking, Star Alliance lounge benefits, priority boarding. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, as they say. There’s still some incentive to go for 1MM.
I think what Greg means is that he’s no longer incentivized to spend to a higher status as a million miler
That doesn’t make any sense, unless he’s no longer flying on UA, in which case UA doesn’t really want to incentivize him any more.
Not sure how you wouldn’t know the answer to this, Greg as you made the original comment lol
Very disappointing news for me since I just became a 1MM and loved the prospect of sharing my earned-GS status with my wife or kids. I had been worried they would take the companion benefit away entirely, so I made an effort to hit my 1MM earlier this year, so I might be grandfathered in if they changed it. Now to have just Gold for the companion is a big downgrade, but I have been expecting it.
Just when you think that maybe, just maybe Kirby isn’t the money grubbing oaf you’ve thought and he does have some inkling of loyalty he does stuff like this.
The change itself is reasonable enough – it’s just not nice to take away a long-term benefit. I don’t defend this change, but UA still has a stronger MM program than DL or AA.
I was going to try to go from 1M to 2M, but now I have less incentive to do so. I’m happy staying at 1M due to this. I’ll fly non-United Star Alliance as a result of this in order to get more UA miles, and I have little incentive left to fly UA.
I’m at 1.6…I will get to 2MM…the question is just how long…
I’m at 1.7 and have the same uncertainty.
By itself, this devaluation isn’t too terrible. The real problem – it’s a reminder that UA (or any airline) can change benefits whenever they want. This one worries me because I wonder what’s next – will they eventually kill the entire MM program?
Right. Even though that is unlikely since DL and AA just improved their own programs, it is a sad way that UA races to the bottom instead of setting the tone.
“Race to the bottom?” Curious what companion benefits are available to 1M at DL and AA?
i.e. moving in the wrong direction.
UA could make an improvement by letting MM fliers use the Polaris lounges regardless of ticket class. That way they wouldn’t be taking seats away on the planes, but still offering a great benefit. The lounges are big enough that they wouldn’t be impacted as much. Lots of times I have to fly Premium Economy because there are no Business seats available, yet can’t use the Polaris lounge. It would just be a nice tip of the hat for people who have spent so much time and money to get to MM.
AA’s program sucks. I hit 1MM in Dec and other than the 35K mile bonus there was no recognition (well I guess I got an email). For people who have actually flown a million miles on American, I can’t believe lifetime Gold status will ever mean anything to them. It certainly won’t for me.
Most loyalty benefits have been rolled back over the years. This was the next domino to fall.
I’m on the receiving end of this so don’t love it but I can see some upside in thinning the mob of GS and 1k’s for boarding. Some flights there are 30+ GS and 100+ 1k’s.
With the amount of first class seats being sold in advance, not upgraded, this won’t make a noticeable difference for business fliers. Heck even cutting the GS/1K ranks in half probably won’t, given how few seats are left for upgrades.
You’d need a average of 5 seats available for upgrade per flight during prime business flying times/routes and no more than 10 GS/1K average per flight to get a 50% clearance rate. I’d reckon most prime business fliers face fewer than 3 seats made available for upgrades per flight and more than 10 GS/1K per flight. It’s hard to even find GS advance upgrade inventory….that’s been devalued so much over the years.
It’s true. You want first class, you must buy it…
So if I become a 2MM in the future, my spouse will get Platinum also?
Yes. Or if you were 1K, your spouse would be too.
Cool. Thanks!
I’m Gold like you and I don’t appreciate this but it won’t affect my use of UA. I suspect they know this. I’m a captive to IAD and when I want to go to HNL they’re the best option available (I have relatives there and go regularly).
When I have to go to Charlotte, NC (once a month) they’re also the best option.
But when I go to Europe or Asia/Australia I no longer use UAL. Etihad/Qatar/Quantas and, especially, Emirates gets me down under and to SE Asia in far more comfort for the same or less. I haven’t used UAL to go to Europe or Australia/SE Asia in years.
I used to use UAL. But their food and service have sucked for years. Even last week from HNL to IAD they ruined pancakes. How TF can you ruin pancakes??? UAL did it.
Sad because I racked up hundreds of thousands of miles taking them to Heathrow from Dulles. And I’d really like to see them succeed.
Please forgive my horrific editing of the above post……I can understand why Matthew gets beat up for his p’s and q’s.
United sucks less than the other carriers so I will continue to fly them and I love the Polaris suites. Service and food are inconsistent and
I have no expectations of upgrades so if I want one, I’ll buy it. I busted my butt to make 1mm and I appreciate the benefits. Makes flying more palatable.
I fail to see what the outcry is about this. If a companion is flying with someone who is a 1MM, and that 1MM earns Platinum within that program year, then they would inherit their status for the purposes of clearing upgrades, seats, baggage allowance, etc. If they aren’t flying with said 1MM then they will still have some sort of status, in this case gold. That companion might fly solo only a couple of times a year yet with the previous benefit they would have held Platinum status relative to their sponsor. Why should that designated companion, that may not even earn Silver based on their solo flying/spend in a year, trump someone like me who is actually earning Platinum based on what I am actually spending? Sure its a nice perk, but it does nothing to incentivize me to spend more on UA to know that basically just given status only because their significant other flies a lot.
I think if we were to look at the majority of MM designated companions, they most likely are going to be doing the majority of their traveling with their significant other to begin with. So again it goes back to my point that if the MM also happens to have 1K status in a program year, then their companion will for all purposes be flying with that status when they fly together.
Plus there probably is another angle to this, which hasn’t really been discussed. Namely that someone who has the ability to designate a companion that can fly at a higher status without the sponsor opens itself up to either being abused or sold. By reducing the value of inherited status, the proposition of someone likely selling (or “gifting” advice in exchange for) higher status is significantly reduced because the starting point, in this case just gold status, is lower.