United Airlines has changed their Regional Premier and Global Premier upgrade system, replacing them with Plus Points instead. And now it’s not just 1K flyers that benefit.
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Replacement Upgrade System: Plus Points
Matthew spilled plenty of ink on the new PlusPoints system in a great post here. To boil it down to the simplest terms, Global Premier Upgrades (GPU) and Regional Premier Upgrades (RPU) were distibuted to 1K members to push them to the front of the line for upgrades. Those have been replaced by a point system that allows more fluidity in upgrade usage.
Instead of (6) GPUs and (4) RPUs, 1K members will earn 40 points per GPU and 20 points per RPU or a total pool of 320 Plus Points.
United Closes Down Their Only Upgrade Deficiency
The one area where I would have graded Mileage Plus lower than other programs in the past was in the (W) fare requirement for using upgrade certificates. Meaning, the cheapoest (not just Basic Economy but regular economy too) fares didn’t allow for GPUs to be applied. Sometimes the fare difference could be hundreds of dollars and still, the upgrade isn’t confirmed. If an economy fare between New York and Hong Kong is available for $500, a W fare (still economy – same earnings, same seat) might cost $800-900. Multiply the fare difference times three or four people and you have significantly increased the cost of your trip.
Even then, your upgrade may not clear. That goes away with Plus Points.
Greater Flexibility
I rarely use RPUs. Some United flyers are able to use them on trans-continental flights and even to Hawaii. Personally, I find myself wanting to use them for something adventurous in Central America or maybe into Micronesia but just haven’t found the time to use them. In my case, I burn RPUs on silly routes like Pittsburgh-Houston toward their expiration date.
With the new system, I can use those points for long-haul upgrades instead.
Upgrades Now Extend Down to Platinums
Even United Mileage Plus Platinum Premiers require 75,000 Premier-qualifying miles and $9,000 Premier-qualifying dollars. Each year, Platinums will earn 40 Plus Points upon qualifying, enough to move from coach to Polaris business class or two regional upgrades from coach to business class. They will earn just 280 upon later qualifying for 1K status as I understand the terms.
Which US Frequent Flyer Program Is Better Than Mileage Plus?
American awards just four eVIPs (systemwide upgrades) to their Executive Platinum customers. There are no fare restrictions, one of their strengths, but for my family of three, this isn’t even enough for one roundtrip upgrade for my family. Regardless of the quantity, American has made them nearly useless by not clearing them very often and certainly not in advance. My last two years as an Executive Platinum I was unable to use a single one for myself.
Delta offers some flexibility for their Diamond members, either four Global Upgrades, eight Regional Upgrades or a combination of two Global Upgrades and four Regional Upgrades but there is a bit of a minefield to those as well. First, Diamonds have a higher requirement (125,000 miles instead of 100,000 with the others), second, more upgrades are offered than American but less than the old United system (now significantly less.)
- One Upgrade Certificate can put you on a single waitlist or multiple waitlists – from a specific cabin on a particular flight to multiple cabins on multiple flights. But, your upgrade will only clear off of ONE waitlist and will be based on the FIRST seat that becomes available across all of the waitlists the Certificate is listed on.
- For example, if you are waitlisted on DTW-NRT and also JFK-LAX with one certificate, if a seat becomes available on the DTW-NRT flight you will be upgraded on that flight and you will no longer be waitlisted on the JFK-LAX flight as the certificate has been used.
- Or, if you are waitlisted for both Delta One and Delta Premium Select on your DTW-NRT flight, if a seat in Delta Premium Select becomes available first, you will be upgraded to Delta Premium Select and you will no longer be waitlisted for Delta One as the certificate has been used.
Conclusion
United is the program to beat. American and Delta offer nothing that United doesn’t. The new flexibility isn’t just better than what Delta offers, it’s far better. Further, even Platinums get in the game and have an opportunity to occasionally secure upgrades that no other carrier does.
What do you think? Is this a welcome change? If you’re a 1K elite, do you wish that these benefits were not extended to Platinums? Is there an objectively better US frequent flyer program?
Drink much Lool-Aid?
Kool-Aid…
Kool-Aid…Drlta’s program is best if you actually know how to use it.
What did I miss?
I don’t disagree that this is a nice improvement on the surface, or that MP is arguably the best of the Big 3 programs right now. But the devil is in the details, and there are two things that could make or break the argument:
“ Even then, your upgrade may not clear. That goes away with Plus Points.”
I don’t think that’s true. My understanding is the waitlist system remains, unless you’re a 1K and willing to use a currently unknown greater number of points. Furthermore, it’s not clear to me that UA actually intends to increase upgrade space. It seems to me that you might now have a situation where more upgrade instruments are now chasing the same amount of space. I asked Matthew about this on his original post and didn’t receive a response, so I’m assuming this is a great unknown at the moment.
Second, doesn’t moving to a points-based currency just lead to a world with future devaluations? My concern is that the move to “dynamic pricing” of MP awards will bleed over to upgrades now. I.e. a Skypesos system where IAH-NRT requires 360k each way for a J award, or 280 PlusPoints for waitlisted upgrades space.
Hopefully none of this happens, but color me skeptical in this world of “enhancements”…
What I was referencing in the quote, is 1) that you no longer need to buy up to a W (you can pay more points to waitlist from discount coach) and 2) you no longer have to waitlist as you can pay more points to guarantee it will clear, far more interesting to me than gambling at the gate.
Lastly, you are assuming (perhaps wisely, perhaps Chicken Little) that by adding these elements, the airline will move to devalue them. However, I will state that the airlines have been adding value to some of the variably-priced awards as of late, Delta is perhaps the best example of this. They have honored the two sides of the coin that they should have in variably-priced awards and have made roundtrips to Europe on select flights as cheap as one-way flights were just a few years ago.
Not sure if it’s a great deal to cut your GPU usage by 50% just to buy cheapest fare vs. a W…that is a Pyrrhic victory for UA 1Ks
I second this concern about future devaluations. Kyle, I agree with your assessment about the *current* state of the program. However, I think that the mere possibility of future devaluations makes this really hard to assess. Even without that dreaded possibility, it’s hard to predict how this will actually work out for us MP members; these are big changes, and it’s not clear what the practical impacts will be. But there are some upsides to this. So, or the time being, I remain guardedly optimistic as the situation develops …
I’ve often wondered if a program would introduce a lower amount of GPUs but not make them inventory dependent. A true golden ticket upgrade. Say two of them at 100k of flying. It would be a very honest and rewarding perk of a loyal flyer, and then the customer could pick the flight they wanted to upgrade on. This would make this type of upgrade instrument super valuable, and surely said FFP very desirable.
I doubt any US carrier would consider this – but if they did I would give them my business.
@Jimmy – That’s a great idea.
@Shawn – I can understand that “enhancements” are usually anything but, and that suspecting ill intent has been a decent way to manage expectations given the last few years. However, I wrote a few weeks ago that Delta has actually delivered on some of the value adds that were promised with variably-priced awards by reducing the cost on some routes – in the case of some to Europe as cheap as some domestic itineraries used to be. American and Delta (and to a lesser extent, United) have also reduced the cost of some awards on shorter routes to as few as 5,000 miles like PIT-LGA, which would have traditionally cost 2.5x times as much.
So I think guarding your optimism makes sense, but I am a little more open to embracing them than I would have been in the past.
As an on and off platinum (1K prior to the spend requirements) using the credit card spend to waive PQD, this is a wonderful change. I’ve let many RPUs expire right alongside my united club passes because they either get waitlisted into oblivion or I don’t have additional travel that year.
It certainly opens up the possibility of future devaluation, but so does changes to bucket inventory. E.g. go try and find a business saver ticket anywhere you want to go. They are quite rare now no matter if you book same day 4 weeks out or 10 months out.
It also opens up the possibility of branded credit cards earning points, and maaaaybe some day they won’t expire, like award miles now.
This does not create additional inventory on flights, so yes, premium routes will still be wishful thinking. and there will be more of a fight for waitlists, but that fight won’t be so focused on regional routes anymore, but spread across all flights.
Overall good change like making miles never expire, but you rarely get something for nothing, especially from an airline.
I don’t know about you, but I have given up on the MileagePlus program. Miles are being devalued as we speck; and (premium) award seats are almost non-existent. AAdvantage isn’t any better either.
Agree 100% with AF Kay. I’ve been 1k for a few years and have done hundreds of searches to and from multiple locations to find premium class saver awards, and I’ve never seen one that was even slightly convenient. In my opinion, United miles are virtually worthless unless you always want to fly coach. And this plus points thing is a giant scam. There’s NO WAY this airline is making changes that aren’t going to bleed the consumer out of more value.
You need to wait till last-minute. That’s when the treasure trove of award space appears.
Not sure why this is better. I get 6 GPUs that i can use for upgrades back and forth from Europe. Under the new point system it will allow me 4 upgrades from economy to business. Last I checked, 4 is less than 6.
@Bill – You’ve misread the details. You will get 40 Plus Points per GPU, the cost from previously upgradable classes (which you would have required before) are the same 40 points. If you upgrade from Premium Plus, it’s only 30 Plus Points. The additional cost comes when upgrading from fare classes that you previously wouldn’t have been able to upgrade at all.
I guess I’m missing how great this revamp is. My husband has been a loyal United flyer for 20 years, mostly on long haul flights and has been a 1K member for years. However, now, to retain his status of a 1K member in 2021 he must have 54 flight segments (before it was 4) and 18,000 points. Just this year United raised the PQD (dollar amount) from 12,000 to 15,000 and now in 2020, it will be 18,000! Oh wait, they give us 340 points for reaching the 1K level.
Let’s face it, the majority of these points will come from the cost of the tickets, not the 20 point increase with an upgrade. And to reach 1K in 2021, my husband will now have to spend close to $18,000 on tickets – how is that rewarding your loyal flyers? What am I missing…?
Before the change, flying on Singapore or other Star Alliance partners from an elite qualification perspective was the same as flying on Spirit or even American – nothing. It’s insanity that this was the case. Now, you can earn qualification miles for the flights and spending credit based on a percentage of the distance flown. This actually makes it easier to obtain if using partners than United metal. While that won’t help everyone (domestic-only flyers) it will help those that vacation on star alliance partners or fly partners outside of North America.
I don’t think the Platinum folks getting more access will be an issue for the 1K’s at all. There will still be a priority for getting the upgrades on the waitlist, and unfortunately, platinum status folks will likely be at the end of that list. Add limited inventory to that challenge, and I think Platinum folks will get frustrated with the program pretty quickly. I have been a 1k for some time, and I often get frustrated when there are lots of GS and other 1K’s with higher fare ticket ahead of me, waiting for very limited inventory.