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UA • CONFIRMS • Status Extension to JAN 2022; PQP Thresholds Reduced by ½ for 2020

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Old Mar 6, 2020, 1:30 pm
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Last edit by: WineCountryUA
05April 2020
MileagePlus Status Extended Until 2022

Throughout these unprecedented times, we remain committed to doing what is right and fair for all of our MileagePlus members and are pleased to share the steps we are taking to reciprocate the trust and loyalty that you have placed in United. These steps include not only Premier status updates, but also an extension of current memberships and subscriptions. The updates will happen automatically over the next few weeks — there's nothing you need to do.

The big news: If you have current 2020 Premier status, it will be extended to January 31, 2022. At a minimum, you will enjoy the same published status next year that you have today, up to Premier 1K®.

We're reducing the 2020 Premier qualifying points (PQP) and flight requirements for all tiers by 50%. You'll still need a minimum of four flight segments on United or United Express®.



We're also doubling PQP for United Explorer cards and quadrupling PQP for the United Club cards.

At the same time that we're decreasing the published program's PQP requirements, via a promotion from May 1 – December 31, 2020, we're doubling (for United Explorer cards) or quadrupling (for United Club cards) the maximum number of PQP that Cardmembers can earn during 2020 to help achieve a higher level of status than you already have.

1K® and Platinum members, we're increasing your ability to upgrade by extending PlusPoints expiration dates by six months and expanding Skip Waitlist.
  • This means a six-month extension of any PlusPoints set to expire on or before January 31, 2021.
  • Last year we introduced Skip Waitlist on select flights as a benefit to 1K members, giving you more opportunities to confirm an upgrade request at the time of booking. This benefit will now be available for the rest of 2020 in a significantly expanded selection of long-haul international regions and will have expanded availability in 2021 as well.
We're extending all annual membership and subscription benefits by six months.
  • We want to make sure your benefits are still there when you're ready to start flying again. That's why we're extending purchased United Club℠ memberships and purchased subscriptions for Economy Plus®, United Wi-Fi℠ and checked bags by six months. You should see this reflected in your MileagePlus account soon.
All electronic travel certificates now have 24 months to be used.
  • If your travel plans have been disrupted, and you have an electronic travel certificate from us for the value of your ticket, you now have two years from the date it was issued to book a new flight, as well as up to an additional 11 months to travel. This includes all currently valid and all new electronic travel certificates issued on or after April 1, 2020.
We have removed some redeposit fees for the rest of the year.
  • We are currently waiving all award redeposit fees for travel through end of May 2020.
  • We are now also waiving all redeposit fees for award ticket cancellations made more than 30 days before departure for the remainder of 2020.
Finally, we'll be making it easier to earn status in 2021 for the 2022 program year. We recognize that getting back to travel will occur at a different pace for different members. Keep an eye out for changes we will make to help you earn status in 2021 for 2022, as we'll share details later this year.

Over the years, you have placed your trust and loyalty in United, and we are honored to do the same for you. We are all in this together.

Status extension to January 31, 2022, applies to all members that met the published criteria of the MileagePlus program in 2019, status associated with the United/Marriott RewardsPlus program and status offered as part of a Sales nomination. Status granted from other programs and policies may not apply.
FAQ
With extended status. will we automatically get additional PlusPoints in 2021 (40 for Plats and 280 for 1KsGS?

No, your existing PlusPoints will be extended 6 months but to get additional 2021 PlusPoints you will need to meet the reduced thresholds for 2020

[5 April 2020] Status extended 1 year - United Hub
- Status extended 1 year (expires 1/31/22)
- Plus Points extended 6 months
- Lower qualifying thresholds to gain 2021 status in 2020 (about 50%)

[5 April 2020] United will extend Premier status for 12 months (SF Gate):
United will announce on Sunday that it is extending elite status to MileagePlus Premier members through 2021 and members will retain their current status through January 2022. This follows a similar move by Delta Air Lines on April 4 to extend SkyMiles Medallion elite status to 2021.

A United spokesperson has confirmed this to SFGATE, adding: "We are also going to help both general members and members who want to reach the next status level by lowering thresholds for Premier Qualifying Points (PQP’s) for the 2021 status year."

In addition to the elite status extension, United will extend all its annual subscription options by six months, including United Club memberships, wi-fi, checked bags and EconomyPlus, according to the spokesperson.
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[7 March 2020] A message to our Premier members (email):
At this time, we are not planning any changes for our 2021 Premier program but we will continue to evaluate our options as we learn more about how the current climate is affecting members' activity. In the interim though, we do plan to give members who are participating in a MileagePlus 2020 Premier Status Match Challenge promotion an additional 30 days to complete their challenge. This extension will automatically be reflected in member accounts within the next week.
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Originally Posted by Sykes
There's a good (but not exhaustive) crowdsourced list of company travel restrictions here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...bWhYFM/preview .....
Originally Posted by Fims
Hey there!

As true loyalty is best tested in challenging times, I did a bit of research on how different airlines and hotel programmes have responded:
  • 74 airline loyalty responses (status, miles expiration extensions) and booking flexibility terms (changes and refunds)
  • 18 hotel loyalty responses (status, points expiration extensions) and booking flexibility terms (changes and refunds)
The full outcome is freely available at https://bit.ly/loyalty-response-covid19

Feel free to comment that Google Sheets file and if you have some better insights, let me know (I used only what was available on English-speaking websites and some blog posts I could find, showing emails from the programmes). ....





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UA • CONFIRMS • Status Extension to JAN 2022; PQP Thresholds Reduced by ½ for 2020

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Old Feb 21, 2020 | 7:40 am
  #16  
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Originally Posted by bryanwallace
with travel being curtailed due to coronavirus-surely the united 1k ranks etc will be decimated after the changes from the start of this yr?
The question implies that UA has some target or minimum number for 1K and would take steps to meet that target. I don't think there is any evidence that that is the case.1K is a tool that can be used to help meet other targets, such as profitability and ARPU.
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Old Feb 21, 2020 | 2:40 pm
  #17  
 
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Coronavirus and Status Qualification

Any thoughts on whether United will consider booked flights that have to be cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak towards status? If not, there could be significantly less elites in the top tiers this year.

Usually rely on several international flights to Asia per year to make it to 1k status.
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Old Feb 21, 2020 | 2:50 pm
  #18  
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Can't imagine they'd approach it this way. They want to stimulate more travel, so maybe double PQP or something later in the year like we used to see double PQM in 2009.
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Old Feb 21, 2020 | 2:54 pm
  #19  
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Yeah I think it quite unlikely they would give credit for flights you didn't take. They want to incent more flying, not "not flying."
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Old Feb 21, 2020 | 2:59 pm
  #20  
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Believe it or not I asked an agent exactly that and his said no way.
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Old Feb 21, 2020 | 3:04 pm
  #21  
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I think they'll choose having fewer 1K.
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Old Feb 21, 2020 | 3:10 pm
  #22  
 
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If there is no bonus for qualification, does that in theory mean fewer elites, and therefore higher upgrade chances next year? 🤔
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Old Feb 21, 2020 | 3:12 pm
  #23  
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Originally Posted by Polytonic
If there is no bonus for qualification, does that in theory mean fewer elites, and therefore higher upgrade chances next year? 🤔
No. Upgrade chances have very, very little to do with competition with people who are using upgrade certificates. They have a lot to do with people actually paying for J.

If your upgrade chances are better next year, the only reason will be because the global economy has gone into a tailspin. Merely having fewer 1Ks, if it were actually true, might just cause people to grumble and buy J out of pocket (or buy TODs).
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Old Feb 21, 2020 | 5:28 pm
  #24  
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I doubt they will extend status. Why would they. As long as some still earn it then why increase the numbers. UA flights appear to be over 50% elites already. Not unusual for there to be 15 or more 1Ks on a flight.
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Old Feb 21, 2020 | 5:33 pm
  #25  
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Originally Posted by cova
I doubt they will extend status. Why would they. As long as some still earn it then why increase the numbers. UA flights appear to be over 50% elites already. Not unusual for there to be 15 or more 1Ks on a flight.
Outside of LAX, UA has a pretty dominant position at its hubs, and they are all situated in large cities to boot. That said, I'm sure that DL has lines of Medallion members out of ATL, MSP, etc...
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Old Feb 21, 2020 | 6:47 pm
  #26  
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Hyatt concierges have started reaching out to Globalists in Asia and who travel predominantly to Asia and offering complementary one-year status extensions. I doubt that United will take any blanket action, but I wouldn't be surprised if take the situation into consideration when reviewing GS qualifications for 2021. I don't expect any huge consideration for 1K or lower though.
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Old Feb 21, 2020 | 6:59 pm
  #27  
 
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Have they been repurposing the widebodies on domestic routes? Would love to be surprised with a lieflat seat on a hub to hub instead of a 737 or 753 first class.
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Old Feb 21, 2020 | 7:08 pm
  #28  
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Kirby offering a waiver or freebee for anything? Surely you jest. What they might do it cherry-pick their best customers from the GS and 1K ranks who have existing and historical travel patterns to China, and by sorting through profitability and who is employed by who, figure out specific individuals to throw a bone, but a blanket waiver to everyone is highly unlikely especially given only a fraction of UA's customers fly to China.
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Old Feb 21, 2020 | 7:53 pm
  #29  
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I can’t imagine the travel interruption is going to thin the elite herd by all that much. For perspective, UA has more flights to just Heathrow than to all of China.
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Old Feb 21, 2020 | 9:28 pm
  #30  
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I mentioned this in another thread:

Just a reference point and may not be specific to GS qualifications:

Back in 2001 post 9/11, air travels took a huge hit, PMUA extended all elite flyers’ status for an additional 12 months regardless of the 2001 flying activities.

I switched job from an international travel job to a domestic no travel job just two weeks before 9/11 occurred, and my 1K status was extended to 12/31/2002, although I had less activities in 2001 even to requalify for Premier status.

IMHO, the Coronavirus is limited to countries in East Asia at the moment, so the chance to have any special accommodation for GS qualification appears unlikely at the moment. If it becomes a global outbreak (hope it won’t ever happen), the last thing I would care about is the GS qualification. Seriously! There will be more important things for us to worry about!
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