I'm not at all trying to be snarky (seriously), but honestly I'm surprised if anyone playing the GS game would be/is surprised by this?!

I mean it seems sort of obvious (at least to me) that a somewhat unpublished, invite only tier, would consider more than one criteria for selection into the club, no?

Regards

 

Seems to be pretty clear to me:

Unlike Premier status qualification, eligibility for United Global Services is not measured by the number of Premier qualifying points earned, but instead on several other criteria.

• Members who receive United Global Services invitations tend to increase their flight activity each year, fly in premium cabins, and purchase fully refundable tickets – all exclusively on United.
• MileagePlus members directly influence the annual criteria, as we compare activity amongst our top fliers.
• Achieving status is very competitive each year, and previously holding United Global Services status doesn’t guarantee a future invitation.

 

If the goal is to structurally shrink the GS herd in order to provide better service, that would be great. But I think it is probably something more along the lines of shrinking the herd in order to have a smaller GS-specific set of resources providing the same diluted level of service.

if I focused 100% of my spend on UA I would know for a fact that I would make GS in any given year (something like $150-160K in base fare spend, 99.9% in premium front cabin fares). But I don't want to do that because GS ain't what it used to be and its really nice to have flexibility/options or occasionally just be treated like the heavy hitter that GS used to make me feel like .

In all seriousness though, if there is a real step-function shift in 2025 qualifying spend metrics that doesn't come with better enticements, I think they'll just end up driving more and more people in my seat to being free agents. Buying outright C/F even on an airline I fly rarely (like Delta) is a totally fine experience, and outside of the occasional day where the CK folks at AA make me feel really special, it's not that different than the GS/CK experience.

 

I think this is the plan. I think it started some time ago when the Yellow Scarf ceased to mean what it did in the past. I think they plan to reduce the GS membership, along with the number of employees that deal with GS. The published benefits of GS compared to 1K are so similar that its hard to tell the difference between the two any longer. Unpublished bennies can go away at any given moment that's why they're unpublished. Think forcing upgrades on a companion itinerary in years past. I have a sneaking suspicion that GS lobbies will go the way of the dodo within 3 years too. Most of the time when I visit my local lobby, its faces I don't know and when I ask, I'm told that United is rotating the GS "lobby agents" through the Clubs on a regular basis under the guise of making more employees capable of taking care of GS members but I usually know more about the program than they do..

 

I agree 💯

While AA, BA, Qatar and EK may not Thank me for my loyalty, they treat he well when I buy a premium ticket.

 

Which email was this - I'm GS (UK based) but didn't get any email.

All my PQPs are on UA and almost always fully refundable.

 

I don’t think that’s the plan. As I said earlier upthread, there aren’t many dedicated GS resources to scale down.

The lobbies are built and have to be staffed regardless of if there are 100 or 10 GSs passing through.

The phone lines are not GS-dedicated anymore. The calls will still come in - just now by 1Ks - so no change there.

Some benefits would drop, but upgrades and mileage awards are better controlled by Revenue Management than culling the GS ranks.

Shrinking GS will cost UA more money than it saves, as people like me shift away from UA after qualifying for 1K. Just don’t see what is in it for them.

 

Just a point of references here,

Being a GS since inception, I have noticed the declining number of dedicated GS phone and GS email hotline agents.. Longer wait and less "friendly' engagements over the phone and via email. Perhaps it is just a busy summer travel period, so a lot of stress in the system. However, I have noticed the differences.

If not being a lifetime GS, I am not sure I'd go all out to qualify for GS as I did when I had to qualify each year. The benefits and services are no longer attractive enough. If one has to fly United for work in Premium cabin on OPM, then making GS may not be much of an effort, but if one has to dole out own money and creating trips to qualify, then IMHO, not worth the effort.

 

You know how United says they no longer expect to sell every seat on every plane, the same applies to us. They don't expect us to always choose United and spend every travel dollar on United. And they are fine with that as they pursue their profitability targets. They will do, within reason, whatever it takes to reach these goals, and that may mean paring back travel benefits that cost them real money. Such as upgrades and low-level award tickets, but probably not things like boarding order.

I don't mean this cynically, it is just what we can expect from a publicly listed company that has less competition than it historically had. This behavior from a for-profit company is, in fact, predictable. Never sustainable in the long run but always predictable in the short run.

 

United is selling more available seats than ever and the J cabin is much better monetized than filled with aspirational-J

miles are now for Y cabin only, or at redemption rates on actual fares that approach cash fares.

this isn’t unique to United, and it is sustainable long term as you have three poisons to pick, and the end result of digitalis, snake venom, and hemlock is the same.

Pick your airline based on route schedule from home base and enjoy the program as best you can. Chasing one for lifetime status is a real fools errand

 

Oh, trust me, I have only been a GS for 10 years +/- but back in the day I could call in and get a random friend forced into J from the UG list SFO <> FRA when I wasn't even on the flights. I was a hero to those people! Now, I dread having to call the GS line even for the simplest ask because I know it's going to burn 30 minutes of my life and they're going to act as though they're doing me a huge favor. It's just a terrible experience.

 

I havent been GS as long as you but I do fondly remember buy a multi-leg J ticket for myself and then calling in and a helpful GS agent would find the cheapest way to put my wife on the same flights, in the J cabin next to me by forcing upgrades both directions.woithout any fuss. That was the real value in the program to me.

I previously posted that a recent flight back from Manila (during the Crowdstrike situation) was canceled and I was auto-rebooked 4 days later. I called the GS line, waited an hour and was told that's the best they can do and the fare rules on my ticket prohibited booking another carrier to get home. Co-worker traveling with me flew home on Delta, as originally scheduled. I spent four days in a hotel in Manila. I hear all the time that IRROPS is where GS shines but that's not been my experience on multiple occasions.

 

Yes, I was told by GS that they could not put me on an another carrier on a transatlantic flight when my AMS-EWR was cancelled on July 19 (after waiting 7 hours at the gate). I had a full-fare Polaris ticket. They did not protect me for the the next flight out. After proactively finding a yellow-scarf (3-4 hours into the delay), I was protected on a AMS-IAD-EWR routing, and a few minutes later another GS came up to state his request for protection on the AMS-EWR the next day was not actually done and then asked to be protected on the AMS-IAD flight but no seats left on the IAD-EWR leg, and he was going to take the train from Washington to NYC. So, IRROPS for GS was not as in the past. Then again July 19 was an exceptional day. The GS line at times was just a recording that agents are not available to respond and to seek assistance on the web. When the GS line was open, wait times were very long, and ultimately I was always told "sold out" even though United website showed flight was not sold out.

I did the challenge to get GS this year (even though in prior years this was not necessary), and it is doubtful that I will get GS again as I fly domestically in coach with discounted fares. Although I do fly to Europe/Asia on full-fare Polaris, to the tune of > $50K, my extensive domestic travel habits (weekly) make me an undesireable high-maintenance GS flyer.

I was hoping to make lifetime GS anyhow (projected to be in 4-5 years), but if they move the goalpost from 4MM to 5MM, I am toast.

 

not to worry. It will be 6M for GS-Basic

 

Thank you. For me, the least enjoyable part of traveling with United is calling GS reservations. And I only call when I cannot do something online and invariably if I cannot whomever I first reach cannot, either. I hear others have good experiences but I travel on what seem to be, for United, complicated international tickets. GS reservations agents can never resync/re-issue them without support from someone while I am on hold.

My approach for calling: clear 45 minutes on the calendar. Next, 4 minutes of calming meditation, then a short prayer, and finally call. If a successful call takes less than 10 minutes buy a lottery ticket.