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I have held Premier 1K® or Global Services status every year since United Airlines and Continental Airlines merged back in 2010. While the spend component to reach Global Services was not an issue many years, when my travel cut back I had to push until close to the end of the year to earn Premier 1K® with 100,000 miles previously needed or a hefty spend component plus segments when the program changed. I’m happy to say that today I took the last segment needed to lock in Premier 1K® status through January 2027.
I like the preboarding element and the bonus miles that come from holding Premier 1K® status. The rest of the benefits I hardly ever use. I buy First and Business Class seats, so upgrades are a moot point. I don’t check bags, don’t need Economy Plus seats, and use PreCheck and or CLEAR.
I hardly ever use all of my PlusPoints even when giving them to family and friends. I’m happy that the PlusPoints I just earned will be able to be converted into something other than upgrades soon. New options include:
- Gifting Premier status (all the way through Premier 1K®): Premier Silver® can be had for 40 PlusPoints, Premier Gold® for 100 PlusPoints, Premier Platinum® for 440 PlusPoints, and Premier 1K® for 600 PlusPoints
- TravelBank Cash: Up to 100 PlusPoints can be redeemed for $200 (max)
- Bonus Miles: Up to 100 PlusPoints can be redeemed for15,000 miles (max)
- Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF): 2 at 160 and 4 at 330
- Premier Qualifying Points (PQP): 1,600 max
I have a feeling that I’ll be redeeming some for TravelBank cash and bonus miles.
Anthony’s Take: I’ll now focus on locking in Platinum Medallion status with Delta (I’m not too far away) and then will book United or Delta solely on schedule and price. My travel schedule from September to December is packed. I might have enough to hit Diamond Medallion as well and I’m thinking I will focus there since I still think I’ll be short of Global Services. How are you pacing this year for retaining or earning airline elite status?
(Image Credits: United Airlines.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
