Although 2022 is over, there could still be a chance to reach the next level of United’s coveted Premier League spot for 2023 — by buying up.
If your account is targeted, then you may have a chance to buy status level above what you earn in 2022. You can visit this landing page and login to yours MileagePlus to see if your account is eligible for targeted buying offers.
While this may sound tempting, be prepared for sticker shock.
Instead of charging the difference between your Premier qualifying points earned in 2022 and the next tier PQP threshold, United charges the fee at its discretion. In some cases, the data we’ve collected shows exorbitant fees for elite status at most levels. And unlike previous years, you can redeem MileagePlus miles at a fixed rate of 0.75 cents or 1 cent per mile (about 25% to 50% less than TPG’s valuation of United mile) to buy to the next status tier.
Here’s a look at what we found.
Premium Silver to Premium Gold
Our surveyed accounts show that Premier Silver to Premier Gold status purchases range from about $1,500 to $3,500.
Some of the key benefits of Premier Gold status include Golden Star Alliance status, group boarding, Economy Plus for you and one companion when booking, free higher priority domestic standby upgrade, status suitable for Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status and two checked baggage when traveling with United.
We believe Premier Gold is an outstanding membership to United Premier. Many of the Premier Gold benefits (like Star Alliance Gold and matching Marriott status) are identical to those that top Premier 1K and Global Service flyers have access to, and it can be achieved much more than with higher United states.
However, it is hard to justify paying thousands of dollars to get a push from Premier Silver to Premier Gold. This is especially true if you don’t fly enough to use the extra benefits regularly.
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Related: I just achieved airline elite status for the first time — and I’ll never go back
Premier Gold to Premier Platinum
It looks like United are offering Premier Gold eligible people the chance to purchase Premier Platinum. Our examples show United charging between $3,000 and $4,000 for most upgrades.
Premier Platinum members get all the benefits Premier Gold members get. Other than that, the only notable difference is the higher priority of free upgrades and 40 Pluss, which is enough for two regional upgrades or one international long-haul upgrade. Premier Platinum members can also book up to eight Economy Plus seats when traveling with a companion, as opposed to Premier Gold with only one companion.
Due to limited additional benefits, we advise most passengers not to purchase premium Platinum status. This is especially true if your targeted offer is in the $2,000+ range — while Pluses and higher upgrade priority are fine, they’re unlikely to cover the cost of the purchase.
Related: Quick Score: How United’s Elite Can Claim Marriott’s Free Mid-Range Elite Status
Premier Platinum to Premier 1K
As the highest announced level at United, Premier 1K offers many benefits. This tier is reserved for United’s most frequent flyers, as it claims to earn 54 flights of Premium Class and PQP 18,000 or PQP 24,000 if you qualify through that stat.
Premier 1K members enjoy all Premier Platinum benefits in addition to pre-boarding perks, free of charge Ventilation membership, a snack and drink in the economy and 280 plus points.
You can use 280 PlusPoints in many ways, choose whichever combination works best for you. For example, you can exchange it for 14 regional upgrades, 14 upgrades to United Premium Plus on long-haul flights or seven upgrades from economy class to Polaris . Business Class. I recently used 40 PlusPoints to upgrade to Polaris business class on a long-haul flight.
We collected a data point for Premier Platinum in 1K state, which costs $7,061. One TPG reader received an offer to buy up to a Premier 1K status for $9,934 or 1,103,778 miles (worth over $13,000 at Valuation of TPG).
This is a small blessing for many, especially when your status expires on January 31, 2024. Like other purchases, we find this hard to justify even with some Pluses, although it might be worth it if you plan to immediately use them on a long-haul flight.
Related: Surprise: United renews elite status for some, announces reduction of requirements for next year
How does United determine these prices?
While a computer algorithm is capable of determining your target purchase cost, there are some patterns that we noticed when comparing offers through our surveyed MileagePlus accounts.
Surprisingly, your distance from the next Premier status doesn’t seem to affect the price. It seems that the factor that influences the price the most is when you earn your PQP in 2022. Overall, those who flew in November and December have higher purchase fees than those who last flew in September. or October.
Related: Easy weekday upgrades: Review of United Business on the A320 from Puerto Vallarta to Denver
It’s worth it?
We don’t think these acquisition offers are a great deal. And as a regular United customer, I think these prices are too high to even consider a status upgrade fanfare.
If you’re wondering whether or not to purchase a status upgrade, you may want to apply the cost you would otherwise have spent on the status upgrade to your 2023 flight operations. After all, the status you earn in 2023 will be valid through January 31, 2025, while the status you purchase until this year will expire on January 31, 2024.
Earn PQP quickly on partner flights
You can often earn more than 1 PQP for every $1 spent by flying with United partners, as long as you don’t book with United.
When you do this, you will earn PQP based on the redeemable miles you earn based on each partner’s earnings graph. Here is a chart of United’s Air Canada earnings:
In addition, there are two levels of partners: MileagePlus partners and preferred partners, with preferred partners earning more PQP. When you fly with a MileagePlus partner, you take the redeemable miles you earn and divide by 6 to determine the PQP you earn. For preferred partners, you divide by five.
Note that there is a maximum amount of PQP you can earn per flight sector, which varies depending on the type of service and whether you are flying with a preferred partner.
| Service Class | PQP preferred partner | MileagePlus partner PQP |
|---|---|---|
| First/business | 1,500. | 1,000. |
| Economy / premium economy | 750. | 500. |
For example, on this business class Air Canada journey, you can earn PQP 5,282 by spending around $3,500.
- Honolulu to Vancouver: 4,060 bonus miles, 812 PQP.
- Vancouver to Montreal: 3,430 bonus miles, 686 PQP.
- Montreal to Milan: 5,714 bonus miles, 1,143 PQP.
- Milan to Montreal: 5,714 bonus miles, 1,143 PQP.
- Montreal to Vancouver: 3,430 bonus miles, 686 PQP.
- Vancouver to Honolulu: 4,060 bonus miles, 812 PQP.
Total: 26,408 bonus miles and 5,282 PQPs.
After flying this journey and four sectors on United, a person will achieve Premier Silver status and be on their way to higher status. Additionally, those with existing elite status will earn more miles with United elite rewards on partner flights. You can then redeem those miles and earn more PQP ever since United now awards PQP on award flights.
Related: United’s best-kept elite secret: How to earn PQP faster with partner flights
bottom line
In most cases, United’s recent acquisition offers have been very expensive.
If you’ve already received one of these offers, you should review your upcoming travel plans and see if the additional benefits outweigh the costs. Most of the time, we recommend applying whatever amount you’re considering spending to purchase status for this year’s flying.
This way, the status you gain this year will be valid until January 31, 2025, giving you an extra year to enjoy the perks associated with your status. Plus, you’ll get to another great destination and take a vacation by upgrading your status in 2023.
