Back in July and August I was theorizing to myself about whether or not I would make 1K again, given the recent devaluations set forth by United. I was hopeful at the time that my travel planning might include enough trips to get me by for one more good year of 1K and all of its perks. But as 2013 comes to a close and 2014 approaches in two weeks, I'm disappointed that I won't make the 1K threshold for this coming year. That being said, I will have Platinum status on both United and American for the year which means a relatively good bonus return on miles and decent perks for award redemption.
But after next year, the jury is out on what my mileage earning potential will be.
With United adding the Premier Qualifying Dollar (PQD) to the equation, I'll be lucky to get Gold status next year given my yearly spend.
And I'm hesitant to just jump ship for American, as it's unclear what the US Airways/AA merger will look like 6-8 months down the road. Not only that but mileage awards in Star Alliance are much easier to find/come by.
For now I'll continue to maximize my flying on United - I feel as though that will give me the best return as well as the greatest number of options for award travel down the road. But I'm also going to take a long, hard look at the Alaska Miles program. Since I'm still on the West Coast, there are quite a few options in that program for redeeming miles, and they have a decent partner airline portfolio (though I'll never fly KLM or Air France).
But after next year, the jury is out on what my mileage earning potential will be.
With United adding the Premier Qualifying Dollar (PQD) to the equation, I'll be lucky to get Gold status next year given my yearly spend.
And I'm hesitant to just jump ship for American, as it's unclear what the US Airways/AA merger will look like 6-8 months down the road. Not only that but mileage awards in Star Alliance are much easier to find/come by.
For now I'll continue to maximize my flying on United - I feel as though that will give me the best return as well as the greatest number of options for award travel down the road. But I'm also going to take a long, hard look at the Alaska Miles program. Since I'm still on the West Coast, there are quite a few options in that program for redeeming miles, and they have a decent partner airline portfolio (though I'll never fly KLM or Air France).
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