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| Domestic Upgrade, check! |
In 2021 at some point was the happiest day of my flying life, I had unintentionally achieved Silver status with United Airlines. I had flown so much that year that I met the PQP and PQF points to be a silver, and later Gold Status Member.... Anyway... As with a lot of things it's not all its cut out to be... My main reason in keeping Silver Status (sometimes paying more to fly United than another airline) was the hopes of the Business Class upgrade on an international flight, which I learned the hard way does not exist... I received a few on domestic, but for a one hour flight from PHX to LAS I can easily sit coach, it was my naïve hope of being upgraded from ORD to BRU on the 12 hour flight with ample open seats in Business Class that I learned the hard lesson... Silver Status will not upgrade me on international with very few exceptions.
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| International Upgrade. fail! |
Now it's not all bad news, I still say it's worth it and here's my go to info on Silver Status or status in general I learned along the way.
- PQF, premium qualifying flights, are flights you buy, not award flights, you need a certain number to get status and connections do count. So as I said, if needed rather than fly a simple 45 minute flight to Vegas, I'd consider connecting in LAX making the trip a solid 3 hours just for status... Assuming you want it bad enough.
- PQP, this your money spent on flights, and upgrades. If the flight is an award flight it doesn't count, but an upgrade on an award flight will count. Mileage plus shopping and dining, unfortunately also won't count, but are still great for award miles.
- Pick your seats (some premium) and travel companions seats for free. With each status level there are more options on how many seats you can choose. On some planes without a business class you can choose row 1, which is nice for getting on and off the plane.
- No checked bag fee, I don't really check bags much, so this doesn't help me, but...
- Boarding group 2 guarantee, this somewhat helps as overhead cabin space can run out, but to be honest, some flights Group 2 has been 80% of the passengers. This also does not necessarily carry over on partner airline flights.
Still debating if it is worth it... - The random upgrade: this obviously is nice, but by no means a guarantee, and of course only on domestic flights with a few exceptions.
- 7x miles on flights, this is a no brainer benefit, and each tier gets more points.
- Avis partnership, there's other ones at higher levels with hotels as well, but again to be honest, so far this has not helped, as Avis prices had generally been much higher.
There are a few other benefits of Silver, but for the time being, this is what stuck out at me. So is it worth it? Overall I'd say yes. Especially now as airlines are starting to charge for miniscule things, if you are flying with a partner and don't have to pay to choose two seats, and check two bags, that's pretty good right there. I truly don't understand why they would not upgrade people that have loyalty to the airline to perfectly available Business Class seats on a 12 hour flight, but hey I'm just a travel blogger.... Anyway, as of today, I will be heading into Gold Territory next year. I paid $100 for business class from ORD to BUF, a short flight, but I was only $100 away from the minimum PQP, so it's pushed me into Gold. Next year I will give my review of Gold, and in the meantime, I'll keep flying the friendly domestic and international sky's. Unfortunately a lot of times in coach.
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| Damn it, coach! |
Choose the continent!!!!
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