6 of the 7 Continents For The Budget Traveler: silver status

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Flying Gold Status United Airlines 1 Year Review

Star Alliance Lounge LAX My Favorite Lounge in the USA

2021 and 2022 I ended up traveling a lot more than anticipated. At the end of 2021 I missed Gold Status by a small margin, 2022, I was very set on getting that status. I already had Silver Status and the Silver experience in 2022. I wanted to make sure I flew United Airlines enough in 2022 to get my status in 2023. In the end for my last flight of the year to Argentina I flew to Buenos Aires in a 3 leg flight, significantly longer than if I had flown American Airlines, and a bit more expensive.... But I knew that it would put me right at the PQP, which was $7000 at the time I believe, and PQF, which was 24 flights with United. While I discussed in this blog and on YouTube how I don't believe it is worth it to chase status as many of the benefits are cheaper to itemize, this was not such a big deal to change one flight, so I went for it, and flew a lot of 2023 with Gold Status.

Here's my quick take and my experiences with flying Gold Status:

First benefits is free checked bags, I only travel with a carry on, so no goal there.

Adjusting the seat to bed in business class
Free access to economy plus at booking for me and one person, this was a BIG DEAL. Especially since it includes the exit row for long haul flights, it saved me around $700 and I enjoyed the extra leg room for a few flights to Europe.

Much better menu in business!
Group 1 Boarding: This was another big convenience because after 2022, Group 2 was getting bigger and bigger. Since I do travel with only the carry on it was nice to know there was no way we would run out of overhead space before I boarded.
8x miles earned on every purchased flight was another great benefit as the following year I used those miles for a $10,000 upgrade to business class from Seoul to San Francisco with only 20,000 miles or so.
Business Class Lounge for international flights was very nice, the lounge at my home base airport isn't the best, but the Star Alliance Lounge in LAX is my favorite lounge in the United States at the time of writing this.

My home airport United Lounge PHX, not my favorite, but good place to start the day regardless.
Business Class Upgrades, ok this is probably the big one, I was upgraded several times, I'm a year late writing this article so unfortunately I don't remember, lets say 5 out of 25 flights. But again, this is not a reason to chase status, I was upgraded on the unpopular routes, Houston to El Salvador both ways comes to mind. You are very unlikely to get upgraded on a major route like LAX to JFK, and really heart breaking they don't upgrade all international flights, only a few, if its a wide body aircraft with the full flat beds, they probably don't upgrade. A heart breaking moment I remember going to Germany where nearly all of business class was empty and I read the fine print.

But that being said the upgrades I had were definitely nice.

So here's my final take, like silver status, don't chase it, it's great to have but every benefit of status can be purchased with individual tickets. This year (2025), Silver status is going to be 6,000 PQP and Gold will be 12,000 PQP! I may hit silver but I definitely won't be spending enough to hit Gold. I'm toying with the idea of Africa or Asia for New Years. Those would be well worth a look at business class flights, I can't get the upgrade even with Gold but I can get it with points, so I will lean more towards that. If its one more flight or a few hundred bucks at the end of the year, maybe book a last minute flight, but other than that, in my opinion it's not gonna be worth it this year.

BONUS TIP: The benefits the year I had it didn't expire until Jan 31. So especially the premium economy was worth a last minute booking.

Bed time for South Korea to San Francisco

Like many things in life, I'm happy I got to enjoy Gold Status for a year. But I accept letting it go. I will definitely continue to hang in the lounges or fly business through other ways. But as with all things with travel, even though it didn't last forever, I'm grateful for the experience it gave me.

Choose the continent!!!!

Africa Asia Australia Europe North America South America Antarctica

OR...

Travel and Money Saving Tips

Support This Site By Purchasing Your Travel Needs

Monday, October 10, 2022

Flying Silver Status

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.

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.