2014 United Elite Status Update

After spending the last 14 months as a United Premier 1K (for flying 107,000 miles in 2012), the elite status year was reset on Saturday morning and I'm now officially United Premier Gold based on 2013 activity.  Emily also qualified for Premier Gold for 2014 after being Gold in 2013.  United sent me an email last week with a link to review my status (and associated features and benefits) for 2014.

I will likely try to qualify for Gold again this year but it won't be as easy given the new revenue requirements (Gold now requires 50,000 miles and $5,000 in United spend).  That said, you can get a waiver on the spend requirement by putting $25,000 in spend on the United Explorer Card which is something I plan to do leveraging Amazon Payments.

His & Hers 2014 Premier Gold Packages

United Gold gets me three benefits (Economy+ at booking, complimentary upgrades, and reduced award booking fees) that I value enough to try to re-qualify.  I already have 25,000 miles flown/booked in 2014 so don't see a problem getting to 50,000 by the end of the year.  There are a lot of reasons not to be loyal to an airline but United has treated me well over the years and living in Denver, they are really the only game in town that allows me to earn and redeem miles for international travel.