United Airlines has reduced requirements to reach Premier status in its MileagePlus loyalty program next year.
To reach Premier status, United requires travelers to reach a certain number of "Premier Qualifying Flights"—the number of segments a travel flies—and "Premier Qualifying Points," which are based on the amount of dollars spent on flights. For travelers in 2021 to reach status for 2022, United has cut the required PQF from pre-pandemic levels by a third and PQP by a quarter. For example, Silver status next year will require 8 PQF and 3,000 PQP, compared with 12 PQF and 4,000 PQP prior to the pandemic.
United also allows travelers to achieve status regardless of segments flown at a higher PQP threshold, and the carrier has reduced those for next year as well. Those decreases are 3,500 for Silver, down from 5,000; 7,000 for Gold, down from 10,000; 10,000 for Platinum, down from 15,000; and 15,000 for Premier 1K, down from 24,000.
In addition, United is adding bonus points for travelers at the beginning of the year equal to 25 percent of the PQP-only requirement of their current status. Current Silver members, for example, will start the year with 875 PQP. The carrier also is adding bonus PQP for travelers' first three flights through March 31.