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What are a million United miles worth?

TravelSkills reader CK feeling fresh after a United Airlines flight to Sydney, Australia

I have been a loyal United Airlines flyer for over 10 years. This loyalty has been driven primarily by the fact that I live in San Francisco – a United hub. However, I have clearly bought into the various perks that United puts in place to keep me coming back. I appreciate being able to board in Zone 1. I am happy to chill out in the Gold lounges across the globe. I am thrilled with the upgrades to business class – in fact, six of my last seven flights were upgraded. Pretty hard to beat that.

(This is a guest post from TravelSkills reader C.K.)

Yet, despite all the focus United has on paying extra special attention to its most loyal flyers, I was disappointed with an experience that happened on my last flight.

I was flying in business class from Sydney, Australia to San Francisco – returning from a quick week-long trip catching up with family and friends. I had been monitoring my Mileage Plus account and I knew that I was getting pretty close to hitting my 1 Million miles flown with United. For those familiar, you’ll know that United celebrates this event by awarding the flyer (and a companion) with lifetime Gold status. Meaning, forever lounge access on international flights; forever fast track; forever priority boarding. Pretty cool!

Various levels of United Million Milers- and the corresponding lifetime status awarded (Image: United)

As I was settling in for the 13-hour flight back to San Francisco, the Inflight Service Manager came over and welcomed me by name to the flight. She then noted that my name had a gold star next to it. These days, United flight attendants are using mobile devices connected to the Wi-Fi onboard to access real-time flight information, including passenger details. In this way, the flight attendant was able to click and find out why my name had been marked with a gold star. Her device confirmed for her that in the course of this flight, I would hit my 1 million miles with United. She turned to me and said, “You’re hitting your million miles. High five!”. We exchanged a high five and she then said, “I’m not too sure what that gets you…”. Nonetheless, she welcomed me again and then continued on with her work greeting other passengers.

United sends Million Milers a lucite plaque like this (Image courtesy Matthew Klint)

Now, I don’t want to be a diva about this. But I would have thought that hitting a million miles would warrant more than a high five. Further, shouldn’t the Inflight Service Manager actually know what it gets you? And even if she didn’t know, you would think that she could make it up. For example, offering a glass of champagne (okay, this one they already do as part of business class), or asking the pilot to come by and say congratulations and thank you, or even offering you a photo with the pilots in the cockpit to commemorate this milestone.

CK enjoying a few extra glasses of champers on a recent United flight

I wasn’t expecting them to have a cake in my honor, or a card with my name on it, or anything like that – since I realize the logistics of doing that are far too complicated. However, since they are now arming flight attendants with the information that a passenger has reached this milestone, they should also arm flight attendants with guidance on how to thank the passenger for all those years of loyalty.

Click here for a rundown of United’s Million Miler benefits

For an airline obsessed with going the extra mile to build loyalty, this was a simple fail in my book. I’m not too sure what I was expecting and nor do I know how often passengers reach this milestone. Perhaps these days it’s no big deal given the amount people fly. In my case, not content with my high-five, I decided I would create my own celebration by enjoying many glasses of champagne over the course of those next 13 hours

–C.K.- new member to United’s Million Mile Club

So readers, what do you think? Is a high-five enough recognition for a newly minted United Million Miler? If you are a million miler, are you satisfied with the level of recognition you get (or got) from United? Please leave your comments below. 

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Comments

  1. you don’t get life time platinum until 4 million lifetime gold is at 2 million nothing for 3 million.

  2. 1K certainly means less, now that Economy Plus passengers also get a complimentary meal. Well, we get free drinks…but all too often I’m on my way to a business meeting, and don’t want my judgement to be impaired by alcohol!!

  3. Good comment
    And that crew that don’t threw a party for that poor man was subCO, that is a CO flight.
    Crew and airplane are CO !
    People always assume without knowledge. Everyone is an expert on aviation until the moment the have to open the lavatories’ doors

  4. For your information that crew was a Continental Crew!!!!!
    So it isn’t about the airline is the person who’s working the flight.
    Every single one of those FAs are SubCO.

  5. I remember when my son took his first flight, he got a little certificate and pilot wings. When my daughter took her first, they had neither so it was kind of a bummer.

    So I get where you’re coming from, but I guess the only consolation prize you can take is that you’ve traveled enough to be able to have flown 1,000,000 miles.

  6. there’s always that ONE guy who goes rudely overboard and overkill. Congrats on being that ONE guy….

  7. Million Milers are apparently a dime a dozen. If you want something special from an airline these days, you almost always need to pay for it. Seems fair to me. As a multi-million miler on DL, I was initially surprised that reaching 1 MM, then 2MM, then 3MM yielded little interest from Delta. Now, I realize it is nothing special to them. They care more about what I did last year and how much I paid for my ticket for the current flight. The biggest unpaid perks I receive/value from Delta as a Diamond Medallion are being able to reach an agent at the Diamond Line and the flexibility they have repeatedly shown me when I have needed to make flight changes. I know a lot of the Delta gate agents at the mid-size, Midwestern airport from which I fly. On the last couple of flights I have taken, I asked the gate agents how many Diamond members were on the flight. On the last flight with 123 passengers, there were 32 Diamond members. On the last Delta Connection flight with 76 passengers, there were 18. What bothers me the most is the benefits they tell us we will receive that are almost never made available—Medallion upgrades, Choice Benefit Global Upgrades, etc. It actually annoys me to have a benefit promoted as somthing I have “earned” (Delta’s words) only to find using the benefit is almost impossible. So, why keep flying Delta? The service, the employees, the timeliness.

  8. Are you actually serious? Two words come to mind: prima donna. The whole world should stop & recognize your extraordinary contributions to world peace, literature, medicine, education and science. Dude, get a grip…and a real life.

  9. If you feel you were slighted…how do you think the rest of us feel back in steerage…oops make than economy…No..I don’t fly often, and had miles removed cus… they lapsed…on a long flt to NZ FAs in economy were in a horrible mood…and that’s why I will never fly United if I can help it. Yup UNited is busily trying to make life “comfortable for business/first class”, all the while making profits from the unwashed masses back in economy by squeezing every dime from us for every little thing…Hmmm doesn’t this sound the like the profit method from the great liner companies of the past?

  10. good luck at 3 million there is nothing no three million level they want you to do 4 million

  11. I’m a 5 MM with Delta, but they rarely acknowledge it. I had a pilot come back to shake my hand and thank me for my business one time. Not that I expected anything. I’d still be with DL but they kicked me out of the SkyBonus program because I didn’t have the requisite 5 employees flying — I have 4. So I’m now Executive Platinum with AA and working on my first million with them. AA likes my small business.

  12. I made a million miles with United a few years ago. (Maybe five more years to 2MM.) Congratulations on your achievementS. I make that plural because, in addition to reaching the mileage goal, you got more recognition than I did. And you do better on upgrades. This year, none in the course of 50 flights and 80,000 miles so far. …and that includes the GPUs and RPUs I can’t ever use. Still, I keep flying United for about half of my travel, with no big regrets.

  13. Guess that is the difference and what I miss about Continental attitude. I crossed the 1M mark on a UA flight from Germany into Houston last year. There was nothing while on the flight but I was greeted as I left the plane, given a framed certificate, thanked and congratulated and even had a picture with the flight crew. It was surprisingly touching.

  14. At Delta, 1 million miles makes you a lifetime Silver with virtually no major perks. As a 2 million miler on DL I am a lifetime Gold which does bring a few more perks but not what I expected. When flying economy, I don’t have to pay for baggage and once a year, I can go online and print 4 free drink coupons. As to club usage, Gold does not get you into the lounges in the U.S. However, if connecting in Europe and changing to a KLM or Air France flight, you can use their lounges. Before retirement, as my work required a lot of international travel, I was always at the top tier of Sky Team. I was a platinum for many years until they came up with diamond of which I was a charter member for the last 4 years before retirement. I just thought after the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent to get to 2 million miles, there would be more.

  15. No kidding they took away free crown room ffor FLYING COL years ago
    Had lifetime status. 2milli9n is lifetime gold, three million no difference

  16. Beware of the term Lifetime anything. Delta defines it as “complimentary annual”

  17. I hit my Million miles flying back from Shanghai last year. Granted I was lowly flying in economy plus (coach) I did expect to see a little fanfare. But I wasn’t surprised there was nothing. I was just happy to finally hit the million mile. I did take a picture of the flight tracker screen when I hit the million mile mark.
    Don’t get me wrong, the perks of lifetime Gold is great, but was hopping for a little fanfare.

  18. I reached my 1,000,000 mark last year, (and am 1K) and did not receive any in flight acknowledgement. My general comment is that sometimes the flight attendants/employees are very nice, while at other times it seems they really do not like what they are doing. An interesting contrast was the employees in the Polaris lounge in Chicago. It was a very positive visit.

    My last visit in the SF lounge was just the opposite. I read on the web page (and printed a copy) that access to the first class lounge was available while the SFO Polaris lounge was being built. I was not allowed access and asked to speak with a supervisor, who was down right mean to me, To me the issue was not the first class lounge access but professionalism and courtesy.
    Both parties should treat each other with respect and understanding.

  19. Not with Delta 3 million you get noting only at the 4 million level there is zero incentive to strive for three million why go to four.

  22. I hit my 1MM with Delta somewhere over Afghanistan in 1997 on a FRA-Mumbai flight. In those days, nobody knew that until weeks (months?) later I got my MM package with MM stationary (still have it). In ATL, Million Milers are a dime a dozen, my perks are good but nothing super exciting – free bags, boarding in zone 1, lifetime Silver. I haven’t been traveling much lately, but when I do, comfort+ is about as generous as DL gets. My wife is probably the biggest beneficiary – free bags, early boarding applies to her, too.

  23. its united you were lucky you got a high 5 usually you get a delayed flight or a lost bag
    they might have kept the name united but really it is continental

  24. Well, CK, welcome to the club. The first thing any airline employee should tell you is: “I’m so sorry…” – most do. But to take your question seriously, no, its really not that big a deal. Yes, individual crew members do nice things on occasion – a 747 captian came by once on an SFO to NRT, and handed me a coffee table book on UA history – and thanked me for my business.

    Besides, I made my first million miles on UA as a US domestic flyer from a secondary airport. Which means I flew coach in 737’s and A319/320’s to make that status, E+ didn’t exist. 15 years later, I’m approaching 2M miles, and I could care less. The big perks are in this first tier. My wife is the biggest beneficiary of the companion benefit, with the bag limit lift and the E+ seating being what really count.

    We all have good and bad experiences on all the airlines. There really isn’t a great way to fly. 30 years ago, coach was a better experience than domestic business class is today – on every single airline. Enjoy it while you can.

  25. When I hit 1MM miles many years ago, nothing. No mention, no plaque, and it really didn’t matter. But it did get you lifetime Premier Exec. Until they changed it. Now it is only Gold. I don’t hold out much hope that it won’t get changed again, at their convenience. They just changed the access to Polaris lounges, and I am sure that isn’t the last. It is all about money, not CX or loyalty, no matter what they say.

    I am a little over 1.8MM miles, and may hit 2MM before I quit flying, but there isn’t a lot of reason to be loyal these days. There are so many high mileage fliers, so few seats, that there really isn’t much to expect.

  26. Cool off, Sal. Personal attacks get your comments deleted and this borders on that. CK took the time to write a thoughtful post that has provoked a lot of conversation- that’s why it’s included. –Chris

  27. I have to agree with most of the people writing about CK’s experience, it was very tacky and I just wonder why this publication would include this.
    I too hit a million miles last year on a flight back from London and nobody said or did anything.
    Since I have become a million mile flyer I have been recognized just twice, once on a flight to London and on the flight home from Paris.
    Other than that have gotten very little other than the perks of being about to bring two bags for free and having the weight limit raised to 70 pounds. I also am able to book economy plus when I pay for my ticket which is great, along with my wife getting the same perks.
    But I have never gotten special access to clubs or been given any extra upgrades.
    As for my exicitment on reaching a million miles, it means I am now able to enjoy other airlines that are better than United and when forced to take United because I have no other choice, I don’t have to worry about being stuck way back in coach in really terrible seats.
    I appreciate the perk, even though I know that I was loyal to United for close to 20 years. I am 61 years old and just hope not to see United downgrade this award and cheapen it, something that happens a lot at United.
    As for CK, I can’t believe that you would write this, guess I can see the reason you didn’t use your real name, I would be embarrassed to have my name attached to such a stupid 1,000 words of self-indulgent.

  28. Definitely diva. Been million miler with AA for awhile now. You get lifetime Gold which being in DFW means nothing. The whole plane loads in Group 2 Executive Platinum. Got nothing expected nothing. Don’t waste time being legend in your own mind.

  29. As another SF guy who is quickly approaching 1MM miles on United, I agree with you CK. We deserve some sort of special handshake or hoopla or a t-shirt or a special pillow and extra blanket. It’s a million miles, that’s a lot of our life stuck in a tin can that flies.

    The problem with the airlines — and this goes with all big corporations — is they have all this data they are constantly collecting about us, but they don’t know what to do with it. (This is what I do for a living.) A troop of data scientists helps, so they got you a gold star (I’m impressed.) But failure of fete’ing a huge accomplishment means everyone failed, from the CEO to head of data, from customer relations to marketing and CRM. Even if these suit-types can create a customer-focused strategy, they can’t execute (that’s where it gets really hard, and expensive.)

    🙁

  30. At least you were recognized on the flight. I reached the million mile plateau on a flight from Boston to Denver, and the flight attendants did not even say hi. Seems that at least the pilot could hand out a business card as is sometimes done to FC on some flights. I was in first class on the million mile plateau trip. All those miles were earned by this retired teacher, using my own funds, and not being paid for by my employer. I received my baggage tags about 6 weeks later, and promptly had one lost on its first flight.

  31. I passed a million on United many years ago. What did it get me? On my next flight they bumped me out of a full fare first class seat because they thought I was “just an upgrader”. They not so kindly offered to put me in a middle seat in the back row for the transcon flight.

    I decided I could skip that meeting and went back to my office and asked our travel department to get me a status match on AA.

    I’ve flown United 3-4 times in the subsequent 20 years and each time it’s been a horrible reminder of how bad an airline can be.

  34. uh, yeah, no one at Delta even noticed when I hit a million miles. I got an email a few days later. Will hit 2 million next year–I’ll let you know if they recognize me.

  35. I thought your post was tacky . I’m at 2.87 million and don’t really expect any in flight adoration when hitting 3. Lifetime platinum is enough

  36. CK,
    You said: “Now, I don’t want to be a diva about this.”
    Well, no offense, but face it: You ARE being a TOTAL diva about this.
    You also said: “I’m not too sure what I was expecting” …
    Not true either, because you lay it all out what you wre expecting.
    This is called ‘entitlement’, and it’s for people who think they are special.
    Now, I agree with you that 1M miles means a lot of $$ spent for one air line.
    However, nowadays …?? This ain’t nothin’ 😉

  37. I have a somewhat interesting crossover. I was on a trip from ATL-ICN via SEA and back the same route on Delta. This was for my 3MM cross over (as a note nothing ever happened on my 1&2 crossovers) I actually took some advice of a contributor. I took a Sky mad and had the crews on each leg over and back sign the map page. On the way back I had one of the same flight attendants. They actually boarded me first at ICN and the flight crew had me sit in the captain’s seat on the flight deck. I had a conversation with the flight and cabin crew. Took a lot of pics (which my wife then Surprised me with a book of the whole trip). It was quite nice.

  38. I have 2.3 million miles with Delta
    I get NOTHING from DELTA
    So I stopped flying with DELTA as much as possible!! DELTA does not appreciate what
    Loyalty on credit card miles not in seat miles

  39. I am 2.4 million miler and at 2 million I did not even get addressed by name or status. I can barely get upgrade any more.

  41. I have 2.3 million with DELTA and I get nothing so you got more that I did. Flying col stopped, birthday card stopped
    I stopped flying DELTA

  42. At its core United does not know how to deal with people or allow their staff to think “outside of the box On a trip to Puerto Rico for hurricane I flew out on Delta and back on United. It was like night and day, Delta thanked my and United harassed me.

  43. CDG-SFO in Econ+. The FA came up, said congrats and offered an adult beverage. That was fine. Lifetime Gold is useful so not complaining.

  44. They didn’t have Sam Elliot come out and have a chat with you? What a disappointment. Hey wait a minute…it was UA not AA.

  46. My biggest complaint about being a 1MM (actually over 1.6MM) flyer on United? If I don’t fly at least 75,000 miles per year to reach Premier Platinum, I board in the same group as anyone who pays $85/year for a United credit card. This despite my having a United Club Card (the ability to visit United Clubs on domestic flights with the family is very useful).

    Some ability to combine 1MM status with continuing travel on United would be nice, particularly for perks like boarding group which cost the airline (literally) nothing. I understand why they limit 1K Premier (too much demand for free upgrades), but it’d be simple to put 1MM flyers into a better boarding group.

  48. I hit my 1MM marker on an p.s. flight from SFO – JFK. No special recognition, but I did ask the purser whether I can have a copy of the flight plan after the flight landed so I can mark the exact location, and the captain handed the paperwork to me as I deplane.

  49. At least she recognized your accomplishment. I got nothing and that’s pretty common. Agreed that this treatment is not a way to engender loyalty to United.

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