United Makes Top-Tier Elite Status Harder to Earn

The news passed quietly while Skift Global Forum was in full force last month, but it was significant: United Airlines is changing the qualification criteria for earning top-tier elite status in its MileagePlus program.

For the past several years, American, Delta, and United have all used a formula for calculating elite status that includes both miles flown and dollars spent in a calendar year. To earn low-level elite status, for example, a traveler must fly 25,000 miles and spend $3,000 on tickets.

Earning top-tier status used to take 100,000 miles and $12,000 in spend on American and United, while those on Delta had to fly 125,000 miles and spend $15,000. Next year, however, United passengers will have to fly 100,000 miles and spend $15,000. That’s an increase of 25 percent in spend year-over-year.

It will be interesting to see how United’s elite frequent flyers stomach the changes. It’s always been assumed that Delta could get away with a more expensive top tier because it’s a truly premium carrier. United can’t make that argument — and for that, its loyalty program may suffer.

American, meanwhile, has officially stayed silent.

— Grant Martin, Business of Loyalty Editor

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Skift Business of Loyalty Editor Grant Martin [gm@skift.com] curates the Skift Business of Loyalty newsletter. Skift emails the newsletter every Monday.

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