Don't you think I'm pretty, United?
A key frequent flyer milestone goes unacknowledged for now
This is not going to be a frequent flyer tips and tricks blog. There are already too many of those. You won’t be seeing posts from me about how I converted 97,000 Chase Sapphire Reserve Points over to the Avios program so I could book an Iberia codeshare flight on British Airways to the Maldives. (Though that does sound intriguing . . .)
In fact, I have always said that if airline executives could go back in time and shoot fire the person who came up with the first frequent flyer program, they would. The programs have grown into monsters beyond their control. They are absolutely necessary for the revenue they generate, but they are absolutely horrible for how they have skewed the relationship between airlines and their most valuable customers.
While even the smallest changes to a program’s requirements and benefits are often met with hostility from the customer base, there is still an undeniable connection that exists between the most frequent flyers and their airline of choice/necessity. And, when that relationship reaches certain important milestones (or “anniversaries,” even) those events should be celebrated.
In my last post, I noted that Delta did a great job of celebrating a passenger who would be passing the one million mile mark on our flight. The gate agent came onboard to make a sincere congratulatory announcement, people took pictures and there was even a nice gift bag. And while the passenger and I joked about all the bruises one gets on the way to a million miles, it was a delightful moment that I could tell she appreciated (despite the lack of a pre-departure beverage to celebrate).
Yet, deep down, I was a little sad inside. That’s because a few weeks ago, I had re-qualified for 1K status on United. That’s no easy feat, and it gets harder and harder every year. But thanks to some unexpected business overseas, I was able to meet the threshold of dollars spent and segments flown.
However, this milestone seems to have gone unnoticed by United. Now, I’m not looking for an onboard ceremony or pizza party in the gate area for this level of achievement. All I really needed was an email that said, “Al, thanks so much for making it all the way to 1K again this year. We value your business.” Heck, it can (and should) be auto-generated. I checked my spam folder over and over again, but there’s been nothing there. To date, the only acknowledgment I can find is this banner a few pages in on united.com.
I know I’ll get a 1K kit in the mail next February, but by then I’ll already be worried about making 1K for 2027. The moment has passed.
Given the marked improvements at United over the past few years, I am actually surprised by this. In a business full of difficult challenges, this seems like a rare easy win. It’s the airline equivalent of a free throw against a team that likes to play full-court man-to-man defense against you all the time.
Make your free throws!
(Apologies if you did not get the analogy. It’s youth basketball season.)