Version 8.1 coming out 12/31/16?

[andrewket]

@drklain I made global services in 2015 (for 2016) so I know United and IAD almost as well as you. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your perspective, I stopped traveling for most of 2016 and so now I'm just hoping for the gentle downgrade to 1K. :/

 

[Hrhkee]

You have to be in California.

That explains it. I thought Mjölnir was just not talking to me.

 

[drklain]

@andrewket -- Good for you. Will be interesting to see what United does to you/for you. A couple of years ago due to illness, my traveling dropped big time one year. Unlike Marriott (or some other airlines) which provide a soft landing where failing to requal for the same (or a higher) elite level means the next year you are dropped down one, United slams you to whatever you did qualify for in that year. In my case I was a 1K and didn't even have 25K PQM, so the following year United dropped me all the way down to general member....truly sucked. I don't know if they do a soft landing for Global Services folks who fail to meet the random/secret GS requal requirements. Certainly hope they treat you better than they treated me!

That experience was part of the reason I started moving a significant amount of my travel away from United. Even wrote Smisek about it explaining my logic and saying I would not do that if they would raise my status to at least Platinum...only response I got was a form letter thanking me for my valuable input....