United Is Changing Its Loyalty Program for 2025, Making It Harder Than Ever to Earn Status

08.11.2024 - 00:27 / afar.com

Earning elite status on airlines has become increasingly difficult in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, as airlines have raised qualification thresholds and adjusted loyalty programs to prioritize revenue over miles flown.

In 2023, Delta Air Lines overhauled its SkyMiles program and introduced new, harder-to-reach spend-based qualifications (which the carrier later rolled back somewhat after public outcry). And Southwest Airlines last year increased the number of points required to earn a Companion Pass (a benefit of the airline’s Rapid Rewards program that allows members to fly a companion for free, aside from taxes and fees, on any Southwest flight).

More recently, United Airlines became the latest airline to announce significant changes to its membership program, which will make it more challenging for travelers to reach status with the carrier in 2025.

Here’s what you need to know about the changes to United’s Premier program.

Earning Premier status will be harder than ever in 2025 for United loyalists, as the threshold for all four tiers—Silver, Gold, Platinum, and 1K—will increase.

To get status, travelers will need a slew of Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) and Premier Qualifying Flights (PQFs), United’s two metrics for determining a member’s eligibility for Premier status. The former is roughly calculated by awarding one PQP for every U.S. dollar spent on base airfare and carrier-imposed surcharges, while the latter is the total number of legs flown in the year.

There are two ways to earn Premier status: a combination of PQPs and PQFs, or a higher PQP-only target. Either route will require travelers to spend and fly more to achieve the various status levels in the coming year. Here’s how they’ll change in 2025:

This marks the first time since 2019—when United introduced PQPs and PQFs (the previous system involved a combination of miles flown, segments, and dollars spent)—that the carrier has raised the requirement bar (though the airline did reduce the status requirements in 2020, 2021, and 2022 due to the pandemic).

On February 1, 2025, United will give those who currently have elite status (or who will by the end of the calendar year) a leg up with free PQPs. Silver, Gold, Platinum, and 1K members will be awarded 300, 600, 900, and 1,400 PQPs, respectively.

Beyond flying, the only other way travelers can earn additional PQPs is through spending on United’s co-branded credit cards: The United Club Infinite and Club Business cards will grant 1 PQP per $15 spent, while various other United cards will award 1 PQP per $20 spent.

One benefit of making it harder to gain status: less crowded business-class lounges, such as the United Polaris lounge at Washington Dulles International Airport

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