Last year I advised United MileagePlus members who were about to lose their status to ask to have it extended. Many elites who hadn’t re-earned their status during 2024 were successful just by asking.
Many airlines and hotel programs have formal offers for this.
- Alaska Airlines has elite “leave” for new parents where they’ll extend your status a year.
- Hilton offers once in a lifetime Diamond status extension.
- And Delta has ‘reclaim my status’, an offer of temporary status and a challenge to keep that status.
- Meanwhile, it’s far more common elsewhere in the world, especially Europe, for loyalty programs to offer some form of family leave.
While United Airlines doesn’t have a formal, published program to support status extensions, calling or emailing with a request for status extension worked for many last year. If you’re about to see your status drop February 1, you might reach out to MileagePlus.
- Offer a reason why 2024 was different, like medical issues, that explains why you couldn’t requalify
- This might be offered only once every 5 years, or you might need 5 years of consecutive status for the extension to be granted. This is not clear.
- They may offer you a buy up first, before offering the extension when you decline the offer to pay.
Here’s what elite status with United required last year:
- Silver: 12 qualifying flights and 4,000 qualifying dollars, or 5,000 qualifying dollars
- Gold: 24 qualifying flights and 8,000 qualifying dollars, or 10,000 qualifying dollars
- Platinum: 36 qualifying flights and 12,000 qualifying dollars, or 15,000 qualifying dollars
- 1K: 54 qualifying flights and 18,000 qualifying dollars, or 24,000 qualifying dollars
It’s a lot cheaper for United to keep a customer than to acquire one. You’ve already proven your value and you cannot do this year after year. Without a published policy you aren’t guaranteed a result, but you should certainly ask – and United knows that you’ll appreciate with your loyalty when they grant your request.
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