Why I’m planning to give up my United status

When it comes to giving up my status on United, I’m like boy who cried wolf — I’ve threatened giving up my United status for years now, but have held either Silver, Gold, or Platinum status continuously since about 2012 (and for almost all of those years, I’ve had Gold status).

That said, I think 2025 is the year that I’ll finally go through with losing my United status.

What I like about United status

Before going into why I’m finally ready (I think…) to give up my United status, first I figured it’d be worthwhile to list what I like and dislike about having United status — particularly Gold status, which is what I normally have/aim for.

Here’s what I like about having United Gold status:

• Lounge access on international flights. Almost all of my flights are international and I love the Star Alliance (more on that below), so having lounge access for my international Star Alliance flights is a huge benefit.
• Priority boarding on Star Alliance flights. I actually rarely fly United and often have to scramble to hit the requirement to have four United segments each year to keep my United status. That said, a large share of my flights every year are on Star Alliance airlines and I appreciate having access to priority boarding for those flights.
• Premier Priority call center support. I love having access to a priority call center, as it makes it easier to resolve issues (I get to connect with an agent quicker and, in my experience, the agents who work the premier desk are generally more competent than those who don’t).
• Free Economy Plus seat selection at booking. When I do fly United, I like the ability to select Economy Plus seats for free at booking.
• The Star Alliance in general. The Star Alliance is far-and-away my favorite airline alliance, and it’s the network that I want to have benefits on since I fly these airlines the most.
• The gamification aspect of earning status (previously). As a points and miles junky, I used to love gamifying the system to try and earn status by spending the least amount as possible (like earning status through a $900 off-peak roundtrip business class fare to South America and a $1,500 mistake business class fare to Africa). But United has all but made finding fun ways to earn status impossible.

Things I don’t enjoy about United status

While there are some things that I love about United status and will miss if I actually do give it up, here’s what I don’t enjoy:

• Upgrades are almost impossible to come by. Including when I’ve held Platinum status, I think in the last four years I’ve only received two upgrades, which were on the same trip flying roundtrip from LAX direct to Guatemala. I don’t think route is flown by a lot of people with status, as my friend with Silver status also got upgraded on different days.
• The PQP needed to obtain Gold status is getting out of control. In 2025, I’d need to earn 12,000 PQP to maintain my Gold status on United or, effectively, spend $12,000 on airfare with United and its partners this year.
• Being tied to an airline/alliance. While I do love the Star Alliance (I fly Swiss and Copa a lot, for example), there are airlines outside of the Star Alliance that I also love to fly, particularly Air France, Japan Airlines, KLM, and Cathay.
• The gamification aspect of earning status (lately). I no longer have fun trying to earn status, since earning status is now almost solely about how much I spend each year on flights and not how loyal I am to the airline (or Star Alliance in general), and the ability to gamify the system is all but gone.

Why I’ll likely give up my United status this year

So after weighing the pros and cons, here’s why I don’t think I’ll try to obtain United status this year:

• I have a ton of points that I can use to book business/first class tickets, and receive pretty much all of the benefits I’d receive by having status that way. I have a lot of points saved up and I could legitimately book business/first class tickets just using points for a few years. Pretty much all of the benefits that I get with status come with business/first class flights, including priority boarding and lounge access.
• Being an airline free agent is appealing to me. By being an airline free agent, I can fly the exact routes and times that I want and/or book the cheapest ticket without worrying if it will get me closer to earning status.
• I’m able to afford business/first class tickets, and often book them when I can’t find award tickets. While I’m still very much all about spending the least amount that I can for the best experiences on airlines, I’ve also been very fortunate with my full-time work as an attorney running my own firm and can afford to pay for business/first class tickets if needed. For instance, on an upcoming trip to Lake Como, I paid about $600 for business class tickets for a roundtrip direct flight between Paris and Milan. I did this because (1) the economy seats were about $450, (2) I don’t have status on Air France on any SkyTeam airline, (3) I’m not paying for my hotel or the airfare to/from the U.S., as it’s all been booked with points (making the Paris to Milan flight my only travel expense), and (4) for me, even though it’s a short flight, it was worth the extra $150 to know that I’ll board first, have access to overhead luggage and a lounge, and have a more enjoyable experience overall. If I couldn’t afford business/first class tickets, then I’d be more likely to go for status and stick with Star Alliance airlines to receive the priority boarding and lounge access benefits.
• I’m traveling less. After getting a dog, I’ve become more picky with what trips I take. Before getting my dog, I traveled close to once every month and now it’s more like once every two or three months. Since I’m traveling less, it’s harder for me to earn status unless I spend a ton on those trips (and let all of my points/miles just sit there, losing value).

Why there’s still a chance I may keep my United status

That said, there’s always still a chance I’ll keep my United status. Here are a few reasons why it may happen:

• With travel demand plunging, United may make it easier to earn status. I recently wrote about what may happen to the travel industry if the U.S. enters a recession, and I think if it were to occur that United would make earning status easier. If earning status is easier and tempting enough, I may just go for it.
• There could be credit card spend offers that tempt me. In the last few years, the United Explorer card often offered spend benefits where you could earn a lot of PQP if your spend was/is high enough — if there was a tempting enough offer, I could take advantage of it.
• If I book some new trips and with those new trips, I’m close to earning status. With my current 2025 travel plans, it looks unlikely that I’ll earn status this year. That said, I could end up booking a few last-minute trips that get me very close to earning status and, if so, I’m not above a mileage run to get me there, even despite the negatives mentioned above.
• I may ask United for an extension of my Gold status. I’ve read that sometimes United will give a complementary extension of your status if you ask and if you’ve had it for a while, so I may try this out. If United grants the extension, awesome. And if not, oh well.

Bottom line

I really think this is the year that I’ll give up my status on United, but given my track record I also wouldn’t bet money on it.

Are you giving up status on your preferred airline this year? If so, let me know why in the comments.