Rabble Rabble Rabble

Unfortunately United is following Delta's lead and including a minimum spend requirement as part of status qualification.  The spending requirement is only met with United ticket purchases (016 start to your ticket number), so partner flights booked through the partner airline only count for segments and miles.  This new requirement will thin out the elite ranks, especially of low cost per mile flyers like me (I could buy 1K for less than $5,000 if I tried).  This is a win for high fare corporate flyers who can meet $10,000 spending on 10 to 20 domestic trips. The new monetary requirement, along with US Airways going oneworld, will make status, especially 1K, much more difficult to attain.  

New United Award Chart