A large number of people who fly on major U.S. airlines do so without benefiting from frequent flyer programs.
Depending on the airline, however, somewhere near half of passengers reportedly do take advantage of some aspects of those plans to save money and use perks.
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A smaller percentage of those flyers are classified as elite members. And several airlines even offer special programs for the highest revenue customers above normal elite levels.
For example, Delta Air Lines (DAL) -) has a program called Delta 360, described as an invitation-only service tier for its top SkyMiles members.
American Airlines (AAL) -) offers one called Concierge Key, which is also invitation only and comes with its Executive Platinum perks and other benefits.
Another major U.S. carrier, United Airlines (UAL) -), has an official elite tier above its Premier 1K program called Global Services.
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United Airlines' Global Services program will soon be more expensive
United's Global Services is a program that is essentially a rebranding of its older VIP plan.
"The criteria for obtaining this status is generally unpublished, however there are workarounds," wrote travel expert Gary Leff on View From the Wing. "At United prepaying for travel through PassPlus still comes with Global Services status. But that's getting a lot more expensive in 2024."
The increased cost means anyone wishing to renew ought to do so before the end of December 2023.
"The PassPlus individual program allows you to earn Global Services status for prepaying for $50,000 of United flights," wrote DansDeals. "Unfortunately, we now know that PassPlus individual program rates to receive Global Services status are going up effective 1/1/24 from $50,000 to $75,000."
Gaining membership in United's Global Services program
For travelers who are not currently members of Global Services that can simply renew, View From the Wing explains the primary ways to get an invitation for it:
4 million milers are granted lifetime Global Services status.
Most flyers earn Global Services based on ticket spend, flying a lot on high fares, often with ticket purchases totaling over $50,000 in a year. However actual spend amounts vary.
Important travel spend influencers at companies with big corporate deals with United receive Global Services status, and may be able to assign a certain number of these to company employees.
Prepaying significant spend for travel through the PassPlus program comes with Global Services.
A little more background on the program and eligibility for it are also provided by DansDeals.
"United has massively increased the spending requirements to earn elite status, so it has been surprising that Global Services can still typically be earned with about $50,000 in annual spending. The PassPlus changes could be a hint that traditional Global Services qualification requirements will be higher for the 2023 or 2024 status years, but that number is opaque and can vary based on your typical fare class and location," the publication explained.
"Either way, passengers won’t know until January 2024 or January 2025 if they qualified for Global Services or not."
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