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The Secrets to Getting into United's Global Services Program Revealed

Funny how some P&M (pissing and moaning) gets you traffic.

Soon after writing about my United Airlines encounter, when I was told by a UA employee the criteria for getting Global Services status on UA were unknown to him, I've received a whole lotta support from readers, helping me to find out. What surprised me were emails from frequent fliers, even a reporter covering the airline beat, asking me to share if I found out how to get into this exclusive loyalty program. Could this info really be THAT proprietary?

I was enlightened by Nicole Simon's suggestion to go check out FlyerTalk, an online community for frequent fliers, where many of the deep mysteries of loyalty programs are discussed and sometimes even unearthed. I was somewhat shocked by the fury with which some of these members respond to people like myself and John Battelle, who like to P&M about their airline loyalty programs. Apparently, there is a class of people much more sophisticated and informed in the ways of the Mileage Plus Program than us mere mortals. Those of us who resist the force are struck down with their unintelligible abbreviations and acronyms. One example of a question posed by a 1K member:

It seems amazingly difficult for me to get a confirmed SWU upgrade seat on international flights at booking time. Since S, T,K, and L seats can't upgrade on SWUs to use them you have to buy a more expensive ticket ... I wonder if UAs fuller flights will make up for the loss of revenue from people like me who may be paying less than before to get STKL tickets since I can't confirm the upgrade and don't want to take the chance of paying a high fare and still ending up in Y.

And some answers:

United inventory is not trying to get you to buy a W instead of an S. They are trying to get you to buy a C instead of a W and hoping for an upgrade ... Based on my limited experience, I would say that experimenting with other airlines is not going to increase your chances of upgrades from Y to C.

With all of the problems with UA and their product, the only thing they really have going for them is the liberal upgrade policy. I can't think of any other airline that hands out upgrades on intl'l flights like UA - certainly no foreign carrier...Having said that, yes things have gotten tighter. A lot of it is due to higher paid loads in intl C cabins. I tried to buy a seat BKK-LAX on 11/18, but it wasl all zeroed out in C/D/Z buckets from BKK to NRT. I was also looking at LAX-NRT on 12/7. Same thing. Go figure...

But there is no doubt that UA IM is getting more stingy when there are fairly light loads also...I guess they have figured out that a large percentage of 1K's are willing to wait up until the gate for their Y>C upgrade...Now, if only they had a C/F product worth paying for.

One user lauds the receipt of his 2010 "GS Packet" in the mail with such pride you'd think he/she got into Harvard. Lordy I'm afraid to go back and see if I've sullied my name in the bowels of the discussion threads. There seems to be a particular disdain for people with delusions of grandeur who blog their discontent hoping the airlines will treat them better than everyone else. One thing is clear to me here. The "real" MP members know the rules and take their lumps when they don't get upgraded. Money talks.

What also surprised me is that while I consider myself a fairly particular and oftentimes petty frequent flier, I'm virginesque. New to this world of openly discussing my frequent flyer status, which I may not do until I speak Mileage Plus (MP). Consider me a permanent lurker.

My husband scoured a few websites and found some educated conjecture that GS membership was likely the result of purchasing many full-freight business or first-class fares. Or just spending a whole lotta money with United. So OK, I'm the coach upgrade Queen. When I recently sat in business class next to a woman who insisted her seat be changed because she was sitting too close to a loud food heater and "paid $1,500 for this seat!" I thought to myself, SUCK-AAAAHHHH!" OK so maybe I get the crappiest seats in business, but I paid a third of the price for them. I suppose I do not fit the profile of the "fit to be in Global Services" customer.

Still, I spoke with someone I know who has been a Global Services member on and off for years. "Some years I'm in, and some I'm not," he said. "I think this year I was downgraded to 1K." He shared that one year he appealed to United, when it became clear that his firm's senior partners' frequent flying, often at full-freight rates, still wasn't tipping the balance into Global Services membership. For his efforts his partners were upgraded, but he was not.

I am particularly grateful for this note by a United Airlines employee, who shared with me the goods:

The short of it is, you have to spend a lot of money on United. Roughly the top 1% of elites in a given year are invited to become a GS. Since what it takes to be in the top 1% changes from year to year, that's why the criteria aren't published and why it's considered "invite only". Occasionally, other people who are very important to United are given GS status, but that's only a few, probably a couple hundred at most. The other few thousand spent their way there. The GS qualification standards also "mileage run proof" in that you can't game the system by taking a bunch of long cheap trips to get GS status.

Why does this level exist? It provides services above and beyond 1K. 1K's are mainly concerned with upgrades. However, to get to be a GS, you have to BUY first or business class on a regular basis (usually on international flights), therefore, upgrades are less important. GS's have a "concierge" service that they can call at any time. They also have special lounges and check-in areas in United hubs.

How much do you have to spend to be a GS? Well, like I said it changes from year to year and I'm not allowed to tell you anyway, but look up what a first class ticket to Asia costs and do a couple of those, then you're in the ballpark of what it takes.

So now I really know that I'm not GS material.

Ironically I am writing this en route to JFK on a Virgin America flight. I had to book last-minute and the United fares were cost-prohibitive. I am loving the wireless, the food on demand, and the general lack of administrative baggage associated with this airline.

I'm told wireless is FINALLY available on all JFK/SFO United flights. Hallelujah! But given my start-up travel budget, I might have to stray a bit more.

The Joys of Being a 1K Member on United Airlines

I have no funny or particularly insightful things to say about my disappointment in the airline I flew over 40 times this year. I just felt like I needed to get this down.

Weeks ago, I booked tickets for my husband and I to take a three-pronged trip: to LA/San Diego to see his family, then to Chicago for Christmas with mine, then back home. Though I did what good travelers do and tried to book months in advance, prices were prohibitive, akin to flying to the furthest reaches of Africa, or to some little-known third-world country, not the most major hubs that my airline of choice (read: where I have the most miles) serves.

After inserting a number of permutations into Kayak I found an itinerary that, while still expensive, was just over half the price of all the others. Immediately I booked the trip. Closer to the time, H-band, with an unusual, spontaneous interest in our itinerary, called me rather perturbed.

"Babe, why did you book our tickets for 9 pm? My grandparents' anniversary party is at 5."

"I didn't. I booked it for 9 a.m." As the words came out of my mouth it occurred to me, why I suddenly found reasonably priced tickets. I had accidentally booked a night flight.

I called to rectify the situation. I practically live on standby when I travel on business, and I nearly always get on earlier flights. Plus, I have well over 200,000 miles on United this year alone, making me what you call a "1K" member in United Loyalty Program parlance. This means that I still pay exorbitantly for flights and have to still get waitlisted from time to time while trying to upgrade on flights from Europe (Still bitter? Yes.) But when little issues like booking the wrong flight occur, I can be reassured that I can get on the flight I intended to be on. Or so I thought.

I learned that since I had booked a series of flights at a certain fare, I couldn't swap flights until the day of travel unless I opted to pay the current, market-rate fares of all of the other legs of our flights, plus a per-flight change fee. The customer service rep assured me that the flight I wanted to get on was only half full. Surely it wouldn't fill up completely in the next few weeks. H-band wasn't as confident as the customer service rep.

"We can't just wait until the day of travel!" he said, panicking. You are a 1K member, did you remind them of that?"

"Yes," I said. "But since we got a discount fare I can't re-book without having all of our connecting flights re-booked."

"Call them again," H-band said, so I did. I asked what changing that one leg of our flight--from San Francisco to San Diego--would cost. They said $2,200.

I said to H-band. I think we have to take our chances. Look on the bright side babe. The flight we want is only half-full.

As the time of our desired flight grew nearer, I checked the availability. The flight was completely booked, as was an earlier flight, as were all flights afterward.

"We're screwed!" H-band said. I was in New York and was calling for reassurance from him that when I returned to San Francisco our vacation would go off without a hitch.

"You're being so negative," I said.

"They can't treat you this way, you are a 1K member! Did you tell them that?"

"Yes, hun. I did."

I arrived at JFK, hoping to make it out of the East Coast with no delays. I would land at SFO, sleep a few hours, and then go back to sit on standby for the flight I wanted. I got home, surprisingly, just 90 minutes later than expected. Still H-band was tense.

"Did you ask at the airport if we could get on an earlier flight?" he said. I had promised that once I got to JFK I would go to the Red Carpet Club, where I am a member, and ask about getting on an earlier flight. Supposedly Club Members get booking/re-booking services as a perk of club membership. I've used it many times in San Francisco. I approached the lone rep at the club and asked if she could assist me.

"No," she said.

"But isn't this one of the services provided for club members?" I asked.

"It's a courtesy if there are several people behind the desk," she said. "But I'm the only one here." She didn't have much else distracting her. I was the only person in the Club.

"I can't believe they treated you that way!" H-band said, when I explained why I didn't ask about re-booking." You are a Red Carpet Member.

"And a 1K," I said.

We called United at midnight, since one rep had told me I only needed to call the same day as the flight I wanted, though others said I couldn't call more than 3 hours before. We figured we'd hedge our bets; with me being a 1K member and all, someone might make nebulous these rules in my favor. Our worst fears were confirmed. All flights that day were booked. There was no chance of getting on an earlier flight. I asked about flying into LAX or Orange County. To switch our one leg would mean that we would still have to pay the $2,200 to re-book the other flights.

H-band was mouthing angrily while I spoke with the Customer Service Rep:

"Fine," he said. "We won't show up for that leg. We'll rent a car."

I told the rep that's what we planned to do.

"You'll lose all of the other legs of your trip then," she said.

I hung up dejected. H-band couldn't believe I didn't fight them.

"You think you could do better?" I said, handing him the phone. "Call them!"

He called and explained the problem for the umpteenth time. When he was told what we'd been told already, that we would have to pay $2,200 to change one leg of our flight, he reminded them of my status, and that I would not continue to fly on United if they didn't work with us. So drastic, I thought. But then, I have been continuously disappointed with United over slights. Perhaps this needed to happen.

They agreed to not charge us market rates for the other legs of the flight. We paid $300 to cancel the one leg of our flight, then another $300 to book a flight to San Diego on Southwest. I felt icky shelling $600 bucks for a booking error, but at least we saw our families.

My Red Carpet Club membership is up in January. Thinking if I should renew.