Is United’s 1K Gift Pretentious or Awesome? Or Both?
I came home Friday to find a small slightly squishy package from United.
I was intrigued and eagerly opened it up to find a (fairly attractive) gold colored handle wrap with the explanation:
You’re among our best customers, and the enclosed MileagePlus handle wrap as a token of our appreciation…it will help you identify your luggage quickly — especially when locating gate-checked, green-tagged bags on the jet bridge — so you can be on your way faster.
Now the handle grip can’t compare to the  Tiffany vases that Delta sent new Platinum Medallions 4 years ago, but it’s still a very nice gesture and actually kind of practical. And then I started picturing scenarios on the jetway when multiple people (who may or may not have been sitting in first class) all have gold bag tags. Not terribly subtle, but then again I’m someone super proactive about getting that orange priority tag on my checked bags. 🙂
So what do you think? Is this a good way to help frequent flyers get on their way faster?
—————–
What did you think of this post? Give us a +1 below or leave a comment!
And don’t miss out on any of our adventures and tips. Get instant updates via e-mail or RSS Feed and follow us on twitter and Facebook.
Heels First is the travels and tribulations of two twenty-something frequent fliers jumping into the world of travel. Join Keri and Jeanne as they tackle mileage runs, elite status, and of course–the perfect travel accessories.
Now that United has added for 2014 a Minimum Dollar Spending quotient to obtain any kind of status, you can bet that in the future, those gold tags WILL be worth something. The minimums to obtain Premier 1k will be 100,000 miles and $10,000. The other airlines are probably going to fall in line after UA if they haven’t already, and the hotels as well. Within a year those tags will help you a LOT.
On second thought… given that a lot of people will be washed out of 1K within a year or so, do you think this might be a bone that they are throwing to them? If so, it’s a stinky one.
I certainly hope it’s not a way to placate us! Because you’re right, that’s pretty bad. I’d like to think it’s just a random gesture, and since there’s no way I can requalify for 1K for 2015, I’ll be moving over to the dAArk side (as pizzainmotion.com calls it) 🙂
Don’t kid yourself, AA will be adding revenue requirement within a year, probably for 2015 status year.
Mine hasn’t shown up yet 🙁
> since there’s no way I can requalify for 1K for 2015
You can wave the PQD spending requirement when qualifying for 2015 if you spend $25k on your United card from Chase in 2014 per http://www.mileageplusupdates.com/ :).