A Million Miles over Modesto
Sometime around 10:45pm Thursday night, approximately 35,000 feet in the sky above somewhere near Modesto, California, I passed a benchmark: one million miles on United Airlines.
Achievement Unlocked?
Crossing this threshold gains me the benefits of United's Million Miler program. I get Premier Gold status for the rest of my life. That's a notch lower than the Premier Platinum I earned last year
or the Premier 1K status I earned for several years in a row before that when I was flying over 100,000 miles a year on United, but at some point in the future when my travel ramps down further it'll be a boon to have Gold status automatically.
The Gold status applies to United's partners in the Star Alliance network, which includes airlines such as Lufthansa, Asiana, Singapore, and many others. Another really tasty benefit is that I get to designate one companion who gets Gold status as long as I do. I'll give it to merhawk, of course, so she'll get Gold Elite benefits even if she travels separately from me.
As far as badges of honor go, this one's as much a battle scar as a merit badge. Like a battle scar it's got a war story behind it. Actually, it's got more like a million of 'em. Becoming a Million Miler has meant countless long flights cramped in small seats; numerous episodes of sitting on tarmacs for up to hours at a time waiting out bad weather, repairs, or simple traffic delays; and untold hours sitting bored in airport terminals waiting for the aforementioned opportunity to squeeze into a cramped plane that'll just wait longer on the tarmac.
No Cake, No Champagne. Not Even a Second Diet Coke
The flight from Newark, NJ to San Francisco that I earned my millionth mile on wasn't even that special. I held out some tiny hope that the flight crew would spot me on their passenger manifest, calculate that I'd cross 1,000,000 on their flight, and come out with a bottle of champagne- kind of like the waiters and waitresses do at a restaurant when you tell them it's your birthday. No, that's not an idle fantasy; I've heard from a few of my frequent-flyer acquaintances that it's happened once or twice in their experience. But there was no such luck for me. In fact, not only was there no champagne, but the flight attendants on Thursday night's flight were surlier than usual. One of my row-mates bravely asked for a second cup of Diet Coke, and the flight attendants snapped that she'd already had one, and that was all United's policies required them to provide. 😨 Maybe I should have told them it was my birthday and we all could have enjoyed the benefit of another half a can of soda.
As a note, becoming a Million Miler with United is not the same as actually flying 1,000,000 miles. We frequent flyers have our own argot; the actual distance flown is "butt in seat" (BIS) miles. I crossed the threshold of 1,000,000 BIS miles (across all airlines) last year. By my records I am at 1,092,606 BIS today. I estimate that 700k BIS are with United. United credits me for 1 Million because they are counting qualifying miles, which include miles logged on partner airlines as well as various bonuses.
The Road (actually, Sky) Ahead
I did the bulk of this travel in just 5 years, 2007-2011, when I averaged 140,000 BIS per year. That was the result of frequent trips around the US as well as overseas to Asia and Europe as part of my job. Though my travel has lightened a bit in the past couple years (91k in 2012, probably 50k this year) it may ramp back up in the future. And if it does there are even higher distinctions available.
....That's right, United's Million Miler program offers recognition well beyond 1 million miles. There's a 2MM level, a 3MM level, and even (gasp) 4MM. Each carries a progressively higher level of benefits. It's very unlikely I'd even hit 3-4MM, but 2MM is certainly plausible. If my travel ramps back up I may hit it in 7 more years. Another badge of honor? Yeah, and another million war stories.
Achievement Unlocked?
Crossing this threshold gains me the benefits of United's Million Miler program. I get Premier Gold status for the rest of my life. That's a notch lower than the Premier Platinum I earned last year
or the Premier 1K status I earned for several years in a row before that when I was flying over 100,000 miles a year on United, but at some point in the future when my travel ramps down further it'll be a boon to have Gold status automatically.
The Gold status applies to United's partners in the Star Alliance network, which includes airlines such as Lufthansa, Asiana, Singapore, and many others. Another really tasty benefit is that I get to designate one companion who gets Gold status as long as I do. I'll give it to merhawk, of course, so she'll get Gold Elite benefits even if she travels separately from me.
As far as badges of honor go, this one's as much a battle scar as a merit badge. Like a battle scar it's got a war story behind it. Actually, it's got more like a million of 'em. Becoming a Million Miler has meant countless long flights cramped in small seats; numerous episodes of sitting on tarmacs for up to hours at a time waiting out bad weather, repairs, or simple traffic delays; and untold hours sitting bored in airport terminals waiting for the aforementioned opportunity to squeeze into a cramped plane that'll just wait longer on the tarmac.
No Cake, No Champagne. Not Even a Second Diet Coke
The flight from Newark, NJ to San Francisco that I earned my millionth mile on wasn't even that special. I held out some tiny hope that the flight crew would spot me on their passenger manifest, calculate that I'd cross 1,000,000 on their flight, and come out with a bottle of champagne- kind of like the waiters and waitresses do at a restaurant when you tell them it's your birthday. No, that's not an idle fantasy; I've heard from a few of my frequent-flyer acquaintances that it's happened once or twice in their experience. But there was no such luck for me. In fact, not only was there no champagne, but the flight attendants on Thursday night's flight were surlier than usual. One of my row-mates bravely asked for a second cup of Diet Coke, and the flight attendants snapped that she'd already had one, and that was all United's policies required them to provide. 😨 Maybe I should have told them it was my birthday and we all could have enjoyed the benefit of another half a can of soda.
As a note, becoming a Million Miler with United is not the same as actually flying 1,000,000 miles. We frequent flyers have our own argot; the actual distance flown is "butt in seat" (BIS) miles. I crossed the threshold of 1,000,000 BIS miles (across all airlines) last year. By my records I am at 1,092,606 BIS today. I estimate that 700k BIS are with United. United credits me for 1 Million because they are counting qualifying miles, which include miles logged on partner airlines as well as various bonuses.
The Road (actually, Sky) Ahead
I did the bulk of this travel in just 5 years, 2007-2011, when I averaged 140,000 BIS per year. That was the result of frequent trips around the US as well as overseas to Asia and Europe as part of my job. Though my travel has lightened a bit in the past couple years (91k in 2012, probably 50k this year) it may ramp back up in the future. And if it does there are even higher distinctions available.
....That's right, United's Million Miler program offers recognition well beyond 1 million miles. There's a 2MM level, a 3MM level, and even (gasp) 4MM. Each carries a progressively higher level of benefits. It's very unlikely I'd even hit 3-4MM, but 2MM is certainly plausible. If my travel ramps back up I may hit it in 7 more years. Another badge of honor? Yeah, and another million war stories.