Last month, I (finally) crossed one million lifetime miles in United’s MileagePlus program. It’s been a long time coming, quite honestly, as I’m certain that I crossed the actual flown amount on United metal years ago.
My United lifetime balance
As did most members, I received a nice bump in lifetime miles when Continental OnePass merged with United MileagePlus, but those approximately 100k “extra†miles were far fewer than what I’ve actually flown on United if I were to consider my award travel, as well as cockpit jumpseat and non-rev flights when I worked for United in the 1990s. And I never flew a single mile on Continental before they merged.
While I have overcome the “need†for annual Premier 1K status and my overall fear of flying in coach, I still wanted to make my million-mile trip special. And so, my planning for it started a trip or two back.
Earlier in September, I flew a deliberate mileage run to position myself to roll over a million miles in style. It wasn’t a run that I’d normally take, coming in at 4.99 cents-per-elite-mile, but it allowed me to book a trip that would have me rolling over a million miles on my favorite aircraft – a Boeing 747.
My 747 to Seoul
And even better, my million-mile trip was to a city that I wanted to visit for a long time having only previously connected through its airport – Seoul. To be honest, it was also the easiest destination for which to use two United Global Premier Upgrades (GPUs) confirmable at booking. (If you’re curious, the SFO-ICN-SFO flights are usually wide open for GPU use.)
My trip was hugely satisfying and I’ll be posting my review of each United flight (with rather exceptional crews), my stay at the Conrad Seoul (an incredible property) and the ghetto Asiana Business Class lounge in Seoul (different from the one I had visited previously), in the days to come.
Until then, here are a few images from my trip.
Only a couple of hours to go!
View from my Conrad Seoul room
Serenity in Seoul
Stable Seoul Structure?
Oh, and I received a fantastic “Congrats!†from United’s social media team after landing in San Francisco off of my million-mile flight. 😉
United’s million-mile congrats
[Edited to add:] And part two is now available to read, which is a review of my United flight in BusinessFirst from San Francisco to Seoul.
– Follow Darren Booth on Twitter, @FrequentlyFlyin, for more airline, hotel and travel industry news, reviews and opinions.
Related:
United’s Social Media Team Wows With a Fantastic Million-Mile Congrats
Flight Review: United Airlines BusinessFirst, San Francisco to Seoul
Confessions of an Elite Status Junkie: Part One
Flight Review: Asiana Airlines Business Class, Seoul to Los Angeles
Lounge Review: Asiana Airlines Business Class Lounge in Seoul
Buh-Bye Upgrade Phobia: Rediscovering the Joy of Coach Travel
You tease!!! I was expecting a trip report! You better sit your ass down and write, MR!!!
@James: Ha! I’ll have at least one installment this week. 😉
I have 800k united miles but with no status, Well actually i have silver status valid perhaps until Jan 2014. I got it thru marriot platinum challenge. I accepted the challenge over a month ago but never have signed up for the silver until last week. I am not staying at any marriots
do you get any permanent status for reaching 1 mil. k ?
@choi: I now have lifetime Premier Gold if I don’t reach a higher status annually.