United Premier Silver

Just earned premier silver with United (from flying). Anyone know if this level has any real privileges? I know United had premier and 1k status awhile ago but the other levels listed now are new to me.

 

I'm a United guy and was a Continental guy before the merger. I've held silver with both (and gold with CO). Prior to the merger the benefits were nice but have been severely devalued (on all domestic carried) lately.

Being that you fly from IAD or DCA it will probably be hard to snag upgrades because of the heavy amount of elites flying from there (SFO and ORD are tough to upgrade from too)

https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/mileageplus/premier/default.aspx

I didn't qualify last year but will prob hit gold this year.

The one benefit I loved was a dedicated line to call in on for assistance. Live agent and hardly any hold time. During severe weather I could call in and have someone on the phone in less than five minutes.

 

The other cool thing is the priority access to the security lines and having your bags tagged as priority. Normally you'd have to book first class to get those without any status

The inky time that sucks is when you get an airport (looking at you Philadelphia Intl) where they always don't have the priority lanes open or the baggage handlers dgaf about the bag tags.

 

This is exactly what I thought and I actually do fly 1st class most of the time. They actually removed the 1st class priority line at the dca security check point. The one at iad is always still backed up. Even with precheck, there was still a line. Thinking because we are a major city with flights in and out?

 

Same here - I book first most of the time so hitting silver has no real benefit except the dedicated phone line. How are fares for you? My MM trip I just booked and they were close to a grand out of IAH. So for the first time I willingly took a connection thru LAX. Saves close to $400 and I only get in two hours later. $667 vs $1065

Since IAD and DCA are heavy business routes a lot of elites and business people with PreCheck, Global Entry and o course willing to pay for first causes those lines to back up. Here in Houston they're not usually that packed. But if you're in Chicago, DC, San Fran or NYC then it'll be the same...everyone lined up. When the oil and gas markets are hopping it'll get backed up here.

Sometimes flights out of San Fran will have like 60-70 people on the upgrade list! So as a silver and gold you stare at the list and know you've got no shot. Hell even 1ks get shafted lol

If you keep flying a lot of paying for 1st you'll hit platinum and maybe 1k and then you'll see more benefits. But even those guys have a tough time getting upgrades. United has a habit of letting people upgrade for a relatively small fee in comparison to the fare so that bumps people from getting upgrades. All about the monetization!

 

I'm UA Silver and the most tangible benefit I use is choosing Economy Plus seats when you check into your flight for free. They usually have better legroom/recline and are towards the front of the plane. They go anywhere from $29-99 depending on the flight and where you are flying from.

Since you mostly fly First Class broncofn, I don't see you using this benefit But that is one of the more notable ones imo.

Upgrades are few and very far between for Silver members, especially out of big hub cities that have a lot of United elites, like Rocky has mentioned already.

 

My flights as an example out to vegas run anywhere from $900-$1400 in 1st.

I agree with everthing you are saying.

 

That is only if there are seats available at check in, correct? When booking online or over the phone, its not an automatic upgrade im assuming.

 

Correct. Only at check in if available. But from my experience, all the times I've checked in, there are seats available. (At least the routes that I fly) If you move one more up on their totem pole, Gold, then you can choose the seats right when you book

 

Thnx, great info!!